Return-Path: Received: from nl.cs.cmu.edu by K.GP.CS.CMU.EDU id aa24589; 26 Oct 92 9:48:08 EST Date: 26 Oct 1992 09:40-EST From: Monica.Cellio@NL.CS.CMU.EDU Subject: exterior house painters To: bovik@cs.cmu.edu Message-Id: <720110448/mjc@NL.CS.CMU.EDU> A warning and a recommendation. The warning: Ricardo Rawlings (from Wilkinsburg) should be avoided at all costs. He didn't do the job he was supposed to do (skipped scraping before priming), got the color completely wrong, was extremely sloppy, was verbally abusive (considered filing charges), was very late (didn't even start until after the contracted *finish* date), and disappeared partway through the job without even a phone call to say what had happened in the next month. (He was in an accident and was in the hospital, but he wasn't unconscious for all that time!) Why didn't I fire the bozo early on? The paint job was a requirement of the sellers and the mortgage company, who held the money, wouldn't let me. (By the way, this means this guy was low bidder, too.) Absolutely abysmal service in just about every respect I can think of. The recommendation: The mortgage company finally relented and we hired someone else to redo the really sloppy parts and otherwise finish the job. We picked Sarandis and Sons, who were second lowest of the bids we got. They were professional and prompt, finished a day earlier than expected, got the color right on the first try, were friendly and easy to deal with, and did a good job. I had only minor problems, and they were corrected immediately upon my letting them know. (They painted windows shut and I couldn't pry them open, and they left empty paint cans lying around unbagged near the curb.) Monica