Marois Design

Poorly. I had purchased some good fixtures at Home Depot, but the technician said they would not work in my bathrooms. He said that he "had to go get different parts', so at $70/hour he went shopping. He came back with things I didn't like, and at that point I should have sent him back to his shop, but I was in a pinch for time and wanted it done. Lesson learned. One of the hot/cold indicators actually is on backwards, and the upstairs system is so touchy that guests have to shower down stairs. The cost was more than I had been led to believe, but I paid it to get them out of my life. To be fair, a company rep did call about three days later. He sounded very sincere and professional. But, I was so disgusted with the original service that I never did call back. I will eventually pay someone else to get it right.

We purchased new kitchen cabinets plus install from Home Depot, who subcontracted all work to PM MacKay. Cabinet install and general construction were acceptable. Time frame was beyond estimate, but cabinet/counter quality was good. Electric and plumbing were fast and professional. Now the bad news: the PM MacKay project manager told us he was managing 20 different projects, of which ours was a small job, and we got no attention. Any work that was completed was only completed because we called the project manager five times to hound him to get a contractor in to do some work. For example: the electrical work was quoted in 1 hour and executed in 1 day, but it took 3 weeks to get it done because the project manager was terrible. The project schedule was terribly managed and the 6 week timeline stretched out to 3 months. Over that time period the project manager only entered our home 3 times, despite the obvious issues and our attempts to call him several times a week, if not daily. The project manager also complained to us that he was over-budget for our project. This is not my concern, and in my opinion was solely due to his failure to properly manage the project. For another example, the cabinet install contractors stretched out the job to almost 3 weeks to bill more, but when we pushed the project manager to get it done they finished the last 50% of the work in 2 days. If the project manager was ever on-site he would have been aware. PM MacKay then hired a shoddy subcontractor for tile install (some guy and his son with a no-name van), and they did a terrible job. When I came home from work after the first day of tiling (mortor and tile-set only, grout was day 2), I called the project manager and told him to stop the job. The project manager sent somebody to inspect the work (not himself!) and agreed that it needed to be redone -- demo tile, buy new tile, re-level some electrical outlets, repair wall as needed,and install new tile. PM MacKay agreed to do all this (good), but wanted us to buy the new tile (bad, ~$600). We disagreed. After 1 month of negotiation they agreed to buy the tile as well. That was 2 months ago, and nothing was ever done. In the past 2 months the project manager has been dodging our phone calls. When we call from a new number he will pick up and make excuses about how he is waiting for 1 specific contractor who is not available, but then he will not pick up from that number again. I hear now that Home Depot is dropping them as a vendor. I guess we are not the only unsatisfied customers. This job has been a nightmare, and after almost 6 months I just want it done. Home Depot is taking full responsibility to transition us to their new contractor. This is good, but dealing with the red tape of such a large organization is maddening at times. I recommend NOT using PM MacKay, and I never will again. Since Home Depot has dropped them I hear they may go bankrupt, which will prevent other unsuspecting people from being screwed by PM MacKay in the future.

The process of obraining a quote went well. I ultimately decided on a different firm and designer.

My husband and I had just bought our new condex and were new to New Hampshire. Our parents offered us a house warming gift. We chose to have an attic pull down and new ceiling fan replaced for an old one that we supplied. Being new to the area, we did not know who to call to do the work, so we just looked thru the phone book. We called at least 5 contractors (mostly regarding the install of the attic pull down). It became obvious that no one wanted to do a "small" single job like that and seemed to be quoting us ridiculously "high" prices so that possibly we would either go away or be dumb enough to pay it. We did notice that P.M. Mackay was an "all inclusive" company and decided to give them a call. Surprisingly their quote for just the attic pull down was way more reasonable than anyone else's had been (they quoted $659.00 vs others who quoted appx $1200.00!!!! This was for "labor only" as we were supplying the stairs ourselves.) and the ceiling fan replacement quote seemed about right even with our limited experience with using an electrician. I was told we would be charged "by the hour"....the FULL HOUR. We agreed and hired them. The day of the installations....the Carpenter showed up right on time at 9:00am. The electrician however, showed up LATE at around 9:20am. It didn't occur to me till that day (not my problem to really worry about anyway...) but....I questioned (to myself) how the Carpenter was going to lift up an appx 150 lbs+ staircase over his head and nail it in? My guess was that having the electrician there to help with that part was part of their solution? However...in hind site...I was paying the electrician to be an "electrician" and BY THE HOUR no less!! The attic install was a "set price"...all inclusive. The Carpenter was very "courteous" and "professional". The electrician however...was not quite as...ahhhhh..."personable". I guess I didn't pay for "personality" though....just so long as the work is good. Something that stood out in my memory was that when the Electrician opened the new box with the Ceiling Fan in it and started to take it apart....abruptly he announced...that a "major" something was missing!!?? I went over to the box and lifted some styrofoam and low and behold...there it was!! Hmmmmmmmmmmm...I thought?? It was about 10:15am and I had a quick errand to run (about 45 mins to1 hour only I figured). Everything seemed to be going smoothly so for some "dumb" reason I told them I was leaving and when I expected to be back and I left....figuring they would be there at least that long (I knew the Electrician would be done long before and figured about 15-20 mins to help lift the staircase for the Carpenter). Seeing as we had just moved in...there was nothing of value that could be taken so I had no worry's about that. It was exactly 11:25am when I returned. The Electrician was gone and the Carpenter was just putting the finishing touches on the attic pull down. EVERYTHING LOOKED GREAT!! I was very happy with the work done. Funny thing again though was....upon my return...the Carpenter made it a point to say...."Oh! The Electrician just left! You JUST MISSED HIM.....". I looked at my watch...that would have made his time there an EXACT 2 hours....coincidentally!!! I didn't think much more about it though as like I said....as he was ON THE CLOCK to install the ceiling fan...NOT ASSIST THE CARPENTER!! The attic install was a SET PRICE!! Not my problem!! So now a week goes by and what do you know.....I get a bill for the attic instal (which was correct at the quoted price of $659....) but the Electricians bill was for an EXACT 2 HOURS!! $195.00 to be exact!! For a "ceiling fan SWAP OUT"????!!!! Immediately bells went off in my head!! When I left (at 10:20am) the electrician was "well over" the 1/2 way mark of being finished!! You mean to tell me he was saying it took him 2 hours to swap out a simple ceiling fan??? I'm no electrician but even I KNOW BETTER!! I could also see with my own eyes how far along he was when I left. That's why I waited to leave...I wanted to make sure everything was going smoothly before I even considered leaving! Problem was however..."I LEFT". It was my word against theirs. Fortunately...a couple of days later (I had not paid the bill yet)....I happened to be talking to someone who casually questioned the trucks in our driveway that day? I explained and then curiously asked if they noticed when any of them left? Sure enough...they said that they saw one leave around 11:00 am!!! That would have meant that the electrician was NOT THERE THE FULL 2 hours as stated in the bill (considering he was late by 20 minutes!). But yet I had been charged for the entire 2 hours! Now I also took into consideration that even if he HAD BEEN THERE the entire 2 hours...at least 20 mins of that would have had to been used to help the Carpenter!! Something that should have been included in the set price of the attic install....not tacked on to his (the electricians) labor!! I called to dispute the bill and told the woman in billing the story. Strangely enough....she didn't bat an eye at reducing the electricians portion of the bill by $65.00!!! I paid the bill and that was the LAST of them I ever heard. I "might" have given them another chance had I gotten a follow up call to applogize from someone...but...I did not.

While we had some problems with the electrician, P.M. McKay provided a new electrician who was able to correct previous work and complete all tasks very competently. The PM, Tony Merullo was very professional and kept me abreast of all progress and scheduling on a daily basis and made sure that the work site was kept clean (which is important when you are living in the demo site). I'm very pleased with their professional approach and would recommend them. My only cavaet would be to caution anyone south of Boston using them as they are based in New Hampshire and most of the crew used on my job was from NH and not quite enthused about the commute to my job in Watertown. Also be aware that if you use them through Home Depot your costs will be higher as HD puts their markup on top the subs. Overall these guys are good once they focuS on your prject and they communicate well.

They called beforehand to confirm the appointment and arrived on time. We signed up for the service on the day of the estimate, since they were very impressive. Their work and materials have a lifetime guarantee. I’ve given them a deposit, but we haven’t received the service yet.

The entire process was flawless, as they also presented the plans and concept to our condo association. They also were right there for us to install a new sunsetter automatic awning that they installed at the last minute and still kept the schedule.