PETE THE PAINTER INC

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Covered everything before painting. The work was exceptional. I've used many painters over the last 50 years. This company is outstanding. I have become very particular over years, but I couldn't find anything to say upon completion... other than, "Wow"!

I never write reviews but my experience with Pete has been so awful I have to do anything I can to warn others...DO NOT USE PETE THE PAINTER!!! We hired Pete to paint the entire interior of our new home before we moved in. We needed the job done in a week and Pete assured us that he could have it done. Told us he would have a crew of 4-5 guys here everyday. First day two guys showed up and all I got was a handful of excuses from Pete. Second day again...two guys and more excuses. In the end the job took over two weeks, we had to postpone our moving date and all the other details that go along with that because of Pete the Painter. At that point I figured stuff happens, not a big deal and at least it's being done right. Oh how I was mistaken. About six months later I noticed flecks of white paint stuck on my floor. We soon realized the paint was peeling off all the baseboards and when my cleaning lady mopped the floor, her mop would brush against the wall (which is totally normal) and the paint would come off and stick to the mop and then stick to my floor. Upon further inspection and numerous opinions from other local painters we came to the conclusion that none of the proper prep work was done. They did not sand, prime properly or use the correct type of paint and now every baseboard, piece of trim and door in my house has peeling paint. We have contacted Pete numerous times. He refuses to admit any fault in this situation and all he can give us are more and more excuses. He offered to "touch-up" the spots that are peeling but what good will that do? He blamed my cleaning lady for using the wrong kind of mop (she cleans five other people's homes that I know and this has not happened in their houses.) He then told me that was normal "wear and tear." After six months? I don't think so. And finally he told me he would be happy to redo everything but it would cost me the same as it would anybody else. Seriously? If I'm going to pay someone to fix it do you really think I am going to pay you to do it??? After that we decided to just chalk it up to "we got screwed" and move on. And I told myself I would do everything in my power to make sure nobody else gets screwed like we did. So, if your considering using Pete the Painter please do yourself a favor and run in the other direction...fast. Beware.

He came right on time, the guy came in. Looked at the situation and had all of the supplies, I already had the paint. He spent 5 hours and put the drywall in, taped it, put a skim coat of plaster on and texturing to match what I had done in 1991 when it was originally done. He primed it and put on the finished coat. All of this was done in 5 hours, I was very impressed.

After we signed the contact we were provided with excuse after excuse as to why weeks and weeks were going by without the work being started. We let April and May slide because there was a lot of rain, but when all of June came and went, we started getting suspicious. We finally demanded our money back in late July and had to get the Village of Northbrook involved to get him to return our deposit. We finally got the deposit back minus what we were told was the cost of the paint (no receipt from paint store submitted of course). Now the summer is gone and I am stuck with $500 worth of paint and right back where I was in April.

The painter that Pete sent was wonderful. He was very punctual, efficient and cleaned up after himself; however, I found that Pete was not very responsive when I called with questions, and he never called or stopped in to see how the job was going. After the work was completed, Pete never stopped in or called to see how the job went. He just asked the painter to pick up the check for the amount due.

Their performance had been really good, up until this last incident. I felt like I was taken advantage of, price wise. There is no way they could have started mixing my paint at 840, and then not been able to mix the new paint from 840 to 1130. They did come back, and finish the work on another day. It was poorly handled by them. They should have called us earlier to tell us that they were cancelling for that day; they should not have waited til the last minute to tell us they were cancelling because of paint.

. It was a free estimate. I am looking at the price. He was very courteous and nice. He seemed knowledgeable. It all comes down to price. However I would consider him to provide estimates in the future.

He was OK. As painters go he was not too bad. He gave a beautiful proposal. He first said he couldn't get pickets because they do not make that kind anymore. He was going to have to use a different top. It was an old fence and I told him he could use some from salvage. After telling me he couldn't get the he made some and then reused some and it looked fine. Even though it was a lot of money I was satisfied with that. I had to have them back because they missed one thing and they fixed it.

OUR EXPERIENCE WAS BAD FROM THE START. WE HIRED PETE TO DO A LARGE JOB ($17,000), INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR. HE REQUIRED A 50% DEPOSIT. WE ASKED HIM TO PAINT A REMODELED BATHROOM RIGHT AWAY SO THAT A SINK COULD BE INSTALLED,AND THE REST AFTER REMODELING WAS COMPLETED. PETE WAS VERY PUSHY, SO WE LET HIM PAINT WOODWORK IN TWO MORE ROOMS. I WAS NOT AT ALL HAPPY WITH THE QUALITY OF THEIR WORK. I HAD EXPLAINED THAT WE NEEDED EXTENSIVE PREP WORK DONE. WHEN I COMPLAINED ABOUT THE QUALITY, PETE TOLD ME THAT HE HAD DONE THE INDUSTRY STANDARD, WHICH IS CLEARLY NOT WHAT I HAD ASKED FOR. I DECIDED TO CANCEL THE CONTRACT, AND FOUND THAT IT STATED (ON THE BACK, IN LIGHT PRINT) THAT OUR TERMINATION OF THE CONTRACT ENTITLED PETE TO KEEP HALF THE DEPOSIT, FAR MORE THAN THE VALUE OF THE WORK COMPLETED. HE GAVE US A CHECK FOR ABOUT $3,500, WHICH WE DID NOT CASH WHILE IN DISPUTE. THE CHECK BECAME STALE DATED, AND WE HAVE BEEN UNABLE TO GET A NEW CHECK FROM HIM. HE SAYS HE DOES NOT HAVE THE FUNDS TO COVER IT.

EXCELLENT WORK. ONE WINDOW WAS NOT WORKING QUITE RIGHT AFTER IT WAS PAINTED, BUT THEY CAME BACK RIGHT AWAY TO CHECK IT OUT AND FIX.

DIDN'T TURN UP ON DAY SCHEDULED, BUT KEPT US INFORMED. SHOWED UP EARLY FOLLOWING DAY, AND FINISHED JOB THE DAY AFTER. THEY VACUUMED THE WORST OF THE DUST, BUT WE HAD TO DO A COMPLETE CLEAN. THEY DID A VERY GOOD JOB PAINTING.

IT TURNED OUT GREAT. WE ENDED UP MOVING, BUT IT HELPED SELL THE HOME.

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DID NOT SELECT DUE TO PRICE.

KUDOS TO PETE THE PAINTER!! THE COLOR ON THE FRONT DOOR DID NOT TURN OUT THE RIGHT WAY BUT HE IS GOING TO FIX IT FOR NOTHING! VERY EASY TO WORK WITH !

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AFTER COMPLETING A DAY OF WORK, THEY SAID THEY'D RETURN THE NEXT DAY (SATURDAY) TO COMPLETE THE JOB BECAUSE WE HAD AN OPEN HOUSE ON SUNDAY. THEY NEVER SHOWED UP AND NEVER CALLED. THEY DID ARRIVE MONDAY MORNING, AFTER MY HUSBAND AND I HAD TO FINISH THE WORK OURSELVES ON SATURDAY AND SUNDAY.

THEY DID A VERY NICE JOB AND WERE EXCEPTIONALLY CLEAN AND NEAT. ON THE DOWN SIDE, I GOT ONLY ABOUT 45 MINUTES NOTICE BEFORE THEY STARTED, AND THEY USED SOME KIND OF PAINT ON THE BACK DOOR THAT IS STILL NOT DRY AFTER ALMOST A WEEK. I SUSPECT THAT THEY MIGHT HAVE THINNED IT INCORRECTLY. I HAVE YET TO CALL THEM ABOUT THIS ISSUE, SO I CAN''T SAY WHETHER THEY WILL CONSIDER IT A PROBLEM OR NOT, BUT IT IS WHY I GAVE THEM A "B" ON QUALITY. THE REST OF THE WORK WAS OUTSTANDING.

THEY WERE EXTREMELY PUNCTUAL, VERY PROFESSIONAL AND I WAS VERY PLEASED.

QUALITY WORK. THEY WERE GREAT. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THEM!