Hays & Sons

Hays and Sons gladly quoted the opportunity to manage repairs after a tree landed on our roof September 2012. Once the contract was signed they immediately sub-contracted the roof repairs and replacement to another provider (as expected) who then sub-contracted to yet another contractor (not expected). Once the assigned roofing company showed up to do the work Hays and Sons were no where to be found. They did not kick off the project, did not manage the project and did not follow-up with the sub-sub-contracted roofer ... that is until it became clear after the work was "completed" there were a number of issues with quality of work. 1. The roofer covered holes in the roof with new paper and shingles when they "ran out of wood" thinking I would never go in the attic. I have pictures to prove this! 2. Sections of the roof that were too difficult to reach so were not replaced thinking I would not notice. (more pictures) 3. The shingles did not match - Hays and Sons ordered the color. --- (more pictures) 4. The driveway was covered in 8 places with oil dripped from the roofer vehicles (more pictures) that broke down during the three day ordeal of replacing the roof. 5. To clean the driveway, after 3 attempts of bleaching and stripping, the stains are finally gone but now the driveway is pitting in those locations. 6. Cigarette butts were left all over the yard along with trash and old, roofing nails. At this point, I was required to re-engage the insurance provider and explain over many discussions and months the many issues with the first attempt to resolve the poor work. Hays and Sons finally showed up to fix the roof mistakes in December while the roof was covered in ice! I spent countless hours (days) on the phone and in-person waiting on the Hays and Sons "leadership" to appear at my home to "talk" through the issues. The value "refunded" for my time you might wonder ... $500. A ~$20,000 roof over 10+ months of issues and challenges and my time in the eyes of Hays and Sons is $500. Now, 10+ months later my roof has finally been replaced by yet another sub-contractor and it seems (as of today) the issues have been resolved. Final recommendation ... avoid Hays and Sons as a contractor.

This has been the worst experience with a contractor of our lives. The problems are too numerous to list, and I wish I had been keeping a specific journal since day one. The major problem has been the fact that the insurance adjuster did not identify the leak into the main level as having a secondary source (even though we pointed out it had to be associated with upper level window frame). Hayes & Sons agreed to investigate this by removing siding, identifying the problem and then writing us an estimate for that repair. All we want is the work done, and leak fixed; and we have never once asked Hayes & Sons to do this for free or at a discount - we just want them to do the work we agreed to do in that initial visit in the late summer of 2013. Below is a summary of issues: -Poor communication - instances too numerous to list. We are constantly calling them to follow up. -Poor communication of work to be done within Hayes & Sons. We are often explaining to workers what they are to be doing when they get here, as different people show up without a correct understanding of what the scope of the work is. -Not showing up for appointments ("I forgot", was the explanation we got on 4/10/14) -Poor quality of work -Agreed upon work not yet completed (6+ months later) -Constant excuses. My wife and I are ready to cut these people out of our lives, but as the insurance claim is already started through them it is difficult to do so. The work right now is $1800, but we still want them to complete the job so it will grow. Again, we aren't asking H&S for anything free...just do do the work that they agreed to do in the first place.

Very well. Biggest problem was communications with the office. The workers did a great job and err anxious to help.

Hays & Sons did no-showed for my appointment after confirming three times up to the date over the phone that it was scheduled. I have to stay home from work to accomodate things like this. They are great at answering the phone at 10pm, but beware of the follow up service (or lack-there-of).

I can't say enough positives of Hays and Sons. They were highly recommended by friends and my insurance adjuster. The first contact I had with the company was the operator out of their Muncie office at 3701 W. 8th Street 47302, (765)287-0911 and spoke with Joseph Horsley. He immediately scheduled me for a walk-through estimate. In a very short period of time after he had contacted my insurance company, I was put in touch with Tom Terrell, project manager. Let me say, once you contract a job, you expect the workmen to be experienced and qualified. They were! However, the BEST part of this whole experience was working with Tom. I can't say enough positives about this man. The words come easy: courteous, respectful, prompt, knowledgeable, and most importantly, a GREAT communicator. He NEVER failed to keep me posted on exactly where things were. He was frequently on the property checking the work and asking me if I had any questions about anything. He represents his company well out in the field. If he's not satisfied with the work - they do it over!

We had a house fire they were suppose to restore furniture and remove smoke smell. We had to send almost all furniture back several times as it still smelled of smoke. They literally damaged EVERY single piece of wood furniture we had! It took a professional wood repairman they paid for 5 weeks to fix all the damages. They LOST my husband's Mother's ashes for 5 days. I had several missing items that would have just disappeared if I didn't mention. There were several boxes they were supposed to hold with medications, skin care products etc. that they threw away... When I tried to discuss a discount the sales girl said she was the only person to talk to as she apparently has NO boss but is also not related to owners? They hired a secondary company to restore our pool table but that was not done and the company irreversibly damaged that too! If the fire wasn't bad enough this company literally damaged everything!!!!

I contacted my insurance company. Within 10 minutes of completing my claim information, I received a phone call from Hays and sons regarding my claim. They immediately sent out a contractor to do an emergency patch job on my roof to prevent further damage and leaking. The representative (Joe Dillon) that came out to my house for the initial inspection had great communication skills as well as professional appearance, attitude, and met me when I was available. The representative did a great job and provided me with all of the information that I needed to contact him and Hays and Sons. The office of Hays and sons did a great job sending me the proper documentation, communicating with me throughout the process. The original project manager (Chad Schmepf, now released from the company) not once meet with me face to face, told me when contractors were coming out to my property, and other numerous issues that I did make Hays and sons aware of. Hays and sons immediately had a new project manager (Sean Mattingly) take over. Sean was a really good, professional, representative for the company. He did an excellent job meeting with me, communicating with me any issues along the way, and ensuring that I was well taken care of at all times. Sean ensured that my project was completed in a good timely manner and it was. The outcome exceeded my expectations. I have and will continue to recommend Hays and Sons for future projects.

Hays hired contractors to do all the work in our rooms. The contractors showed up late, there are paint drips on our walls, and I had to go back and repaint several areas because they missed spots. They took so many smoke breaks (outside) that our rooms smelled like cigarettes. We had to run an air purifier in the room afterward to rid the area of the smoke smell (even over the smell of paint)! When the tarp was removed from the roof there were 100+ holes left from the nails....not to mention the nails that were left exposed (not tapped in). Two days later another spring storm rolled through, and our leak was back with a vengeance. We took a video of the leak during the storm to show where it was coming from....all the holes caused by the tarping crew. Hays DID admit fault and replaced our roof, which was great. However, all of these are problems that reputable companies should never have. Any business knows that your reputation is only as good as that of the contractors you use and employees you hire. The only reason I'm not rating Hays with an "F" is because the Foreman and his Manager were so extremely nice and easy to deal with. They were NOT, however, nice enough that I would refer them or use them again in the future!

Good at first - but couldn't get the job completed - talked to several people that promised the moon - didn't happen - I got tired of all the promises. Finished it myself to get it completed.

Our home received hail damage during the April 2013 hail storm. Company was recommended by insurance agent. The company came and inspected the house for damage and provided a written report and estimate to repair damage. The insurance company accepted the report and estimate and we agreed to have Hays & Sons do the repair work. The work was scheduled and completed. The work was scheduled in different intervals. A couple of times work was scheduled for a certain day, then had to be rescheduled, hence the B grade on punctuality. The work was completed and done well.

The cleanup crew was prompt and professional. They used a skid steer loader to tear down and clean up the debris. They left my site clean and ready for me to start rebuilding.

Hays and Sons were very prompt and seemed quite attentive when our sump pump failed and our basement flooded. We paid our $5000 deductible and State Farm paid the rest to dry out the basement and restore it to normal. We decided to use our own carpet people as they had recently replaced our carpeting and were the ones who installed it in the first place. It took a while to get the carpet and when Brown's Flooring pulled up the old carpet the floor was still wet in places. So, we had to put in fans and turn up the heat to dry the concrete floor. When I contacted Heath at Hays and Sons he claimed they did everything correctly and it could not have been their fault. He suggested that our new sump pump was not able to keep up. That is nonsense. There is no water within 35 feet of the sump. It is a brand new high end high volume sump pump with a backup sump which runs on a continually charged external battery. In addition the house has an automatic generator if the electricity should fail. Heath said that water must be seeping up from below if there is nothing wrong with the sump. Nonsense. We have NEVER had any moisture problems in our basement other than the sump. Once the concrete floor is dry we will install the new carpet. I am also reporting this to State Farm. When I indicated I was going to report this to the insurance company, he was very cavalier and said go ahead. I was totally dismissed without even the opportunity to show him what was present. Without any inspection he claimed they did a perfect job. Unbelievable. I'll get the minimal moisture dried out and the carpet installed. It probably does not need anything other than to evaporate. I am just completely appalled at the cavalier attitude and unwillingness to acknowledge any possibility of negligence.

I would use their services again in the future.

They were very good. They worked on it for three months.

Carlin handled everything, water was pumped out of basement, new furnance and everything that goes with it, cleaned up everything, could not have been better taken care of, he handled everything with insurance company after reviewing with myself. My experience with Hays & Sons was a good one, they are fortunate to have Carliin as an employee, He really made a bad situatuon transition into very satisfied customers.

They were good, quick, and reasonably priced. They did a very professional job.

We didn’t have a good experience at all and we wouldn’t want them to come back. We had water leaking in our house and they said they found the leak but they actually did not. After we paid them we had the same leak in the same place within six months. I called them and they refused to come back and I had to hire an attorney. He wrote them a letter and he made them come out. It was awful experience. They were rude. They did not take the responsibility. I do not recommend them. They were expensive.

Overall, Hays and Sons wasn't bad. They were responsive, arrived on time to appointments and were flexible with my schedule. But, they do need to better screen the companies/people that they hire for specific jobs.

There poor communication throughout the job. I would point things out to the project manager and he would tell me it would tell it would be taken care of but it never was taken care of. The project manager would tell that his workers would be on the job by a certain time and they would be here 2-3 hrs later. My husband had to take off work to supervise one day secondary to critical timing of work that day. Get everything in writing. Do not take your insurance adjusters word that they do a good job. Inspect post jobs they have done. They all think they do a great job. DO NOT take their word for it.

The estimate was thorough and in line with insurance estimates. The business contact that did the estimating and managed the work was thorough, professional, and prompt. The roofing and guttering replacement were done correctly the first time. It took three attempts for the metal window wraps to be applied correctly on the windows on the west side of house. The problem was that the metal fabrication (cutting and bending) was not precise and the first two times following the application of the metal wraps there were unacceptable gaps which the applier attempted to remedy with excessive amounts of caulk. In both cases we called the business contact who promptly came out and inspected the wraps. He agreed that the work was not acceptable and in both cases had the work redone promptly at no additional cost to us. Finally on the third attempt my wife and I agreed that the latest application of the wraps was acceptable. Even with the extra work on their part the work was completed in 3 additional days after the first attempt. The crews (roofing, gutter, and window wrap) did an excellent job of cleaning up after they completed their respective work. I was also extremely impressed with the lack of any apparent ill feeling from Hayes about having to do the window wrap work multiple times to get it correct. This probably took more time and labor than what they originally estimated and cut their profits. The lack of a bad attitude and willingness to "do it correctly" was apparent on both the business contact and the worker doing the window wrap work.

We were so confused and heartbroken after the fire. Hayes and Sons sent out a wonderful young man who was kind and guided us through the overwhelming project of rebuilding our home. He listened to our wishes, choreographed the construction, and did his very best to please us every step of the way. We were told that it would take six months to complete the task, and the employees worked long hours to have our home completed before the target date. Everyone was just outstanding, and I would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone who is in need of their services.

We had a small water leak which continued for some time until it finally shorted our alarm system. Damage involved our kitchen and dining room floors and walls and lower level bath and bedroom. Hays performed repair by removing damaged walls and floors, removing undamaged kitchen cabinets and later returning them after replacing floors. Total time involved was about 6 weeks. One of their subcontractors damaged areas and items which were undamaged by the water and Hays replaced damaged items with new items at their cost without hassle. They also acted as an intermediary with the insurance company to resolve claim issues. Their project manager was in frequent contact throughout the repair period and arranged a few extra upgrades we wanted (at our cost).

The office lady did tell me it would be a few days before someone could call me back as they had received many calls due to the recent storms. I was completely OK with that. Today, I was surprised to get a call from Jay that he had been to my house and checked out the roof and gutters and didn't see any hail damage. While I appreciate the 'free inspection', I do not appreciate someone entering my property and climbing on my roof without my consent. I would have preferred a call beforehand asking if it was OK to go ahead and do this instead of them doing whatever they want, while knowing that no one was home. (He knew because he told me that he did knock on the door first, and no one answered). I never would have given them my home address had I known that they would go on my property without any notice or permission. Had they found hail damage, I would NOT have hired them based on this experience.

The company used super dryers to heat up the house to dry out all the water. After that, demo was done and then the kitchen had to be completely redone, as well as a downstairs bathroom and hallway. Looks great!

I called the company about minor water leak in my main floor (a gallon water on main floor kitchen, another gallon shop-vacuumed in crawlspace). They asked me about my insurance company and agents' office. I told them about the info. They told me their minimum charge is $500 to come out. I told them to send someone to assess the possible damage and then let me know, if we need their services. They sent someone over after 7 days (in the meantime, I called them 3 times). Brian Lawson showed up only to tell me that he can write up an estimate on replacing the flooring!!! When I asked about the water damage assessment, he did not have a clue. He told me another person Carlin is responsible for water mitigation assessment (after 7 days!!!!!!!!!!!!). I contacted Carlin, only to receive an email about possible estimates (without anyone trying to read moisture levels). I contacted him on the phone several times to send someone over ( for God's sake). Day 12: two people Brian Thomas and Joe show up, telling me how water changes classification after 72 hours, and then changes another level after additional 48 hours. When we entered the crawlspace, to my utter shock, there was an active drip on 2 different spots, mysteriously. They told me to fix the leak first. (That day, unfortunately, I had another water leak mysteriously from water heater pressure relief valve, only to be discovered later next morning). I changed the water heater next day, and the drip stopped completely. I called Brian Thomas and told him that on Day 14 morning. Hays company sent two people, for water mitigation. Mysteriously, the adjuster from the insurance company shows up at the driveway, at the same time. The three of them discuss the process. Then, the Hays employee told my insurance adjuster that he can smell mold on the main floor plywood (just because he has been working for the last 2 years); without any mold tests. The insurance adjuster denies the claim, instantaneously. And all three walk out. I start out my DIY project for water mitigation and removal of the flooring. I called another mold remediation company for their assessment. They told me that I did not have MOLD. I went around my business of replacing 200 sq ft of sub-floor underlayment, removing appliances, toilets, sink, cabinets, washer, dryer, dishwasher, fridge, stove; all the time running blower fans, dehumidifiers on the main floor and crawlspace; taking pictures and never finding the elusive mold.