Woodmeister Master Builders

Description of Work: Following the receipt of a certificate of completion for my home in Westerly Rhode Island, there remained work to be done in the home itself and garage needed to be completed and finalized. My primary builder was not up to finishing the job and a consultant who I had hired to help me with the punch list recommended Woodmeister Master Builders in Holden Massachusetts. I entered into a contract with Woodmeister Master Builders to complete the work in large part on a time and materials basis -- small portions of the project were to be done on a fixed cost basis. From the beginning of the project in the fall of 2010, Woodmeister dragged its feet because they did not have the right resources to do the work, and when they finally secured the right resources in the spring of 2011, the hourly time spent on the punch list had skyrocketed. Eventually they billed me over 4,000 man hours of time, including travel time to and from the job. In attempting to settle the matter after the cost got out of hand, I mentioned in August of 2011 to the company's CFO that I was being billed for "time" on a time and materials basis that included extensive travel to and from the job (Holden, MA to Westerly, RI). He responded stating that was not possible and then he later retracted his statement and said I was in fact billed for travel time. But, at the end of the day, it wasn't even this issue that causes me to write this negative review. Woodmeister was rude and unprofessional in the manner in which they dealt with me. At one point, in the middle of the project when I was attempting to clarify a small point in the contact with the owner, Ted Goodnow, Ted Goodnow actually told me that I was lucky to have Woodmeister focusing on finishing my project and if I did not do things his way he would walk off the job. I reported this to the project manager, Bill Doonan, and Bill Doonan's only response was to the effect that he would not have treated my concern over the original contract the same way if he was the owner of the company. I have clear evidence that Woodmeister not only charged me for travel time from Holden, Ma to Westerly, RI, but that they also clearly padded their time on this "time and materials" project. In fact, on many occasions when I met with Bill Doonan on the job he would be billing me while he was taking calls and working on other projects. Many professionals have reviewed the bills and the work that was done and have walked away dismayed at the cost that Woodmeister charged. Eventually this dispute went to arbitration and was settled, not because I wanted to, but because it would have cost me more time to litigate the matter. Woodmeister purports to be a high end builder. But I would strongly urge anyone who is thinking about hiring Woodmeister to think twice before doing so, and to understand that if they do in fact hire Woodmeister, Woodmeister will not treat the homeowner fairly and with the respect that he or she deserves. Please feel free to contact me on Angie's list if I can be of further help and explain the problems with this firm in greater detail.