Durand Group

During the quote visit, he confirmed he was local (ie lived within 5 miles of my home and in the same town). First appointment was not met due his family medical emergency. He did not take any initiative to reschedule the work in the near future. We had email and phone conversations. The work was rescheduled. He did not show for the rescheduled appointment. He changed how he verifies appointments for the rescheduled work. Instead of an automated appointment reminder that was used for the first appointment (it did not require any type of response from the client), he said he sent multiple emails to me requesting a response if I still wanted the work done. He did not get an email response from me, so he canceled the second appointment. He noted past problems with other clients not being home or changing their minds without notifying him, costing him a lot of money. He noted the 3 hr round trip and was sorry if I did not understand that he wanted to confirm the appointment. As of 2/5/2015 I am not able to access his website http://www.getdurand.com/ His facebook page has his location as Apple Valley, MN not Mora, MN https://www.facebook.com/chrisdurandgroup I specifically sought out someone that was local and was confused as to why he had such a long drive. His Angies List profile appears to still list Apple Valley as place of business. Why not call me if he was not getting a response via email? With two scheduled appointments and several emails/phone calls, I thought it was very clear my intentions to have the work done. He said that he was sorry I did not check my email. Well, I did and do check my email inbox and spam folder. It is not a heavily used email. It would be very difficult to miss multiple emails. Successful emails had already been exchanged, making me suspicious the error was not mine. I requested he forward the appointment confirmation requests. He never provided the original emails. He said he would provide exact dates the emails were sent to confirm. He never did. I suggested that he may have some issues with communications with his clients and I do not believe I am at any fault. I told him I was not happy about how this is dragging out and would like the work done ASAP. All indications up to this point was that he is licensed and insured and still a better option that me getting up on a ladder myself. He responded with "...I figure you will just leave negative reviews anyway, we will never make you happy, so I am declining to do the work. I appreciate the opportunity and again I am sincerely sorry for what happen and wish it would have worked out." "I have never responded to an email like this, but I don't let people threaten me and try to shake me down. Good luck and again I'm sorry it didn't work out. I will watch for your review." I believe I was fair and patient. It does not seem reasonable to me that an easy drywall job should drag out from June to August and still not get done. I wanted a full sheet replaced so it would match the rest of the ceiling and could not do it by myself. I did not want to buy the mud and tape and go through the hassle (I am not good on ladders either). In the end, I bought two 4x4 pieces and my wife and I did it ourselves. Should have taken the wife's advice and done that from the beginning.

A couple years ago I had Chris install a new exterior door for me which went well for the most part other than finding a spot at the bottom of the door that he didn't caulk and exposed itself via a horrible draft that winter. Well about a year later I had another rotted door and called Chris out again. This time he ended up sending one of his workers that ended up not doing a very good job. The door wasn't very square to the house and he didn't pay attention to detail ex: using the non colored screws on the storm door instead of the brown screws in areas where they are exposed. Also his drill slipped and left a decent scratch on the storm door.I asked Chris to come fix the door which he did in a rather timely manner however he didn't actually finish the door that day as he wanted to contact the manufacturer or the door as he thought something was wrong with the door itself... Ever since then It's been ongoing of me trying to track him down and him saying he'll schedule me but then I never hear from him. At first he did give me a $100 credit towards his service for the inconvenience. However it's now been a year later and I'm still waiting for him to come back and button up my door and storm door! UPDATE October 2014- Finally got ahold of Chris only to say that I was confused and that there was nothing else he can do to fix the job, which is so confusing as to this was there things were left with this message: "Please accept my sincere apologies for the inconvenience you have experienced in respect to the back door I had Kenneth install for you. I take pride in ensuring my customer’s satisfaction. Unfortunately, Kenneth’s Installation did not meet my company’s high workmanship standards. I would also like to add, I did not meet your, or my own expectations, in regards to following up and resolving the problem. I have been in contact with the door manufacturer and they are not willing to replace the door. We can talk in more detail when I come to your house to fix some of the workmanship issues. With my years of experience, I feel Mastercraft is in the right by not wanting to replace the door. Again we can talk in greater detail when we meet again. I am going to supply new hinges at my expense for the trouble you have had. I am also going to schedule a time with you, in the very near future, to personally come over and do what I can to repair, work on the operation, and seal the door better. I deeply value your relationship with my company and I am committed to providing you with the highest level of service. I have added a $100.00 credit to your account, which can be used on any service my company provides, at regular rates as posted on my website at www.getdurand.com. The credit is applied to your account and will never expire so please use at your convienence. If you have any further questions or comments regarding this matter, please feel free to discuss it with me via email, text, phone, or when I come out. I apologize again for your inconvenience. " At this point I was satisfied with how he followed through but then it went into the trying to get ahold of him again and then finally doing so getting the message below basically complete opposite of his message about of trying to fix some of the workmanship issues his worker left. From Chris: Here are the issues. When you told me that you had a problem I stopped by your place right away to take a look and see what I could do. Once I got there I found out that the installation was not the problem, but rather the door itself as you are aware of as stated in your Angie’s List review. If you remember I talked to my rep at Menards and they talked with Mastercraft, there wasn’t much they would do about replacing the door and hinges. At that point I did tell you I would supply new hinges at my expense (approx. $15) because I appreciated your business and wanted to help you out anyway that I could.You also complained about the way the door fit in the opening. The door is installed properly; the problem is that the rough opening in the house is not square. Not sure if that is because of the way the addition was built or the house has settled over the years. I am not sure what you want me to do about that. At the time of my inspection the door opened, closed and latched well. There was a little twist in the frame that I feel Ken tried to avoid but by installing the door perfectly square, it could have caused more issues with gaps. I ran into the same problem when I installed the kitchen door. If I remove the door and install it perfectly square you are going to be very unhappy with the outcome. When I talk about workmanship I am talking about the trim work and finishing touches such as caulking around the trim to make it look nice and small finishing touches like that. Most contractors do not caulk around the interior trim, it’s just not the standard. Now there are things that can be done to make the door look slightly better such as cutting some wedges to slide behind the trim. It will do nothing to improve the way the door fits. Also, when I run into issues like the trim being uneven like it is behind the door, I consider it an unexpected problem and I normally bill the customer for the additional time.The other complaints you had are storm door related. I will start with the screws. We use the screws that are supplied with the door; we do not bring our own screws. The manufacturer supplies the screws with the door. Sometimes on lower end quality doors they supply some colored screws and some regular screws. It’s also a fairly common problem, I sometimes have extra colored screws in my truck and will use them instead, however only if I have them available. If you go and try to buy those colored screws you will find it can be difficult.As far as the small scratch, that can be touched up. The truth is how you do or I know it was ken that put the scratch on the door. Again, I hate to say it but with a lower end door the packaging is not great and these are common problems with these doors.My intentions were to stop by and caulk the door to make the trim look a little better, bring some brown screws, foam under the door, possibly add a small exterior trim piece under the door if needed and swap the hinges all at my expense. Not sure what you were expecting but in your Angie’s List review it made it sound like it was the first door we ever installed. What really got to me was the how happy you were with the first door I installed and called me back to do another door but in your review complained about how the other door was installed poorly and had bad drafts.Why don’t you detail to me what exactly you want done to the back door? When you say things like brown screws and hinges, remember that stuff was not our fault. The is the way the doors came and with the hardware the manufacture wanted the installers to use. I do not want to offend you but you truly do get what you pay for when you purchase these types of products. Mastercraft is very low end, they are hard to get a nice sealed install and it is hard for them to stand behind warranty. When it comes to my warranty, I do not warranty manufacturer defects. Meaning if the door is the if you have is a problem not just with the door, but the house. Like I said earlier the rough opening is not square to the house.Let me know exactly what you want. I can't help but feel as though I'm being blamed for buying "cheap" doors etc. so I guess my message is to be aware that giving a marginal review on CL can quickly change the way a contractor can treat you as I was just trying to be honest and hopefully get the company back out to finish some of the "Details" that I was originally told could be fixed or at least attempted to be.

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They're very flexible. They did a good job and they showed up on time. They were very clean and professional. They were very competent and they did the job right.

Chris did a great job. On the original date of service, he did not show up and I left a few voicemails. I finally texted him and he responded shortly after. It turned out that his mother was in the hospital and his son was supposed to contact me to reschedule and hadn't. He was very apologetic, and offered to reschedule within the next few days at a reduced price to "make things right." I greatly appreaciated that, and agreed to reschedule. He was on time and did a great job, and we have had several compliments on how great our bathroom looks after all of the work we had done in it...new vanity/sink, faucet, shower door, light fixture, and towel racks. He let me know that the tub faucet I had selected would not be able to be replaced without breaking up the tile and offered a suggestion of a place to go to find what I need to plate the fixtures instead. He was even done with those projects early so asked what else he could do, so we were able to have our dining room chandelier replaced as well. Again, I cannot stress how impressed I was with his willingness to offer me a discount for the inconvenience of a no-show, which, knowing the situation, was understandable. We have recommended him to others already!

I found him and called him and everything started off nice. He spoke to my husband on the phone and we explained to him we are in new construction home and needed mailbox post installed into dry, hard ground. He said he would do it for $80 basically covering the rental of an auger and his time/labor. Mind you my husband had already mounted the mailbox into the post. All he had to do was dig the hole and get the post in the ground and standing. He told me the ground needed to be marked for all gas,cable, and electric underground lines. Told me he would call Gopher State to have the lines sprayed. Then said they should be out the next day and he would come out and install. I said okay. That my daughter would be home and we would be at work, he said she could let us know if they sprayed and then let him know. I talked to my daughter throughout the day and finally mid afternoon she said they came and ground was sprayed. I texted Chris like I said I would and he didn't believe me that they came out. Said "ARE YOU SURE??!!" In a text to me. Told me Gopher state didn't call him,and that would be the first time in 8 years that he never got a call. Then proceeded to tell me that he was 2 hours away. So then I asked him if he was 2 hours away how was he planning on getting to us that day and if he expected a call from Gopher State and never missed a call in 8 years, why is he relying on my 15year old daughter to let us know if they came. Just a wide note, I also called Gopher State and they had no orders in the system of him calling for my property!!!! Then he started back peddling, proceeded to tell me he would be out the next morning and would text me a time time to expect him. He texted us saying he would be here at 10:30am. I told him I needed to go out by noon.... He said okay. Then about a half an hour later he texted me to tell me he would be here closer to noon, would someone be here. I said I would wait, even though I was aggravated I was pushing back my time to accommodate him when he knew I was going out. Well he shows up and tells my husband he would go rent an auger and be back. He comes back and asks my husband to HELP HIM DIG the hole using the auger!!!!! I thought the point of hiring someone was so WE DIDN'T have to do it!!??!! Mt husband wanted it done at this point so he helped him THE WHOLE TIME... From digging the hole with auger, then had to help him hold post straight while he was cementing the post in ground..... My husband had to look at it and straighten it out, if he didn't Chris was going to leave it crooked! When they finished my husband asked to see the receipt to the auger rental because Chris said the price he quoted us included the auger rental. We were okay with that but when he asked to see the receipt, Chris could not furnish one.!! If he LEFT our house to go rent the auger.... How did he NOT have a receipt? So my husband said fine and then Chris proceeded to give him a total due of $120!! Originally it was $80. My husband tells him the price difference and did not like his shady ways of raising the price and could not even show a rental receipt to what WE were paying... Besides the fact lets not forget my husband HELPED HIM MANUALLY DO THE WHOLE JOB and he had the nerve to raise the price!!!! My husband told him he wasn't happy with the difference and no receipt and he helped him. Chris gets blatantly RUDE with my husband. My husband just wanted it done and over with so he paid him and Chris speeds off down our street in his truck. This man may seem like he can do a job.... But expect to HELP HIM LIKE YOU'RE HIS "HELPER" and then pay MORE!!! Not to forget his ARRIVING to my house at the time I said I needed to leave my house by, then my husband since he was HELPING HIM in 90 degree weather, had to go re shower and change because he could go out like we were supposed to with him all sweaty. This man is a joke.... Keep looking and don't waste your time or money. Oh and to top it all off, he never said anything about having an issue with coming to do this work on a Saturday of Labor Day weekend. Yet when my husband spoke with him about the price increase, he throws in that we were LUCKY he came out on a holiday weekend and we should feel lucky!!!!!! I never asked him to come that weekend , he made the time and day arrangements!! Don't bother with this guy..... Find someone else or keep your money and do it yourself.....since he makes you work WITH HIM!!