Pro 1 Construction Inc

On the afternoon of May 31, 2011 we were approached at our home by Andy of Pro 1 Construction. He was canvassing the neighborhood after the tornado, and our roof had extensive damage. We?d been waiting a week and a half for the roofer we?d been recommended to, to actually give us a date for a consult/work to start/etc, and we were tired of waiting. Against my better judgment, I listened to what Andy had to say. I had sworn that I wouldn?t hire any of the ?vultures? who came door to door, but he seemed nice, honest, and well... he was the first one not wearing a suit. Didn?t come off as a smarmy salesperson. Andy went right up on our roof, looked over all of the damage, and gave us a rough estimate of what it would cost. He seemed very thorough, and even talked to my husband on the phone, right there, about some of the concerns my husband and I brought up (insulation, our choice of shingles, etc). It all sounded good, but I?m not one to sign a contract for something like that on the spot, so I told Andy that we would think it over and call him if we would want to go ahead and make an appointment to sign contracts the next morning. He told me that we could call ?anytime?, and that he?s even taken calls up til midnight. Well, by 9 or 10 pm that night, we?d decided to sign with them. He DID take the call, and arranged to meet up with us at their office the following morning. We found it a little strange that Andy wasn?t able to meet IN the office - his parents/owners weren?t in yet, and he didn?t have a key to get in. We went over everything, it looked good, and we signed anyway. Andy told us that he?d be able to get the order for the shingles in that afternoon. The materials would be dropped at our house on Friday, work starting on Saturday... likely taking 2 days. He would call that afternoon to confirm that there was not a problem getting the shingles we wanted. We didn?t hear from him that day, so got ahold of him the next day. He said he?d have an answer by the afternoon (Thursday, at this point), but we didn?t hear back. We called around 6pm, and again around 8... nothing. Apparently ?call anytime? only counts before they have our deposit money. He did not return our call that night. Friday morning, I called the office and got ahold of his father, the owner. He claimed that Andy had ?over promised?, but made no attempt to even try to live up to the promises that were made in order for us to sign. He was very short with me on a few occasions, but I tried to ignore it - I just wanted our roof installed. According to him, the shingles hadn?t been ordered, were going to be a ?special order?, but that he?d start making calls to see if anyone had them in stock- this is now 2 DAYS after we were told the shingles would be ordered that same day. Friday - the day we were supposed to have them dropped at our house, for work to begin. The owner wanted to come by to see the place himself - which seemed a little weird to me, as our contract had detailed measurements, all of the specifics, etc. He asked if I?d be around in a couple hours, I told him that I would have to be going to a meeting at some point, so to call when he was on his way. He called to say he?d be here at 12:03. At 12:02 he called to say it would now be 12:15. He showed up at 12:25. Almost immediately, he began making disparaging remarks about the area, basically stating that ?most of the people who live here are scammers, are bankrupt / trying to screw the system / on welfare, wouldn?t pay him, etc. He followed it up with ?I?m not saying this about YOU, specifically...?, but it struck me as weird. I tried to ignore it, as I just really wanted the roof replaced as contracted. When he walked around the house, he started coming up with all sorts of things that Andy ?didn?t see? (Yes, Andy saw and made mention of all of it), and started trying to add stuff to the whole thing. We needed new supports for the overhang. That Andy ?hadn?t factored in? something else. I didn?t even care at this point, I just wanted the roof on, and SOON. I ask when he can start, he says he can pull a permit and have his guys there tomorrow. Two minutes later, he says something about not starting till Monday. (This wasn?t the first inconsistency of his). I asked him about this, and pointed out what he?d said just a few minutes before. He tried to backpedal, claimed I?d ?put words in his mouth?, when all I did was directly quote his response to my asking for the bottom line time line. He finally agreed that he HAD said that, but that it was contingent upon him getting ?all the way to St Paul? for a permit within the next 3 hours, and that MAYBE he could, but they wouldn?t start till Monday or Tuesday now. I pointed out that the city had set up a special permits office in N. Minneapolis to deal with the tornado damage, and he brushed it off with ?I don?t have my checkbook on me?, saying he?d have to go back to Maple Grove and then back to St Paul. He had NO desire to go to the North Minneapolis office, I have no idea why - well, aside from maybe the condescending attitude he had towards ?those people? in the area. He kept getting even more rude - he?d been condescending this entire time. Raised his voice, asked if I ?Know how business works? (I do, I?ve been a business owner for over 15 years), and ?Do you even know what ?condescending? means??. Oh, the irony on that last one. I told him that I am an educated, intelligent woman, and did not need him to be talking down to me. He fired back at me, asking if I was saying that he was UNeducated (?!), and got very belligerent. He started trying to back out of the contract, by saying that if I was going to question what he says, than he ?obviously couldn?t make (me) happy?, while I explained that yes, he could, ALL we want is for him to do the work that we contracted them for, and to give us an answer as to a start date. At one point, he said - of my question about a start date - ?That?s a very easy question to answer, but I?m not going to, because nothing I can say will make you happy?. He just refused to give us any sort of idea, even though a timeline was easy to promise BEFORE they had our money. I don?t beg, and I don?t cry easily, but he had me doing both, right there in my front yard. It was almost 2 whole weeks after the tornado, and I did NOT want to be sent back to square one. All I wanted was for him to honor the contract that we?d rushed to sign, and paid a hefty deposit on. He gave me my contract and deposit back, and walked out. I?m glad I don?t have to chase down our money, but I?m very upset that they wasted 3 days of our time. That was 3 days we could have spent with someone who actually intended to do our roof. It was 3 days of relief at FINALLY knowing we had someone to do the work, and about excitedly looking forward to being able to move back in. 3 days, ripped away from us, and THAT can?t be returned. Looking back over the entire deal, it seems to me that he wasn?t happy with the quote we were given on our contract, and wanted it higher. When I questioned some of the things he was saying - in terms of the logistics of the repairs, etc - he got mad. If he?s going to try to add stuff on, of COURSE I?m going to ask about the options, what he means by certain things, etc. I think he wanted someone who?d just blindly let him rack up the bill, and when he realized that I wasn?t like that, he just wanted out. For all I know, Andy under quoted on the contract (I?m not a roofer!), but if that was the case, he should have lived up to it. If you?re going to give someone the power to make promises and sign contracts on behalf of the company, you?re going to have to be prepared to live up to those contracts and promises, not just berate your client repeatedly and try to say that they wouldn?t ?be happy?. Like I explained to him many times - while BEGGING - all we wanted was our roof replacement, and an answer as to when. That?s not unreasonable. We?re not hard to deal with... and we certainly didn?t deserve what they did to us. I feel personally violated, that this company - that we paid a big deposit to - came to our property, to our house... and treated me like that.

What a great company to work with! Andy was very thorough and polite, plus someone always returned our calls quickly. The roof was done in just over a day, and they cleaned up our yard as well as the stuff that had blown over in to the neighbor's yard. They worked with our insurance company and that process went very smoothly. The work that was not covered by insurance was very reasonably priced, and Andy helped us pick out the best roof that fit within our budget. The work and materials used were very high quality, and we are super pleased with the whole process.