Jeff Swartz Painting

Took a deposit for exterior house painting. Had excuse after excuse for not showing up to do the job. 6 weeks of waiting and multiple calls and undelivered promises. He never delivered our paint and then when he finally did begin painting he used an unknown color that was not what we ordered and would not provide proof of color match, just blamed us for being too picky. Prep work was completed satisfactorily, but this again was after 4 weeks of delays. We agreed to pay for the prep work, asking for part of our deposit back, but have not recv'd, we will have to take it to small claims court.

Things went pretty well during the majority of the painting. Then, in the final week to ten days, Jeff fell off his ladder from about 4-5 feet off the ground and broke the heel of his foot. His only remaining helper, a young man who was NOT a professional by any sense of the word, although he worked hard, was left to finish the job. About four months later in January of 2009, we notified him that the newly painted front door was PEELING. He agreed to do a repaint as the weather warmed up. During the ensuing months we spoke with his paint supplier who concluded that a metal door of that age (approx. 15 years) should have been PRIMED before painting. We passed this on to Jeff. Starting the end of April and up to the present time, NUMEROUS messages have been left on his answering machine but he has ignored ALL OF THEM, even after I told him I would take steps such as this to let the community know how we are being treated. All during the painting I supplied cold water for all of them at their discretion in an outside refrigerator. On several occasions I bought all of them LUNCH. I even did part of their work by re-hanging 7 of the 8 outdoor lights. After Jeff's fall from the ladder, my wife and I were there instantly with ICE. We were making arrangements to take him to the emergency room, a 50 MILE ROUND TRIP, until his girlfriend showed up to do it. I gave him a pair of crutches that I had recently used myself, which were NOT returned. We did all this because we are a relatively small community around here and that's what you do for "friends." THIS IS HOW WE ARE BEING REPAID AND MY WIFE AND I ARE OUTRAGED AT HOW WE ARE BEING TREATED! THAT IS WHY I AM POSTING HERE: SO OTHERS ARE NOT TAKEN IN BY HIS FRIENDLY DEMEANOR. AND AFTER ALL THAT HELP, EVEN THOUGH I MADE SURE HE HAD INSURANCE FOR JUST SUCH ACCIDENTS, SEVERAL MONTHS LATER HE CONTACTED ME TO SEE IF MY INSURANCE WOULD HELP OUT?