Hello Painting

Description of Work: Be Aware! After seeing a sign in a nearby neighborhood I contacted this company to give me a quote on painting my house with some minor repair work to siding and fascia. I had some repair work done last October but there were some areas we missed so I wanted to make sure all was done before painting. John was scheduled to come out and he arrived on time. We walked the outside and I pointed out the obvious. He then told me that once the pressure washing was done there was a possibility more repair work would be identified. This pretty much sounded like an "open end" type of contract and I immediately felt uncomfortable....I know that when a house is pressure washed it can create more damage than good...red flag #1. Then he told me that the boards (siding and fascia) that needed to be replaced would be $70 each...he emphasized this. I know from the work I had done in October (I have receipts from Stanly Hardware) that hardiplank siding should cost between $5.25 - $8.00 per 12 ft board (Lowes) so this flabbergasted me that they want $70.00 PER BOARD to replace! It doesn't take a rocket scientist to do the math....let's see...say you can replace 5-10 boards per hour...well that makes that up to $700 per hour labor...I don't think so!!. He proceeded to tell me that this price included not just the board but cutting, priming it, nailing it in and painting it. Wait a minute! I'm being quoted a separate price for painting the entire house so this sounds like I'm being charged for painting these repair boards twice?? Hmm. Here's some usefull information: 8 1/4 x 12' hardiplank goes from $5.25-$8.25 per 12 ft. board...does not need priming. 1'x6' pre-primed pine can be purchased for .95 per liner foot and 1x4 pre-primed pine is around .69 per linear foot. So their quote included a 4ft fascia board that would cost me $70. when the cost (before painting) was $2.76!!! That's some pricey painting!! Then their painting quote, which was separate from the repair quote, was over a $1000 more than what I have received from several other companies...and this was for one coat sprayed coverage AFTER their generous 20% discount!. John did a follow up call to tell me they really wanted my business and I told him about my concerns with the out of line cost of the repair (we didn't get a chance to talk about the paint cost). He immediately told me that "that's what he's told to quote by the owner" and that it was out of his hands but he would see what he can do. He then called me back to proudly inform me that they wanted my business so bad they would do the carpentry at "COST" and not make any money on it so it would be "about half" of what my quote was. Red Flag #2. I told him I would call him back if I wanted to pursue. A few days later I got a call from "Crystal" in their office wanting to know when I wanted to schedule the work...I told her that I was not interested in this company because they were "out of line" with their iinflated pricing and gave her some detail about my experience.. She said fine. Then a couple of days ago I got a call from (name?) who said he was the field manager and that Crystal told him I wanted a re-quote. Huh?? So I told him about my concerns and he said that John was no longer with the company and they really wanted my business...could he re-quote? Sure I said. An appt was set for 5:30pm today...it is now 8:11pm...no show, no call. I made sure I was here and prepared to discuss this job...apparently they have realized that I did NOT fall off the turnip truck and are moving on. I hope someone can benefit from this report...do your homework...it does NOT cost $70 to replace 1 piece of siding or 1 4ft.piece of trim...this and the fact that they leave the job "open ended" based on other work that might need to be done is a a big RED Flag #3!!

Description of Work: I have used the services of Hello Painting in March 2011 for interior painting.

Description of Work: This company performs a telemarketing practice that violates the Do Not Call registry. They will call with a recording: "Hello? Hello? I am sorry, I can't hear you. Can you hold please while I fix my headset?" Immediately after that message the call ends. Less than 30 seconds later my phone number was called again and a different voice begins to solicit for business. "Several of my neighbors are getting estimates". I am on the Do Not Call list and I will never do business with a company that acts this way. To top it all off, they are using a false number on the Caller ID. Why would they need to hide that information if they are reputable?