GENE'S PAINT & DECORATING

We needed a "quick" repair of a cracked wall section in our main living area. This needed to be done prior to putting our home on the market, which required a fast turnaround time. Gene's was on the list our Realtor provided and they were the first vendor to respond to our call. Gene himself came over to check out the wall and give an estimate. He was over at our house within 30 minutes of calling! Unfortunately, what started off as a great first impression quickly went south... 3 days later (keep in mind we were in a hurry here, and were clear about this right from the start) I still hadn't received a call about the estimate, and after leaving 2 voice messages, finally received the bad news: $650. I nearly choked. This job was to tape, texture, prime and paint two cracks approximately 3 feet in length along the same piece of drywall in our living room. I might have expected that amount for a paint job... for the ENTIRE HOUSE! (It seemed quite high to say the least) But we had to get the job done quickly since we needed to get the house on the market right away, so we agreed to have them do it. It was then we were told that they wouldn't be able to fit us in for a week (again, they fully knew our timeline) -- disappointing, but at that point it was still better than starting over and trying to find someone else who could come do the job so we decided to go with it. I was told I would receive a phone call the day before they were to arrive with a time the painters would be at the house. Of course this also meant a one-week delay in getting the house on the market. Cut to one full week later -- I didn't get that call the day before. I made 2 phone calls to Gene with no response until 9:30 pm that night. He advised the guys would "be there later in the day tomorrow", so I took the day off work so I could be present when the painters arrived. 4 phone calls and 3 voicemails later, I was told that the guy who was supposed to come over had a family emergency and wouldn't be over until evening. While I fully understand that these things happen, it was completely unprofessional that we were not given a phone call to tell us this in person, or even given a "replacement" staff member to complete this time-sensitive job! At that point my husband intervened (he said I was "being too nice") and called Gene directly to tell him to forget about it, we wouldn't need their services after all. I ended up doing the job myself for a total of less than $40 (a tube of spackle, gallon of paint, brushes, dropcloths, etc.) and it took me 4 hours. We put the house on the market the next morning. And you know what? You can't even tell it wasn't done professionally! I am so mad at myself for even bothering with this vendor in the first place: chalk it up to a 'time'-expensive lesson learned.