Columbia Kitchen and Bath

Back in September, I contacted Angie's List to complete a Complaint Resolution against Columbia Kitchen after I was having difficulties getting them to come to my home to complete the work as promised or even respond to requests for contact. After the complaint was filed, Columbia Kitchen reached out to me and made several promises to come out and get the work done. Once again, I am having the same problem of having them commit to getting the work completed. On top of that, I had selected lighting and plumbing fixtures through Ferguson, a company in Ohio and wrote a check for $5,000 to Columbia Kitchen for the materials. After they stopped showing, I requested they give me all the materials. Columbia came and dropped off the materials; I am assuming everything is there. Ferguson, the supplier of the hardware called me and stated that the check from them was stopped. They call every few weeks and say they will do better but it doesn't mean anything. I reached out to an attorney who checked with the Clerk of Courts in Cincinnati, Ohio and this service provider has had several lawsuits against them since 2012. I doubt I will ever see that money again. Stay away from this company!

Important Note: This company has and still does business as Columbia Exteriors, also owned by Chris Craft. On a positive note, the employees who came out to the house were very pleasant. And the pros end there. The rest of my experience, especially lack of service after the sale, was very negative. First of all, my impression while dealing with them was that there was frequent turnover in office staff so each time I called it seemed like I had to start all over with someone new. And communication between the office and the employees who do the work was really lacking, causing them to arrive without the necessary supplies. Second, I do not feel as though I was adequately informed as to how ugly my fireplace would look after they did the work. Basically, my concern was about a small area on the side of the inside the fireplace where I thought stink bugs might be able to pass through and get into my house. I assumed the work would fill the gap with matching mortar. They did seal that (Fall 2014) and some other areas they felt could let in cool air. The result was hideous, although I was unaware of that for several months. There is a black glass screen on the fireplace so I did not see what had been done until after I recovered from a broken ankle and started a fire in the early Spring. It looks so sloppy and does not match the tile at all. I would never light a fire when anyone was visiting and I think it will be a detriment when I sell the house. I wish I could attach a photo because it's unbelievable. Third, the repair to the gutter did not work and I can see loose nails in the very area that was supposed to be reinforced. Fourth, and possibly the worst, is the lack of the company's responsiveness when I contacted then about my concerns. I emailed them and got no reply. I waited for a couple of weeks and then called, during which time I was told I could go to the hardware store and buy some spray paint and spray over their work. Are you kidding me? That would really appeal to buyers. Finally, I emailed the owner (Chris.Craft@ColumbiaEx.com) explaining my concerns, relaying the company response, and including photos. I asked for his help. He never responded. I would not recommend this company to anyone. While mistakes or misunderstandings can occur when work is done, there is no excuse for completely ignoring a dissatisfied but polite customer.

UPDATE 8/6/15 GUESS WHAT ANGIE'S LIST USERS, I'M HAVING TO DO ANOTHER UPDATE ON SERVICES NOT PERFORMED CORRECTLY. LEFT MESSAGE ON ANSWERING MACHINE BUT NO CALL, I BELIEVE NO ONE CHECKS THE MESSAGES. I DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW MY GUTTERS ARE STILL OVERFLOWING SINCE I HAVE FULL COVERED GUTTER GUARDS. THE ROOF SHINGLES AND NAILS MUST STILL BE IN DOWNSPOUT IN FRONT GUTTER. HOPEFULLY THE GENERAL MANAGER WILL CONTACT ME TO RESOLVE THIS AGAIN. UPDATE 6/23/15 ONCE I ISSUED AN ANGIESLIST NEGATIVE REVIEW I RECEIVED A RESPONSE THE NEXT DAY FROM THE OWNER OF THE COMPANY. HE HAD READ MY REVIEW AND WANTED TO RESOLVE MY GUTTER ISSUE ASAP. AS PROMISED, HE HAD HIS GENERAL MANAGER CALL AND SCHEDULE A REVISIT TO CORRECT ISSUE. I HAVE NOT CHECKED BUT I ASSUME THEY HAVE DONE A JOB CORRECTLY. 6/08/15 THOUGHT EVERYTHING WENT FINE UNTIL LAST WEEKEND WHEN I HAD TO GET ON ROOF TO DISCOVER THEY NEVER CLEANED THE GUTTERS. WHEN MY ROOF WAS INSTALLED, THE LAZY CONTRACTOR DIDN'T CLEAN THE ROOFING NAILS AND PIECES OF SHINGLES BEFORE REINSTALLING GUTTER GUARDS ON MY HOUSE AFTER NEW ROOF. I PURCHASED GROUPON TO FINALLY RESOLVE THIS ISSUE BUT FOUND 53 NAILS AND SEVERAL PIECES OF SHINGLES IN JUST ONE OF MY FOUR GUTTERS! I EVEN PAID EXTRA ON TOP OF THE GROUPON SINCE I KNOW IT TAKES MORE TIME WHICH ISN'T FAIR TO CONTRACTOR GIVEN IT WAS A GROUPON. I HAVE LEFT SEVERAL VOICEMAILS WITHOUT RESPONSE AND NO ONE EVER ANSWERS THE PHONE. ALL I WANT IS MY GUTTERS CLEANED AS PROMISED!!!

As stated in the provider's response they are coming out to do a free gutter cleaning and inspect the roof to see if the roof winterization service was performed. There appears to be new management at the provider. I appreciate them reaching out to me but am disappointed it took a negative Angie's List review to get a response when nothing was offered when I spoke with them over the phone. Will update again after they have come out for the gutter cleaning and roof inspection.

Our service tech was very nice and professional. He explained the minor issues he (customer) had with the roof.

GREAT! THE SERVICE PERSON CALLED BEFOREHAND TO REVIEW/EXPLAIN, THE SCHEDULER CALLED TO CONFIRM AND THE SERVICE PERSON CALLED AGAIN AFTERWARD.

Very well and easy from scheduling to completion. The service providers and staff were friendly and helpful

I had contacted Columbia Exteriors to have them clean & inspect my chimney. When I contacted them they told me it would be a couple weeks before they got out there and scheduled an appointment for the Saturday the 22nd, with a time frame of 1-6pm. I had no problem waiting a couple weeks for the special and was looking forward to the inspections so I could start using the fireplace, just bought a new home. Saturday the 22nd arrived and I had received no follow up call, but I had no reason to believe they would not be there. I proceeded to sit around Saturday from 1-6 and did not hear from them at all. I let my frustration settle that evening and called them Sunday to voice my displeasure and get some sort of explanation. I don't believe they were in on Sunday so I left them a VM. It is now Tuesday and I still haven't received a response! With their terrible responsiveness and lack of care for potential customers, I would strongly recommend against reaching out to them for their services and would not even consider them in the future. It is back to square one in my search to get my chimney cleaned and inspected.

Bought a Groupon for Columbia Exteriors to come out and perform a chimney sweeping & inspection. Left 2 voicemails over a week apart requesting a call back to schedule an appointment for the service to be performed. Was never given a call back. I called probably a dozen times after that and tried every prompt number in their automated system in an attempt to speak with a live human with no success; every prompt ended in a voicemail box or circled back to the main menu. I am very surprised by just how high this company's average rating is here on Angie's List. Given their lack of response and the inability to get ahold of an actual person to address my service needs, I would advise steering clear of them until they get these issues addressed. Fortunately Groupon customer service came through and refunded my money and I am now scheduled for the same service with another company with an actual A-rating here on Angie's List.

We gave them a 3rd down payment of $3,294.00. They were supposed to come in a week, and they didn’t come. I called them and then they came. I called them back. Someone was supposed to come for precise measurements, but no one came. Someone ended up coming but didn’t measure anything in the basement. Now every time I call them back, I get a voicemail, no matter what extension I get.

We ultimately decided to go with someone else due to pricing. The employees that came out were professional enough, but I just didn't get the level of design concept detail that I was hoping. It was also not clear how their pricing structure worked. I appreciated them coming out to Cincinnati from Middletown for the estimate, though. They were right on time and followed up about our scheduled appointment.

Very well, tech polite but customer back to ask for gutter guards to be wiped down. Job was competed as expected.

Obviously it did not go well since this company was so unprofessional -- they were the ones who sought US out, and we were thinking of doing some home improvements anyway, so we welcomed the sales person into our home and were looking forward to hearing from them after. We never heard from him again -- no emailed estimate (as promised), no phone call, nothing. I even called a few weeks later and spoke to a woman in the Columbia Exteriors office. I told her that we hadn't heard from the sales person since his visit. She promised to follow up with him and that we should expect to hear from him after. We never did. The whole situation was very puzzling to me. I'm not sure if he just felt like it wasn't a big enough job to be worth the time to send us an estimate. It was bizarre, because we truly were interested in hearing back from them and were considering giving them some business. UPDATE 8/26: The manager at Columbia Exteriors did indeed reach out to me after reading my review. She apologized for this strange situation that occurred last year and wanted to make it up to me by sending someone out for another consultation/estimate. I agreed and we set it up. A rep from the company then contacted me and we discussed our needs -- that we were interested in updating our kitchen, including refacing our cabinets. He said that Columbia only replaces cabinets and that they don't reface. My husband and I are not interested in investing in all-new cabinets, so we decided that it didn't make sense for them to come for another consultation. We cancelled the meeting, but I did appreciate that the Columbia Exteriors manager reached out to me after hearing about our experience last year, and I have updated my review and grades based on that interaction.

Columbia prefers to clean a chimney from the bottom up. The young man did that but didn't quite get all the creosote off the top part of the chimney. After he had left my husband climbed on the roof and checked the chimney only to find quite a build up left behind. He called Columbia back, spoke with a supervisor and the young man returned to our house and gave the chimney a second brushing at which time he did get the top thoroughly cleaned. The young man was very polite and prompt. We burn our fireplace all winter long which causes a good deal of build up. Columbia seems to be a company that would be best served to clean the chimney of someone who uses their fireplace casually.

We had our chimney cleaned & inspected using a Groupon deal. They arrived in the stated timeframe and performed the work in a timely manner. The technician was polite and seemed knowledgeable. He recommended some brick repair work, which we already expected we would need. He left us a quote for the additional work, and we are thinking about it. We initially had some difficulty reaching someone to schedule service - there was a fair amount of phone tag back and forth, so it was not completely on them. Everything was smooth once service was scheduled.

Professional, timely, polite. Would definitely recommend.

I assume it went very well. Technician pulled out a lot of stuff from the gutters and it has rained since and I haven't had any issues.

Technician was very professional. My main peeve is that It took a long time between the purchase of the service and performing it.

I wasn't there for the appointment, but did get on the roof and saw everything was cleaned well.

I purchased a deal through Living Social for gutter cleaning back in early April. I called to schedule the appointment and they were a little backed up so they couldn't come until April 18th. On the 18th (a Friday), they called and said the Tech was having car trouble so they wouldn't make it and re-scheduled to the following Wednesday (the 23rd). On the 23rd, they called and said they wouldn't be able to make it that day either and asked if they could re-schedule to the 26th (that Saturday). On the 26th, no one ever showed up. No call or anything. So I called and left a message. They returned my call on the 28th and didn't seem to be too concerned about someone not showing up, as if missing an appointment didn't really warrant an apology. They just wanted to re-schedule for the following Sunday (May 3rd) between noon and 4. On the 3rd, no one showed up between the agreed upon time but I got a call from the technician at 5:30 saying he was on his way. Then, the guy just never showed up which is par for the course with this company as I've come to realize. As I type this 48 hours later I have yet to be contacted by the company. So I have requested a refund from Living Social and will be contacting a competent company to perform this service. I'm not sure how this company stays in business. I'm pretty sure they just do not care about serving their customers. I work in client service and I would've been out of a job a long time ago if I treated my clients in this manner. Save yourself this hassle and find someone else to do the work.

It went great. Kept house clean and the technician did a great job!

It was a bad experience from the beginning. They showed up to do the work without even letting us know. They also failed to replace the rotted wood behind the gutters (which was specifically outlined in the work order). When I called customer service they said they would rebate me back a portion of the job. I did not want a rebate I wanted the job completed as agreed to by both parties. They reluctantly did come back out and replace the wood but did not paint it white to match the rest of the house or boards behind the other gutters. Not a good experience to say the least.

It went well. Tech ran into an issue while trying to complete sweep, but tech was able to work through it.

They finally finished....my bathroom does look very nice...still have some small issues but I will get someone else to fix it. The water damage was fixed and so far looks ok. The Rating I'm giving is for the experience and workmanship and for the responsive time. Towards the end of the project it could take a day to get someone to call me back. But when the water line broke a team was there between an hour or two.

Rep. did a very thorough job inspecting my house, and he said he would do a "worst case" estimate. Our jaws hit the floor when his estimate came to $36,000! When I asked if there were any labor intensive portions of the job I could perform myself (roof tearoff, gutter tearoff, etc.) to save money, he said if I wanted to paint the fascia myself instead of having them aluminum coil wrap the fascia, I could save $8200 right there! Really? When he'd finally sharpened his pencil as much as he could, the total cost came down to a bit above $25,000. This was still more than we had budgeted, and as we hemmed and hawed, out came the sales pitch throwing financing options at us. And then comments that implied that this was a one time offer (all these savings he'd miraculously made for us), and now it was starting to feel like hard sell, sign on the dotted line before you have time to change your mind time. We had another estimate scheduled for the following night, so we declined to accept this bid. Good thing...while the next bid had a few less bells and whistles, it came in just a hair over half of what Columbia's bid was.