[member name removed] was a repeat customer from 2008. She had provided her own stain for the job at that time, which was Wolman - a product which we are very much familiar with. Usually I am hesitant about using customer provided stains. We don't know how long they've been sitting, temperature affects stains in cans, etc etc. But she knew someone who had access to the contractor grade stain and we went ahead. The deck came out very nice in 2008, nice enough for [member name removed] to call us back in 2013 to have us do her deck again - we love repeat customers. Before starting the job in 2013, she had inquired about some repair work. My father went over to replace horizontal floor boards only. He gave her an exceptional, below market price to fix up the deck because he felt really bad for her. Whatever handyman she had used prior to contacting us, did a very poor job and her deck needed much TLC. It started with a few boards, she saw how great of a job my father did... and she eventually had him do a few more because he gave her such a deal. When we started cleaning her deck, my crew noted that it cleaned up a little differently than our Wolman product. I called [member name removed] to ask her if the product on the deck was still Wolman. She told me she believed it still was. I took her word for this, and we continued with the job. We let the deck dry before coming back out to seal the deck. My crew noted a second time, that the deck took the Wolman stain - but they said it reacted a little bit differently than they were used to with the Wolman product. Again, I contacted [member name removed] to make sure that no one had put any other type of stain on the deck since we had been out in 2008. At this point, I start to suspect someone else had serviced the deck in between 2008 and 2013. This is why I continued to ask her, because it would help me know how to treat her deck. It is not unheard of, but still pretty rare to get 5 years in between sealing your horizontal surfaces of your deck. I wanted to believe her, but I admit - my crew should have done a test area before applying just to make sure no one had put any other product on the deck. A few days later, the deck stain did not adhere, and was an absolute mess. At this point, I asked [member name removed] a third time, giving her the chance to finally tell us that she did have a friend of the family service the deck in between 2008 and 2013. She said he went to Home Depot and used Behr. Wolman will not adhere to a deck that has had Behr on it recently, which is exactly why it peeled and did not stay on the deck. I told [member name removed] that it would have been helpful for us to know this information when we had asked for it 3 times. She said that we are the professionals and should know what we are doing :) Touche, [member name removed], but I'm glad I don't have to be a detective and can usually trust 99% of our customers. I agreed to accept some fault, but told [member name removed] that she should have to accept some responsibility as well for withholding material information pertaining to her job. I would try and split the cost overruns 50/50, and she was okay with that. Here is a copy of the cost overruns, of which I only charged $200.00 for: On a Saturday, a 2 man crew in 4 hours used 8 gallons of chemical stripper, removing 2 layers of Wolman stain, and her handyman's layer of Home Depot Behr stain (Google it, Behr is the worst stain to try and strip). Behr still does not strip 100% off, so we came back out a couple days later and hand sanded the rest of the deck when it was dry. We then came back out, and resealed the entire deck at my expense. I told [member name removed] not to pay a dime until she was happy. I received a hand typed letter from [member name removed], paying us in full for the job, including payment of $200.00 as her portion of payment for the cost overruns ( I can assure you I lost much more than this on the job... but it wasn't about money, we wanted recondition her deck and get rid of that nasty Behr acrylic that was on it ). In her letter she also apologized for not telling us she had someone treat it in between. She appreciated the hard work my crew put into stripping that deck on a Saturday. That settles our experience with this customer thru 2013 - I thought we went above and beyond to make her happy. This brings us to 2014, when I received a voice mail from Andrea. I returned her call promptly, and spoke with her while she was in the hospital. She noted there were some areas of the rail that had peeled over the winter, due to using wood putty as a filler. I told her my crew, and my father who does repairs, refuses to use wood filler because a stain will not adhere to it. If there was wood filler on the deck, we did not put it on the deck. A little touch up stain would work as a temporary fix until it peels again, but that a permanent fix would require replacing the rail. She said she would call me back because she didn't want to get upset at the hospital. A few days later, her husband called, and rather firmly told us that we needed to come out to the house and fix the railings. I told him we would be willing to do so, but that I can't do it for free since we didn't make those repairs. Putting stain on the railing that her handyman had used wood filler on was not a permanent fix. I told him if he wanted us to fix it correctly, we would need to replace that entire section of the handrail. He was adamant that I do this free of charge. I told him, if I had done the repairs that were failing, then I would most certainly fix the problem at my expense... but that I was convinced the problem he was describing was not poor work from the part of Deck Rescue, but instead on the part of the handyman they had out before. I told him I would look up our records and talk to my father to make sure that we did not do any work on the railing. I spoke with my father, who said he only replaced floor boards and made no repairs to the railing with wood filler in it. After telling this to [member name removed]'s husband, he got a little more upset and said he would dig up his receipt from Deck Rescue to prove us wrong. That was my last correspondence with this customer. I received no more calls from the [member name removed]'s. There was no receipt stating we did the repairs to the handrail - because it is simply as it sounds - we did not do the repairs to the handrail that were of concern this year. [member name removed] even told me she was happy with how the deck came out last year and was not calling this year to complain about it, but the conversation quickly turned when her husband tried to get us to fix their railing for free this year. I will not be blackmailed into fixing someone else's mistakes on your deck out of my pocket this year. If you want to give us an F on Angie's, it is your right as a customer of Angie's to do so. I never left her hanging and we did an excellent job given the circumstances of her deck. As stated by [member name removed], we returned all calls and showed up exactly as we had stated all along. Getting F's for those categories is clearly an emotional response on her part. If you expect contractors to be honest and truthful, please be honest and truthful yourself. I realize you may have been burned in the past, but that is not how we operate. New customers are hard to get, but we put in the extra time and effort to keep them because repeat customers make up the majority of our business. If you are reading this, we are still here if you need us in the future. We don't burn bridges, we stain them. Best Regards