Roark Remodeling LLC

"There are several factors that are completely dismissed here. The first being that there were falling wreaths last year that she herself put back up. We used HER equipment. When HER equipment failed to support wreaths she provided, we returned for a total of 4 times to service her home. Next is our pricing. Last year was our first year to hang Christmas lights and we learned a lot about what worked and what needed changed. There were two homes in particular that led to the change in policy we have this year. Ironically it is those very same customers that have complained the most about those very policies. What I am referring to is a height and steep roof charge, and also an additional light charge to double the limit of lights to be hung. [Member name removed] house has all straight faces with no roof access whatsoever, and is 35 ft. off the ground with a 12/12 roof pitch. She also intended to use almost 400 feet of lights. We know this because last year she ran my crews and myself ragged putting up all of this. She gt in last year on our half price sale and spent $100 for four days of labor!!! Her house is valued at $644,618 currently and yet she has the balls to complain about having to spend $325 to have a fully licensed and insured company spend 20 man hours hanging her lights. That comes out to $5.41 an hour for a three man crew, and that's dismissing all overhead and profit. Last year we were all to happy to sell her new Christmas lights at $14.99 a box, and they are still available for sale this year. However she wanted to save money so she bought her own, robbing us of any chance to recover our losses in her job. Last year she even received a refund for our "smart light" service because her wifi signal was to weak to pick up the devices' signal. Again, another loss. All told we lost close to $500 to put up [Member name removed] lights last year. I had hoped to provide her with our service this year and break even through more careful planning. But my crew from last year refused to go near her house, and my new guys this year would have needed a scaffold to reach the heights that my more experienced guys can reach with a ladder. Again, her house would have cost me $500 or more to accomplish this year. After exhausting all avenues to try and accomplish [Member name removed] low price point I decided to refund her the money and apologize for any inconvenience. Her complaint about not being able to find anyone before Thanksgiving is the ultimate slap in the face. My first email to [Member name removed] regarding her lights this year was in late August. She ignored it then, and only after our half price sale was over did she respond. Of course, knowing full well that our half price sale was over she plead to still only be charged $125. There are plenty of companies out there that have room in their schedules to accommodate [Member name removed], but unlike our experience with her, they actually demand to be paid enough money to profit from their service. That is the real reason she is having so much difficulty. Again, her house is valued at $644,618 and she expects people to work for her for $5.41 an hour. Need I say more?"

"This is a fantastic review, and I am glad to have it. The reason I am so positive about it, is because when an objective person looks at all of our other reviews, and then see's this one clearly there is a contradiction. If the customer were being truly objective in their review here they would have given a "C" in one area, or a "D" in another, maybe an "F" here or there. But when all of our other reviews are so very positive and truly objective and this one is so dramatically absolute in it negativity any discerning person can see for themselves there must be more to it than what is being reported or reviewed. The issue here is that this customer never wanted to accept that what she wanted to achieve was out of her budget. No matter how badly you want a Mercedes, you just can't buy one for the same price as a Honda. From the start she insisted on cutting corners and trimming out essential aspects of the job. As the job progressed and it became apparent that things she didn't want to pay for were an absolute necessity, she demanded that our company foot the bill. Yes, we had a labor only contract as was mentioned. That being said perishable items like caulk, transition strip flooring, grout, grout sealer, and concrete sub-floor cleaner are absolutely not our responsibility given that she insisted on a labor only contract. She was provided receipts for everything, and "hand soap" was never on any one of them. We t Roark Remodeling actually supplied the quarter round trim (valued at $300) from our stock, another item that was never in our "labor only" contract, and wasn't paid for by the customer. The estimated duration was 7-10 days. We finished in 9. We would have finished sooner if the builder had applied a moisture barrier under the carpet, but there was none. And so, in accordance with the manufacturers installation requirements, we needed to apply a liquid barrier on the entire sub floor. This added a day and a half in labor. Which, the customer refused to pay for. When she was originally quoted $3,500 for the job she balked. She wanted to pay $2,500. I told her that that would be possible IF there were no additional unforeseen circumstances (like the need for quarter round, or moisture barrier, etc.). It was made clear from the start that in order to keep within her budget the work scope could not exceed the basic floor parameters. When I priced her job out at $3,500 I was completely accurate. with the additional materials needed (vapor barrier and quarter round trim) $4,500 is right on the money. However, from the start she wanted to cut corners. The lesson in all of this is that there are just some corners that cannot be cut. And no matter how hard you try, you can't get a brand new Mercedes for the same price as an Accord."

"I truly enjoyed meeting (member name removed). They were our first customers in a completely new en devour: hanging Christmas lights. There was a bit of a learning curve with this type of work, and when they contacted me to say that some of the lights were sagging in places it was my pleasure to re-hang the lights using a better quality light hook. The Holmes' were some of the first people to request a light removal after the holiday. We (as a company) had over 100 houses to take down and everyone wanted to be first. The only way to accommodate such a great demand was to work non-stop until all lights were down. Mark each neighborhood and work in it until they were all removed. It was very cold, and very dangerous getting on snowy roofs, but we were committed to appeasing our customers demands. A common problem we had run into was icicle style Christmas lights frozen in gutters. As a company we couldn't afford to keep returning time and time again to take down lights. I had to make the decision to take the lights down and chip away at the ice in the gutters. Knowing that some lights wouldn't make it out undamaged, I volunteered to replace any and all damaged strands in the next holiday season. We had been using Menards to supply us with lights and they had long since stopped selling holiday decorations. In other words: we had no ready supply of Christmas lights to replace the damaged ones with immediately. It is more than fair to replace anything damaged at our cost in the next holiday season. The Holmes paid $100.00 during our early bird special (booking prior to Oct. 31, 2014). We put the lights up, came out again to rehang the lights at their request, removed the lights, and agreed to pay for all damaged strands in the process of removal, all for $100.00. We can do no better than that. Furthermore I challenge any one that would lay claim that they could."

"At no time did [members name] express any displeasure with me in person. I was led to believe that she was pleased. Regarding the landscaping, to my recollection it was only a friendly conversation wherein she had asked my opinion on certain aspects and I had volunteered it (my opinion). At no time did I pressure her, or in any way pursue additional work beyond basic offering of my services in the future IF and only if called upon. I do not solicit to do so goes against the very ethic and tenants of what my company stands for. We were supplied with interior extension cords to do the job, which goes against code which is a company liability. At no time were cords "wrapped in saran wrap". We did need more cables than were supplied because [members name] circuit breakers kept popping when we connected everything to her specifications. Her home has Full metal box gutters which makes it impossible to hang anything from unless we drilled holes into them to create hooks for lights to suspend from. [Members Name] stated "I didn't figure you could have hung them up there anyway" and proceeded to direct us to where she wanted the lights. Regarding my comments to her balcony, the structure was unsafe to walk on and the railing was unsecured. She wanted lights on said balcony and while hesitant, I did decorate it as requested. However I (as a general contractor) saw many code violations and felt compelled to inform [members name]. She told me it wasn't finished yet and I dropped it. Finished or not, there were several aspects to the work I witnessed that were in clear violation. Now having had her negative report here, I decided to dig a bit deeper and looked to see if there were any permits pulled, or applications submitted for that balcony. None were ever filed, or granted. No inspections even performed. No communication with the city building department whatsoever. This only adds credence to my observations in that the work performed was not up to code. I only brought this up to her because I felt it was my duty. Now looking back I see that she probably knew there was never a permit for the work and was offended when I recognized it didn't meet code. Hanging Christmas lights was a marketing endevour to promote our company name. We decorated and took down over 100 houses, all for only $199.00. This was a great undertaking for any company, and looking at the end result it was a great success. It's a shame that some people can't recognize the value of our efforts. To say that "I could have done that" when referring to Christmas lights decorating is stating the obvious. Of course the average homeowner can decorate their house with lights. It isn't a skilled trade. What we offered was a convenience service for an incredibly low price. Most all of our customers not only appreciated that, but are planning on having us come out next year too."

"Working with [member name removed] was a really wonderful experience. He was engaged in the inner-workings of the project and was committed to doing things right. With every job the customer must be budget minded and we were able to find a solution to his needs that solved his problems within his budget. I look forward to working for him and his adorable daughter again in the future.-AC White"