Fantastic Finishes Paint Company

This company was recommended on social media and therefore engaged them for full exterior painting job. The owner, Carl, is just a sales guy does not oversee the work of the contractor. I paid more than double what other companies quoted for a substantially subpar job. Carl even charged me extra since he insisted I told him the wrong colors for fascia and soffit and he supposedly purchased too much of one color. I agreed to the extra cost because it’s not worth his continued gas lighting and I know it’s bad business on his part (he had nothing written down and I caught it before they painted) in the end there’s was less than 1/2 gallon of each color remaining for touch up’s. The following day I had to call a new painter to fix the sloppy job. Carl couldn’t be bothered to even inspect the work. He told me he did a drive by- what a joke. I made a huge mistake engaging this company. Yes, I’m having the work done right now but I spent way more than necessary had I gone with a legit company from the start. I would highly suggest you interview and hire the person actually performing the work vs going through a middle man. They started the job on a Tuesday and completed the work the following Thursday (over a week). Not sure why there’s good reviews, maybe I drew the short straw with the painter I got assigned. Don’t take your chances, it can be costly.

--- SYNOPSIS --- Was hired to paint our kitchen cabinets (from walnut to white). Was a 2-3 day job that turned into a 3-week job which, after having his painter back twice to correct issues, we had to have another painter complete the work since we had already moved in and needed to unpack boxes. He offered to have his painter (same person that had already messed up twice), back to our home 4 days after we had moved in, and 2 weeks after originally scheduled completion date. We requested a refund on what we spent to have a competing painter complete the job he had been hired to do ? His response: - Stopped responding to phone calls - Never returned the half-dozen voice messages we left him over a 4 week span - Texted notifying me had a company lawyer - Returned (unopened) our detailed letter explaining our basis for the credit You?ll notice Fantastic Finishes Paint Co has two other reviews on Angie?s List ? please click on those two reviews and you?ll find both are from members who had never reviewed anyone else and are the only reviews they?ve ever posted (not a very trustworthy review in IMHO). Detailed version with complete chronology of events follows: --- DETAILED VERSION --- - 2/21/14 --- Carl Howerton from Fantastic Finishes Paint Company met with us and provided a quote for painting various rooms of the home. The kitchen by itself was quoted for $2,000 (exterior only). - 4/4/14 --- Carl Howerton from Fantastic Finishes Paint Company returned to 7231 Holyoke Dr. and provided a quote for painting the interior of the kitchen cabinets and drawers for an additional $500. The updated quote for painting the kitchen, including interiors, was consequently set at $2,500. This included sanding down previous stain, applying primer and two coats of Sherwin Williams Pure White paint (paint included in price). - 4/14/14 --- we, the homeowners, approved the $2,500 quote and it was agreed that the job would be done in a professional manner, the work would be overseen by Carl Howerton, and the painting would be completed in less than a week as it was noted that the homeowners would be moving into the property by the end of the month. - 4/16/14 --- two painters from Fantastic Finishes Paint Company began work on painting the kitchen - 4/17/14 --- at the end of the work day, Fantastic Finishes Paint Company notified the homeowners that the job had been completed. Note that this had originally been scheduled as a job that would take a few days to complete. - 4/18/14 --- Carl Howerton was contacted by the homeowners to inform him that the painters had failed to protect the crown molding and drawer rails, as well as the dishwasher and multiple walls of the kitchen and dining room area, therefore certain ivory colored areas of the kitchen and dining room were now sprayed with Sherwin Williams Pure White paint. Additionally, it was noted that multiple areas of the kitchen cabinets had not been painted and such faulty work included missed corners, sides of cabinet doors, and that a primer grid could still be seen through the white paint. Consequently the work had not been completed as Fantastic Finishes Paint Company had claimed one day earlier. We have multiple pictures to back up these claims and please note that these same images were sent to Carl Howerton via text message on 4/18/14 and he confirmed receipt. - 4/19/14 --- Carl Howerton met with one of the homeowners to review the claims of faulty work and agreed to have his painters correct all of the errors, some of which are noted in the prior bullet. At the end of the day Carl Howerton contacted the homeowners to inform that the work had been completed. - 4/21/14--- homeowners met with the two painters at the property to review the second round of work done to correct initial mistakes. As was the case on 4/18/14, the work had not been completed even though Fantastic Finishes Paint Company had informed the homeowners one day prior. By request of the homeowners, the two painters remained for two more hours at the residence repainting areas which still showed the walnut colored base, as well as two sets of cutting board cabinets which each contained two shelves that had not been removed in order to paint them in full. A second coat had been applied and all corners, side paneling and missed areas corrected. Unfortunately, we should have known better, and shelves were not moved to check behind them as they had wet paint. - 4/22/14 --- Fantastic Finishes Paint Company was paid for completion of the work - 4/29/14 --- Homeowners moved into the home and immediately began unpacking kitchen boxes and removing shelves of the cabinets in order to adjust for height. What was found was that the painters of Fantastic Finishes Paint Company had never removed any of the shelves and had opted to instead paint on, or around said shelves, thus when the height of a shelf was moved, the original walnut and yellowish colors were revealed. It was at this moment that, yet again for a third time, it was found that the job had not been performed and completed as per agreement with Fantastic Finishes Paint Company. Photographs of the dozens of unpainted areas were sent to Carl Howerton to which Carl Howerton responded (via text message), that his painters were busy and could not return to correct mistakes until Friday, May 2nd ? 4 days after the homeowners had already moved into the home, and 15 days since 4/17/14 when Fantastic Finishes Paint Company had initially reported that the work had been completed. - 4/30/14 --- homeowners, at their own expense, contracted another company to finalize the painting work in order to be able to fully unpack the kitchen boxes and utilize the kitchen and cabinets as had been agreed with Fantastic Finishes Paint Company on 4/4/14. - 5/1/14 through 5/21/14 --- homeowners called Carl Howerton by phone at least a dozen times and received no response. Around a half dozen voice messages were left requesting a call back, no call back was received. - 5/21/14 --- homeowners sent Carl Howerton a text message with a request for a call back to discuss the painting job and included a note stating further action would be taken if no response was received. A response from Carl Howerton was finally received via text message indicating Fantastic Finishes Paint Company had a company lawyer and that the company had offered to fix the painting mistakes but the homeowners had declined this offer. Correct, we declined the offer because the offer (as noted on bullet 4/29/14), was for the same faulty painter to return 4 days after we had moved in which is completely unacceptable and not what had been agreed to. The timeframe for completing this work had already expired and we had already moved into the home, thus we had to find another company to finalize the work in a satisfactory manner. After numerous failed attempts at reaching him by phone during the month of May, and having not received a call back on a half dozen voice messages requesting a call back during the aforementioned time frame, we were forced to discuss this matter and request a refund by way of a letter which was sent to him via certified first class mail ? he refused the letter and it was returned to us unopened. The purpose of the letter, as was the purpose of all of the prior attempts to reach him by phone during the month of May, was to request Fantastic Finishes Paint Company honor it?s agreement to paint inside and outside of the kitchen cabinets in a professional manner within a specified time frame to be completed prior to the homeowners moving in to the property. As noted in the bulleted chronology of events, Fantastic Finishes Paint Company violated the following items of the agreement: -- Failure of Carl Howerton to oversee the work of the painters -- Failure to complete the work in a professional manner during a first attempt and within the set timeframe -- Failure to paint the inside of the cabinets which included behind shelves It is by way of the letter that we, the homeowners, were requesting a refund of $500 for the failure of Fantastic Finishes Paint Company to complete its work within the agreed timeframe and craftsmanship. The amount of $500 corresponded to the quoted amount for painting inside of the cabinets provided by Fantastic Finishes Paint Company to us on 4/4/14. No refund was being requested for the other gaffes. I too run my own business and it is of utmost importance that both me and my employees keep customers happy, even on occasions where mistakes were made or perhaps the product delivered was not as expected. In the end, customer service is what keeps people coming back and speaking well about my business. I would have expected he run his business in a similar manner, but I was mistaken.

The crew completed the work in about 3 days, even coming out on Saturday to finish the job. I couldn't have asked for a more spotless paint job. The lines on the molding and trim were exactly where they should have been, straight and even. I couldn't find any area of concern. We received two bids on this job and Fantastic Finishes came in much lower than the other contractor. So we were super pleased that we got such high quality work at such a great price! We will definitely use them again!

My experience with Fantastic Finishes went wonderfully. They were fast, very neat and through. I will definitely use this company again.