I believed the reviews so I hired Rick (no sign of his wife) to build some art storage shelves on top of an ikea pax unit. (12 foot ceilings). The shelves were basically a set of open boxes to store framed art. Before he started Rick asked for $375 to cover materials. I was away when he installed the completed shelves and he was very anxious to get paid, emailing me asking for a bank transfer while I was on vacation. I complied but I wish I hadn't When I got back to see the finished result,not only were there 2 gouges in my walls from when he installed the unit, I was upset to find he had used the rock-bottom cheapest plywood on the market with knot holes and stains to build this shelving unit. He then faced it as I requested with oak stripping which matched the Pax wardrobe. However the rough plywood complete with pencil marks is plainly visible. We did discuss using a less expensive plywood to match the studio environment, but there is no way the materials used here cost $375. What craftsman would face such cheap materials with oak stripping? this defies commons sense. yes I have sturdy shelf. But I will have to fill and paint the plywood (now at 9 ft above the floor). It's not just me, several visitors have commented on the ridiculous choice of materials. By the way I've had almost all the furniture in my live/work studio built to fit the space - nowhere in the studio is there any suggestion that I would be happy with cheap fir plywood-the materials are all of high quality. There's no excuse for this and especially at this price.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $1,300.00
- Company Response
Thank you for the review, and the opportunity to learn from this experience. In future, I will be sure to clarify the choice of materials. I made an assumption that when you decided to go with rough ply, that you knew the difference between rough ply, good-1-side or paint-grade ply, and that you wanted a well-made, though utilitarian set of storage units for your artwork. If the materials used were higher quality, the cost to you would have been greater. I am very proud of the work that I do, regardless of the quality of the materials that the client chooses, and I am quite proud of the units I built for you.
The 375.00 advance was not out of line with a roughly 30% advance that many contractors ask for to cover initial expenses. I used that money for materials, as well as shop rental fees. The money you advanced me just covered those initial expenses. As for the final payment, I asked if you could do an e-transfer while you were away because it is an easy way for clients to make payments. I am sorry if you felt any pressure to pay me right away, though if you had said that you wanted to wait until you returned, I would have waited until you were back at home.
You didn't happen to meet my wife, because she doesn't always come with me to see a potential work site, or to take measurements. She helped me with the building of the units and with some of the installation, but you were not there to meet her. And we agreed to do the installation while you were away, because it would be less disruptive to your working and living in the space. I will not do this again in future.
Thank you again for taking the time to write the review.