After interviewing several contractors I met with Matt. He immediately struck me as an honest and hard working individual. I hired Matt and he did not disappoint. He started the deck on the date promised (even though it was raining) and worked almost non stop to ensure the work was completed on time. The deck looks beautiful and I have had many compliments from friends. I look forward to having Matt come back in the spring to seal the deck. I would definitely rehire Matt for future projects and recommend his services to others.
May 26,2020 Update
As I noted in my review last year Matt had agreed to come back in the Spring to sand/seal my deck. He indicated that the wood needed to cure before sealing it. He asked that I contact him in May. I emailed Matt on May 1 to book the time for him to come and seal my deck. When I did not hear back, I sent him a second email on May 5. When I still did not hear from Matt, I left him a voice mail message on May 21. To date I have not heard from Matt. He has not responded at all. Very disappointing. I find the caliber of a company is not measured by the service provided while the last payment is owing but rather the customer service and responsiveness after the work is done.
In my view Matt failed in this respect. For this reason I no longer recommend his services.
Update May 28, 2020 Response to Contractor
Hi Matt, I am disappointed too!! I trusted you! First of all, I not only sent you emails but I also left you a VM message at the same number that is on your website. You did not respond. For the record the emails I sent to you did not come back. In my experience when an email is sent to an "inactive" mailbox it is returned "undelivered". In this case they WERE NOT.
I want to remind you this is not the first time you were unresponsive. You will recall, last year after you finished the job I called you to report concerns relating to cracking boards and large cracks on the posts. At that time, you were also unresponsive! I finally I left you a VM message expressing disappointment and I had not written the Homestars Review. You showed up unexpected one day and discussed my concerns with me. You apologized for the lack of response, you told me the cracks were normal. You replaced one board which you had installed with a stamped logo right in the middle of the deck. I mentioned to you the lack of response was not good but trusted you and gave you the benefit of doubt and promised to give you a good review on Homestars.
This year there are even more cracks on the boards and I am concerned.
As for the sealing, THERE IS NO DOUBT AT ALL AS TO WHAT YOU SAID. Had you told me you don't do that type of work or to look for someone else I would have done it. As further proof that I did not misunderstand you, please refer back to my original review. I ended it by stating you will be back to do the sealing. I know you read the review because you thanked me for it on the Homestars page. I also note you placed my review on your website. By reading it and placing it on your website you accepted it as an accurate representation. Yet if you thought I "misunderstood" your commitment to seal the deck why did you not alert me or place a comment on Homestars. I will tell you why. Because you know I am telling the truth, you did commit to do the sealing of the deck in the spring.
In conclusion, this is not the first time you were unresponsive. The first time you showed up because you knew the Homestars review is very important to you and you wanted your perfect score. I gave you the benefit of doubt once but clearly now that the review was written you had no interest in getting back to me and you clearly show a pattern of unresponsiveness, at least in my case.
This could have been cleared up very easily with a quick call or email, even if you changed your mind or were unable do keep your promise.
People like me rely on Homestars as guidance when selecting contractors. I trust that those that take the time to write reviews are truthful and accurate when writing reviews, as I am. Otherwise, the purpose of Homestars would be useless. I think people are generally interested in the “whole” experience before and after the job is finished and to me, responsiveness is one of the things I look for. Clearly, as a Contractor you know that homeowners, like myself, think Homestars is a valuable tool. You’d be better off learning from the experience and looking as to why you have a dissatisfied customer so that you can fix the issue rather than just being preoccupied about the score.
By the way Matt, I did not "sabotage" your Homestars score. YOU "sabotaged" it by your lack of responsiveness and inability to keep commitments. You should focus more on Customer Service as a whole NOT just for the sake of a good Homestars review/score.
Keep safe!
Sara
