When are the hack companies finally going to close down???? - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

Any Season · 02-22-2008, 02:33 PM

I have lost tens of thousands of dollars in business this winter to a company up here in NH that for the sake of not singling anyone out, we'll just call 'Al's Painting'. I know the work this guy does and the way he operates is close to criminal. He leaves in his wake countless ruined homes, and btw he also does roofing. I keep hearing other painters say, oh it'll catch up to him, but when??? These companies never seem to get what they deserve. I, along with several other contractors in the area are constantly getting calls to fix his work, yet he still gets business, and undercuts everyone else by upwards of 50-60%. I know of one commercial job he undercut everyone on and the gc still stuck with him after considering making a switch after this guy ruined all of the suspended ceiling, windows, pre-finished doors, and woodwork with overspray in a brand new upscale restaraunt. Meanwhile there are companies like me fighting tooth and nail to do the right thing and not lay people off, pay workman's comp, present an image of clean and responsible workers, and good customer service, and this guy does the exact opposite,yet people still go with him. When is this going to even out?

dougchips · 02-22-2008, 02:40 PM

Maybe he's charming? I've met plenty of people that do bad work but they have a really nice smile.

mrpaintguy · 02-22-2008, 03:31 PM

Maybe you can keep him busy on phony bids so he spends all his time driving around the state for nothing

. Also have the previous customers file a complaint with your state's consumer bureau and or local news agencies-
bad publicity is a tough thing to battle

Celtic · 02-22-2008, 03:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Any Season

When is this going to even out?

Patrick · 02-22-2008, 04:56 PM

Isnt it supposed to be hot in hell?

DeanV · 02-22-2008, 05:05 PM

Patrick, it was "when hell freezes over"

Patrick · 02-22-2008, 05:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeanV

Patrick, it was "when hell freezes over"

Clever guy he is, that still doesn't dismiss his skirt wearing habits though

rbsremodeling · 02-22-2008, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Any Season

I have lost tens of thousands of dollars in business this winter to a company up here in NH that for the sake of not singling anyone out, we'll just call 'Al's Painting'. I know the work this guy does and the way he operates is close to criminal. He leaves in his wake countless ruined homes, and btw he also does roofing. I keep hearing other painters say, oh it'll catch up to him, but when??? These companies never seem to get what they deserve. I, along with several other contractors in the area are constantly getting calls to fix his work, yet he still gets business, and undercuts everyone else by upwards of 50-60%. I know of one commercial job he undercut everyone on and the gc still stuck with him after considering making a switch after this guy ruined all of the suspended ceiling, windows, pre-finished doors, and woodwork with overspray in a brand new upscale restaraunt. Meanwhile there are companies like me fighting tooth and nail to do the right thing and not lay people off, pay workman's comp, present an image of clean and responsible workers, and good customer service, and this guy does the exact opposite,yet people still go with him. When is this going to even out?

The hack companies will never go away. The demand for them is to great. In fact I think they will do better now with the percieved slump as General Contractors and HO's try to do things on the cheap to get by.

If he is breaking any laws snitch him out and call the city, inspectors whatever on him but he aint going away because of lack of work or his poor skills and lack of pride in his work.

PS: If and when he goes away or get's busted he will be replaced by the new improve slimeball in no time

BCPNJ · 02-22-2008, 06:09 PM

Unfortunately, there are a hundred hacks that will take this guys place when he goes out. Even when they're put out, they come back with another name, in another trade, or move to different states and start all over.
I've realized that the customers that hire these guys are people I don't want to work for anyway. Most of them are looking for the cheapest price period. The thing that pisses me off the most is when a hack rips off a truly unsuspecting person like the elderly.

Best thing to do is go about your business doing quality,ligit work for customers seeking it. Don't worry about the hacks as they will come and go, but the good guys will be there with 20 year customers and tons of recommendations.
I get calls from customers to do a job without any talk of price and simply bill at the end. I have keys and alarm codes for residences. Any good contractor has similar situations. Thats what you have and the hacks don't.

Or.................

It could be the guy does have a lot of charm and a nice smile

**Double-A** · 02-22-2008, 09:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Patrick

Clever guy he is, that still doesn't dismiss his skirt wearing habits though

window sash weights and kilts... all the cool kids are doing it.

Celtic · 02-22-2008, 09:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Double-A

window sash weights and kilts... all the cool kids are doing it.

Don't forget the pink tools

George Z · 02-23-2008, 01:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Any Season

Meanwhile there are companies like me fighting tooth and nail to do the right thing ......
When is this going to even out?

It depends what "doing the right thing" means.
Lifting copy from our site is not doing the right thing.
Very unethical for sure.
It's on the web, you can have it?
Amazing this little flyer I designed 15 years ago and put in our website
is making its rounds on the web.

Please remove the following:
Yours:
Scrape and sand all loose and peeling paint.
Spot-prime all bare surfaces with primer.
Wash or pressure wash chalky areas and mildew.
Caulk windows and door frames.
Sand existing glossy paint.
Remove or mask hardware to protect it from paint.
Prime wood knots and "saps" with shellac to prevent them from coming through the finish coat.
Spot-prime rusted metal with rust primer

Ours:
- Scraping and sanding of all loose and peeling paint down to a sound surface
- Spot priming of all bare surfaces with sufficient primer
- Wash or pressure wash chalky areas and mildew
- Caulk windows and door frames with acrylic siliconized caulking
- Glossy existing paint is sanded to help the new paint adhere better
- Removal and masking of hardware to protect it from paint
- Wood knots and "saps" are shellac primed to prevent them from coming through the finish coat
- Rusted metal is spot-primed with rust primer

I am just tired of doing this all the time.
Don't steal copy please!

Steve Richards · 02-23-2008, 09:25 AM

Come on, George.

My exterior contracts have (pretty much) listed all those things since 1980, and (pretty much) in that same order.

Did you get them from me?

porkchop · 02-23-2008, 09:39 AM

The way I look at it the scrubs are doing me a favor. I dont want to deal with the people that are cheap! I dont want to give them a estimate, dont want them haggling on the price. They can have those contracts all day. If they want to hire a professional and pay for it then they can call us.

George Z · 02-23-2008, 09:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Steve Richards

Come on, George.

My exterior contracts have (pretty much) listed all those things since 1980, and (pretty much) in that same order.

Did you get them from me?

Steve,
I know the procedures are common to most.
But Google spiders don't go into your contract and find duplicate content.
unless you have it on the web.
He can change the order of them,
change a few more words, or something...
The thing is, i have to do this weekly, it gets old pretty quick.

Celtic · 02-23-2008, 11:02 AM

Is Toronto anywhere near Seacoast, NH?

Any Season · 02-23-2008, 11:48 AM

I can honestly say that I have never in my life seen your website until today. Nothing special, but I have a question for you. Did you steal that 'copy' from College Pro painters? I only ask bc I worked for them for 4 years when I was in school and I carried alot of things over from my franchise of that company to my own business including that, word for word, which to take it one step further, was copied by them from an old SW problem solver packet. So I guess we can go back and forth about this, and I could accuse you of stealing my idea of putting a phone number on your website, and you can accuse me of copying you by putting a testimonials link on mine. I will say this: It is pompous and rediculous to suggest that I would copy your website in the first place, then equate that to companies that undercut other contractors and ruin peoples homes. All types on here I guess.

P.S. Is there anything else you have invented or created so I can avoid this conversation in the future?

Any Season · 02-23-2008, 11:59 AM

Toronto is about a 10 hour drive from Portsmouth, NH. But there is that border which make Toronto a world away in some aspects.

Any Season · 02-23-2008, 12:16 PM

I almost forgot. Regarding your demand that I change text on my website: No.

BCPNJ · 02-23-2008, 01:19 PM

All that stuff is standard operating procedure as far as I'm concerned, not some "special formula" that's patented.