I contracted with Ed Norris of Beacon painting to paint my 88 year old parents' living room, dining room, kitchen and hall. Expected all to go well as we had used him to paint the exterior of our home as many of our neighbors had. After he postponed the work a few times, trying to maximize his crew's time, but inconviencing my folks, who had furniture piled up in the TV room, the job finally started. The problem came when I noticed that all the trim work including the heating units and fireplace mantel, had been painted the same peach color as the walls. Who does that to a formal living room? Why did he not take the time to call and double check the color choice? I called Ed and complimented the work, but said I needed the trim to be white. He said I'd have to pay an additional $650 to have that redone. I said I couldn't possibly ask my parents to pay that and asked why it was painted peach and not white. He said my contract said customer would choose paint color prior to start of job. I said of course I had chosen the wall color, but we had discussed at the time of the estimate that the trim would stay white. He rejected that idea saying his contract was clear. I stated that there wouldn't have been a misunderstanding if it was that clear. I said I would concede that there was shared responsibility and he rejected that. He became aggressive, and rude telling me it wasn't his fault if I couldn't read a contract. I tried to calm him by redirecting conversation to resolution rather than blame. I offered to pay half of the $650 in order to find a compromise and he bluntly stated that that was unacceptable and that he was too busy to have his crew work for half rate. I reminded him that we had also arranged to have him paint our house again and that he had a good reputation in our neighborhood. I asked him if this conflict was really worth $325 to him. He stated that If I wasn't going to pay my bill I wasn't the type of customer he wanted and that he already had so much work he couldn't even take more deposits and people were being rescheduled into October already. Yet he went on to say he didn't have time to have this conversation with me because he was supposed to be at a site giving another quote. He began a tirade of insults and accusations. He threatened me that the crew would not be returning to my parents' home unless I promised to pay. The conversation began to go in circles and I pointed this out, asking how he suggested we find a resolution. He said there was no reason for him to compromise as he had done nothing wrong. I suggested we both think on it for a day and talk again and he sarcastically said "I wouldn't count on that". My 88 year old parents will have a pink fireplace mantel and woodwork until we paint it ourselves for them, and the ceiling in the family room is still unpainted although included in the original contract. I am in shock that this could have gone so terribly wrong. read more
