So Darwin posted a reply to my review and it is essentially what he emailed me. Here is my response:
I am sorry you disagree with my review, but I stand by the accuracy of my review of your business - I feel a responsibility to warn everyone of businesses I believe may take advantage of people who don't have much experience working with contractors. I included it here:
"They wanted money up front which is a non-starter for most people. They did not provide a contract but wanted money up front. They said it was for materials but it was $900 more than the materials that I priced and if they don't have money for materials they must not be a viable company. When I offered to buy the materials myself, their salesman Darwin acted insulted and said they don't work with people like me. I would avoid these folks as they aren't reputable"
While it did contain some opinions, I believe it was an accurate recounting of our interaction (when I offered to buy the materials, you doubted my estimate and said "I think we are not the company you need for this project."). I take that response to be one of someone who is insulted by my offer and did not want to work with us because we were too cautious. Also: my estimate from the email thread below was indeed $900 less than what the invoice was asking for, so I don't see where this is "incorrectly posted" either.
When I sent you an email (in the thread below) offering to compromise with you, you did not respond. That was rude and disrespectful and from my point of view a refusal to work with me because I wouldn't pay you 60% up front (saying I doubted you). I was even prepared to offer you 33% up front, but I wanted a contract so I know what the terms of the contract are. By the way, your quote did not specify I had to pay 60% up front. If it had, I would have rejected it and we could have avoided this entire thing.
You don't do contracts for jobs under a certain amount? That is fine; just don't ask for money up front. You do the job and I pay you when you are done. If I hire you and don't pay you for a job, then you can file a lien on my property and that affects my credit rating, insurance costs and I can't sell the property. If you take my money and don't do the job, I have no recourse but to pursue you in small claims court (and without a contract, I am at a distinct disadvantage). Please don't talk to me about credibility; you established your lack of credibility by asking for money up front to buy materials on such a small job and then went silent when I offered to buy the materials.
The purpose for my review was not to punish this company for a bad interaction with Darwin; it was simply to let people know that you should NEVER PAY MONEY up front regardless of what the contractor says. IF they are reputable, they will have an account with a building supplies company. If this is a large job, get a contract so if you decide to pay up front, you have a contract you can sue the builder with if he doesn't perform. If you have to pay, don't pay more than one third and pay when the materials are delivered or buy them yourself. AS always, check on previous history and their references. Zero feedback from customers is a bad sign. read more