I wish I had read these reviews prior to hiring The Painting System to paint my house... My recent experience with the owner, Frank Baldwin, was so poor, it prompted me to obtain this Yelp account and write a review to (hopefully) deter others from having the same experience. My review is not based on Frank's associate, Alfredo, but solely on Frank and his poor business practices. Alfredo was punctual, courteous, professional and very skilled with this trade. Thank you Alfredo.
Frank Baldwin offers free estimates for potential jobs; there, he uses his charm, experience and warranty to prove that he's the best bid for the job. His pricing is reasonable and ballpark for what one would expect for this type of job (I had 4 other bids in place prior to selecting The Painting System). When Frank came to bid my house, he was very nice (like an old friend, as many other Yelpers have stated). He runs you through his preparation processes and what will take place during the job and the after care. I had told Frank that I would be removing my lighting fixtures outside and replacing them with new ones. Frank told me not to worry and that he would take off and replace my lighting fixtures at no extra charge if I had them ready to go during the job. We discussed further what needed to be done (caulking, patchwork, etc.) all of which Frank said he would do.
A couple of days later, I decided on The Painting System to perform the job. Frank sent a text and even offered an additional $50.00 discount for choosing his company. I had my colors picked out and within a few days, Frank and Alfredo arrived at my house to begin the job. The first day lasted until about 7:30pm. I literally could not leave my house until after that time and there were numerous issues with the job. Areas were not caulked fully, paint was on my stone border around the house and on the concrete. The next day, Frank informed me that they would be done in a couple hours (this was nearing 5pm). In addition to that, Frank said he would not be hanging the new lights because he was "not any good at that." Shortly after, Frank said the job was done and requested payment. I had informed Frank that I wanted to inspect the job (as there were numerous issues I had listed and given to Frank to address). There wasn't enough time/light for me to inspect my house and Frank kept pressing me for payment and saying that, "my contract clearly states that you pay me when the job is complete." I told Frank that just because you say it's done, does not mean that the client doesn't get to look over the work, especially when you provided a warranty for work completed. I then found out that Alfredo was leaving town and Frank wanted the job to be done and to have employee paid off (understandable), but the whole process was rushed and Frank uses intimidation techniques (throwing out legal terms and contract threats) to get you to pay prior to inspection. The job should have been postponed and I would have postponed it if I had known that. Frank said that he would come back Monday (this was a Thursday) to finish the job as doors were not painted entirely. We both agreed and I paid Frank in full, minus $XXX, that Frank said he would gladly accept on Monday upon completion of the job. At this point, Frank said he'd be back on Monday and the day ended positively.
Come Monday, I received an extremely passive-aggressive email from Frank, who said that he was going to charge me an additional $250 because I didn't pay him and did not allow him to finish the job. He stated that he did not hear from me (although we both verbally agreed to meeting on Monday morning and he signed his contract stating that he would be back on Monday to pick up his remaining payment). I called Frank immediately and was put to his voicemail. I left a message informing Frank of our prior agreement and that I was waiting for him to come complete the job. Frank wrote another email stating that his worker would be by shortly to pick up payment and complete any work that I wanted. I was not surprised that Frank would not be present to close this transaction. He is obviously a very unprofessional business owner who takes no accountability for the work he takes on. Alfredo showed up and I gave him the remaining amount. I have since addressed and completed all issues that Frank left behind.
It would take me ages to review the overall experience, but I did my best to highlight Frank's poor business practices. He uses intimidation, false allegations and strong-arm techniques to obtain a desired outcome. Anything discussed with Frank must be put into writing because he is NOT a man of his word. I will ensure that all of my neighbors needing a paint job hear about my experience with The Painting System. Shame on you, Frank Baldwin. This review will be posted to Angie's List, brought to the BBB and Google Reviews. read more
