College Works Painting - Page 2

GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN -- On a Saturday morning my doorbell rang. I went to the front door to answer it and was greeted by very sharp young man who introduced himself as Ben **, a representative of College Works Painting. He explained his business, clearly articulated his business plan, the products and services, and his personal goals in taking on this summer business between college semesters.

Then he asked if I had painting needs. My first response was “no” then I asked if they stained decks and he affirmed they did. I showed him my deck and asked him to give me a quote. His quote was very fair and I accepted it, so we scheduled a date, then selected a type of stain and the color from a huge range of options.

Ben and his crew arrived on the appointed date, they power washed all surfaces to be stained. Staining the deck meant top to bottom, inside and out, a job I had been putting off for months due to the complexity and time and effort required to complete it. The guys dug in and completed the entire project in a day and a half. They did a quality job, covering every inch inside out, up, down, and around. They were professional and diligent in completing the work and exceeded my expectations of the job and how they went about completing it.

Ben and crew can be proud of their work, done on time, at a fair price, and being very easy to work with. I can heartily recommend Ben and his crew of College Works Painters without reservation should you want to work with Ben and his crew.

CATONSVILLE, MARYLAND -- Contracted with Trey ** of College Works in March of 2017 to power wash and paint double-deck, front door, shutters, and concrete surrounding base of house in the spring preferably May 2017. After signing contract, Trey kept in touch as promised to begin work early May.

Color choices were made and guys showed for work as scheduled though the week proved to be one of the hottest for spring in May. All prep work of scraping, pounding nails into wood, etc. performed and finished product left house ready for spring flowers. Workers were prompt and efficient leaving no mess for cleanup by homeowner even though job took several days. I would definitely use Trey and his crew again if the need arose.

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON -- We were impressed with the entire process! From nailing down the contract, to choosing the paint color and through the completion of the job. The attention to detail was amazing and the communication I received on a daily basis made this a lot less stressful than other jobs I've hired for.

LANSING, MICHIGAN -- We just moved here and Eric noticed our new home needed to be painted. He runs his own business as part of College Works. He is very nice and professional. We are very happy with the paint job.

IRVINE, CALIFORNIA -- Anokina and her crew did a great job. They were responsive, attentive, thorough, and respectfully received feedback. They walked us through the process explaining what exactly would take place. They were very helpful and provided recommendations with regard to color selections. I would recommend this company.

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA -- We found the paint work of Lydia, Kalan and Patrick to be excellent. They stayed within their timeline, and for our size house were able to complete the task in two days. They arrived on time and worked cleanly and efficiently. Whenever​ we had any concerns​, Lydia took the time to resolve them to our satisfaction. Our house looks so much better!
We are really pleased with a job well done.

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA -- We found the paint work of Lydia, Kalan and Patrick to be excellent. They stayed within their timeline, and for our size house were able to complete the task in two days. They arrived on time and worked cleanly and efficiently. Whenever​ we had any concerns​, Lydia took the time to resolve them to our satisfaction. Our house looks so much better!
We are really pleased with a job well done.

VANCOUVER -- It was time to have our 105-year-old house painted again after 12 years. We decided that we would give a college student the opportunity to do the work having had great success with another company called College Pro painters. When the student came to our door from College Works Painting based out of Irvine CA, we thought "let's give them an opportunity." Turns out the company is run like a pyramid. They do not provide adequate paint training and send teams out into the workforce green, without proper tools.

Some of the reasons for why things were being done were so far off the mark we had to finally say STOP before more damage is done to the house. What took our previous workers 3 weeks to complete once College Works arrived we were told they would be here for 4 days which included pressure washing, scraping, priming, and a spray coat so thin you could see the bare wood underneath.

We were told that they pressure wash and scrape and prime right away because the wood is soft from the pressure wash and the paint scraping is easier. As they gouged their way through the soft wood I couldn't believe my eyes and a few hours later came home to find they had primed the wet wood and an hour or two later sprayed the paint.

The next day told the story. Paint was blistering, and bubbles under the old paint had formed. To cut our losses we had a stop order and have been forced to find someone qualified to paint and repair damage done by inexperience students. I don't blame them entirely but College Works Painting is the one that should be held accountable for taking student money and having them invest in this business.

Yes, they are student investors whose source of income is based on speed not a job well done. I can only say that if anyone in Canada or US is considering using College Works I say be careful and buyer beware because you are not going to get what you think you are. We were lead to believe the house was going to be brushed and they came with a sprayer that holds one quart at a time nothing of commercial quality.

Think twice before you hire the student and do you due diligence when it comes to researching the company. You are not going to get what you have signed on the dotted line for. Reviews for this company are strictly from investor perspective and customer reviews are non-existent. In summary, sales pitch great you know--help a student, quality of work in the basement.

PHOENIX, ARIZONA -- We have a serious customer service and vandalism issue with this company. We worked with a young man who was originally supposed to paint our house named **. Due to delays with our HOA, he had to give the job to a man named ** when it came time to complete the painting job. During this time, they lost our agreed upon and HOA-approved paint sample. Once they figured it out, they did a good job, but removed several of fixtures from our house, including pigeon-proofing spikes that we had paid another company to install years before.

They did not ask before removing these spikes, and ** had told us they could paint over them (which is best so that they remain blended in with the house). So, not only did they remove them without permission, break several of them in the process, but they then stated they could not put them back on because they did not have the right glue.

Long story short, after weeks of push back from the company, speaking with a manager named **, as well as a manager named ** who had told me personally that they would take care of it, the only way to get it done is for US to pay out of pocket for the glue so that they themselves could put the, now broken, pieces of these spikes back on our house. Oh, and did I mention that by removing these spikes, they have now negated our warranty with the pigeon-proofing company???

I'm very pleased with the paint job itself, but the lack of respect for our property and subsequent rude and unethical treatment when all we asked is that they fix this mistake is absolutely unacceptable. Shame on you College Works! We will be reporting this to the Better Business Bureau.

SONOMA, CALIFORNIA -- I had a nice initial contact with Hiromu **, who was the salesperson and coordinator for College Works Painting jobs in Sonoma this summer. However, once I'd signed the contract I was surprised by how many further calls and visits were necessary to get the painting job underway. And when the job was nearing its scheduled time, I had calls and contacts from Hiro asking questions I thought we'd already settled as well as asking if I'd be willing to delay my project (I'd given a 2 week window over a month in advance, and he was having trouble getting crews to finish projects in time to do mine during that window).

I said, “No, sorry, but I really did need the job done by my move-in date.” I was told not to worry. However, the day I arrived with the movers and their van was the day the painters were just beginning to spray the paint on the house, and they had to stop their work in order for the moving company to move me in. Not a satisfying situation for anyone, to say the least. That said, there was a silver lining to this story, as the painters were about to paint over minimally-prepared siding, having not done the crack-filling and caulking I'd been promised.

I was able to alert the crew's boss the next morning, and they were directed to do the preparation needed before painting. In the end, the paint job was well done, and I was very happy with it at its completion. Hiro is a friendly, kind-hearted and well-meaning college student who had a tough job to manage this summer. He was conscientious and wanted to satisfy his customers' needs.

He went out of his way to help them out (for example, he helped me as I trimmed back some plants from the area to be painted). I'm sure he learned quite a lot about time management, project management and people/team management during this summer with College Works. I wish him very well in all his future endeavors.