From Brad G.
Maury & Melissa Hughes
First of all, i hate leaving bad reviews, but it has come to this and people should know on here. I hired this couple back in 2017, for the first time.
Lackadaisical is the best way to describe them. I remember they showed up hours late, when I had somewhere to be, but finally got there and were super nice, friendly, and charming. Even picked up the door from Home Depot for installation to boot.
They were hired on to install 2 exterior doors , paint a door , and a storm door for $375. Paid $150 for one door installation . The outside trim for the backdoor ended up being damaged from being taken off and put back on and I was told they’d replace it with new trimming. It was on me, I didn’t have the 2nd door so we discussed installing the stormdoor and new trimming when they come back to install the 2nd door . Left me with a doorknob that wouldn’t lock, said they couldn’t figure it out, but would fix it next time. Well I fixed it because it was minor and didn’t seem worth having them come back out. This will be a theme.
Well time happened and I never got that second door. Recently, I noticed a hole in the roof of my storage shed based of a fallen branch that punctured it. Also had some rot in the flooring of said shed. Figured I’d kill to birds with one stone. Called these nice folks who came out and gave me a verbal bid on the work only. No formal written bid. We discussed some other things that i wanted to get done including cleaning gutters, but I wanted to focus on the stormdoor, trim, and shed issues. They showed up late again and had to go back out to get materials. They bought the supplies, minus the shingles for the shed, which I had, and repaired the hole/replaced the plywood. I’ve got pictures of all the work. The floorboard plywood is screwed in and has caulk around it. Doesn’t seem like a great methodology, but i can’t be sure of that. Left sawdust, nails, and other things lying around. Not a glamorous shed, but, come on, clean up...
Longwindedly now to the real crux. They installed the stormdoor, used my drillbit because they couldn’t find theirs, which is fine, thought they had installed it backwards and said they’d pay to replace, but realized it was then installed correctly. Had never installed that type of stormdoor apparently. They couldn’t get the closer to work on the stormdoor and said it just must be defective. Told me they have other ones that are shorter and they would come back and put one on at a later time. I thought that was odd since I can’t have the only house in the world that only allows the stormdoor to go out 90 degrees w/out it retracting as intended. Anyway, they offered to come back and install the shorter one and i said sure. Wrote me a bill, which i thought seemed high since it was another almost finished job, and Maury lowered it. $150 for the shed and $75 on top covering materials at which were $60 or $65, including the siding price that had needed replacing since last time they came. That seemed more than fair. After they left i noticed that the threshold at the bottom was too low so the door wasn’t sealed and it didn’t quite close all the way at the bottom. I also noticed another hole in the stormdoor above where the handle hardware plating was installed. He drilled an extra hole, later Maury referred to as a “ding”, in my brand new $200 stormdoor. Coool. I can get mad at myself for screwing stuff up on my own and not hire it out or pay someone to do it. I believe that’s what we call DIY, not hire someone to damage your new door and waits for you to notice it.
Went to home depot and found the closers are one standard size. Bought another one and I installed it. Turns out the screw on the bracket was not far out enough to allow the hydraulic or spring to retract. So i added back the original hardware and believe it or not, it worked like gangbusters. So again, I completed the job that was unfinished.
I asked when they would come back to look at the threshold and he said the very next day after another appointment. Mind you, they live outside Austin so they come in to the city periodically. Never saw or heard from him. Two days later, asked again. No answer. Called him and got a text asking if he could call later. Sure thing. Heard nothing. 5 days later, called/texted and nothing. 5 days later, again called/texted and no response to phone call or text. Intermittently I’d Call from my gfs number and Maury picked up. Called him from my work number and he picked up that call. So he’s obviously dodging my specific calls/texts like an ex. Tells me, ‘yeah we will be there tomorrow or the next day’. No apologies for not getting back or avoiding my texts/calls. Then, doesn’t show up, again. I’m beyond annoyed and frustrated. They got paid for an unfinished job. Damaged the stormdoor that doesn’t fully close or seal. So today I finally send a text letting him know I’m an unhappy customer and that I don’t appreciate being ignored. Didn’t think it was awful, however I did insinuate that he doesn’t care to do a good job and has gotten paid so I’m of little to no significance, which he confirms.
He calls back and leaves me a jerky vm, since I went into a meeting and couldn’t pick up. Tells me I left HIM a “nasty” message. Tells me to stop “playing games”, he isn’t going to just “spend $80 to come to Austin” for me, and that I’m “acting like a dick”. They “did me a favor” installing the stormdoor and basically I’m not a priority and they had written a bid much higher, and i should go back and look at my notes. What notes?? Again, got nothing in writing at any point besides the original thumbtack job from two years ago. He didn’t like being accused of showing zero interest or integrity after getting paid obviously and it bruised his ego, but that’s the only time he responded to me. No responsibility for the damage or not getting back to me in a timely fashion.
Said they’d come look at it when they can, “weather permitting” or I could find someone else. If they wanted more money, that should have been established at the time of the job, not thrown in my face like I’m some jerk. Called him back and left him a vm since of course he didn’t pick up. Shocker. Let him know I just don’t appreciate my time being wasted when he tells me, he’s coming by on a certain date. I even apologized for assuming the shallowness of only wanting a payday. Somehow I felt like I had done wrong by this guy. Impressive feat.
I’m sure they are good people that mean well, but if you don’t know how to do something correctly or don’t have time, just communicate that and show some humility. The irony is, I would have had them back for other jobs as well, against my own better judgement. However, they were sweet enough to fix my faucet which just had a dirty aerator for free. They get another star for that. Hopefully this is just circumstantial and not a pattern of behavior, but based on some of the other reviews, or like his assurances, I won’t hold my breath.
-Fin
