Complaint Review: Rob Fratacangeli

Just before the holidays (December 2004), Rob and his father came to paint our living room, kitchen, and upstairs hallway. He came recommended by a family member. The kitchen was painted the wrong color. Rob fixed it. After the living room was painted, my fiance and I noticed some paint on the carpet -- it looked like it happened as the baseboards were being painted. We have white carpet, and the walls were all painted a dark beige. Some spots were worse than others -- there's a big blob on the carpet of our stairs. We have a cathedral ceiling in half of the living room; where the celing to the living room opens up to another wall going straight up to the top of the cathedral celing, there are quite a few drip marks on the underside of that wall (where the celing meets that wall).

Since Rob came recommended from a family member, we agreed to pay him the fee of around $3,000 on good faith that he would come back and touch up these mistakes. He totally blew off my fiance and wasn't answering his phone. My fiance finally got a hold of him and he agreed to come back on Thursday the 6th of January. We had some snow that morning, but when my fiance called him at 8am he claimed to be on his way. When I got home from work, I noticed that no work had been done. My fiance again tried to reach him but he wasn't answering his phone (he uses a cell phone only). He finally reached Rob by using my cell phone (a number he didn't recognize). Rob agreed to come back on Saturday morning. My fiance talked to him Saturday morning and Rob said he'd have to reschedule.

Rob agreed to come Monday morning, January 10th. Rob showed up at 7:40am, 20 minutes early. My fiance walked him around the house to show him where we wanted him to touch up. He said he would have to run to the hardware store to get some supplies. My fiance and I went to work and told him where our key was so he could get back in. Rob never returned -- I know this because when I got home, I again noticed that no work had been done. My fiance tried to call him, but his cell phone is turned off. He finally reached Rob's father, Carmello, in the Bronx, but didn't get much information out of him.

Don't hire Rob to paint your home or do any work for you.

Becky
Goldens Bridge, New York
U.S.A.