Complaint Review: Aurora Exterior Painting - Northborough Massachusetts

To Whom It May Concern:

We, Aurora Exterior Painting Inc. are writing in response to a complaint that surfaced through www.ripoffreport.com and have the following details and facts regarding this issue below. Mr. Alden also submitted a complaint to the Better Business Bureau but it was removed once we started our side of the case.

As stated in the complaint, Aurora contracted to paint the house of Ken Alden of Marlboro, MA in July of 2007.  The job was completed on July 31st of 2007.

Mr. Alden states he was very specific about the color he chose.  His 3oz sample that was given to us for the exterior of his house was actually an interior sample in an eggshell sheen.  The agreement made with Mr. Alden for the exterior of his house which is written on the contract, was for the body of the house to be done with an exterior paint in a flat sheen. We told him the paint store should be able to match his color sample but it would be with an exterior paint with a flat sheen.  He agreed this is what he wanted on the house.

Eggshell is one step up on the sheen level from flat making the paint to appear to have more of a shine to its finish.  Seeing this could be an issue with Mr. Alden, since he had over 25 color samples he was going through and could not make up his mind about the color, we brought the matched color to his house, had him look at it and then sign off that it was acceptable.  The agreement was written up by a production manager on July 17^th and signed by Mr. Alden the same day.  He says in his complaint he asked us why we didnt compare the colors and claims our management of this was sloppy.  How can a company be more organized when we have a signed agreement with him that the color match was compared and deemed acceptable? 

Having a signed agreement the color match was good the crew began to paint the house.  They completed the final coat on the entire house and when we were done Mr. Alden or his wife felt the color was not exact to his 3oz interior eggshell sample.  Even after signing off on the color match, he wanted the color matched again and another coat put on.   

After bringing another match back to the house he didnt like it again.  The color could not have been more exact but the sheen was a little different because it was a flat paint next to an eggshell paint.  We had to ask a Benjamin Moore paint representative to come to the house (which one did) and further explain why his request for an interior eggshell paint was going to look a bit different compared to an exterior flat paint.  The representative tried to explain this numerous times and told Mr. Alden this was the best match possible that the paint store could do. 

There were 3 people looking at the color match beside Mr. Alden and we literally had our noses 2 inches from the clapboards trying to find a difference in color.  The only person who didnt agree the color was the same was Mr. Alden. 

We told him there was nothing more Aurora could do to match his color and if he wanted it changed he would have to get the paint matched himself.  He agreed we did all we could do and realized this was the paint stores issue not being able to get what he thought was an exact match.  Because of this he felt it fair to have to go and deal with the paint store himself and get the paint matched which he did and he also agreed to pay us a little more for the additional coat because it was not Auroras fault and rather the paint stores inability to get an exact match.  He states in his complaint that this was our issue and our fault.  That couldnt be further more from the truth.  Why else would he agree to get the paint himself and also pay more for work that was supposedly our fault?

He did come back eventually with more paint that he thought was a better match and a second agreement was written up and signed by him that the color was acceptable and that he would pay $500 for another coat to be put on.  This amount was minuscule to what it actually cost to cover his whole house again (he has a 4000 sq foot colonial) with another coat but my crew agreed to take a little less money for doing the work and Aurora made nothing on this cost.  

He mentions us trying to overcharge him for carpentry work.  This was an honest mistake by our production manager who thought we replaced three window sills when it was a triple window sill that was all one large piece of carpentry.  This was quickly corrected and Mr. Alden had no problems with any of this.  Everything was completely fair and in the end he was very happy with how we dealt with everything and got things right in the end.  He later referred us to some of his neighbors because he was so happy with the work.  I have an email stating that he recommended us also.  This does not sound like someone who wanted us done and gone according to his complaint.

Mr. Alden did contact us 27 months after the job was complete and he said there were a few spots peeling on his house.  We explained to him that he was beyond his warranty period of 24 months and there was nothing we could do at this point.  We did go and look at the work and we found just a few spots on his house that were peeling.  The rest of the house was completely fine and nothing else was peeling anywhere.  We told him if he matched the paint again and had it for us at the house, we would do the repairs even though his warranty had expired.  We felt we were being very reasonable by providing to him our labor for free if he would buy 1 gallon of paint. 

Mr. Alden apparently felt this was completely unacceptable so we offered him another option.  This was the $135 figure he refers to in his complaint.  We arrived at this figure because it was going to take us 4 hours of time to fix the few spots on his house which was $100 in labor cost and the paint was $35.  Apparently this was also unacceptable even though we were now paying for the labor and the paint.

Mr. Alden did not accept either one of our options to help him out even though we had no obligation to because his warranty expired.  His complaint with ripoffreport.com is filled with inaccuracies and exaggerations of the facts of this case.  Please refer to the signed color match agreements that were compared and tested on his house before beginning to paint and the reference in his complaint to us not comparing this first and being sloppy in our management.  This is just one example.

The bottom line is he became upset with us that we would not honor an expired warranty even though we gave him 2 very reasonable options for resolving this.  We have provided all of the signed agreements of color matching and costs associated with this job that Mr. Alden agreed to.  Everything is clearly written out and proves this complaint is unjust and an attempt to stain the reputation we have worked hard to have at Aurora.

Sincerely,

Aurora Exterior Painting Inc.