T: Thanks for taking the time to listen up to the Angie’s List podcast. I’m Tristan Schmid.
Over the years, we’ve received some pretty amazing reports on service providers working in a variety of fields. Some companies provide consistently excellent service, while others do the opposite. So for the first time, we’ve decided to put a national list together honoring the best contractors of 2007 and wagging our collective finger at the worst.
Only 10 companies from across the country excelled enough to be called “the best”: they had to have received at least 20 reports from Angie’s List members in 2007 with an overall grade of “A” on every report, as well as at least 10 nominations to Angie’s List magazine’s Pages of Happiness, where companies are recognized for doing a terrific job.
Terry DeBartolo, co-owner of CCCM in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, is one of the contractors recognized as the best. He says a variety of qualities add up to a recipe for success and excellent customer satisfaction. Terry and his crew only take on one or two jobs at a time; I asked him why CCCM’s customers are willing to wait 4 or 5 months for a CCCM remodeling job.
DeBartolo: The quality of work, the honesty, the returned phone calls, everything goes into one package so that when we’re out of sight, we’re out of mind. I think that because some people have gone through a more difficult time with contractors that take their money, they don’t show up, they don’t return phone calls, the quality of work isn’t good, you can’t get them to come back: all that goes away and they just want someone in their house so they don’t have to worry and they’re willing to wait for that. And I think the other thing is, when you’re a high quality contractor, you’re always extremely busy, and people are known to want to wait for that.
T: Terry has some words of wisdom for other contractors.
DeBartolo: Treat everybody just like you want to be treated. Same exact way. Show the same courtesy, return phone calls, etc.
T: Thanks to his excellent customer service, Bill Bjorkgren’s phone constantly rings off the hook with customers. As owner of B J Appliance Repair in Westerville, Ohio, Bjorkgren takes pride in his work and says the key to his success is his ability to provide excellent service without assistance.
Bjorkgren: I do everything myself, I don’t hire any help or subcontractors. That way, every job is done correctly.
T: Brandon Jhun is also on our list of top contractors. As owner of Brandon Jhun Painting and Drywall in North Las Vegas, Nevada, Jhun says honesty is an integral part of being a successful contractor.
Jhun: You gotta be truthful with the customers, tell them exactly what you’re going to do. One of the big things for me, I won’t ask for any deposit. I think that gives people a sense of confidence. Because here in Vegas, there are a lot of contractors who will take your money and not even show up. I put their mind at ease when I let them know that I ask for no money down and tell them that they can pay me once they’re satisfied and the job’s complete.
(interlude)
T: Our five worst contractors of 2007 are all either convicted felons or facing criminal charges, and in some cases, both. They’ve also cost their customers a lot of time, stress, and money.
Paul G. Gordon, of 24/7 Home Repair in Tampa, Florida, is one of the worst. In addition to performing shoddy work and running away with customers’ deposits, Gordon allegedly threatened one unfortunate customer by publicly accusing him of molesting Gordon’s daughter.
Suzette Holder was another of Gordon’s unlucky customers. She says Gordon showed her a fake, stolen, doctored contractor license and performed shoddy work, which Holder successfully sued him for.
Holder: He deserves to be on the list of the worst contractors because he’s not a licensed contractor, he’s a fraud, and he defeats people out of their money.
T: As an unlicensed contractor, Paul Gordon has operated his businesses under several guises.
Holder: I was gotten under A-Z Home Repair. He’s done business under several different names and has in fact changed his name, first and last, so he can continue defeating people.
T: Gordon’s past is catching up with him, however: he faces trial in Florida on criminal charges including organized fraud and grand theft.
Douglas Cass of Long Island, New York, is another contractor who’s left lots of unhappy customers in his wake. In July Cass was arrested for trying to overcharge undercover officers for unnecessary repairs and now faces four misdemeanor counts of operating a business without a license. Charles A. Gardner, director of the Suffolk County Consumer Affairs Office, offers a summary of Cass’s offenses.
Gardner: Doug Cass, also known as Dan Russo and Drew Cass, is the worst example of an appliance repair business that we’ve ever had in Suffolk County. There’ve been more than 1,000 written complaints filed by consumers, from outright fraud, to taking appliances, taking parts and not returning them, overcharging cards, double-charging cards, physical abuse, verbal abuse, you name it, the complaints are there against him, his wife and his company.
(interlude)
T: Unfortunately, when you look for a contractor, it can be easy to hire the wrong person for the job, according to Suzette Holder, who wasn’t an Angie’s List member when she hired Tampa’s Paul Gordon.
Holder: I tried to make sure I wouldn’t get messed up with this. I thought I had a licensed person, but it’s very hard nowadays with criminals out there who have the ability to make themselves look more than what they are.
T: There are ways you can avoid hiring contractors like Paul Gordon and Douglas Cass. In addition to asking people you know about those they’ve hired, do your research. Check Angie’s List, trade associations, the Better Business Bureau and your local consumer affairs office for a contractor’s performance records and be sure to ask if he or she is licensed, bonded and insured.
For more about how to protect yourself and to read about all of the best and worst contractors of 2007, visit the Angie’s List magazine website, magazine.angieslist.com. Also, if you have comments about this episode and would like to share them with other listeners, visit angieslistpodcasts.com and click the “Comments” button for this episode. Until next time, this is Tristan. Thanks for taking the time to List-en!
