Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:11/18/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  ResolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  In fall of 2022, I contracted CertaPro (CP) to paint my home, after a very detailed and convincing sales pitch by a woman named ***** *********, saying that ******* ******** carried a product that was specifically for oxidized aluminum siding, that would seal in the oxidation permanently and yield a beautiful result on my ******* spring of '23, I noticed that the paint had bubbled all over two sides of my house. So I reported it to CP, who at that time was extremely receptive, and immediately set to work trying to troubleshoot the problem. They first got a ******* ******** expert to inspect the damage, and were told that aluminum should not have been painted (sales pitch was a lie), and they would have to remove the paint completely and start over. Months passed while they tried to scrape, then peel, then sandblast the paint off. Nothing worked The next I heard, they had hired a commercial sandblaster to come and get the paint off. I trusted that these experts knew what they were doing, and that the work was still insured under my contract with CP.The sandblaster was a disaster. He didn't cover any of the windows, and blasted the house, severely damaging and denting the siding. He also removed paint from the window casings, blew out 8 of my screens (huge holes in them) and filled the windows and four rooms in my house with dirt.CP first took full responsibility, fixed screens (albeit poorly) and assured me that they would reside the WHOLE house in vinyl, as there was no way to match the existing siding. I went through a series of insurance interviews, where I was urged to insist that the whole house needed to match. Due to their insufficiency, insurance denied the claim. I was promised a siding date in 10/23. Then in spring of '24 Will **** (owner) told me they were not moving forward. After a bit of a fight, they are saying they will fix two sides only, leaving a "patchwork" house. A third side is now bubbling. I want what was first promised, FULL replacement

  Business Response

  Date: 11/27/2024

  To Whom It May Concern  
  
  Firstly, I want to express my sincere apologies to the customer. Our whole team is empathetic regarding this situation and we have taken full responsibility for the damage caused by the sandblasting company. This is unlike any situation that CertaPro has experienced in our 26+ years of business and I assure you that we will continue working towards resolving this for the customer within the scope of our responsibility.
  
  Throughout our review of the customers complaint, we have identified a few details that are being misrepresented:
  - Aluminum siding can 100% be painted and any paint vendor will confirm that, including the representative the customer is citing. 
  - The paint on the East and South facing sides failed due to two reasons:
  1) The painting crew that was subcontracted to complete this project most likely did not prepare the surface on these sides adequately prior to painting. Power washing and a deep clean is required when painting any substrate, particularly aluminum siding. Our belief is that when their power washer blew a fuse on the front of the house, they opted to use less effective cleaning procedures. Please note that we immediately hired an electrician to fix the fuse on the front of the house.
  2) The color chosen to be used here was a dark blue, which will attract more heat from sun exposure during the warmer months. This color most likely trapped this heat between the paint and the substrate, leading to minor bubbling.
  
  After consulting with numerous other professionals, sandblasting the siding was determined the only path forward. For a wooden clapboard house, we could simply sand and repaint, but aluminum cant be sanded in that nature. We regrettably hired a sandblasting company after vetting them through referrals, their website and multiple interactions. A seemingly easy process turned into an unmitigated disaster. The sandblaster dented the siding on the East and South facing sides as they removed the layer of paint. Although we recognized that a different resolution would be required, we made sure to repaint these two damaged sides so the customers house still had uniform color throughout and we replaced the damaged window screens.
  
  We immediately began sourcing vendors to replace the damaged siding with an intention to complete it in 2024. After receiving proposals from multiple vendors, we confirmed with the customer that we would replace the siding that was damaged by the sandblaster, to which the customer agreed via email on 6/7/24 (email included). The siding vendor planned to begin work in late October, a timeframe agreed upon by the customer and **********************. 
  
  As we approached the start of the project, the customer demanded that the siding on the entire house be replaced. This includes two sides that were not damaged by the sandblaster and are on the back sides of the house. The customer insisted that having vinyl siding on the front facing sides and aluminum siding on the back sides will be patchwork and unacceptable. Please also be aware that have offered to repaint the two sides not to be replaced so that the entire house has a consistent color. The difference of the two types of siding will not be noticeable, particularly with the same color throughout, and we believe that the customer is attempting to extort us as we try to resolve the issue at hand.
  
  Our offer for resolution is to replace the two sides damaged by the sandblaster and to paint the two other sides to match the color. Anything beyond that is not within our scope of responsibility and we view this as an attempt by the customer to take advantage of the situation. The original painting contract was $4,000 and we have agreed to spend over $40,000 correcting this issue because our company feels responsible for the sandblasting damage. As a local small business, that has a major impact on our companys financials and therefore affects every member of our team but we have proposed this to make it right. We believe anything beyond that is an extortion attempt made due to a frustrating, unfortunate situation.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/10/2024

  I did not receive any communication from the BBB after the initial acknowledgement of my complaint.  I have been through my spam and trash folders (which I rarely empty) looking for these responses.

  
  

  This case needs to be reopened.  The company is misrepresenting what happened, not me.  I included multiple communications from them, including one in which the owner verified that they agreed to re-siding the entire house, as that is what they asked me to present to their insurance company.  The insurance company can verify this, and if they are claiming otherwise, then that would have been insurance fraud.  

  
  

  I did concede the back side of my house, which is not visible from the street, with a caveat that they then paint it to match the new siding, as the paint color on the house cannot be exactly matched.

  
  

  He never countered this proposal, but then said at a later date that the company had contracted someone to re-side two surfaces of the house, not three.  This is when the battle began, because the variation in siding on different surfaces would certainly create a decrease in the home's value.  But even before this proposal was made, the original agreement (which I have submitted in writing) was for the whole house, in October of 2023.  That never happened, as he said the contractor had fallen through.  After the owner ghosted me for several months, he then came back and said they would "contribute to a portion of" the new siding, putting the responsibility of finding and vetting a contractor on me. When I did not agree to this, he went silent for a while longer before coming back with is proposal to do two sides only.

  
  

  In the meantime, the third side in question has also started to bubble.  This was reported to him (with photos) within my 2-year warranty period, and he has not addressed this new warranty issue.

  
  

  They need to replace siding on the west side of the house, as well as the south and east side, in order to repair the different levels of damage, and create a cohesive look (which is of course what I originally contracted them to do).

  
  

  Please advise as to next steps.

  
  

  Thank you,

  
  

  *******

  Business Response

  Date: 12/19/2024

  To Whom It May Concern  
  
  Prior to our final offer for resolution, I want to highlight two themes for anyone to consider while reviewing this complaint:
  
  1) The continuous changing of the customers resolution offer. A major reason for our inability to resolve the situation is due to her everchanging preferences on how she wants this addressed. For example: in her first message to BBB she asked that all sides be changed, but in her second message she references that I did concede the back of my house. We have been consistent with our resolution throughout: that we will change the siding that was damaged by the sandblaster. Her only accusation for why we havent has been when I suggested she ask the insurer for the extent of her wishes (more on that below).
  

  2) The customer consistently blaming others for a lack of timely communication. Please note that within this arena, she made sure to quickly blame BBB because she did not receive any communication from BBB. Similar situations have occurred within our past communications where her emails didnt send. We have never ghosted a customer and we never will. I have been nothing but responsive and cordial with the customer, it is her personal attacks that have worsened our ability to communicate.
  
  

  Regarding the customers claim that we attempted insurance fraud, we simply suggested in the text messages that she explain to the insurance agent her requests to re-side the entire house. Understandably, the insurance company shut this down in the same way that we have. This result is consistent with her repeated extortion efforts.
  
  The concern of losing value in her home due to one side being aluminum siding while the others are vinyl siding is completely incorrect. Her homes value is increasing substantially due to three sides having old siding replaced with brand new siding. The exterior envelope of her home will be more insulated end energy-efficient, while looking new. This is another gross attempt at wrongful extortion.  
  
  Our offer to have her manage the project while we contribute financially was entirely due to her aesthetic preferences and work with the siding contractor directly to achieve that. Us being the middleman has delayed the process.
  
  Upon further review, unless other variables arise in this situation, we will concede and re-side the west side as well. Although the customers request is beyond her two-year warranty, we will accommodate to resolve this issue and move on. Upon reopening communication with the siding vendor, they let me know that they plan to start this project in April 2025.

  
  

  Customer Answer

  Date: 12/23/2024

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me with the additional caveat that the north facing side of the house be painted to match the new siding. This was the verbal agreement I received from ****** ******** at CertaPro Corporate, and he assured me that this was the plan.
  

  However, these accusations of extortion are laughable, and I do have all accurate records of the communication (and gaps within it), change of resolution, and my generous concession of one side of my home to try and meet the business halfway on this resolution to get it done.  
  

  There was ONE recent incident that an email was left in my drafts folder, but it had no bearing on the debate at hand, and was sent very shortly thereafter.  In all fairness, this battle has been a full-time job and never should have gotten this far.  If the business owner would like to come do a search of my emails to see that there was no notice from the BBB sent to me after the last response they posted, they are welcome to do so.  I had been eagerly awaiting it, and would never have let it go unnoticed had it been sent.  I searched my inbox, spam and trash, and only when I reached out to inquire about it did I receive a PDF copy from the BBB.  I still have not seen any record that it was ever sent to me.

  Furthermore, the most recent bubbling on the west side of the house WAS, indeed, sent to the business within my warranty period.

  I have spoken with the franchise director at CertaPro corporate, and have also shared detailed records with him.  He was appalled by my story and thusly agreed to step in and assist me. I appreciate his help in showing the business the error of their ways. All the rest of this is just sour grapes, and further evidence of the poor ethics I have been fighting against.
  

  I will need to see the paint north side to match in writing, and at that time I will be in full agreement.  
  

  Thank you,

  
  ******* ******

• Initial Complaint

  Date:05/24/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Hi,As a Combat Veteran of the U.S. Army, it takes a lot to make me upset as I am with ************* and Certapro. For ones to claim to be the prime go to for interior and exterior painting, I am completely baffled. I DO NOT recommend using this franchisee of Certapro Painters, *********************** and his team have done nothing but stone wall the hack job you would call painting of our house. Our house looks good from 50ft way, any closer and you can see the terrible workmanship. they continue to just ask for pictures of their terrible work after they have been out themselves and seen it and taken the pictures too. I paid $8,000 to have my house painted and my house looks terrible. Timeline:June 2023 -Painted from Yellow to Red with 1 coat of primer and 2 coats of red.-Had 1" plug holes Bondo over the holes to make siding smooth. September 2023:-Paint is already flaking off in multiple areas -Plug holes begin to completely expose -Notified **** and sent pics on September 7th 2023 -September 11th 2023, **** comes and takes pics himself and tells me he will get this taken care of.October 2023:October 2nd I text **** and he calls tells me he's working on it, never ends up calling or scheduling anything February 2024:Feb 12, I directly contact the owner ************* and let him know I have not been talked to or put on any schedule to address my house.-**** says **** is on vacation and will follow up once he returns, this will become a common theme.May 2024:-May 1st I call and speak to **** and tell him I want this issue fixed and that I would like to talk to Will the Owner, who so happens to be on vacation and will return the follow week.-May 10th I follow up since I had still not heard back and he's unavailable but somehow he emails directly stating a 3rd individual will be coming out to take more pictures.

  Business Response

  Date: 05/24/2024

  To Whom it may concern,
  
  I am writing to respond to the BBB complaint made by *********;***************;on 5/24/24. 
  
  To Nicks first complaint, we have not stone walled Nicks outreach. In fact, his text messages and our email correspondences prove that we have been communicating with him over the past eight months to address his issue with our painting project. Our ability to paint the exteriors of homes is drastically compromised throughout the winter months and this also impacted our response time.
  
  Taking photos and reviewing as a team is part of our process for resolving customers complaints. We aim to resolve these as quickly as possible, but we are not contractually tied to a timeline nor had we promised a specific timeframe for resolution.
  
  I can understand that **** would like this issue resolved as soon as possible and prior to his BBB complaint, we spoke over the phone where I explicitly told him that we would be returning to his home to attempt to reach his satisfaction for the project. I told him I would send an email on Friday 5/24 (the day of his complaint) with a plan of action. At no time have I walked away from our contractual agreement.
  
  I would like to emphasize our warranty terms within the contract that **** uploaded. We are responsible for the performance of the paint and I have repeatedly told **** that we would address the peeling paint that we documented this past Tuesday when our Quality Control manager met with ****. His concern regarding the performance of the plug holes are not owned by my company. Our warranty lists that our warranty does not cover any work where the Contractor did not supply the paint or other materials and we did not supply the plug holes. The plug holes were pre-existing on the home and the result of a damaging and invasive process conducted by Nicks insulation contractor. We also list that our warranty doesnt cover horizontal surfaces by virtue of its design permits moisture to collect which includes the plug holes in the clapboard siding he is referring to. Lastly, our level of standard level of preparation in the contract explicitly outlines that fixing imperfections that require feather sanding and bondo application not be included in the warranty.
  
  With all of that outlined, we have agreed to return to Nicks home and attempt to reinstall the plug holes out of good faith because of our lack of timeliness in addressing his concern in the Fall. This isnt the first time we have resolved an issue at Nicks residence out of good faith. After we completed the project, **** called to tell us that our crew dented his air conditioning unit. While our crew was adamant that they had not touched the unit, we still hired a mechanical services company to straighten the dented wires. On our next visit, we will address the peeling while we are out there as part of our warranty. I had told **** this on the phone prior to his complaint, as well.
  
  Lastly, I think its invaluable for the BBB to understand the nature of Nicks behavior throughout this process. Over the past few ******************** has been aggressive, harassing and derogatory to my office staff and myself. Screaming at our office manager when he called on 5/10, calling us 5 year olds in his emails, screaming at me over the phone on 5/23 during our conversation and when I asked him not to use derogatory language he responded with Why? Did that hurt your feelings. We cherish the consumer and our track record has proven that with our public accreditation over the past 25 years and 1000+ painting projects, but we do not believe we deserve to be a subject of abuse when trying to reconcile with a customer.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/03/2023

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  On June 8, 2022, I reached out to CertaPro Painters of Southern NH (CertaPro) regarding a quote for painting the exterior of my home. We selected CertaPro based on their contract and warranty. We felt this option would give us the most protection for the investment. After completing all the paperwork and paying the deposit ($1,511.22) that CertaPro required us to submit Chad T**** contacted me to schedule the job. The crew came out and performed the paintwork to the home over the course of two days, finishing the second day after 8pm in the dark.A complete inspection was not possible.
  It took a couple of days for the paint to completely dry. Due to our contractual obligations to make payment in full after the job was completed or face additional fees and collections I made final payment ($4,533.65).For a total cost of $6,044.87.In the days ensuing I began to notice several areas of paint peeling all around the house, even falling off completely in spots. After more than a week, and email to him asking the status, Chad got back to me and said they would schedule the crew to come out and make repairs. This included re-scraping the loose paint, re-nailing clapboards the failed to the first time, sanding down the rough edges left by scraping, applying proper primer. After this work they caused damage to the foundation, deck, exterior lights and doors with paint, dripped caulking and paint down the house and left it looking worse than before. I reached out to Will (franchise owner) requesting warranty work for the new issues. He determined he would not fulfill the warranty work. I spoke with their corporate offices that agreed this was handled poorly by Will but because it was a franchise they could not enforce he fulfill his contractual obligations or issue compensation.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/13/2023

  Here at CertaPro, we pride ourselves on meeting our customers expectations and satisfying their painting needs.

  After spending two days completing the exterior painting project for ******, he notified us that it didn't meet his expectations. Per our standard operating procedure, a member of our office team visited his home to assess the project and felt there were a few minor parts that could use improvement. We had our crew return to his home to fix a few peeling areas on the exterior of his home, which they did in earnest. ****** had told us he would be there after this return trip to review the project, but was never present. The next day, we received further complaints from ****** regarding the project that didn't align with our crew's assessment. Regardless, we had our crew return to the house to complete the outlying issues. Again, we were of the understanding that ****** would be there to review the project but he was not. Him repeatedly not being present at the project after saying he would, made it impossible to get his approval or have him identify to our crew what outlying issues he felt still existed.

  Upon their departure, ****** called our office verbally berating our employees and team. Demanding that we paint other parts of his house for free or refunding him the contract in its entirety. The pictures he provided to our team were of three paint drips that he claimed our painters had produced. It became clear that his behavior was an attempt at extorting our business and employees. Due to his erratic behavior and the minimality of his complaints, we began feeling uncomfortable having a crew return to his home. He continually called our office in an aggressive nature, in addition to our corporate office. Our team came to the conclusion, by committee, that ****** no longer provided a safe envrionment for our team to return and complete the project.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/17/2023

  
  
  Complaint: ********

  I do not accept the business's response as a resolution to my complaint because: 

  This is not accurate and at no time did anyone call and speak in a derogatory manner, aggressive or abrasive.  All communication was cordial.  Additionally, I or the other homeowner was home at every encounter with CertaPro.  This is a completely different reasoning Will Gray or his corporate team has ever expressed and does not address the underlying contract breech.  All communication both written and verbal have been memorialized in this matter.  A refund for all or a substantial portion of the work or correcting the damage would satisfy the contractual obligations.  

  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  ****** **********

  Business Response

  Date: 01/23/2023

  We're sorry that Mr. ********** can't seem to remember the manner in which he approached this situation and his lack of accessibility when trying to address his complaints at the time of the project. Our team completed his project, made multiple attempts to achieve his satisfaction with the work and will not resolve this by returning to the house or by providing a complete refund.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 01/24/2023

  
  
  Complaint: ********
  
  
  
  I do not accept the business's response as a resolution to my complaint because: It appears CertaPro prefers dishonesty, fortunately all communication with this business has been retained from first communication with their franchise including the dozens of photos sent to them, their management staff relating their disappointment with the job their paint crew. I am sure review of employee emails, text messages and voicemails may be shed light on the true focus of any communication.  The franchise owner reports a “quality” job that required crews to come out multiple times to address maul items problems, he never came out to look at the job.  He reports berating his crew.  Communication with the crew was difficult due to a language barrier, I spoke to them at each visit.  Unfortunately, they left without letting me or the other homeowner know on all except the first occasion when they left between 8 and 9 pm so inspection was impossible with no daylight.  The crew returned many times along with the crew coordinator despite allegedly feeling unsafe.  Every attempt is being made to allow Mr. G*** the opportunity to correct a botched job.  He is always welcome to inspect the job his team did, the drips, smeared caulking, peeling paint, painted foundation, painting light fixture are all still very visible.  The areas with one coat of paint and visible primer can still be seen on the front of the house.  They will appear the same as they do in the many photos sent to CertaPro through Chad T**** and William G***.  

  
  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  
  
  ****** **********