Report: This contractor was given ample opportunity to remedy the situation. This report is being filed to warn other consumers and businesses in our area to beware of this contractor. This contractor is a fraud! Let us tell you our experience with this contractor.
Not a professional painter! Sloppy! Poor prep work of walls and trim. Never prepared with enough tools and material for job — borrows/uses/takes homeowners. The buckets he uses to mix paint for the job are so laden with cracked paint your expensive paint is sure to be contaminated — gave him a fresh bucket he promised to return as given but he walked off with that too.
Our experience with this one is that he can not fund his work—lives job-to-job-always in need of money up front for material, even gas to get to job, register his car, etc. One story after another! Always with a different helper brings people into your home you have never met which is very uncomfortable!
Job was delayed for months due to other ongoing renovation projects and warranty work schedules at our new home. Paint job of one room was to take 4 days — First day he did not show because he had no helper. Second day arrived late by almost an hour and spent less than 1/2 day on the job. Next day did not show up until 11:45am! Called him twice that morning and he said he was on his way. Finally shows near the crack of noon — his helper shows a good 1/2 hour later. He then has the nerve to say I should go get the paint as he sets up! He doesn't have paint, he doesn't have caulk, he doesn't have wall patch, he doesn't have a clean bucket — barely has enough plastic and tape to cover the window shutters. (I had to provide drop cloth, skids to move furniture, furniture blankets, work vacs, etc. Not well-equipped for the size of this job at all.)
I call the paint shop to place his order, his helper leaves to pick it up.By the time his helper brings back the material and they get underway, he puts in less than 1/2 day work and is ready to leave at 3:15pm! — he rushes out as he tells me he needs to make the bank! It's Friday and this job should be just about finished as this was the third day scheduled.
No sooner he left I went into the room to see how much was accomplished and was stunned at how sloppy his work was. Heavy paint drips all over the moldings... Wall paint brushed onto crown cut in around doors and windows was pathetic no steady hand to this application at all & the first coat of paint to the walls shows every imperfection — noticeable imperfections a true professional would have attended to before any paint was ever applied. I then spend two hours in the room cleaning up his mess before it dried on the trim and got everything in order as I had expected he would have left it.
He was to call next day (Saturday) if he was going to paint. We expected he would as we scheduled this day for finish work and he was so far behind. He never called.
We call him Monday and let him know just how we felt and how sloppy his job was and what had to be done to get things in some order. He did not like this at all! He talked back to me like I did not know what I was talking about (believe us we know what quality work is.) He became nasty as I told him what we did not like about his work and how we had to clean up his mess. He began to criticize me and then began ripping my relationships with other contractors and my critique of their work — work which had taken time to get right which delayed the start of this job hes saying he believes it is not the contractors but me because I can not stay off their backs. I could hardly believe what was shooting out of his mouth! He then goes on to say he does not want me micro-managing his work that Ive been on his back since he started! I thought what nerve he had to say anything as he hadnt been in our home to perform one full day of work yet and I did nothing but run supplies to him from my garage and call in orders for him because he was so under-prepared! He then says, 'when he returns to finish the job he does not want me in the room... He wants to work with the doors closed and I am not to come in until he is finished. That he is going to do it his way because after all what do I know... I'm just a 'homeowner painter', etc., etc. And he's been doing this for 23 years.
I was stunned and almost threw him off the job at that moment but hesitated as I thought of the money we had given him and I wanted to speak with my husband. (By the way, my husband gets home the day before to find outside our home about 8 cigarette butts squashed in the road and an empty pack of Marlboro tossed in the street! Nothing worse than a smoker who flicks his garbage all around your property! What a slob!)
Its after the weekend and we get on the phone where he is now apologizing and asks if we can just forget about what happened and move on. I agree because everyone can have a bad day but I note him that I still want to discuss his behavior before he gets back to the job. I have no openings until end of the week — Friday. He promises to return (by himself) to finish the job as he did not have money to pay for a helper. He promises we will be 100% satisfied when he is finished. Since he can not work at our home for the next four days he says he has another job he could work on in the meantime and needed some of his things. He collects his things and leaves stating he would call us Thursday and be back on the job Friday. Thursday came and went Friday came and went no call from Michael Cocciolone/Smooth Finish Painting. Several messages leftno return calls.
Michael Cocciolone / Smooth Finish Painting chose to take the money we gave him and run. Michael Cocciolone/Smooth Finish Painting left our Master Bedroom in shambles. Michael Cocciolone/Smooth Finish Painting is a Liar, a Thief, a Dishonest person, who pretends to be a caring, professional, in-demand contractor who provides first-class work. Nothing is farther from the truth! Now that we have seen him for who he truly is and his work for what it truly is we would not have him paint a footstool for us let alone our home!
Be aware Michael Cocciolone/Smooth Finish Painting promotes himself not only as a Painter but as a jack-of-all-trades who can do just about anything he has told us he can work electrical, irrigation, landscaping work, etc. He is always looking for odd jobs. His technique in this regard is also too fast as he rushes through everything he does — sloppy and leaves jobs unfinished.
It is not the money we lost to deceitful Michael Cocciolone/Smooth Finish Painting that bothers us but the trust we placed. He begged us to help him on numerous occasions while waiting for this job to begin and we did so because it is a bad economy and people are hurting... How many times he called or came to our door for help and we found odd jobs for him and ways to help him even gave more money toward the contract as he promised he would be doing the job and be paid this money anyway — look how grateful and appreciative Michael Cocciolone / Smooth Finish Painting is for our generosity and help. A true scam artist!
We will take care of finishing our project and putting this in order... But people like this often wonder and question why their life is so full of misfortune when all they need do is look in the mirror to find the answer. You reap what you sow.
We gave Michael Cocciolone/Smooth Finish Painting fair warning and several opportunities to correct this situation before taking this action to post a report. Michael Cocciolone/Smooth Finish Painting ripped us off. If he does so to us then he will do so to others and that is why we post our experience with this contractor. We are reporting this to our local officials as well.
Make your own decision. Please be warned... Protect yourself. Make it a practice to see the driver's license of anyone who enters your home to do work make a copy and keep the information stored. Warn those looking for painters and general handymen in the Gloucester County NJ, PA or DE area to not get involved with persons who are not trustworthy and not qualified.
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