sophia g.

Joined 0 days ago

Unbelievable! An attempt at extortion! A day after I posted a negative review on Yelp I got a call from the owner (Jim) asking me if I wrote it. When I said yes, and explained I thought I'd been more than fair to him (leaving out many irritating details) he said he wanted to "collect the remaining balance"

It's been about three months since the work was "completed" and I hadn't heard a peep out of him.

As soon as i got off the phone, he sent me an invoice for $1,500 more than originally agreed and is trying to tell me I owe him $2,600

Absolutely ridiculous.

If you wonder why there are only positive reviews, now you know -- he buys them.

Am obviously not going to pay him and would love to see him try to recover this in court given the lengthy email record I have of this ridiculous experience.

Here's the original negative review:

Sloppy, dirty and deeply disappointing. That sums up my experience with Chicago Painters. Had expected a lot from the good reviews but think it really depends on which crew they send.

We were getting seven of the nine rooms in our house painted and wanted the work done while we were out of town. We came home to a thick layer of sticky dust covering literally every surface of the house. To make matters worse, they had done such a poor patch job that I could see cracks on the walls even at night. there were also splotches of spilled paint all over the place - my floors, kitchen cabinets, bathroom cabinets. And for some reason the crew didn't think the radiators or inside of windows were part of the job of painting the trim.

I sent an email that evening and jim the owner was very apologetic (why he gets 2 stars sted one) He seemed genuinely upset and sent the crew over to fix the worst of it the next day. He also sent a professional cleaner over who did a great job.

But he never came over to inspect the work, as he'd promised. And the crew he sent to do the fix ups was the same one who messed up in the first place.

While the owner agreed to get them to do the radiators and interior widows, they only did the rads. I was so sick of the process that I didn't even do a walk thru with them after their second patch up visit bc I just wanted it to be over. So when they didn't do the windows on their second patch up visit after two requests I decided it wasn't worth asking them back (tho jim did offer)

Jim ended up giving me a discount on the work by not billing me for the remaining balance but I would have rather paid the full amount and had the job done right in the first place.

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henryteng

Joined 4 years ago

Great company to work with. They showed up on time; the quality is great; the price is reasonable too.

They even fixed a broken receptacle on the wall without asking.

You don’t need to worry about anything if you give the job to them.

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brqnccg

Joined 4 years ago

Nice job!. These guys are not bad at all, not bad at all! They did an amazing job painting my room. The quote was affordable and they were real cool about meeting my expectations. Best of all, they finished sooner than i thought.

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JillWChicago

Joined 4 years ago

Excellent Job! Professional and Done on Time!. This company painted our neighbor's condo and did a great job so we called them. You deal with the owner directly. He answers the phone, came on a Saturday to give the estimate (arrived a few minutes early), gave me a couple of quotes for painting our entire two bedroom, one bath condo. He worked within our budget and gave us suggestions for what paint to use if we try to sell in 6 months. It was nice to deal with the owner rather than some receptionist answering a phone. The drawback is that he doesn't always answer the phone if he is at a job site, but he always called back within 24 hours.

We used his interior decorator, who I would use again when we move, she was really, really good.

The work was estimated to take 3-4 days, they got done in 3, but we stayed in a hotel (I was pregnant and wanted to avoid any smell) so I think they were able to work longer days.

The painting was excellent, we did not even need any touch ups! And they had to fix the poor paint job we did ourselves in the kitchen. I will use this company again when we move, to touch up this place, paint closets, and in the new place. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS COMPANY. I have nothing negative to say about them.

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Sparksattw

Joined 5 years ago

Fantastic painters - VERY highly recommended. When we bought our new condo - we looked at a few options for painters. We definitely needed professional help - we had a duplex up with 25 foot ceilings - something far outside the "DIY" kind of painting project. After meeting with a few options - Chicago Painters were by far our favorite option. When they providing us with an estimate - they spent time walking around each room really understanding what we wanted. They offered lots of advice on colors and styles (especially which would wear and tear better, where we'd need multiple vs single coats, and where previous painters had made costly mistakes). The estimate they provided was very competitive and the service was fantastic. We changed our minds on colors twice after the project started (sometimes you just don't know what you want until you see it). They were great (and patient) with these adjustments - and still got the work all done on time. Their advice was fantastic (and very helpful) and the place just looks awesome. They really did a great job - we're booking them back in a few weeks to help paint and stain the deck.

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kevinwalsh

Joined 6 years ago

Best painters in town! Professional, personable, perfectionists!!. I recently had the pleasure of hiring Jim and the boys over at Chicago Painters and I couldn't be happier with the finished product. The first time I hired them was for a small condo with a ton of trim work in it. This place had crown molding, chair rail, all cased openings, trey ceilings, and vaulted ceilings! These guys came in, put tarps down, and went straight at it, no questions asked. Jim was very helpful in telling me which kind of paint was commonly used kitchens as opposed to, let's say, a family room. Jim knows his field so well that I didn't hesitate to call him up for a quote on doing a much bigger place. These guys took on my whole house without even a droplet of paint hitting the floor! They are very neat and thorough painters. When we had the final walk through and I had a few questionable areas(and I mean only a few!) Jim didn't hesitate to get someone over to my place and take care of it. The prices that I paid for both places were very competitive. While they may not be the cheapest painters out there, they certainly are not the most expensive either. I tend to stick with the middle price range on things like this because I don't want some guy who is just going to slop on a coat of paint and get out of there never to be heard from again. I also don't like working with the high end guys who stick around your house for weeks on end just to make it look like they deserve the huge amount of money you pay them. Chicago Painters is comfortably in the middle of those two scenarios. They don't just slop on the paint and they do not sit around wasting their time or yours. They get in, get it done, and get out! Maybe it's Jim's back round as a Marine. I look forward to working with these guys again and I hope that this review will help you in your decision on a painter.

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123johnnychicago

Joined 6 years ago

Solid company from start to finish. I found Chicago Painters on Citysearch, they were one of five quotes I got for painting my new construction condo. When I called to schedule an estimate I got an immediate response and had an estimator there the same day. They gave me a written proposal that clarified every aspect of the job so I knew exactly what the quote was for, the payment schedule and how the whole process worked. There pricing was right in the middle compared to the other estimates, but the proffesionalism was uncanny. They came on time everyday and left me a note with company letterhead, giving me head's up on the day's progress. The worker's had company uniforms on, were polite, and did a detailed walk through at the start of the project and the end of the project. They cleaned up great and now I'm just enjoying the work they did in my new place. I definetly recomend you yet least get a quote to compare. They already painted my brother in law's and my Mom's- both very satisfied. They even called me a month later to see how the paint job was holding up!

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jjpc19

Joined 6 years ago

Great service and friendly!. Chicago Painters came out and painted my deceased mom's condo and did a great job. They were on time, considerate of my furniture and of my "need done yesterday" problem. I felt safe with them in my condo with out me there every minute. They also had to work around some clutter. It took some time to prep everything but once that was done the actual painting went very fast and professional. They said 2 days and they were right on the money. I would definetely recommend them to my friends.

Doesn't Recommend

citygirlnow

Joined 6 years ago

Find someone else for your painting needs!. This company was very hard to get ahold of, as there is only 1 phone # to call and it is the owner's cell phone #. They were supposed to start our project on Wed at 7:30am. They called at 9:15 and said they would be there at 9:45! This was not going to work as we had to leave to go to work, and we weren't able to let them in. They then said, they would start Thurs between 7 and 7:30am, they showed up at 7:45am and left at 3pm. They marked up our white couch with a BLACK grease pencil while moving it and they stripped off a layer of our wood floors, from the tape they use to cover the floors. They pride themselves on their excellent painting skills, but honestly, I could've done a better job myself, without messing up the furniture!

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Contributor

Joined 10 years ago

Editorial Review. These fully-insured expert painters can handle both commercial and residential paint jobs with detail and care.