Plea for more detailed recs...and my floor repair search

 This forum design seems better suited for quick Q&A rather than discussion, but I’ll include this anyway.  For those of you who want to cut to the punchline, after spending an unbelievable amount of time trying to find someone to do a small wood flooring repair, I am recommending: **Shalom Flooring (516) 942-4478**   **I.  PLEA FOR MORE SUBSTANTIAL RECOMMENDATIONS** One problem I keep having is that people just give vague recommendations like “Call Jose 123-456-7890.”  Please consider posting more than that.  At least a company name!  As it happens, I made the unhappy discovery that there were actually three separate guys just being recommended as Jose.  I don’t know about others among you, but I like to check out a company before I even call them.  For me, my idea of a useful recommendation would be:  “Call Jose Smith, the head salesman with ABC Renovations at 123-456-7890.  He’s very knowledgeable and accommodating, and although his crew isn’t fluent in English, he stays on top of things.  They were one of the higher bids, but they did a great job, even though the projected two-day repair ran into a third day.”   **II. MY FLOOR REPAIR QUEST** I called about 10 or 12 places, got 5-6 estimates, and thought I would share some of my results:   Jose Zambara (one of the Jose recommendations here) Left two messages; calls were never returned.   Devaney Custom Flooring Came to do an estimate, very pleasant, and then never heard from him again, nor did he return any of several calls.  It’s fine with me if someone wants to back out of a job gracefully, but I think this is deplorable.   Desmond Harmon Widely recommended online.  Never actually talked to him because he never, never answered his phone, and would only return the call once, not reaching me.  After several tries I gave up.  I dislike this common absurdity of leaving messages saying “Call me any time” if you stay unreachable.   Old Oak Recommended here.  After the initial inquiry, they never returned any of my calls.  Their office phone just kept rolling over to a fax.  I told them this, but apparently they didn’t care.   Verrazano I called them before I found out they had a very mixed record in the past.  I have to say that the guy came promptly to take a look, and was the only person of all of them to give me an immediate estimate while he was there, which made a good impression.  Reasonable price, too.   Fehervar Inlays 646-963-3057 He would have been in the running.  I suspect he’s really for more complicated jobs than mine, and he was allocating two and a half days, which seemed like overkill.  But he seemed competent and attentive.   Floor Works  718-247-7279 This would have been my choice if it weren’t that their price was around double where it should have been.   That may just have been due to the fact that maybe they don’t often do jobs as small as mine – plus the fact that he figured three days for my small patch.  The owner seemed great – pleasant, attentive, returned calls promptly, good at explaining what would be done.  Good online reputation.   Shalom Flooring  (516) 942-4478 This was my winner.  The front man, Daniel Koubel, was a delight – cheery, accommodating, fast at returning calls, patient about dealing with problems with my building, good on follow-through.  Very reasonably priced.  He figured the job to be one full day, and his guy finished early.  Good job, and when I got a little finicky, he catered to me very good-naturedly.   (Tell him the woman who gave him all the books is recommending him!)

FishieFishie

in Flooring 12 years and 9 months ago

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odyssey | 12 years and 8 months ago

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Thank you so much for taking the time to be so helpful.  Just came across your post.  Jose Zambrono refinished my floors and for the most part I was very satisfied. When I was looking for quotes, I called three other individuals and/or companies who came highly recommended on this forum.  Of those three, only Verrazono flooring returned my call and came out to give me an estimate. Glad your repair ended well and I am printing out your e-mail for future reference should the need arise!!!

evie | 12 years and 9 months ago

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Really appreciate your taking the time to share this information. It is quite baffling how many companies, contractors, etc. that don’t return calls or keep scheduled appointments…..so it’s good to hear about those who do.

catboot | 12 years and 9 months ago

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Thanks for sharing!

CGDad | 12 years and 9 months ago

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very helpful – thanks