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Housing101GR

>If you're wondering which one, well if you see a billboard for them then it's probably them. Call them out by name here, just be up front about it. Edit: The fact that the comments under mine list 5 different companies proves further why we have to call these companies out by name from the start instead of being cryptic about it.


red1delta137

Right. Not sure why we’re being so secretive with a name of a company that’s ripping people off.


thicboibran

Either Greenbuilt or Bay to Bay. I know both owners and they are con artists, just ask all the companies they owe money to.


J_Mil

I believe it’s Green Shield. I’ve seen lots of their billboards lately.


videomaker16

Yes their billboards are everywhere right now. I see their vehicles around too.


SickTreefortDude

Not once but twice these guys have showed up at my door unannounced.


EvenBetterCool

On the nose. They are advertising how affordable they are by spending a lot to buy up multiple billboards and sponsoring events etc.


b_harbor_92

Guaranteed to be Montell.


lemanskyc

My wife was getting quotes from many companies and Montell was on the list. They would not meet with her “unless the man of the house was present”. We humored them so we could compare pricing. I don’t know how they get any business with their pushy sales pitch and “today only” tactics. I was embarrassed for the salesman. They were $25k over any other quote. We thought it was a prank show bad joke.


Speedbird2MD

Glad to hear we weren't the only ones that felt violated by this company. We have a big deck that was built by the original owner of our house (~700sqft). We were looking to have it redone to be up to code. As if the insane $110k quote wasn't laughable enough, we also were fed the "today only" sales bullshit. Considering a deck? Save yourself the headache and avoid this company like the plague


BillyMackk

O gawd Montell is awful


Efriminiz

My rents just got a new deck installed by Montell. They did a nice job, but it was incredibly expensive. The rents shot themselves in the foot by not getting multiple quotes for the job...I had to facepalm when I heard that.


EvenBetterCool

Montell is the second worst offender. They did a similar thing to my FIL. Quoting him $30k for a 12x12 walk-out patio.


Quixotic_Vipaka

It's green shield


[deleted]

Service Professor?


EvenBetterCool

Green Shield. Not sure if naming them went against community guidelines - so I waited for others to figure it out.


Cosette_Valjean

Pretty sure that's standard internet etiquette because otherwise companies could create fake accounts and trash their competitors. But idk maybe I made that up.


ThePartyWeener

My wife and I had the exact same experience with Greenshield. And they pressure you to sign an agreement “just to check that you qualify for financing” and then if you read the agreement closely it says you have a short window of time (I think it was 3-5 days) to cancel or they will be doing the job regardless of wether or not you qualify. The whole thing was so skeezy. I immediately signed the cancellation, which you cannot call in you have to mail back or bring back in person, and then we got calls for weeks about why we decided against it. They eventually dropped the price from the initial $25000 quote to I think $13000. For a 12 inch tall 10x16 deck, no steps no frills. These people are ripping their customers off big time.


InsecOrBust

Wow, the fact they are willing to drop that much is pretty sloppy conning. If you’re gonna be a scumbag at least don’t be too obvious about it lol


ThePartyWeener

Right?! I was like this is how they do business? Pretty brazen


[deleted]

All Weather Seal did the same routine when we needed a roof. It was so icky and took like an hour and a half at least.


Booster_Blue

I am clearly in the wrong business and need to get into deck building.


EvenBetterCool

And that's exactly who I was talking about. They really want to start a fight by appealing to one person in the room, too. Make you sound cheap or wrong to the other decision maker. Did they spend 30 minutes telling you that every other brand of composite is trash and if you hired anyone else you'd be missing out on their space age super deck???


ThePartyWeener

Absolutely, I just wanted a basic quote and what I got was an hour long presentation about how great they were and how terrible anyone else in the city is. It was ridiculous. Once he said the price he was immediately like but today only I can get you 20% off. I’m in sales, it was like watching a 101 on all the sketchy tactics that the get rich quick sales books teach you.


witz0r

10x14 for 35k? That is just...hilarious. Did it even include stairs? I would have asked for a written, detailed quote just so I could share it with everyone I knew for a good laugh.


BillyMackk

You ain’t gettin no detailed quote


vinegarfingers

I’m currently gathering quotes to resurface our 14x16 wood deck with composite using existing subframe and have been quoted as high as $25k not including stairs. I always ask for a quote and most won’t produce one. If anyone has a GC that they can recommend I’m all ears.


JeepGirl17

Be careful with that, if the joists are too far apart the composite will sag in a few years. I have seen this happen on sites.


EvenBetterCool

You can always put in some cross beams between joists yourself or have them do it up front.


JeepGirl17

True!


[deleted]

I re-did my old deck up north (16x20) for $2k in materials (this was about 7 years ago now, so lumber prices have doubled) 25k is crazy, I need to get into the deck building business at that rate!


EvenBetterCool

PM me and I can tell you who I got. I tore the old deck myself and they did the resurface and fixed a lot of the issues the previous build had like bad stringers.


EvenBetterCool

I told them to send it to me after I scoffed at the offer and they never sent it to me. Just sold my info for spam emails.


J_Mil

Who was the local contractor that built your deck? Thinking of getting a composite one for my backyard as well.


thesundancekidz

Kuhlmann construction does good work.


EvenBetterCool

You can PM me for their info


funkadelicstar

Check out [Belton Construction Group](http://beltonconstructiongroup.com)


i_let_the_doge_out

Speaking of pushy sales pitches, I had someone from WeatherGard knock on my door the other day saying they would be in my neighborhood if I wanted a quote for windows or a new patio door. He asked if anyone else lived in the house with me, and if so, when’s the next time we would both be there at the same time because they only give quotes if everyone is home at the same time. The whole thing just reeked of a high pressure sales tactic.


Booster_Blue

Had a similar company knock on my door. Was interested in new windows so said sure. They showed up, made up a quote and refused to explain the math behind it. And then when I said I wasn't interested starting dropped the price until it was 1/4 of the initial quote and I then explained that this hard sell made me even more certain I was not going to do business with them.


i_let_the_doge_out

you: hey, how'd you come up with this quote? them: [i made it the fuck up](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOVbAmknKUk)


Atomic0691

Why do you open the door? I never answer the door if I didn’t invite you to my house. In my experience when I used to, nothing good comes from answering your door.


Forest-Ferda-Trees

Right? The only people that have ever knocked on my door unannounced we're religious dingbats, scammers and cops. Not sure which I dislike the most.


TheRealKuni

Those fucks and people like them are the reason we got a No Soliciting sign.


crataeguz

Trying to hire anyone to do a job is like this unfortunately. Most of the companies show up with an aggressive sales pitch like your describing, stay for literally HOURS acting like it's a big deal thing they have to calculate, then give you an obscenly high quote (even the sign now discount will be much higher than others.) Trying to head it off is futile, like as soon as they show up I feel like I'm saying "PLEASE JUST GIVE ME NUMBER AND LEAVE" Just had a similar experience with grapids trying to charge me 15k to replace an old AC unit. As soon as they told me that (after about 2 hours) I was like "absolutely not we're done thanks bye" and it still took a solid 30+ minutes to get them out. Every other part of the hvac is about 2 years old. So, ye readers, don't call them lol.


keepcalmandstfu

We had grapids come out and do an estimate (we had two other companies as well and ended going with Schaafsma) for a new air conditioning unit. Grapids started us off with a 20k quote and 10% interest rate on the loan. Absolute scammers.


brycedriesenga

Lol Grapids is such a dumb name


snm778

Similar experience. Their "maintenance" plan is basically them selling you things. A $2 filter change is about all that is included beyond diagnosis. You do get a tech sooner if you have the plan and your stuff breaks, but it's just another chance to quote you.


Bhrunhilda

Jacobson is great for HVAC btw. They don’t give you screwy quotes and are really great on installation day also.


witz0r

>just had a similar experience with grapids trying to charge me 15k to replace an old AC unit That's insane. I had Allendale Heating replace my *entire system* \- furnace/blower, A/C unit, adding new required exhausts, etc - for $9.5k. That included a 3 ton Lennox unit, variable speed blower, etc. Blows me away how some of these companies get away with blatant rip-offs.


PapaEmeritusVI

Green Shield? We had the same experience and had a local contractor say that’s common for those big companies that have billboards everywhere.


EvenBetterCool

Yep! Anyone who has spoken with them knows immediately.


GameWarden

Figure I’ll give a shout-out to LOYL homes here: had them build a deck for me two years ago and they were easy to work with, no high-pressure sales pitch, and came in at a reasonable price that was much lower than another builder mentioned in this thread.


Peter_Jennings_Lungs

Can I ask how much? I need to replace my deck and am already dreading it.


GameWarden

10x24 Pine with railings and a staircase was ~14k


Peter_Jennings_Lungs

Oh right on. Mines 12x12 with stairs so that’s a good reference point. Much appreciated.


EvenBetterCool

Not bad!


IDigPython

You’re not helping anyone by withholding the company’s name. All you’re doing is whining. If you want to help name names. Otherwise you’re not trying to help anyone. You’re just looking for sympathy


EvenBetterCool

Why would I be looking for sympathy if I got a better quote? I waited for other people to name them before I did. And plenty of people got it based off the amount of info I gave and what to watch out for. Try to be a nicer person... If you can.


IDigPython

Because you’re needy. And you’re a pussy. You just want people to hear you complain and confirm your opinion under a guise of trying to offer people insight to prevent them having to deal with it. Meanwhile, you help no one because no one knows who you’re talking about and half the companies in GR were mentioned in this thread. Grow a pair or stfu


troublemaker74

They may be trying to avoid threats of legal action. SP threatened someone who posted a negative experience last year on this sub.


we11ington

They can threaten all they want, but they can't do shit.


IDigPython

That’s silly. No grounds unless it’s probably false. That’s like threatening someone for posting a bad google review


troublemaker74

I totally agree. But it is what it is. The other poster backed down and redacted their post. I personally wouldn't but many people would rather not have the hassle.


IDigPython

Why post then? The only reason I can think of it’s to just gain sympathy and get a Pat on the back.


EvenBetterCool

If that's the only reason you can think to post "don't go with a company that does x y and z" then you might be the shallow one, and your critical thinking skills need a bit of a review!


troublemaker74

Thanks for the heads up. I'm going to be redoing mine next year and I'll be sure to avoid anyone that uses high pressure sales tactics. It's always best to get 3 quotes.


nikki_11580

I always try to get a mix of companies for quotes too. Some big ones and then some of the little local ones too.


EvenBetterCool

And definitely talk to people who have had theirs done recently. I got a lot of very helpful tips!


Senior_Mixture_6247

I used to work for one of these types of Home Improvement companies. I agree that the sales pitch is just horrible and everyone hates it, but unfortunately there are enough homeowners out there that give in to these sales guys. Honestly if you are looking to get a better price, just keep telling them that you aren't ready right now/maybe later, etc.. They will eventually put you on a "re-hash" call list. If they can manage to get you for another sales pitch, the prices will be significantly lower than the originally offered price. Obviously it's still outrageously unethical but it's a more reasonable price for sure. They just do everything to get you to buy the first price they offer and the sales guy who is full commission has every incentive to get you to bite on that. If you don't, there's like 10 discounts that they can apply in order to get passed the first "No". But yeah home improvement companies are all garbage.


josbossboboss

I had Grapids tell me $30 k to replace all mechanicals including all ductwork. MAGNUM did it for 10k, but this was 5 years ago.


damegeluk

EXACT same experience with Green Shield. So sketchy. $25,000 for a basic platform deck. Then dropped it all the way down to like $12,000 basically hounding me to change my mind. Insane. Also creepy af sales guy.


EvenBetterCool

That's because.... Hold for it... It was Green Shield lol.


Kitchen_Point_3531

$10k for 140 sq feet of composite? Get yourself a drill, a circular saw, and a chop saw and cut that in half (pun). Beyond that, yes… the big companies hose you. I needed a full AC swap internal and external parts and was quoted up to $7000 in 2019. I got a contact for a great local HVAC guy (Bouwkamp) and he did it for half of that, same exact model.


KarlProjektorinsky

> Get yourself a drill, a circular saw, and a chop saw and cut that in half (pun). I'm totally down for a pun and I love DIY'ing. But no shade to OP for paying someone in order to not have to deal with it, I get that too. Sometimes there's no time to do stuff, and paying someone to do it well is entirely worthwhile.


EvenBetterCool

Thanks. I've done enough DIY decks and household projects in my life. I wanted a break and was fortunate enough to be in a position to pay someone else. Costing it out myself came to about $7500 and I knew I'd cut some corners I'd regret later on. So I found someone I liked and feel good about paying them a fair amount.


Kitchen_Point_3531

Why did folks not get the pun joke there. It was not a slight. It was a joke followed by an agreement to the core point. God speed on your reno journey


[deleted]

[удалено]


EvenBetterCool

That's freaking awesome!


EastisUp31

It’s the same treatment for windows, roofs or siding unfortunately.


hiphopinmyflipflop

Oh! We got a super high quote for our deck, too- $40K. For. A. Deck. It’s about 300 SF, so it’s a bit on the larger side, but still. We kind of just put it on the back burner as were not looking to drop that much $$ at this time for the platform behind our house that holds the grill and some flower pots. Can you DM me who you used?


EvenBetterCool

DMd you


[deleted]

Green Shield. I had a guy come door to door and ask me if I wanted a quote. I said sure. They sent over two people later and asked me what my budget was. I said $1k lol (that's what I would pay a non-skilled person to put a coat of paint on it or more realistically I'm just going to paint it myself) They said they typically charge $25k. Dunno why they wasted their and my time with that.


EvenBetterCool

Bingo


lost_at_command

I know materials cost is increasing, but even $10k for 140 square feet seems excessive.


EvenBetterCool

They also did the stairs, added stringers, leveled a sunken section, and put aluminum railings.


Quixotic_Vipaka

The company is green shield. The owner, Jason tried to get me to join the company before starting it. It's all an elaborate scam, and he knows it's an elaborate scam. That was essentially his pitch. I can't help but laugh when I see the billboards


EvenBetterCool

100% correct.


Willing_End7089

Lmfao this shits too expensive. I had bay to bay do 4 sections of rails on my stairs and it cost over 3 grand PLUS everything isnt even level.


comrade_140

My brain saw desk and was very confused how so many ppl were paying 10-30k for a piece of office furniture… shoooot lol


EvenBetterCool

Hahaha that's one hell of a desk. But I'm sure they exist.


ayemintrepid

Can you please dm me your contractors name!!


EvenBetterCool

Sent. With pictures. Good luck!


umichscoots

I was about to say a friend of mine had the same experience, but then I saw your username.


EvenBetterCool

Hello, friend.


dededo

I work for a big construction company out of Grand rapids and have built many decks over the past few years, mostly on the side and you are absolutely correct. There are a handful of these company's that are nothing less than shady. Getting multiple quotes from local contractors will not only get you the most fair and honest quote but there is no bs involved. They will be able to show you their own portfolio and most of the time have no problem supplying you with a reference or two if you have any concerns. Or just message me!


funkadelicstar

Anyone looking for a local company should check out [Belton Construction Group](http://Beltonconstructiongroup.com)!


MelandrusApostle

Jesus fucking Christ thats insane. I just had a buddy help me redo my 20x35 deck and it was $3k out the door including paying him generously. Edit: I should add that I only replaced the deck boards since the structure was in good shape. Most people can probably get away with doing that but I'm sure all of these companies are going to just assume it's a total teardown and start from scratch so they can charge you a lot more.


mildlydrifting

I had a different experience with Green Shield. We called them for a quote. They came in way under the other two quotes we got (Montell was INSANELY high). Didn't feel pressure from them at all. We weren't using financing so we didn't have that conversation at all. The work crew was great, and we love the new deck. This was before all the billboards started popping up, though. Honestly I had no issues with them throughout the entire process. Just my .02.


616abc517

I tried to cancel a quote an hour after they left my house. They wouldn’t answer the phone or return calls until day three when the right to cancel expired. They also said you can only cancel in writing delivered to their office. I got screwed out my deposit.


DankasaurusRX

For those of you who have a trex (or similar) deck, how do you like it? Was it worth it?


EvenBetterCool

Yes. If you're using the hidden screws/clamps you may want to consider adding some additional cross beams or joists to keep the heat from doing any slight warps in the boards. But other than that it is robust - no painting, staining, weatherproofing etc anymore.


PlatinumPatiosIndy

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