R & G not calling back, cancelling appointment. WTH!!

We have been trying to get R&G to come and give us an estimate on getting our roof done (new roof).  They have cancelled our appointment and the past 10 days we are unable to get them on the phone.  What is going on here?

Should we just go with another roofer?  We had ticos give an estimate and scotts but we were hoping for a third estimate before finalizing.

People have been raving about R&G but we just can't seem to connect with them.  -What-The-Hell-

**Lastly, has anyone ever used home depot for roof?

When this happens with potential contractors, it's a bad omen and I usually cross them off my list. It often means they are too busy or there are some other problems, and it will only get worse.

Do not use home depot.  I did. 

Jasmo said:

When this happens with potential contractors, it's a bad omen and I usually cross them off my list. It often means they are too busy or there are some other problems, and it will only get worse.

Agree.

I needed masonry work. Called a recommended contractor on a Tuesday and he told me he would call me back Thursday morning to schedule what time he'd be over that day for the estimate. He did not call back Thursday and did not respond to my message to call me. Saturday I had someone else doing the estimate.

Don't waste time waiting on prima donna contractors.

R&G is forever off my list.

I'll try and get one more estimate elsewhere.  I spent more time calling R&G and i just can't get anyone to respond to me.  What am I, spinach?  I'm so over them.

I discovered today I needed an emergency roof repair due to 6 shingles falling off last night.   R & G answered their phone today around noon.  I called 5 companies and they were only one of two that answered.  Unfortunately they couldn't even come look at it until Thursday.  The other company that answered is coming to fix it this afternoon (fingers crossed).  

R&G is actually scheduled to do our roof on Monday, and they have been a pleasure to deal with. They have always returned our calls, and have accommodated our schedules without issue. We actually called Tico's and Scott's for quotes. I spoke to someone at Scott's who said someone would call us back, but no one did. I had to follow-up with Tico's. They initially gave us a price range over the phone, but didn't send us an actual quote. Two weeks later, they finally called us back, but we had already scheduled R&G. It seems that even the most highly recommended companies are sometimes lax in their customer service.    

Try dave decastro.  He is very quick to respond to emergencies.

maplewood2005 said:

I discovered today I needed an emergency roof repair due to 6 shingles falling off last night.   R & G answered their phone today around noon.  I called 5 companies and they were only one of two that answered.  Unfortunately they couldn't even come look at it until Thursday.  The other company that answered is coming to fix it this afternoon (fingers crossed).  

Somebody call a wambulance! I've been here for 12 years and seen R&G grow up into a decent-sized company focused on our towns, with hundreds upon hundreds of satisfied customers here in Maplewood-South Orange. I admire them for running a quality shop.

Those are the three we got estimates from and we ended up going with Scott's and have been happy with the job.  But I did have a bad experience with R & G when they did a roof on another house on our street a few years ago.  They did the very noisy demo very early in the morning on a Monday holiday - I think it was Memorial Day.  I suppose that the noise ordinances allow that since it was technically a weekday, but it was extremely annoying.  Then they got delayed on the job for some reason and the actual roof installation was on one of the days of the following weekend, also noisy and also starting very early.

We had Tico's do our roof two or three years ago, and it was a great experience. We could not have been happier. I had a similar experience with R&G in that I could NOT get them on the phone for love or money. It seems to be the luck of the draw when you're trying to line them up for an estimate or a job.

I had the same problem with R&G several years ago.  After trying to get them on the phone for a week I finally was able to make an appointment and then they were a no-show.  I tried calling and leaving messages after that and was ignored.

Then about 2 years ago they came and did my neighbor's house and garage roofs.  Half the old roof on both structures wound up on my property, in my flower and vegetable beds.  They're not for me.

Also, R&G was the highest bid (vs Scott's and Tico's) by a fairly large margin for my roof a few years ago.  That, combined with their lack of neighborliness (which mumstheword's post seems to confirm) was more than enough for me to cross them off the list. But I have heard MANY people say that they were their lowest bidder.  Maybe they just didn't want the job for some reason, who knows?

To get this straight, you blame the roofer, and not your neighbor, for them starting the job on a holiday?

Conifers said:

To get this straight, you blame the roofer, and not your neighbor, for them starting the job on a holiday?

 I don't think that the neighbor was even aware of what time they started, as I was led to believe they were having the work done during a vacation and were away.  But that was second or third hand knowledge as I didn't know them.

Would you want a contractor doing noisy work on your house early on a holiday morning?  I give my neighbors (even the ones I don't know) more credit than that.

bog said:

Try dave decastro.  He is very quick to respond to emergencies.

 

hmmm.  this could be #3.  Does he do the work himself, etc?

Yeah - I think he is a one man shop.  I am not sure I would use him for a whole roof replacement but he is great for the smaller stuff and gutter work.

bluesmap said:

bog said:

Try dave decastro.  He is very quick to respond to emergencies.

 

 

hmmm.  this could be #3.  Does he do the work himself, etc?

Had a very good experience with Dave DeCastro.  I also had a good experience with Tico's for other work - but they came in much higher for the roof

Dave is awesome, i find best way to communicate with him is via text 

bog said:

Yeah - I think he is a one man shop.  I am not sure I would use him for a whole roof replacement but he is great for the smaller stuff and gutter work.

 

unfortunately i need a whole new roof.  time to get rid of the old

We used AMaarten roofing back in 2009, replaced the leaking slate roof with regular shingles. they were quick, cleaned up and the price was mid to low of the estimates we received.

You might also try Murdoch Walker, they did our entire tear off and reside this past fall. They also redid a whole section of our main roof to change the pitch where there were originally yankee gutters. Joe and James are the main guys and they come everyday to check in with the crew and make sure its on track. 

I would give either company good reviews for work they did for us.

Dave has someone he works with for full roof replacements. I plan to use him for a whole roof later this year.

Having a similar experience getting my driveway re-done. I feel like i'm begging these guys to take my money. I guess there's so much work that contractors don't need to follow up in a timely manner. 

i had some work done last year through a private contractor....they told me that home depot just contracts out to private contractors like them to do the work....and you never know who you are going to get....its not actually home depot employees doing the work....

and I have heard of many complaints regarding this

jmitw said:

i had some work done last year through a private contractor....they told me that home depot just contracts out to private contractors like them to do the work....and you never know who you are going to get....its not actually home depot employees doing the work....

and I have heard of many complaints regarding this

The benefit to using HD is that the contractors HAVE to call you in a timely fashion, show up to work and follow-up when needed. If they fail to provide a certain level of customer service, HD stops using them. We had a floor installed and found a few scratches. We called HD and when the original installer gave them a hard time about coming back, they sent a different installer to fix it within days. I have dealt personally with contractors who stop returning calls once the job is "done" so in some instances, having HD as the middle man is a good thing.

I agree with @adifferenttone.  Many years ago, in another house, I bought a new storm door and had HD install it.  I couldn't have been happier with the timeliness of the work or with the contractor.  Maybe it depends on the pool of contractors used by the different stores.