College Works Painting is Unprofessional and Poor Quality

I would never recommend this company to anyone; not even my worst enemy. They violated their own contract with me. Over bid the job for what I was getting from them. Never did any prep-work that was written up in the original contract (scrap old paint/caulk). The job was extremely sloppy in workmanship. Didn't apply enough paint to my house or gutters/eaves; so the old paint was coming through. Wanted to charge me more just to fix all the problem areas and correct the job so my home didn't look like 1st graders painted. When I went to fire them; they wouldn't let me out of my contract. When they finally sent me my release form they actual tried having me sign away my right to file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau or the California Contractors Board. They even went so far telling me what exactly I could say "if and only if" I was asked about their company.  

 

My only advise, stay away from this company. They are bad news!

I was one of the managers with collegeworks and honestly feel like I got screwed financially majorly, where I'm waiting for my profit check to arrive and then find out that I won't be getting anything, even though collegeworks promised 2,500 compensation for profit. I sent in my expense receipts etc. but then find out that they don't owe me anything because of the checks which I received as a painter (I was managing, but also painted to earn extra money on the side of the profit from managing). In other words, I wasted my time working extra just to earn the same amount I would have done without painting. I was also recommended by my district manager to paint on the side to earn extra money. What F'n money??? Changing the topic and covering sh%t up just so that they wouldn't have to pay any extra money out of their pockets. 

 

Besides this point I wanted to address that there are managers who choose to do a professional job and are responsible enough to handle any problems that arise, but there are others who just don't give a sh#t and ignore the problems or try to handle the work without proper equipment. I personally did my best to ensure that I finished with the customers being happy about it, however there were risks with this: 

 

The amount which collegeworks takes 40% is huge, plus they pressure you to finish it within 1-2 days which can be possible but at the same time becomes a hassle. I have personally painted 5-6 years prior to managing for collegeworks and I knew that those few days add alot of pressure where the painters would lose control over quality. The homeowners invest a big chunk of money into the job so it was important for me to make sure it gets done right. I also have some of my customers who were looking to get some extra painting services in the near future. My point is though that the company has made some unethical choices, but the rest is in the managers control of his/hers ethical decision making.

Here's how the average story goes: a naive college student with no painting experience gets hired on as a manager, who hires naive college/high school students with no painting experience to be painters. The manager under-quotes and undercuts because he/she is desperate to land contracts in a very short period of time, which in turn screws over the workers, who in turn do a sloppy job because they are not given enough training/time/supplies/compensation. As the expression goes, *** rolls down hill, and if you're at the receiving end of their services, you end up having to deal with the final mess of things. Remember, it's YOUR HOUSE that's getting poorly painted/damaged in the process. Proper paint jobs take time to complete and anyone promising to paint your hours in 1-2 days at a discount price will not meet your expectations. Respectable painters charge good money for their work and take time to complete it. These workers are NOT professionals; they're students. They're not investing themselves into this trade; they're just looking to make some quick, easy money.

I worked for college works paintings and never got paid.... Just to be warned: college works paintings SUCKS.

I worked for college works for a min. and realized how crappy they are. The boss was always standing behind me say n you need to finish this in 15 min. while he would go play soccer or tennis. Still never got paid. I have been painting for 20 years and this 20 year old kid was telling me how to paint. As I worked I must of seen about 5 people come work for a so called trial work period. Legally they can work you 1.5 hours for free. But I think it was a way to get free work..... College Works sucks *** and if I ever see Adam H. around town I 'LL beat his skinny ***.

College works is *** ***. They work me like a slave for 8.55hr, no training, no guidance and they expect me to do some of the most dangerous work with no help. My manager was a *** and always called me dumb.

This company is a complete scam to the college students. The only experience i gained was how to do dishonest business. I was "hired" as a painter over the summer. There were a few interview processes and then a "trial day." The trial day started as 8 college students prepping the house. We were shown how to mask a window and that was all the prep we were shown to do. All other prep work we were just told to do. Once all the prep was done they told 6 of the students that their work was no longer needed. I and one other student remained to finish up the 12 hour work day! We were told to return on Monday to finish the house. Come sunday I got a call from my boss (who had just turned 19 by the way) telling me that there were complains of my work and my services were no longer needed. To provide some insight, the only ones that were complaining were the 2 boss girls that were on the job telling me I was spending too much time sanding and priming the house and only to look for bare wood. So I primered a few spots and that was all the prep work the house got. They still have not paid me for the 12 hours of work I put in and my guess is that they told the one other work that was left with me that he got complaints too and on monday they will just have 8 fresh workers to trick into making the company more dirty money. Another note is that this company is very mistevious about covering up its complaints, so if anyone reads this just please spread the word to others that this is a bad company to invest your time and money in.

College Works Painting has done a great job on my house, as well as my son in laws house. I would recommend them to anyone

They did a great job on my house!! Your problem seems very atypical from what I've heard.

I had an absolutely awesome experience with College Works. I'm sorry you didnt :/