Brian Gokey Painting, ripoff Abusive Incompetent Contractor with no memory at all, now he has my house key, too! Kingston New York

I was moving into a new town so had to contract this painter by long distance. I hired him at a very high price to paint two smallish rooms for $2100-- and expected the high quality work he promised.

When he finished, I was not present so without my permission he had a friend check his work. When I arrived, with the movers, I found it not satisfactory. Mr. Gokey had not even been present to check the work. He agreed that it was flawed and I have witnesses who heard him reprimand his painters and instruct them to fix the errors. They ran out of time and his project manager, Dean, promised to return in two days to finish repairing flaws in the second room. They retained my house key.

They did not return,nor did they call to cancel. When I emailed a few days later to ask what had happened and state my disappointment (politely), Mr. Gokey responded in a very reactive way and demanded I call his office. I did so, and Dean returned my call, with no memory of his commitment to return, and said he'd stop by "sometime soon."

A week passed and I emailed another POLITE note asking when and if they would return or if he'd prefer to refund a portion of my payment so I could hire someone else. He then called me, and with Dean on the line also, spoke very abusively. He insisted that he did not have my key, and stated that he would not return to check out my complaints until I paid him an additional $150-- (this was an amount he requested earlier, when my friend had forgotten to leave a key for him. He later cancelled that request.)

He then yelled into the phone in a very insulting and abusive manner, apparently forgetting that HE had found the work inferior and told me so-- and demanded that I neither phone nor email him until I paid him $150, and hung up on me.

The problems in my complaint: Uneven painting, nail pops not repaired, rough areas, unpainted areas, spackling smeared on walls and furniture and ground into newly finished floor. Support removed from a stairstep and not replaced, creating a dangerous situation. Sanding dust not cleaned up, switchplate not replaced.

I have photos, and witnesses. I think he may be mentally ill because he is so irrational, and I am frightened to think that he has my house key.
However great his website makes him look, DO NOT HIRE BRIAN GOKEY. His brother Bob works with him as a carpenter. He promised to come by at a specific time to give me an estimate for another job, never showed up, never called. These guys are totally unprofessional, and I don't know how they stay in business, especially with their prices.

Loel
Saugerties, New York
U.S.A.