Etinde Painting

My experience with Etinde painting was horrible. Before the job started I did some research on-line, but found very few reviews. The one or two I found were negative. When I confronted Dido Etinde (the owner) asking about it, he said that not all jobs go great, you can't satisfy everyone (dead giveaway that you intend to satisfy no one), and some people are trying to destroy his business, but most customers are happy and my job would be done to my satisfaction. I bought it – HUGE mistake.The job was to paint the interior of my house including walls, ceilings, moldings, doors, closets etc. We agreed on $9,500 and it was to be completed in 3 weeks, by January 1st, 2014 while we were away on vacation. I insisted on the highest standard of wall repair and finish, and spent a lot of time with Dido going over what was and wasn't acceptable. He indicated that he understood and would make sure everything was done right.When my wife and I came back from vacation on January 2nd we found the place partially painted, with multiple quality issues and damage to the house. Our recently installed hardwood floors were burned in 5 places by halogen lights and severely scratched by their equipment. The windows' wooden frames were painted shut and many of them broke or cracked upon opening (had to be cut open). The crew also damaged a ceiling fan. In the bathroom, the plastic tub and the toilet seat also had fresh, deep scratches. Finally the woodwork and walls they worked on were damaged by rework and carelessness often beyond repair. They applied clear polyurethane right over left over smudges of compound and paint, making them permanent.The quality of work was amateurish at best. The walls had multiple unrepaired or very poorly repaired spots. After we'd point them out, they would try to fix them, with varying level of success. Sometimes it took 4 attempts and it still was not right. As I later found out from one of the employees, Dido trains his people to cut corners and do things fast. They paint first and then see if it looks “good enough”. Having to point out problems is exhausting, and them redoing things of course takes time and money. As soon as they started losing money on the project, all the interest in doing it right, or even completing the job, went out the window.All along Dido was absent from the work site. He would pop in for a second to see the progress. At some point he left for Congo, where he apparently has other businesses that he runs in that country. The job was never completed. I was finally forced to hire other people to do the garage, basement and the hallway that were never touched by Etinde Painting, and to correct and finish the rest of the house. The total sum paid by me out of pocket to clean up the mess that Etinde left behind was over $7,000. When I confronted him asking to cover some or all of the losses, the answer I got was: “I'm not paying you a dime”. Of course I didn't see a dime to cover the damage to my house either.I think Etinde Painting is a predatory business, taking advantage of consumers by using false statements, empty promises, or blatant lies. Dido bids below what he can do the job for (later admitting he did so because he knew he wouldn't get the job otherwise). Then he jacks up the price, extends the time-line and compromises on quality. Etinde Painting is NOT a registered Home Improvement Contractor, which violates Mass GL 142A, since they advertise and perform multiple types of work (carpentry, floor refinishing, wall repair, exterior painting), not just interior painting, which is exempt from the registration requirement (but still there are plenty of painters who are registered). It is a good idea to hire only registered HIC businesses, because in case you run into issues...

Etinde Painting is a predatory business, taking advantage of consumers by using false statements, empty promises, or blatant lies. Dido bids below what he can do the job for (later admitting he did so because he knew he wouldn't get the job otherwise). Then he jacks up the price, extends the time-line and compromises on quality. Etinde Painting is NOT a registered Home Improvement Contractor, which violates Mass GL 142A, since they advertise and perform multiple types of work (carpentry, floor refinishing, wall repair, exterior painting), not just interior painting, which is exempt from the registration requirement (but still there are plenty of painters who are registered). It is a good idea to hire only registered HIC businesses, because in case you run into issues, there are means of dealing with them and holding them accountable. There is a complaint system, an arbitration process conducted by a qualified person, pool of money that will cover whatever the business owes you etc.

Overpriced, and sloppy. Paint splattered on woodwork, and spots on walls missing paint. Did not fix the nail holes as they were supposed to...just painted over them. WOULD NOT recommend this company. Owner finally came back weeks later, and it took him a whole day to fix errors...and they were still not right.