| Author |
Message |
    
lebl1166
Citizen
Username: Lebl1166
Post Number: 92
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 21, 2004 - 8:11 am: | 
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If you are considering using Xcel for a renovation use -- DON'T!!!!!!!!! |
Beans
Citizen
Username: Nalini
Post Number: 19
Registered: 11-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 21, 2004 - 8:35 am: |
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This sounds bad! do you care to elaborate? |
greenetree
Supporter
Username: Greenetree
Post Number: 3543
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 21, 2004 - 9:54 am: |
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Leb-
Small local businesses are really affected by recomendations and comments posted here.
People appreciate warnings, but it would be good to give some facts. |
kevin
Supporter
Username: Kevin
Post Number: 396
Registered: 2-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 21, 2004 - 1:08 pm: |
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Nothing new here. lebl1166 posted a similar generic post with no facts to back up the claim in July:
lebl1166 Posted on Friday, July 23, 2004 - 2:06 pm:
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I would stay away from Xcel.
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Michael K. Mc Kell
Citizen
Username: Greenerose
Post Number: 492
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, December 21, 2004 - 4:47 pm: |
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I agree with you greentree. Facts and F/U facts from others is supportive.
There are two sides to every story. I appreciate all the feed back we receive whether it be positive, negitive, posted or not.
Mike |
Marty Tuohy
Citizen
Username: Martyt
Post Number: 24
Registered: 6-2002
| | Posted on Friday, December 24, 2004 - 8:05 pm: |
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Leb
Having raised a red flag about them in 2 current forums and once previously in July, this is clearly an important issue to you. Do you want to elaborate on the problem?
Marty
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lebl1166
Citizen
Username: Lebl1166
Post Number: 94
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Monday, January 3, 2005 - 11:56 am: |
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I don't mind elaborating. I used Xcel for a complete renovation of my kitchen and basement. The job was completed last summer in early July. I had numerous little things that needed repair all throughout last year -- cabinets, leaking in basement bathroom, etc. Those were fixed by Xcel and although it was annoying to have to call them for so many things since they were not major I did not mind. However, last winter our pipes to the kitchen sink froze -- yes, I know, that last year was a really cold winter but we had never had that problem in the 2 1/2 years that we lived the house before renovating the kitchen. The worst part of it all was Xcel's response to the issue. It took three weeks to get fixed and at the end I had to pay them an additional $800 to supposedly "permanently fix the problem" (please note, that I still believe I should have not paid anything because the job was not even 1 year old and should have been under warranty). In renovating the kitchen, Xcel decided to relocate my pipes and obviously where they put them was too exposed.
Well 1 year later, after the extra $800 on the first day of winter this year our kitchen pipes froze again. I don't even want to approach Xcel anymore because they never seem to do the job right.
I can put a list of things that I have had problems with but the frozen pipes things has been the most annoying one and the ongoing problem for which I am going to have to bring someone else to fix it and pay more money.
If you want more details feel free to privateline me. |
lisanne hauck
Citizen
Username: Liscon
Post Number: 1
Registered: 12-2004
| | Posted on Monday, January 3, 2005 - 7:19 pm: |
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I am sorry about your problems with Xcel. However we hired them for a major renovation of our house including a total rehaul of our master bathroom and kids bathroom and I have nothing but great things to say about them. The owner/head contractor, Mike, was courteous, always returned my phonecalls, spoke to us on a near daily basis, and fixed any problems that we had. Maybe you just got unlucky. |
lebl1166
Citizen
Username: Lebl1166
Post Number: 95
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Monday, January 3, 2005 - 9:11 pm: |
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Yes, maybe I just got unlucky but I have always been corteous and honest with them as well and I was not happy with the way I was treated when the pipes froze last year. In addition, I can't even begin to say how disappointed I am that after they told me they had done a "permanent fix" I had frozen pipes again. This is simply unacceptable since you know that we have only had one or two cold days so far. It turns out that I invested a lot of money in fixing the kitchen and I now always have a problem unless I go out and hire someone else to correct the problem. |
Michael K. Mc Kell
Citizen
Username: Greenerose
Post Number: 505
Registered: 9-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 4, 2005 - 6:59 am: |
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Are the pipes wrapped in insulation? Are they too close to the exterior wall? |
lebl1166
Citizen
Username: Lebl1166
Post Number: 96
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 4, 2005 - 10:07 am: |
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According to Xcel they are. Yes and they did move them too close to the exterior wall and back in December of 2003 they reopened the wall and supposedly move them away from the exterior wall because at that time I told them that I could not have this problem every winter. Obviously whatever they did was not enough becuase the problem repeated again this year. I trusted them, paid them extra for work that should have been covered with their one-year warranty and now I am going to have to bring someone else to do the work because I cannot trust Xcel anymore. The more frustrating thing is that I never, never had this problem in almost 3 years that I lived the house and we did have cold days during those 3 years. |
wmarion
Citizen
Username: Wmarion
Post Number: 13
Registered: 8-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, January 18, 2005 - 3:35 pm: |
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I too have to comment because we used XCEL last May-June for a complete bathroom renovation, kitchen remodel, closet renovation, and tons of other projects. They were great to work with and they did a great job. As far as contractors go and the reputation the field has I can't imagine having a better experience than the one I had with XCEL. |
lebl1166
Citizen
Username: Lebl1166
Post Number: 97
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Wednesday, January 26, 2005 - 9:23 pm: |
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I feel like I must respond because I recently discovered yet another thing that Xcel did wrong for us. For months we were thinking that our hood was broken and that simply we had made a bad choice when we bought it. Time went by and I did not call the company because in between work, the kids, etc. sometimes things get a bit hectic. However, I decided to have my handyman take a look at the hood and see if he could see anything wrong. It turned out that Xcel's guys had installed the hood incorrectly and instead of blowing air out of the house it was blowing it in. I am glad that some of you have had a good experience with them but as for us we will never ever use them again and I would not in all honesty recommend them to anyone. |
cmontyburns
Citizen
Username: Cmontyburns
Post Number: 644
Registered: 12-2003
| | Posted on Thursday, January 27, 2005 - 8:53 am: |
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lebl: What happened when you called Xcel and asked them to fix the hood?
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robert
| | Posted on Thursday, January 27, 2005 - 3:35 pm: |
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Umm. It seems lebl1166 is the only person in the world having issues with Xcel. They completed the job in July. No problems in August, September, October, November and then when It got really cold there was a problem with frozen pipes. It sounds like the cold weather is causing the problem not Xcel. This sounds like when your car won't start on a very cold day. Do we complain about the car maker or the weather? We used Xcel in the past and recommended them to our friends. They great to work with and we recommend them to everyone we know. |
robert
Citizen
Username: Robert
Post Number: 2
Registered: 6-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, January 27, 2005 - 3:46 pm: |
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Umm. It seems lebl1166 is the only person in the world having issues with Xcel. They completed the job in July. No problems in August, September, October, November and then when It got really cold there was a problem with frozen pipes. It sounds like the cold weather is causing the problem not Xcel. This sounds like when your car won't start on a very cold day. Do we complain about the car maker or the weather? We used Xcel in the past and recommended them to our friends. They are great to work with and we recommend them to everyone we know. |
LilLB
Citizen
Username: Lillb
Post Number: 377
Registered: 10-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, January 27, 2005 - 4:56 pm: |
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robert - lebl1166 has every right to express problems they've had with a contractor, like everyone else does on this board. And, it seems that they only started having the problem after Xcel moved the pipes and leb was frustrated by the process that followed.
I think it's good that you're expressing your good experiences with them also so that readers have a balanced view of it, but don't beat up on leb with comments like s/he's "the only person in the world having issues..." |
greenetree
Supporter
Username: Greenetree
Post Number: 3766
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Thursday, January 27, 2005 - 5:00 pm: |
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Not for nothing, but I'm sure even the World's Best Contractor has at least one (former) customer who would like to see him tied up in the basement of Home Despot, being beaten with cheap 2x4s.
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lebl1166
Citizen
Username: Lebl1166
Post Number: 98
Registered: 6-2001
| | Posted on Friday, February 4, 2005 - 2:51 pm: |
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Robert and to everyone else -- I am not posting this just out of spite, I have been truly frustrated about all the issues that I have had with the end product. It was not just the frozen pipes, the times they had to come back to adjust doors that kept on breaking, the leaking shower in the new basement bathroom that they installed, the hood that blew air to the inside rather than the outside, the leaking roof in the new kitchen,... It has been one after another all at extra cost to me.
Just today we noticed that we have water seeping in a wall in the kitchen and I am sure that it probably has to do with the way the reinstalled the shingles when the kitchen was done.
I have not even tried to call Xcel anymore because all I get is jobs that are not totally corrected and a new invoice from them. I had to pay $900 last year for the frozen pipes and that was for a kitchen that was still under warranty. |
greenetree
Supporter
Username: Greenetree
Post Number: 3819
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Friday, February 4, 2005 - 4:52 pm: |
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Leb-
I'm not trying to dismiss your experience. I think that even the best contractor in the world can have a horrible job that is impossible to fix without major rework because the fundementals were so screwed up.
But, if you are the customer on the receiving end of that bad job, and have to spend money that you don't have because you've already spent your renovation budget, it's awful. And after several attempts, you don't want that person back because it just keeps getting worse. I feel your pain. |
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