I got into an agreement with Berger home painting service for painting my villa(a 3 bed house) as of 7th of October with a commitment from them stating all will be completed by 15 days. The first visit was paid only on the 21st of October (ie the 15th day, let alone completing the task).
The painters and their supervisor employed were so irregular at their tasks that they were not able to complete the interiors even after 20 days of commencing services. After repeated complaints to the managers and almost threatening to opt for lawsuit against the firm, I had some response and promises coming through stating work will be completed in a few days (read 2 days)...
But no...it didn’t, all they did was a hurried job and despite us repeatedly pointing out the ill-state of the job performed the manager stated the paint was of high quality and cant show issues that we pointed. With all these factors, It would be fair for me to state that it has taken a month and half but the painting work is far from complete. The major issues I saw with the service were the following.
1. Ability to stick to the committed time: Constant delays and false promises on completion of the task together with irregular attendance of the labour has resulted in a task that should be completed within 10-15 days be dragged to more than a month.
Clearly, incompetent attitude applied by your local staff responsible here? I was amazed on the blame game being played by the painters on the paint, the company on the painters and lastly the contractor on the supervisor and the supervisor on the manager. each time, we escalate a problem to the supervisor, the response turns up to be "Ill let my manager know"..NO Action!
- Quality of the Product. The Painting contractor and painters alike have complained the paint is of lower quality and has less coverage with brush strokes clearly visible even after 2 coats of paint applied The Painters went to the extent of applying undiluted (read, paste) in order to demonstrate the lower quality of paint procured. We have already begun seeing signs of degradation (attached pictures).
I have serious concerns on the durability of the product and it started flaking and giving away in Just 2 months of application.
- Integrity of Berger India: The contractor who is assigned the task claims that Berger informed him that the contract was for 60, 000 INR which we were charged circa 76, 000 INR. This seems to be done inorder for Berger keep a higher share of profits to itself considering the revenue sharing agreement the company would have with its contractors.
This clearly displays lack of integrity on the part of Berger and leads me to believe that the initial value of this contract was grossly overstated and money in excess of 16, 000 INR Charged from me on random terms. I would take it to the extent that there have been irregularities in measurement of the area.
However the lack of integrity in dealing with their contractors suggests that I may not be spared either and truly wasn’t spared at all.
- Lack of supervision: I was told that service will be supervised by Berger staff and to my dismay find that none of this actually happens. I have had to be down at home to personally speak with the contractor and chase in some instances in order to get the task done.
This was raised time and again to the local managers, their customer support team in Kolkata and even to their home painting division head based in Kolkata...ALL in VAIN!
Again and I noticed that the supervisor began dropping in a bit more frequently but then, that hasn’t borne the results as each time we need to point out issues and he pretty much shakes his head to to acknowledge the problem.
I am now considering legal action against the company which will culminate with a lawsuit and a filing for compensation for damages in time and health caused due to negligence employed by the company. If any of you are considering Lewis Berger paints or their services.
My humble advice is a strong NO! they are not worth it. I have tried every bit to to explain to them and seek help but nothing happened. The pictures attached will give you a sense of what I am speaking about.