Mike in Kingston

I had my floors refinished by Higgins in the fall of 2011. I had a very pleasant conversation over the phone to set up the work. The foreman came by to do an estimate. He was very polite and seemed knowledgeable enough. The estimate seemed fair and the work was to be scheduled while i was out of town so vacating the premises wasn't an issue. I couldn't have been happier that everything was working out so easily. Then I got home. The floors were still wet even though they were supposed to finish days before my arrival. So I had to make last minute arrangements for somewhere to stay. Once I was able to move back into my house I started to find the problems. One portion of my hallway has the wood strips running perpendicular to the hall. The large sanders used for floors have to be used with the grain. This means they had to do the hallway portion by hand. Boy can you ever tell they did this portion by hand!! If you stand back and look down the hall the floor waves at you now. There are also a number of places that the finish wasn't even applied smoothly. Weather this was a cleaning issue between sanding and coats or just a rushed job, who knows. There is definitely no way you could slide in your socks a la Risky Business that's for sure. Also, the windows in my house are the type that slide up and down but also tilt inwards so you can clean the outside... the clips, which release the window to tilt, were broken off somehow on all but two windows. Meaning a slight breeze could push the window open. Fantastic when winter was right around the corner!! The scope of work changed slightly, which was discussed and agreed upon over the phone while I was away. However, I never received an updated bill/work order showing a new balance. It was a few weeks before I heard anything from them. The lady I spoke with had quite an attitude explaining how "the balance is due upon completion!!" which I informed her would gladly happen once I had a bill showing the updated work. In hindsight I wish i never sent them the balance. Instead of doing the work myself, I had Higgins come in because I wanted a professional level of service. What i got was amateur at best. I got to fix my own windows and my hall greets me every morning with a wave. I wouldn't recommend this company to anyone. Do the work yourself. Even the most novice handyman could easily achieve an equivalent product.