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I signed a contract with College Pro. They did not paint the bottom side of every lap board, used a wrong color on trim, broke the shutters, spilled and splattered major amounts of paint on a new roof, left areas unpainted, disappeared and refused to return my phone calls for 4 weeks, never did the promised power wash or prep work.

After I explained the problems to the franchise manager (7 weeks after promised completion date), I was called by College Pro Vice President, Jeremiah Broz, demanding the opportunity to 'make it right', and get paid in full or he would put a lien on my home and file a claim on me in small claims court. His solution for the roof issue (straight from Vice-President Jeremiah Broz) was to paint over their paint with a matching roof color. Honestly, I tried to have patience dealing with college kids and give them an opportunity but I was filled with false promises from start to finish. They broke the contract from day one and now I am getting threatening messages from the Vice President left on my voice mail.

I don't even want them on my property or to deal with them but I am being 'strong-armed' and bullied. Run, don't walk from an opportunity to work with the Colorado College Pro Painters organization!

Monetary Loss: $3.

Location: Washington, District Of Columbia

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Guest

College Pro employees apologize on this site not because they care about you, but they care about your money. My franchisee referred to a customer of ours as an old ***.

They don't care about you.

Remember that. Everything they say is with the intent of getting your money.

Guest

Painting, as with any skilled trade, requires training and experience. College Pro provides neither.

The majority of franchisees have no experience painting, let alone training someone how to paint. A successful paint system requires more than simply slapping a coat of paint onto a wall. One must first know how to properly assess the condition of a surface, what may be affecting the surface, and what should be done before paint is even thought about. Next, the proper paint system must be specified.

Notice paint system, not coat of paint. Here is a bit of advice to distinguish the summer painters from true professionals. Ask them how perms relate to paint? Then ask them how this affects the type of paint system they are specifying?

After a proper paint system is specified, the substrate needs to be properly prepared to receive paint. This phase of the project should take upwards of 2/3rds of the total project time. A full scrape/sand prep without primer on a typical two story bungalow should take upwards of a week to complete with three workers. On high end projects, true professional painters will oftentimes perform a full scrape, pull off the project for a month or so to let the siding "age" and then return to perform another full scrape/sand.

After feather sanding, a full primer coat should be applied. After all of this is complete, the finish or topcoats can be applied. Notice I used the plural version of topcoat. Two coats also means two full coats, not one full coat and a second touch-up coat.

On extremely high end jobs, each finish coat of paint is oftentimes sanded with a 400 grit paper to ensure proper paint adhesion. A word of advice, an excellent paint job will cost serious money. Without fail, my bids are 50-60% higher or more than college pro.

With the higher price, your getting a paint service that will last longer and look better. Oh, and by the way, I am also a college student.

Guest

I guess I lucked out. I was contacted by Matt Fitzgerald 3 weeks after I signed up for an estimate via their web site.

Then the guy stood me up on the scheduled time/date.

After google-ing more about this whole 'College-pro' thing, I felt like he actually did me a favor by not showing up! Can't imagine what I could have gone through with these people!

Esteban Daw

"It seems that sometimes a person can sell a paint job, however, cannot physically train their employees and thus causing terrible experiences."

Yup that was my problem. Had to fire loads of people, ended up working basically as a JSM the last month because it wasn't worth it to hire another crew and trust them to a new JSM. Sold tons of jobs, trained my crews, then they went out and completely *** my customers. Totally was not prepared for the lack of common sense my workers displayed.

At the end, I had 20+ people calling me for refunds on their deposit because A. I wasn't going to get to their house in time and B. College Pro wants you to get 15-20% deposit up front from every customer. Well, I don't need to tell you that 18 year olds aren't CPA's, and they spend that money on other business expenses instead of tying it to that customer's job. BTW, College Pro wants $2500 in deposits sent in to them before they let you (the FM) pick up a paintbrush. Major violation of accounting practices to not have that money tied to the customer's job.

I can see why you would be a defender of CPP if things went better for you, but how many furious customers can you leave in your wake before you are just a bad company? Regardless of if it is the FM's fault, the buck stops at the top.

I'm not shifting blame, I'm a big boy, but customers get a big feel good story about helping out college kids and then they get the shaft. The thing that haunts me to this day is that I couldn't physically keep all my promises. Lesson learned.

Customers - get your work done by a local, reputable company that will actually be managed by the same people the next summer. You do not want to take the gamble, trust me it can get way worse than you ever imagined. Us entrepreneurial kids will find a way without the help of CPP, although I certainly appreciate their totally altruistic business plan - insert sarcasm.

Guest

I booked a job with College Pro in Eden Prairie, MN, and could not have been more satisfied with the work that was done. The job was completed right on time, and followed through with everything that was promised on the contract. When the time comes to paint my house again, College Pro Painters is the first company I will be contacting.

Guest

mike adams is his name and yes adam.. this is jason kolacz. you remember? that very irresponsible franchise owner who painted over stain on a home. well im gunna start off by being very un-professional and im going to talk some seriouse *** about you. you were HANDS DOWN the worst worker i have ever had in 6 years with the company. there are many of these complaints i agree with because i have seen first hand the damage that can be done. but what all you painters and cold callers dont see is the lengths most franchisees go to please the customer. Especially when its a painters fault. for example. lets start with the many mistakes you made on the 3 (yes only 3) houses you painted for me.

you got paint all over the vinyl on your first home. anywhere you painted the trim of the home you covered the vinyl in paint. fortunately for you and me the customers were very happy with the work MAINLY DUE TO THE FACT THAT I DID MY *** JOB. i was there every hour every day helping. and even after i recieved the check and a 5 out of 5 i came back and spent 7 hours cleaning up YOUR mess. i did not get paid for any of those hours. that was a full days worth of work for free that did not need to be done. i should have fired you there. had i been smart you would have been gone before you even finished your first house.

oh and mike you were late every single day you worked for me. yet i did nothing and continued to give you a chance.

now onto the next house. YOU PAINTED IT and it was supposed to be stain. when i realized this i had you continue. WHY? because i called my sherwin williams rep and was told it is perfectly fine because stain and paint are now both latex based products. and because it was a solid stain (you probably dont even know what that means even after all of your training) it would not change the finish on the home. haha IN FACT the customers now prefer having there home painted in satin AND gave me a tip and 5 out of 5. even after a giant mess like the one you caused.

even after all this nonsense you caused on only 2 homes i still thought you could improve and eventually be a hard worker. i was wrong. your in all seriousness.. the laziest worker anyone could ever have. maybe that is why you got fired by doug a week after transferring to his organization. i painted for doug for years before being a franchise owner and if there is any franchisee that does EVERYTHING he can to do the best job possible, it is doug. so before you go on 10 different website bashing a company that provides you with an awesome summer job maybe you should sit back and think.. Maybe i just cant even handle painting a home (a job in which my little sister has done with me) she was 14 when she helped out too... and yes this comment is rediculously un-professional but i am no longer with the company nor do i feel i need to be professional with you or anyone that has posted on here. NONE of you would last a season as a franchise owner. especially in the turf i was given. and for any of you franchisees on here bashing college pro. clearly you already failed running a business so im not even going to get into what losers you are. the bottom line is that college pro is a flawed system but one that genuinly helps prepare you for the real world. YOU CANNOT PLEASE EVERYONE WHEN RUNNING A BUSINESS. it is impossible there is always going to be someone that is upset with what you do no matter the situation.

xoxoxoxox,

JASON!

Guest

to the customers:blame the individual you worked with not the entire company.

to previous employees: if you are bragging about what a poor job you've done and how badly you've trained ur painters, then that's only a reflection of your absolute lack of leadership skills and should have never gotten involved with this company because you simply don't have what it takes.

I have been a franchisee for 2 seasons now and have walked way making about 15% of what i produced...there are very few jobs that pay that kind of commission. not to mention that i now have a much clearer idea of what it takes to run a business.

yes, it is a numbers game in the sense that the more you do the more ur gonna make, but not at the expense of quality. in fact a majority of my clients are from word-of-mouth thanks to very satisfied customers. it's simple, do a good job, get recommended, and make more money. how do u like those number?

if u r interviewing to be a painter, keep in mind that the interview is as much for u as it is for them. feel them out as well to see if u want to work for that person. if not there r other managers u could work with.

Guest

I have been with College Pro for 5 years now and have a few things to say:

1. I deliver high Quality Work (It disappoints me what is being said above)

2. I pay my employees very well

3. Most of my customers know me by name and continuously refer me to new business.

4. I have never been so proud to do anything in my life.

Guest

yea im a franchisee and i dont pay my employees

Guest

Look, I work for this company. This isn't about doing good work----Lord knows we don't paint well----it's about the numbers. Is there anything wrong with that?

I wish everyone on this board would stop whining and just deal with the fact that we're yet another *** pyramid scheme. Play the game, and get rich. East as that! You should see how many *** pealing paint jobs I've got under my belt...SUCK IT CUSTOMERS!

College Pro for Life!

Guest

look they probably did a bad because they had to hurry the job up in between banging your wife and keeping a watch out for you 8)

Guest

:cry

Guest

I am currently a franchisee for college pro painters. i think the painting position will be fine because if you work hard thats all that matters, i had some late checks last summer but nothing bad.

i also am writing to see if anyone else has been in my position and is thinking about quitting and breaking my contract with them. will they sue? i know they say at the beginning a 4,000$ CHARGE for broken contract.

i just want out they are charging me money that i have to pay back, business trips out of my pocket. anyway if your a rich kid in college and want to boss people around sign up :grin

Guest

I have used College Pro in the past and in my opinion most of "scott's" comments above are weak excuses and pure bunk. The company is adept and passing the buck, blaming the victim (homeowner) and overpromising/underdelivering ad nasuem

These are only my opinions and your milage may vary but,...keep your eyes wide open when dealing this these "professionals"

Guest

My franchise manager wants to pay us "piece pay" according to his estimates, where we log the hours that he has bid instead of the actual hours worked. He does under the table jobs all the time and makes us do touch ups for no pay, im sure college pro is a good company but my franchise manager makes me doubt i will work here much longer.

Guest

Re: Tedd Carr

I've an interview with them in Vancouver next week, not as a franchisee but just as a painter, like yourself I'm getting worried now about these reviews. Do you have any update on what's happened since you got hired? Have you been getting work/treated well?

Thanks for any info!

Guest

It is better to invest the 5-10k and start your own business...you'll make just as much at least if not more!

Guest

Hi i had an interview with college pro in vancouver and i got the job. I am meeting with the franchise owner guy and am worried i am going to get screwed by hearing everything on here. The position is painting and is wondering if the painters get as *** as the franchise managers and have to sign a contract aswell?

Guest

Hi i had an interview with college pro in vancouver and i got the job. I am meeting with the franchise owner guy and am worried i am going to get screwed by hearing everything on here. The position is painting and is wondering if the painters get as *** as the franchise managers and have to sign a contract aswell?

Guest

Hi i had an interview with college pro in vancouver and i got the job. I am meeting with the franchise owner guy and am worried i am going to get screwed by hearing everything on here. The position is painting and is wondering if the painters get as *** as the franchise managers and have to sign a contract aswell?

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