October 2015 by M P.
Master Finishers (Linwood, MI and Bay City,MI) - Rich Winchell proprietor Mr. Winchell was paid $450 to finish stripping and to varnish five dining chairs. He did a horrible job. Four of the chairs were covered with trash bags when we picked them up. As soon as he gave them to us, he began to apologize. I thought the chair that wasn't covered was poorly done, but I thought I could tolerate it. When we arrived home and removed the covers from the other four chairs, I was sick to my stomach. He hadn't even finished removing the original finish before putting new (very, very thin coat- with drips) varnish on. There were blotches of unstripped old varnish covered over with new. If the chairs were sanded before refinishing them, it wasn't apparent. I called Mr. Winchell and explained how I felt. He said he would "redo" them. Having seen what he tried to originally pass off as good workmanship left me with no confidence in his abilities. I said I wanted him to return half of what we had paid him, although I felt he deserved nothing. I could have cancelled the check I had given him, but since he agreed to return half the money, I chose not to. What a mistake. It's been months now and he has refunded me nothing. My husband and I bought sanders and re-refinished the chairs ourselves. We have almost no experience refinishing, but we did an overwhelmingly better job than he had done. I took before and after pictures to prove what a crap job he had done compared to our efforts in case he wants to challenge this review. My feelings are that Rich Winchell did subpar work for us and was unethical in regards to refunding part of his fees.
