I feel for you daninny. I had to call about 20 companies to get 3 that wanted to do a quote. Most wouldn't even answer the phone, and of those that did it was few that would call back. Eventually I found a guy I liked, and he always answered his phone! He was very communicative and a pleasure to deal with. I never felt like I had to track him down... He'd either answer his calls directly, or I'd leave a message and get a call back that day.

Like you say, if they don't call you back to offer to take your money, just imagine how you'll get ahold of them when you need to talk to them later. Keep searching, move on to the next, since you don't want to deal w them later.

I can't believe that lazypup is making such excuses for crappy business people. If they have no time for you they could tell you they are just way too busy during the first phone call. And yes, a good contractor should have at least one office person dealing with keeping things organized if they can't. If they are so busy, surely they can afford it. I do accounting for small businesses for a living and I can honestly tell you I've met ONE honest contractor in 20 years. If they spent as much time answering their phone calls as they spent trying to screw their customers, the government and their employees then they would be able to answer all of their calls. By the way, the ONE honest contractor is the single one that I will still work for. He runs the business and does spend the bulk of his time doing the estimates, and dealing with customers and vendors on the phone. He has a very good man that oversees his jobs at the sight. I see the same customers using him over and over. THAT is a good contractor. Why would every other type of business be expected to actually answer the phones, but contractors think they are exempt. Bad business is bad business.

Can your kitchen GC recommend anyone? Heck, isn't that part of being a GC? ;)

I still pester the guy who did my kitchen (a few years ago) for recommendations. Poor guy!

We have a small family buisness, 4 workers one of which, my dad is the owner. We are booked into March right now. Every night we listen to the answering machine and return all phone calls for the day, usually setting up a time for appointments. Then it gets written into the appointment calender. My dad usually leaves the job site around 3:30-4:00, goes home to shower and change into descent clothes. He usually has 1-2 appointments a night and doesnt get home till about 7-7:30. We only do one job at a time and are very honest about our schedule and if people are willing to wait, we show up on time, work there full days until its done, before moving on to the next one. So there are guys out there who really work hard at keeping everyone happy, not returning your call or showing up is a sing of lazieness imho. The guys you want to watch out for are not the ones who return your call right away, its the guys who say they can start next week. I'd say keep calling contractors until you find somone you feel comfortable with.

Thanks for your input everyone. I do know what the answer is, but I just needed to really vent.

Fori: As for the kitchen guy, he does not go around recommending other contractors - he told me so. The reason is that he cannot control that other guy. If he were to recommend someone and that someone did a poor job, it makes him look bad also for making the recommendation. I do understand his viewpoint. He is very concerned about his own reputation: so much so that he will go out of his way to make his customers happy, even if it means taking down a tiled wall and doing it again at his cost (which he did, btw).

Lazypup: I do understand the complexities of running a business. I do understand that there are a lot of factors to account for. However, I do NOT accept the lack of courtesy these guys show by not getting back to me with PROMISED estimates. I would accept a "no thank you, but I'm too busy" type of response. If you read my original post, those guys all promised a quote within a said time period, yet never delivered. My question is: "Why bother meeting with potential customers if you're not even going to try to get their business?"
As for your "little rehab" comment- this is a lot more than that, with not just redoing all of the siding, new soffits, trim, new deck, etc. - probably in the order of 20-30k, or more if I went with Hardie materials.

I guess I'll just keep on calling. These guys just don't realize that word of mouth is the most important piece of advertising you could get.

Try looking in the directory in your local Home Builder's Association. You might look for a GC since the work you described is more than one trade. Or, call a local, small lumber yard and ask for references.

A bit of my experience as a contractor (17 yrs). The home improvements types do tend to be a bit unreliable and the phone book is a bad place to find good people. (Of course, I am generalizing).

And, people are busy these days. No excuse for telling you one thing and doing another, though. But, what you describe is "smallish" and complicated in that it involves several trades. Your best fit will probably be a professional remodeling contractor. Do two things:

1. Write up exactly what you would like bid on with a request for alternatives, like Hardie board.
2. When you call them, tell them two things: (i)you understand that you may have to get in line but that you want an estimate so you can come to an agreement and decide (ii) you are not really shopping price (although it is a factor) but rather want someone good to work with.

Good luck.

Julieann grow: Thanks for the advice. Actually, the names that I got were not from the phone book. One of the Hardie guys and one of the other contractors were recommended by Florence Lumber (lumber and building supply house). The guy who forgot the appt. was a recommendation from a friend.
I just got two return calls from other recommendations - hope I get something out of them. I actually told one of them about my problems not getting call backs from the other GCs.
As for the work's being complicated, all of these guys (except one) have actually touted themselves as "professional" remodelers (as opposed to handyman) and all seem to own a small to mid-sized company with work crews - if you can believe their business cards. LOL.