Make-ready job: issues with painting

[Jerry Miller]

Hello everyone.

My property manager recently completed a make ready job that included this item "Full touch up paint and patch" for $1,550. When discussing it on the phone (I asked why this costs so much if that's just a patch work), they said this is going to be the full repaint, not just a touch up.

I see several issues with the work done (they sent me the photos). I'm new to this and not sure how to react. To me, the work is done badly but maybe I'm overreacting. Firstly, the basement walls' color was black / dark gray and we discussed on the phone that they will use some neutral color for it. However, the resulting photos show that it's still black. When I asked the PM about that, they responded with: "If the rooms are already a neutral color then we roll the walls with a closely matching color so we don't have to charge for a color change". I personally wouldn't consider black / dark gray neutral. But maybe it's just me? Here's the "before":

And here's "after":

The difference in color is probably due to lightning.

The other issue is in the painting itself. Here are a couple:

What would you do in this case? I value my relationships with the property manager but at the same time, I want the job I paid for to be done in full.

Thanks much!

[Andrew Kerr]

@Jerry Miller - To me, it sounds like you were not clear enough. Neutral to you can be Neutral to me. I give specific paint color codes or paint names to my contractors and PM. I have exact product descriptions on other items like flooring. I found the clearer I am, the less likely I will have issues.

As far as the quality of the work, its hard to tell via pictures. It could be lighting, it could be the camera angle, it could just be an older house that you can only make patch work look so good, or it could be they maintenance guy isn't that good with patching. 

They are right if you did a color change, they would have to do several coats, and which take more labor. It sounds like the PM was trying to do a quick, lower cost job to save money, and while it didn't meet your expectation, I feel it could have been prevented with better communication. Maybe leave as is, and budget for a foll color change after the next tenant moves out?