On Saturday April 1 we were visited by Dan of Altantic Remodeling, located
in White Marsh MD. This was our third roof estimate in a week. Initially
Dan was very cordial as he explained his company's flawless track record (no
unresolved customer complaints) and showed us how Atlantic had ranked in the
top 200 in a home improvement periodical. He said he would gracefully
accept a yes or no answer to his offer. After preliminary discussions and
measuring the house, he sat down to write up the estimate. In the meantime
my wife's friend had arrived because they both had an appointment to be
somewhere, so I asked Dan to finish up.

When he presented his unprofessional-looking estimate, it turned out that
his offer was over $5000 more than the others two estimates we had received.
When my wife told Dan we wanted to "think about it", his mood abruptly
changed and he become irritated and belligerent. He repeatedly demanded we
explain "what was wrong" with his offer. My wife told him she never accepts
an offer on the spot, but Dan would just counter with questions about the
other offers, and it became a circular waste of time. I told him we were
feeling very uncomfortable, as if he was holding us hostage. He indicated
that since he had invested his time at our house, we "owed" him an
explanation, but apparently none of ours were good enough for him. I tried
to usher him out but ordered me to sit down. I would not have complied but
he seemed very unstable, and I didn't want to set him off. He was a big guy
and very intimidating.

My wife and her friend went upstairs while Dan continued to bide his time,
asking for a glass of water and asking to use the phone. After speaking to
his boss, he finally got up to leave, and I told him we'd call and let me
know, at which point he said "I'm betting you won't". On his way out, he
told me to fax to Atlantic the other offer my wife had mentioned to him (as
if). Once he was gone we were all in disbelief at what had transpired. And
then, to our horror, we discovered he had left his samples in our kitchen!

We assumed they were left on purpose, to give him an excuse to return and
badger us some more. We set them on the front porch, and I called Atlantic
Remodeling and left a message to have a manager call me. When I was called
back, I explained the situation, and the manager Phil was very apologetic
(much to my surprise). I told him they needed to send someone out to
collect the samples, but if I saw Dan, I would call the police. He said
they would send someone else out to collect them during the day on Monday,
and they did.

Beware of this company. Atlantic remodeling is obviously using bully
tactics in order to intimidate potential customers. This experience was
beyond upsetting - it was traumatic. I spoke to a police buddy of mine, and
he said I should not have hesitated to call the cops.