What clients say about Mattson Lumber Co in Nisswa (MN)
Working on the phone with I th them was fine. They have not gotten back to me as they said they would. I will see how things go with another company in the area.
We had a very good experience with Sales/estimator Chris Rue. Took his time with us in giving us details and asking questions we hadn't thought about when going through home plan details and estimate. Thank you Chris. Look forward to working with you!
I have had a bad experience with Mattson Lumber Co. I initially planned a garage with a Matt Houde (who no longer works there) in the spring of 2018. I went over all of my specifications with Matt and purchased the materials in the summer. Upon receiving my materials the problems began.
1. I had specified the trusses to be 2 ft on center, when the trusses arrived there were only half of the trusses I had been expecting. I called and asked what had happened (at this time Matt had already left, so I was left dealing with Joe who is the only positive interaction I had with this company) Joe informed me that Matt had possibly meant for 4 ft spacing on the trusses. At the same time I had been give 2 ft truss spacers with my order. Because the trusses that were delivered were over built and I needed additional trusses there was no choice but to order the same exact trusses to complete the building. I am fairly certain I could hoist engines out of vehicles with the trusses I had to use. Also because trusses are 8-10 weeks out this complicated my timeline for the carpenters who were working on my project. Thankfully Trussworthy stepped up in the clutch! The extra money I paid for the rest of my trusses was at cost through Mattson's, I honestly just paid for their mistake.
2. I had specified with Matt that I wanted 1/2" OSB sheeting on every side and roof of my garage. Upon delivery day I was delivered the 1/2" OSB for the walls but also a random amount of 5/8" OSB. Joe had informed me this was possibly for the roof but there were not enough sheets for the roof so I returned them in exchange for more 1/2" sheets. A waste of my time but the ability to return items is nice.
3. The roof was to be covered with OSB before exposed fastener steel but also on deliver day 2"x4" purlin material was delievered. Again, why am I buying things that I didn't even need or ask for?
4. Every sheet of exposed fastener steel for the roof had to be cut 2 ft shorter, a huge waste of money and time...
5. Delivery of materials was supposed to happen on a Thursday or Friday. I had to call the following Monday and ask where my materials were.
The following year I decided to give them another chance. So I got in touch with another employee named Scott. I sat down with Scott and discussed my plans for an apartment I am putting on the garage and also mentioned my frustrations with Mattson's the previous go around. Scott said "I THINK I CAN TAKE A LITTLE BETTER CARE OF YOU THAN MATT DID" I discussed my plans with him on February 22nd. On March 27th I emailed him because I had not heard from him which he did not respond to. On March 29th I left him a voicemail which he did not respond to. On April 1st I called the lady at the front desk and asked her to put a note on his desk and to call me ASAP. On April 5th I finally got Scott on the phone ( I had to call his direct line a few times) what proceeded was on of the most unprofessional phone calls of my life and ended with me telling him how much of a joke this all was and hanging up. A failure to respond to one of three methods of communication over a weeks time is not acceptable to me. On an aside, I walked into Simonson Lumber of Baxter and had a quote within 4 days for my apartment. I can understand a few things going wrong here and there but my patience with this place had been pushed to the limit.
Lacking service. Unprofessionally Slow. Inconsistent.
UPDATE: Decent pricing. Quality materials. (Added 2 stars)
I had a client with a deadline 2 months out, she had an existing plan in the works with Mattsons Lumber and needed it redone to add a garage. The draftsman we were working with left Mattsons, and so we were assigned to another person and it was an "oh well for you" attitude and told we were at the bottom of the pile. They offered one name for a freelance draftsman, and he was out on vacation, so as a last resort I returned to Mattsons to finish this bid out.
After a 2 week process for even the preliminary footplan draft, I approved it and I asked for the quote.
He said he would get the bid to me on a certain day, he has moved back the finalizing of the bid 3 times. It's been 4 weeks now.
My deadline for the bank is a week or so out and my client may lose her construction loan, if they do not grant her an extension, due to the unprofessional and unreasonable delays from Mattsons Lumber.
Maybe it is because it is a small account, they dont seem to care about.
Maybe it is because I am a woman.
As everytime a man answers the phone there, they convey annoyance. Once the man was extremely rude to my request to leave a message, aggressivley stating "what do you want"! And telling me they had someone in their office, as if my request to leave a message was unimportant and unwanted. UPDATE: When I went in, the man at the front desk was pleasant and helpful- Joe I think his name was- I do not think this was the same person answering the phones late in the day with the poor attitude. As I am sure there are other men in that office that are not short tempered to customers as well. I must have just gotten the one guy that seems unhappy all the time. So, to be fair, I wanted to let the review reflect that not all the men in the office seemed annoyed. But there is definitely one that answers the phone often that isn't happy with being asked to take down a quick written message.
Maybe they do not want repeat business. I have a number of clients in the upcoming months that will need bids such as this, I plan to look elsewhere.
Maybe they have just never had customer service training.
I'm not sure the reason they treated me and my clients account so poorly and treated me as a human being so harshly.
UPDATE: When I finally received the bid, the price was fair. And I have heard their lumber is quality. I wanted to be fair and update this review to reflect the medium rating, versus a poor rating.
All I can say, is if you want to support a worthy local business, this is not it. The character of the men/man that answers that office phone is not worthy of supporting, and Mattsons should recognize that error in his/their behavior and that it's not something to reward. When Mattsons Lumber is OK with that kind of treatment of customers they are guilty if the treatment as a whole, it reflects their values. However, if you can look past rude behavior or poor treatment or delays with your bid, you can get a fair price and lumber that is acceptable- this would still be an option for you. In this day and age, I personally look for both quality product AND quality service, because those businesses ARE out there and they work very hard for your business.
Its unfortunate, because I always try to support local businesses and the family-grown businesses. I love Mn, and I love this industry, but I feel respect and valuing a customer is very important. I really wanted to love this place!
I do not wish Mattsons ill will, but I do hope people that value character and good treatment go somewhere else versus Mattsons. Building a home or business is hard enough without people working against you or being rude to you. :)
Best place to buy lumber in the lakes area! Not only did they have the exact boards I was looking for, they loaded them up in my truck for me... and that might not sound that special, but I watched the guy pick through the whole pile to make sure I had the best ones! Not like those big box stores when 1 out of every 30 boards is usable and straight!
