Buddy, if your contracting ability is as bad as your attitude, you ought to find another profession. We're going to reply to your questions and comments one by one.

Regarding the woman who called 12 contractors: You forgot to mention that she got only three bids after contacting those 12 painting contractors. It's sad that only three out of 12 who agreed to do estimates actually followed through. Because of unprofessional contractors, that kind of call-to-bid ratio is very common, so homeowners have to contact a lot of contractors just to get a handful of bids.

As for your comment that three bids should be enough. Many times, three bids are not good enough. Homeowners are balancing their budget against quality and against the contractor's professionalism. Three bids may not give them enough cost options and points of comparison. In fact, if it takes 10 bids to give them enough information and "good vibes" to feel comfortable with their decision, then they should get 10 bids -- as long as they realize that bids can become obsolete if too much time elapses between bid and decision. Unsuccessful bids are a fact of life in contacting business. Get used to it.

Also, you obviously think our suggestion that homeowners call the Contractors License Board, BBB and others is silly. But you couldn't be more wrong. Everybody from the state consumer affairs office on down to our Aunt Peps knows that you have to protect yourself, your house and your home improvement investment by making sure you will get the quality and professionalism you pay for. According to the BBB, the number of complaints about home improvement contractors are second only to complaints about auto dealers. If more people took the time to thoroughly check out the contractors they are considering, there would be fewer crummy and crooked contractors in the world. By the way, reputable, professional contractors (including ourselves) will pass the test every time.

As for your being "treated like dirt", maybe you need a shower. Maybe you need to wear a clean, pressed shirt. Maybe people don't find you pleasant to deal with. Maybe you scare them. Maybe you need to take a look at how you present yourself to prospective customers.

Snide comments aside, you should be aware that many people, particularly women, are not comfortable inviting a complete stranger into their home.

Ultimately, all these things get back to contractor professionalism, or the lack of it. If more contractors operated more professionally, more people would be more comfortable dealing with them.