We hired David Annable's firm in the summer of 2022 to draft plans for a remodel of our cottage. He gave us an estimate of $2,143.84, which we paid. David came to our property on June 28, 2022 to discuss the project. We asked for the following: 1. A redesign of our second-storey master bedroom window to a larger floor-to-ceiling window system. 2. A redesign of our second-storey guest bedroom window to a larger bay and casement window system. 3. A rectangular, screened outbuilding with a porch facing the lake on which our cottage is located, long and narrow to fit the designated space. David made a great suggestion for an additional remodel of our laundry room. He took copious notes, and read back to us what we had asked for. He returned on July 18, 2022 and took measurements for these four designs. On July 26, 2022, David sent us a preliminary set of plans. They were virtually unrecognizable, consisting of (1) an extensive new roof system and screened-in porch for our cottage that had not been requested or discussed during the site visit; and (2) an outbuilding that was the wrong shape, with the porch facing away from the lake. Neither of the second storey window systems, nor the laundry room remodel, was included. We emailed him and pointed this out. On August 16, 2022, David returned a new set of plans. This one included a first storey screened-in porch for our cottage, something never discussed or requested. The second storey windows were included, but in configurations very different from what we had discussed. The outbuilding was unchanged. We asked David to put the project on hold. On April 26, 2023, we emailed David to ask for a call. In our conversation, I expressed our unhappiness. David told me, candidly, that his firm was extremely busy, and that he had turned over our project to his son, a junior draftsman employed in his firm, and given him his notes. The son had not referred to them in creating our plans. When David asked his son to fix this, the son had generated the revised set of plans, again without referring to David's notes. As a result of this and other substantial errors by the son, David had fired him. I told David that I appreciated his transparency and wanted to get the project back on track. In his next email of June 20, 2023, he terminated the project. He stated that "[w]hile trying to fit you into our already busy season, I have had my last Jr Designer recruited away from me by a larger firm." He wrote that "I am fully aware that the initial attempts from our office failed you, and now being unable to take on more work due to the short staffing issue, that we refund you some of the funds that were paid." He said he would keep half of what we had paid him - $1,143.84 - for his "time, expenses and completed the site visit and measurements." We replied on June 26, 2023 that there was no reason for him to retain any of what we had paid him, because his firm had never delivered any of the designs we requested. David replied the same day, stating that he was "not in a position" to provide a full refund. I replied: "You delivered designs so different from what we requested as to be useless to us. You should be embarrassed to retain any of the fee we paid you." David accepted our project and full advance payment, sent us plans consisting of designs we had not requested that omitted most of what we had asked for, drafted by his son who had clearly not read his notes and was fired for it. He terminated our project without fixing his firm's errors, charging us $1,143.84 for time and expenses to generate plans we cannot use. We now have to hire another designer to start over. This was terrible service. David may be a great designer. We have no way of knowing. We gave him every opportunity to correct the mistakes to which he admitted in writing. A reputable professional does not behave this way. We can only conclude that David is not reputable, and we would not recommend him to others. read more