I waited a year before posting reviews for Esteban Interiors to ensure they are factual and well-documented.
I was initially apprehensive about posting reviews, because I wanted to move past the experience, but inevitably chose to do so because of what I heard from other clients and because it is the right thing to do to help others make an educated decision. I see the other four reviews are 7-16 years old, with two related to a store that no longer exists, so I am hopeful readers will find this review helpful.
My partner and I hired Steven (aka Esteban) Lopez and James Niebling (Esteban Interiors) for basic projects in our two homes: wall-coverings, lighting, patching, painting, and purchasing a handful pieces of furniture and area rugs, totally roughly $600k.
While we did not pay much attention to the inner workings of our first project (we did not live in San Diego full-time and we were very busy), we did pay close attention to our second project which resulted in our termination of the contract due to several issues, including the following:
1) I was unable to find publicly available business registration records for Esteban Interiors in California, as a legitimate business.
2) In my experience, I was not given original vendor proposals upon request. Steven stated his vendors and their proposals are "proprietary". I felt this made it impossible to understand Esteban Interiors 20% up-charge on all vendor proposals and verify the legitimacy of the vendor proposals. There should be no issue sharing the proposals. Not sharing is NOT standard practice. Note: If you pay a third party to obtain proposals on your behalf, the proposals belong to you. They are not proprietary.
3) I, personally, did not see added value in paying the 20% up-charge and had a better experience hiring my own vendors. And, it is always good to develop a relationship directly with vendors should their services be needed in the future.
4) When I obtained my own proposals, they were more than 2x lower than those proposals I received from Esteban Interiors. I saved thousands of dollars working with my own vendors, as well as the 20% up-charge, and less stress.
5) I, personally, felt the workmanship of Esteban Interiors "vetted, proprietary" vendors did not meet my basic expectations. For example, the patching of the ceilings and walls throughout our homes was uneven. After attempting to repair their repairs, and it still appearing uneven, I decided to hire my own painter to redo the work and continue the patching/painting to completion. My painter did a great job, leaving no evidence of patching. We also experienced issues with their other vendors.
6) In my experience, the 20% up-charge was not itemized on their invoices, rather, it was baked into the overall cost. I thought something was "off" during our first project when I did not see their fees itemized on the invoices. James, who is responsible for their accounting, would not itemize their charge, even after I requested, which I felt lacked transparency and integrity. This, along with not sharing the vendor proposals, was the final straw that lead to us terminating their contract.
7) In my experience, it was difficult to get a clear accounting of our funds given to Esteban Interiors. My request of James to provide me with a full accounting of our project was denied. Instead, James referred me to the scattered emailed invoices. Picking through countless back/forth emails and revised invoices to obtain basic accounting information is not a good use of time and energy when their accounting software, Quickbooks, can produce a general ledger with a few clicks.
8) In my experience, Esteban Interiors has a limited list of vendors they do business with, making the extended wait times for their availability frustrating.
9) They accidentally broke a few vintage, collectible glass items in our home yet told us of only one they broke, placing us in the awkward position of addressing it with them.
We had other concerns but I chose to highlight only the above to limit our liability.
In short, based on my experience, I found Esteban Interiors difficult to work with at times, lacking integrity, attention to detail and transparency and knowledge of basic business and accounting practices.
If you choose to hire Steven and James, insist on full transparency: copies of vendor proposals and invoices; itemized EI invoices with details related to their fees, as well as details related to their hours charged; documentation of insurance coverage for Esteban Interiors and their vendors, listing you as additional insured; clear accounting; and make sure all vendor contracts are between you and their vendor, ensuring you have access to the proposal, vendor invoices and to the vendor. Finally, be sure to have your attorney review the contract so you fully understand the provisions.
There are many great designers in San Diego, so do your due diligence before making any decisions. read more