On June 13, 2014 we spoke to Drew Case regarding our services. We explained to him how we charged for our services and what we could provide. He scheduled an appointment and we met on June 27, 2014. In this meeting we discussed his house plan, his needs/wants etc. and again explained how we charge for services and what to expect. While reviewing his plan during this meeting, I suggested a modification that he used and implemented. This change was in his back entry where he had an exposed washer/Dryer. By moving one wall that had not been framed yet, we were able to conceal the appliances and create a more aesthetically pleasing entry. We have email documentation we would be happy to provide, regarding his first meeting and how happy he was with the information we had provided him. He said he definitely wanted to pursue the consulting for his new home.
On July 17, 2014, we met to discuss lighting and flooring. We gave him recommendations for lighting fixtures and placement. We were never provided an allowance for lighting or a construction schedule at this time or anytime throughout the process. At this meeting we told him we would have the selections to him by Friday. On Friday, July 25, 2014, we sent him the lighting we had selected according to what we had looked at together.
After receiving our quote for lighting, he suddenly decided to question our billing policies for selection and consultation for lighting. We have dated emails where we explained our billing policies again, one email at 10:49 am, and one at 1:47 pm. We explained our fee is for our services and selections. We also explained we can achieve any budget if we have one- but a lighting budget was never provided. We also expressed a concern for not having a schedule and requested any future deadlines be provided in advance.
On Wednesday, August 6, 2014 we forwarded the flooring bid for the materials we selected. At 6:58 pm he sent an email stating he was very upset about the flooring budget. Drew did provide us with a flooring allowance. The square footage dollar amount he gave us for material was not a problem; the total budget for flooring the builder built in to the budget was a problem as Drew states in his complaint. That issue is between the builder and Drew. For example, his material allowance was $4.00/sq. Our selections ranged from $2.95- $4.27/sq ft. as explained in our email response on August 7, 2014. This email continues to explain the differences between our bid and his allowance.
The next email correspondence takes place on August 13, 2014 where we provided his tile specifications and final invoice. We can provide these for your review as well.
As a courtesy, on September 12, 2014, we informed Drew we had not received payment and that if payment was not received he would incur a finance charge. He responded via email that the payment was sent; we have never received this.
In summary, our job is to provide clients with plan designs, selections and specifications. Once we have given this information to clients, they can purchase from us, from other local vendors or the internet. In addition, they can choose to explore the "same look" for less money. Our job is to give them a direction and a concept. We did exactly what we were asked to do and Drew has used our expertise and chose not to pay. Please note, in our industry people talk and I have heard we are not the only company that has been "shirked" in this process. It has been relayed to me that several vendors were not going to get paid from Drew.
For 25 years we have consulted on new construction and have perfected our process to make sure there are no surprises. This is a clear case of an uninformed consumer that signed a contract with a builder before he knew what the contract meant and is trying to place blame on others. I am happy to provide any additional information, emails or documentation per the request. I have no unresolved issues to date and plan to retain that status. Thank you, read more