Weird design contractor?
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Anonymous
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I've hired plenty of contractors and never had this problem before.
The design contractor did not offer a contract, which seemed fine because I had not decided to hire them yet. Over email, they said how much a design would cost and that they'd send someone out to meet me and see the current situation. They sent me an invoice, which I thought was strange but I figured the invoice was for later if I decided to hire them. The contractor is now sending me threatening emails saying I have to pay the invoice, but I did not decide to hire them. This person talked with me for a few minutes about the project. It was just like any other estimate I have received for painting, construction, etc. The painter and general contractors did not demand payment before I'd decided to work with them. Am I contractually obligated to pay this invoice for a service I never decided to buy and for which I never signed a contract?? Side note: While meeting with the designer, I got the feeling that the owner of his company is off his rocker, so I'd already decided not to work with this company. Now, they are proving they really are off. |
Anonymous
| We had something VERY similar happen! Was this for an outdoor design? |
Anonymous
| Tell them it was an estimate and they never told you there would be a charge and there was no signed contract. NO |
Anonymous
Yes! OP |
Anonymous
Thank you. This makes me really nervous about working with any contractor in the future. OP |
Anonymous
What did you end up doing in your situation? |
Anonymous
| Please name the company so we know who to avoid. |
Anonymous
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Of course not. If you didn't sign anything, you have no obligation. Tell them to piss off.
And in the future, of course, make sure that when you do select someone you like, there is a signed contract spelling out when initial, partial, and final payments are due. |
Anonymous
| Was it Clearwater Landscape and Nursery? I did not have the same thing happen as you, but I did speak with them on the phone and their process was very weird, like you have to pay us for a design as the first step of the process - they don’t do “estimates.” Their attitude turned very nasty over the initial phone call when I told them I was hoping to have a ballpark figure of what a project of my scope would be. I wasn’t at a point where I was ready to pay for a full blown design. |
Anonymous
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Architect here.
This is deeply bottom of the barrel. Good builders will have a ballpark figure for ANY design. And good builders will make sure they are not designing. They are simply there to execute. They are design agnostic - they have to be because there are so many bad designers out there. But I have to say, clients who nickel and dime every square inch are people to avoid. If they need a written job estimate for something that hasn't been designed, they are obviously economically constrained and will be a pain to work with. A good client has already committed to the idea and needs it to be competently designed and executed. |
Anonymous
It wasn't them. In my situation, the owner lied and said I had agreed to hire them. I never did. The designer did come to the house but he was quoting different prices to me and discussing which service might be best, so he obviously also did not think I had agreed to work with the company... They also could not get it together. I was given two different prices and lots of other conflicting information from different people. They lied and did not take accountability, and it reminded me of a certain narcissistic person who is in the news a lot. So, I knew it was best to get out of the situation. |
Anonymous
I agree. In my case, I was ready and committed. I was ready to spend up to $15K on plants and implementation. Obvs, I never told them that. I've decided to take a class and do it myself after this horrible experience. The plants the designer mentioned were nothing that I had not already found myself on an extension website. OP |
Anonymous
Ok, thinking back it’s actually a woman owned company. So not sure if it is the same. She tried to charge us $750 for her ideas. DH pushed back, returned all documents she provided and gave her about $350 for her time as a compromise. We were flabbergasted. We asked her to come by to give us a quote. She came with a plan and an invoice! |
Anonymous
Why did he pay anything? What an idiot. These are scammers who intimidate and bully clients into giving them money. |
Anonymous
Because we are good friends with other clients of hers and did not want to create an awkward situation. She did come up with a plan, but IMO she did not have to give it to us. |