ComplaintsforUnique Interior Design, LTD

• Initial Complaint

  08/26/2022

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I have continually asked for an itemization of costs for my project from our former contractor. I requested this information before the job began. Each task performed was subpar or completely wrong and needed repairs. I tried many times to resolve the issues with him. I believe he is charging for hours spent fixing the jobs that were done wrong the first time. I had to repeatedly ask for these repairs to be done. He gave an estimate of three weeks at the onset of the job at the beginning of April, 2022. I had enough of the deception, the shoddy work, and the lack of communication and ceased work with him in July. He has given me vague financial figures that differ with every interaction of what I owe him and what he owes us. I believe he owes us money beynd what he claims. I have been unable to resolve our conflict. I have many text messages corroborating what was said as well as the timeline in which this job was happening. There were continual promises that he had our best interest in mind and that he would make these things right. When I brought up issues, I was told that the job was still incomplete or that they would be fixed. After our floor was scratched when his team was putting in the pantry, it was implied that we scratched the floor. At this point, I did not trust them to come and repair the floor. I also need to have this fixed at an additional expense.

  Business response

  09/11/2022

  To begin with, I would like to apologize to ********************* for any grief this may have caused her. In my opinion, we have had a series of uneventful circumstances that have led to this complaint. We were contacted by ***** to do more work in her home, as we had done some prior work for her in the past. We remodeled her master bathroom and added a corner shower. Things were going well until we were notified that the family had contracted the Covid virus. We had this work scheduled for this time frame and had to vacate the premises for a week. That might not have been so bad except that after the week passed, me and my assistant contracted the virus also. This is where the problem started. This caused a significant conflict with our scheduling as we had other jobs already scheduled for that time frame. To this point, everything was going fine. We were able to continue certain aspects of the project but did not anticipate that the pantry cabinets we ordered were now on back order. It took 3 mos. for them to arrive. Once we brought them to the jobsite, she had changed her mind on cabinets, and instead wanted shelving only. Had we known this, we would have been able to finish the pantry closet in a much shorter time span. We wouldn't have had to wait for three months for them to finally arrive. Had we known that this was what she wanted in the first place, it would have saved a lot of time and grief. We could have completed the pantry closet within a week.  In the meantime, we were able to finish the rest of the work other than the epoxy countertops. This was the last thing to be done. Although we did prep the island countertop while waiting. Somewhere along the line, one of the *** planks had been scratched. When this was brought to our attention, we immediately went to repair this. It was done so well that when we asked her husband to identify where the scratch was, he could not find it. I had mentioned to her that although there would be no charge at all for the repair, my crew told me that they didn't think that they were responsible for the scratch. I mentioned this to the homeowner, and I guess that was a mistake. Although we offered to replace the plank free of charge, she took it very personally that I had accused her of scratching the floor. This was not my intent. I was just letting her know that although we may not have been responsible for the damage, we would be more than happy to take care of it. At this time, they had moved in new furniture and my feeling was that it may have happened then. Things changed from that point. She felt she could no longer trust our company because I brought up that we might not have been responsible for the scratch, even though we had every intention of taking care of it. At this point, she asked us for an itemized accounting of each individual line item on the job. I explained to her that that was not our policy. We provide a detailed line item on our estimate and give one total price for our project. We do this for obvious reasons. We put a lot of work into developing these estimates and do not want them shared with other prospective contractors. I explained this to her, and she insisted again and again on have a detailed line-item quote. I finally succumbed to her wishes and sent her the itemized bid. She halted the work and asked for a refund of what she "felt" was fair. I was able to show her the exact amount of the refund and thought that she had accepted this offer. We went to the bank and had a cashier's check made out and when we tried to give it to them, they turned it down and asked for a larger amount. Hopefully we can resolve this issue with a refund that we can both agree on. Again, I would like to reiterate that we are very sorry for any convenience that this caused her and her family. I really didn't expect the Covid virus to affect us in such a negative manner. Between scheduling and back orders, it definitely impacted this project.
  Sincerely,
  ***********************;  
  
  Unique Interior Design, Ltd.

  Customer response

  09/15/2022

   
  Complaint: 17745395
  
  I am rejecting this response because: There are many pieces of misinformation within this communication. 

  The problems with our business interaction began before the onset of work. At that time I was forgiving and made things work because I was excited to have my house done as well as unaware that that was just the beginning of the many issues we would have during the project.

  I had the company install a shower insert previously which I would not consider a remodel at all. It was a job in which I basically gave them permission to cut corners to keep costs low so I was content with the job done. I did feel that the owner followed my requests on that job. 

  I rehired this contractor with the absolute expectation for things to go smoothly. It was over time that my confidence in them and the trust was chipped away with each and every job. Communication was lacking. At times I deduced what was happening and at times waited weeks for a response. I was told several times that someone would be there that day and no one arrived. Sometimes the arrival didn't happen for days, until I called back and asked what was happening.

  Covid is not the reason that the job was delayed. The job, I was told, would take about 3 weeks. This was part of the premise of our discussion of the work. We were flexible about when it started but would need it completed quickly due to our living situation and heavy usage of our kitchen. We did not contract Covid until the job was due to be complete and only the demolition and part of the floor were done at that time. 

  The floor was absolutely scratched during the installation of the pantry. I heard a loud screech as his employees placed the cabinet but assumed it was the box sliding. My own integrity would have me fessing up to the accident, were it me, so I did not suspect until I noticed later when the assistant came to discuss the cabinet. She was present when I saw it. She knows and the employeed know that they did it, yet they want to keep their jobs, presumptively. Yet still, he is implying that we did it. In the same response he both took responsibility and accused us. The furniture we moved in was brought in from the other side of the room and never reached that point in the room as it is on the far wall. 

  Even as requested in the response to avoid giving personal information, my entire name was used. 

  This job was sloppy in it's entirety. They made multiple visits to fix and repair things that were done incorrectly the first time. I believe he has charged us for multiple returns unnecessary if the jobs were done correctly in the beginning. 

  The first photo is the photo he said our cabinet would look like. The second cabinet was the cabinet that arrived. I could not see this converting in to the dream pantry we had discussed that emphasized the need for space. This is why I rejected this after many ill done jobs. 

  The third photo shows the scratch on the floor. It is about a fifteen inch arch by my estimation.

  The floor was a problem. The wall was a problem. The paint was a problem. The counters were a problem. The pantry was a problem. The wall was a problem. Communication was poor even after I asked for better communication. This entire experience was a nightmare. While he seems remorseful and offers his apologies, I fail to find his sincerity in this. There have been too many lies. 

  There is a list of jobs but no costs associated with them. There is no itemized estimate as requested on multiple occasions. 

  Sincerely,
  
  *********************

  Customer response

  11/18/2022

   We have satisfactorily settled this dispute with the contractor. Case #********

  Sent from ********************* (*****************)

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