Wtf. I wouldn't pay him at all. He didn't design the project within your specs.
That's what I said to H. But H said he gave us "fair warning" that he'd charge us for his time, so we shouldn't leave him high and dry. So I suggested the split-the-difference solution.
Yes, but he misrepresented what he was going to deliver. If he had said that he could not/would not deliver something that was in your budget, would you have told him to go ahead and do it anyway?
That's ridiculous and I wouldn't pay him anything.. My H is a plumber, he spends hours going over blueprints and putting bids in on jobs. If they don't like his price and go with someone else he doesn't get anything, it's part of the business.
But did he address the fact that he told you that he could stay within your budget and now he gives you something that is 40% over budget? It's his own damn fault that he spent so much time on something that is useless to you (assuming you don't want to go forward with the project). This is making me pissed for you.
Post by DotAndBuzz on Jun 23, 2013 22:27:31 GMT -5
No way. He may have spent his time doing it, but he didn't meet your requirements. He verbally told you he could keep it in budget. He blew your budget out of the water, so he broke his part of the agreement as well. If you didn't sign anything, I wouldn't pay him anything.
If he keeps pestering you, I'd be tempted to write up a review of your experience with him on Angie's list or something. Eff that.
There is no way I would pay that! He's being absolutely ridiculous, because that's an incredible overage amount. If he assured you he could make you something well within your budget and came back with something 40% over, he was in the wrong by misrepresenting his work.
Post by CheshireGrin on Jun 24, 2013 0:08:38 GMT -5
I agree that he did not hold up his end of your verbal agreement, and therefore you owe him nothing. He knew your budget, and told you that he would design something within it. He did not do this, and then charged you an exorbitant fee for the privilege of having him not do what you asked him to. I wouldn't pay him anything, and I would tell him exactly why. He sounds like a scam artist.
We just had our outside deck rebuilt, and we had more than one contractor here taking measurements and drawing up plans for comparison. Not a single one of them charged us for that service.
I absolutely would not pay. When he was spending his time designing it, he should have taken into consideration your budget which he did not. He did not do what you asked and therefore I'm not really sure why you would compensate him.
Post by Overthemoon on Jun 24, 2013 7:41:36 GMT -5
I wouldn't give him a dime. It is his own fault he wasted his time on plans that were outside of the specified budget. Verbal agreements are worthless, doesn't he ever watch Judge Judy??
I would only pay him if you get to keep all of those drawings and use them to get competing bids. Then it might be worth the $235, assuming you like the drawings and they are what you want. That will make it easier to find someone within your budget, they can just look at the design and give you a price.
But yes, that is awful. I would not agree to paying for the design without a guarantee that it would be less than $XXX next time.
Of course it's still unacceptable. This guy is trying to fleece you and at this point, even if he designed something within your budget, I wouldn't feel comfortable using him. Cut ties and don't give him a dime.
So this is a $9,000 entertainment system, more or less? Even if that includes materials, I think you can do much better unless you are living in an insanely high cost of living area or he is crafting it out of old growth teak or something.
I'd stop arguing with the guy for the moment and get two other estimates this week to see if he's truly out of line. I'm guessing those people won't charge. If you find his rate is competitive, then there is less to argue about. If it's not, and no one else charges you, tell him and see if that changes his tune.
well, i paid "design costs" for our pool house before we signed the final construction budget, but it was set, up front, and we knew exactly what we were getting into. it was almost like a retainer (we paid $x and then whatever wasn't spent on the design aspect is applied towards the rest of the cost). but: A) that's a huge project as compared to an entertainment center; B) IT WAS IN THE CONTRACT we were presented (we did two contracts, one for the design phase, one for the build phase AFTER all design was complete and to our liking); and C) we knew EXACTLY what it was before we agreed to ANYthing.
while i'm sympathetic to the "advanced warning" or whatever that he gave you, if it's not in writing and if he's now trying to argue that it's 17% over by excluding essentials and taxes and fees? screw that shit.*
*note: "screw that shit" isn't legal advice, here. i mean, oral contracts, blah blah. but damn. he sucks. 6.5 hours? designing something that AT MINIMUM is at least 20% over your (full) budget, PRE-TAX? kiss it, dude.