AMBIANCE SYSTEMS

Company came out to quote work for a home theater, whole house speaker, and lighting automation system. This was a Showcase home that they had previously done all the base wiring for and the fundamentals were installed. The Sales Manager, Mark Pettagrosso, was very friendly at first as we walked through the job where I clearly communicated my needs. After missing the committed date to submit a quote, I got a quote back that was over 10 x's higher than the area we were discussing... I raised a lot of questions and got no clear answers in return. They then said they'd revise the quote because they put the highest end products in. I also asked for a detailed cost breakdown to understand the material costs and why the labor was so high.Based on the second quote, they cut the costs down in half (still 4 x's higher than discussed) and miracously the labor costs for some of the same services came down drastically. When I asked about the labor, the Sales Manager gave me a labor rate and I calculated out that the work they were initially quoting was for 2 people full time for almost 3 months!!! This was a 3 day job at best, and the company I've used has done just that with 1 guy. I never got the breakdown on equipment/materials formally, but when the Sales Manager gave me prices over the phone, I compared to the web and found that they were gouging me on prices.I raised this as a concern and the Sales Manager tried to backpeddle to explain how the products are different - granted the model numbers are identical. When I called him out on this and the labor, he said they needed this job and wanted to requote the bid. The third quote came back at about 14K (down from a start of 163K) yet still had questions that I had not gotten answers to.When I emailed the Sales Manager back asking how they do business this way and why all the changes that couldn't be explained (I caught him in more than one lie), he proceed to copy the entire staff of the company on his response to make me feel like I was wrong and cover his butt.I then called and spoke with the owners, both Jennifer and Marc Leidig explaining the situation, forwarding emails, and sharing feedback that my realtor witnessed. After several missed attempts - including Marc going to the track and not able to take a work call, I get a call back explaining that there must have been miscommunication and that given my frustration (and that I caught them red handed trying to rip me off and caught them in lies) that they don't want me as a customer.I have since talked to a customer who used them whom would never use them again and talked to other companies, including one who employs a former Ambiance employee who comfirmed their unethical ways and that lying and jerking the customers around is standard practice with them.I would absolutely never use this company and recommend you do your homework before proceeding to do business with them...