DESIGN HOUSE INC

Description of Work: I hired Connie and her team to perform interior design services in my home. We provided them with a budget, an expected timeline and expectations on how we would work together, communication frequency, etc. Specifically, we wanted help with a rug for our formal living room, large art work and some additional accent furniture for the room. Our initial meeting went well, they provided us with some rug sample books to review with them so that they could get a sense of our "style." After this meeting they would then develop a room design and provide us with some rug, art and furniture options within our budget and within our timeline (we hired them in early August and wanted this room completed in time for Christmas.) We reached an agreement and provided a $1500 deposit- which was required for them to "work with us." Unfortunatley, this was the only good interaction- every future interaction after the initial meeting was very difficult and negative. My husband & I had to continually touch base with them for progress updates because they were terrible about keeping us in the loop with expected timeframes. When they were finally ready to provide us with their room design and recommendations for the rug, art and furniture- it was as if they designed this room for another family! The rug was not at all close to the ones I had showed that I liked in our initial meeting and the furniture they suggested was very industrial (not suited for a formal living room of our style). Worst yet was that we were being charged for every email that we sent them and for any conversation- so when they showed up to our follow up meeting with their terrible options- we had already racked up over $500 in "research fees and for their time responding to our emails and phone calls." I was very disappointed and expressed that to them, they reassured me that they had a "better understanding of my style" after the 2nd meeting and would have more "appropriate options" in line with my overall design in the next meeting. I should have just cut my losses and terminated our relationship then but since I already felt invested and had already provided the $1500 deposit plus had an invoice for $500 I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and moved forward. BIG MISTAKE! The proceeding meetings were filled with frustration and disappointments, I finally ended up having to design a CUSTOM RUG which was way over budget and despite their PROMISE to arrive in time for Christmas it was over 3 months late! After we PAID for the rug and paid all their invoices in order to have our rug delivered, Connie (the owner) decided that she would FIRE US as clients because she felt as if nothing that she or her team did would ever "satisfy us." I was so disappointed in her and her lack of professionalism AND in the fact that we had already invested close to $10,000 and we still did not have our rug or our art. Along the entire process, I was very clear in our expectations, sent detailed emails with questions, seeking updates and by the time they got around to finally responding- continually received incomplete responses, and received more bad news with missed deadlines!