We had hired Amsted Design-Build for a kitchen with custom cabinetry and laundry room renovation in September, based our decision on their estimate quote (which was within the same ballpark as other estimates we got from other contractors), reputation, warranty and project construction start date. In addition, we had more confidence thinking that Amsted is BBB accredited as advertised on their website.
To start the project, Amsted requested a 3% design fee which was more than $5000 for scanning the main floor and initial design of the kitchen/laundry room and this step went fine. However, when the project coordinator presented us with the refined estimate for the construction retainer, their estimate was substantially increased by 30% and outside of our budget. After raising our concerns, Amsted went back and further refined their estimate but it was still 10-15% higher than the initial quote.
Due to the estimates and vague excuses provided to justify the increased estimates, it raised red flags for us and we walked away from the project. The 3% design fee only got us a few hard copy printouts of the unfinished kitchen layout and design, and they did a scan of the main floor, but no electronic copies were provided to us.
I am not sure if BBB is able to help us at this point to retrieve some of the 3% designer fee back as a refund.
We had hired Amsted Design-Build for a kitchen with custom cabinetry and laundry room renovation in September, based our decision on their estimate quote (which was within the same ballpark as other estimates we got from other contractors), reputation, warranty and project construction start date. In addition, we had more confidence thinking that Amsted is BBB accredited as advertised on their website.
To start the project, Amsted requested a 3% design fee which was more than $5000 for scanning the main floor and initial design of the kitchen/laundry room and this step went fine. However, when the project coordinator presented us with the refined estimate for the construction retainer, their estimate was substantially increased by 30% and outside of our budget. After raising our concerns, Amsted went back and further refined their estimate but it was still 10-15% higher than the initial quote.
Due to the estimates and vague excuses provided to justify the increased estimates, it raised red flags for us and we walked away from the project. The 3% design fee only got us a few hard copy printouts of the unfinished kitchen layout and design, and they did a scan of the main floor, but no electronic copies were provided to us.
I am not sure if BBB is able to help us at this point to retrieve some of the 3% designer fee back as a refund.
Thank you