DeCesare Design

In response to claim: ***I would like to start by saying that my mistake was to not respond to ***’s questions about my invoice in a timely matterI understand her frustration, however, I did in fact design a space for her that she loved, and did not leave her empty handed I am happy
to release the elevations and detailed drawings once she pays for her outstanding invoice. *** and *** contacted me to help them design their outdoor kitchen by obtaining my card from a sales representative at ***. I have been working with The *** for over years doing various projects ranging anywhere from bathroom designs, kitchen designs and whole home remodels including exterior kitchens, etcThe sales representatives at *** will hand out my business card when asked by consumers for referrals for designMy website does not have pictures of the outdoor kitchens I have designed simply because I have not had the time to update it in a couple of years, I am happy to submit pictures of projects upon request.I met with *** at her home and was asked to take a look at the space to see what we could work with based on their ideas and budgetI explained to them my hourly rate is $an hour and I would begin as soon as they paid my $depositWhich would be applied to the hours I spent measuring, drawing the existing property, and designing new layout options and material, at the first design presentation, the fee included revisions after design reviewPlease see attached invoiceIt was clearly expressed to me at the time of the meeting they had a very strict budget of $20,for construction(It is important to note here that they had fired the previous designer as she came back and presented designs that far exceeded their budget and scope.) *** emphasized that the design needed to be budget sensitiveBeing that I am more of a design build practice, I understood how important this was for them and tried my best to meet the budget requirements with the layouts I presentedI was also asked to provide ideas and options on flow, design aesthetics and placement of the appliances and equipment they had already purchased.Typically, to save time and money for my clients at the first presentation I do simple space plan drawings to scale, to reflect the ideas presented in the first meetingAt the first presentation meeting I presented them three layout options(Please see the attached layouts and material presentation) Creating “construction plans” or “elevations” at this early design phase is not typical or financially practical, as the design had not been fully developed at this point(Any changes or revisions cost more due to additional time to make elevation changes) This is why I give my clients revisions based on the first design review at no additional hourly fee, to finalize design before moving forward with details. Please note that at the first presentation my policy is to invoice my clients, as my drawings and design concepts are my intellectual propertyThese drawings are my “product” if you will, so before I release them they must be paid in fullJust in the same way you can’t leave the store without paying for somethingThe “additional amount” in question is the invoice for the elevations (which take extra time to draw) that they are requestingI have explained this to *** and that I would be more than happy to send the elevations to her once the invoice is paid in fullAgain, my intellectual property is not released until it has been paid, as this is how I earn my living*** used her revisions, and I asked her if she wanted me to continue with the elevations, approved drawings in her possessionThese are the same drawings that were provided the licensed contractor that bid on the projectThe drawings can be given to any other contractor of their choosing for another bid as they feel is appropriateHowever, in light of all the changes and additions that she requested I’m afraid that she has far exceeded her construction budget based on my experience. Once the two revisions were complete, and *** stated she “loved” them (please see attached email from ***), and she had her bid from a licensed contractorI asked her for her approval to move on and continue the elevationsShe said yes, knowing full well that I charge $an hour to work on her projectI completed the elevations and detailed the plans furtherI offered to meet at her house to look over the elevations and get paid for the work I did for herI let her know that again I would be happy to release the drawings as soon as she paid the balance dueWhich included the site visit, and the time it took to meet with my contractor to go over the materials calculations, and their applicationI did not hear from *** for a couple of days, until she responded with an email that questioned my billI made a mistake and did not contact her right away with my responseI had several large projects installing at the time and did not respond to her in a timely mannerI was planning on responding, but by the time I was ready to she was angry and sent me an email that she was going to let *** know, the BBC and take me to small claims.I did apologize for my lack of a timely response, and did respond to the original email that questioned my invoice.She then went on to slander me at *** affecting my livelihood, please see email she sent to the company, and with the BBC by making claims. Bottom line is I spent hours in the first design phase, meeting with them, measuring the space, drawing the “as-built” preparing three design layout options, presenting the drawings to them at their house, also presenting a small side bar, researching all of the appliances they purchased from ***, downloading them into my CAD software.She paid me the balance, minus the depositPlease see attached invoice.I met with her the next day with my contactor, which is a “meeting” or site visit, in which time she let me know what revisions they would like to see, and I got valuable info from my contractor on how to build the design and where we should put the utilities etc, and how we could best stay in the requested budget.The final invoice that has not been paid by them was for:hour meeting with my contractor and *** to discuss utilities, additions to the project, and the revisions hour calculating materials, square footages, and details for the bid and buildhours drawing the elevations, please see attached elevationsTotal hours worked and not paid for: 4.5Again, I would be happy to release the drawings as soon as she pays her outstanding invoice.I think is also important to add the elevations I have spent time creating and she has not paid for