Audra Miller Interiors Audra Miller Would not release the bathromm design drawings to mysely or my contractor to get an additional bid. Newport Beach California
I found Audra Miller Interiors through Pirch. I agreed to utilize her design services to redo two small bathrooms with having the understanding she would be able to keep within my budget of $55,000.00.
Problem #1
She would not follow through with her commitments. Promising me that I would see the conceptual drawings within 3 weeks and 5 1/2 weeks later she presents her drawings and are not even completed. Just faded copies without details. NO virtual and no clear understanding on what were exactly doing.
Problem #2
We met at Pirch to select the bathroom fixtures, which is part of her contract and she gives you wholesale pricing and there will be an additional 10% fee added to the purchase cost for her pricing. I highly recommend you to check the cost of your purchase because her wholesale pricing that she claims your receiving may not be considered competitve. She claimed that she saved me $4,000.00.
My problem is not with Pirch, but with her claiming that she is going to save cost by going through her. Not true.
Problem #3
Audra Miller submits the drawings to her preferred contractor Greater Pacific Construction for a bid on the labor. The labor bid does not include the cost for all the fixtures and tile. Tile is to be purchased through Audra Miller Interiors which she not disclosed what the actual cost of those materials she selected will be.
I received the bid for labor at $72,000.00! The contractor was too expensive, over budget and she tells me no worries. I asked her to submit the drawings to a contractor which I know to get another bid for the labor. She would not submit the drawing to my contractor or myself, but Audra Miller would give the drawings to her contractor. This is unacceptable!
Audra Miller has already received $7,587.00 in deposits in good faith from myself and this is how she is going to conduct business with me and then responds with this excuse in her email.
"My focus is in the design aspect of the project selecting materials, plumbing, fixtures and layout initially not for the labor portion. As your designer I am unable to guarantee that the labor bid will meet your budget. Please keep in mind that a contractor is not a designer, as I'm not a contractor."
When Audra Miller commits to an agreement to keep within my budget then responds with that excuse. This is not an honest person.
I let Audra Miller know this was unacceptable and that I have lost all trust with her and didn't feel comfortable with her services anymore. Therefore I'm canceling her services with me and expect my deposits refunded.
I have not received any of my deposits refunded. She later submits the drawings to me via email. I guess she knows that she made a bad jugdement, however the conceptual drawings that she submitted to me are incomplete without details or information regarding the titles, lighting fixtures, shower doors, cabinets, or colors.
She just does not care and believes that submitting the incomplete drawings solves everything.
I would not recommend doing business with her!
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Audra Miller
Corona del Mar,California,
USA
False Information / Defamation of Character
#2REBUTTAL Owner of company
Fri, January 29, 2016
My Client, Mark Abbott and I had an agreement.
I never promised him that I could meet his budget of $55,000. As a designer, I cannot give estimates, that is a contractors job. They give labor bids according to the structual issues of a job. This house was very old and needed alot of plumbing work done throughout. the reason why Mr. Abbott called me was due to him having a leak in his master bathroom shower, that he hadn't used in over 4 years! He hired to design his 2 bathrooms. I had one of my "referred" contractors, who does not work for me, give a bid per what the scope of work was. The contractor visited his home several times and accessed the spaces and issues. The Client decided to hire another contractor to do the work after all the time my contractor spent with him - That was the first red flag.
When the contractor I referred submitted his labor bid, Mr. Abbott in turn fired me because it exceeded his total budget. I explained that I was not connected to the contractor in any way, as stated in my contract agreement. I offered to reselect the materials to help meet his overall budget. And re-do the drawings per the new materials. I could not submit the first set of drawings because they refelcted the original materials that he could not afford after received the separte labor bid. I submit final drawings to my clients once the approved materials are approved and purchased. This is standard proceedure as an interior designer.
Mr. Abbott asked me to work with his contractor and I was happy to help. But the materials still needed to be reselected and the drawings needed to be updated. This is something I would usually charge for additional time, but in this case I wanted to help him complete the job. He in turn told me he wasn't interested and started harassing me with several threatening emails. Demanded the drawings and the materals, so I sent over the first set of drawings with the original materials he couldn't afford.
He then started writing false testimonials on Yelp, the BBB, and other social media sites to defame my name and company. Then he agreed to take down the false review on Yelp if I sent him the material samples and information. Again, something I do not provide due to my trade relationships. But in this case I just wanted to be done with the nightmare I was dealing with on a daily basis.
I mailed out the samples and he removed the false Yelp review and the BBB. He also agreed to not post any addtional bad reviews on other sites.
Then I found this review. I shared it with him and asked him to remove it per our agreement. This is not a stable person. I was willing to do whatever he wanted and still he broke our agreement.
I have been in business for over 15 years and have never experienced this type of abuse from a client. I am an ethical businesss person who strives to satisfy my clients every step of the way. I'd greatly appreciate if you would consider taking this down, as it is all false and defamation of character.
Sincerely,
Audra Miller
Audra Miller Interiors, Inc.