Complaint Review: Estimation Hub Inc. - Houston Texas

I was contacted by Estimation Hub Inc in a generic email campaign. I did not solicit their services.

My company works on commercial and residential projects and we're in need of additional estimators so I decided to give them a try.

The quote I recieved was fair for the service I was supposed to have been given. I requested flooring and tile takeoff, including wall tile. I uploaded the full plan sets and specs, and the saleperson Stephen said I'd have them back in 2-3 days. He requested I put a 50% deposit down to start the work, which totaled $900 for 3 reports. It also included a 20% tax of $180. I spoke with Stephen directly and said I needed to know what the tax was for. I explained that no state has a sales tax rate that high on estimating services. I wanted to know what it was before I was willing to pay it. He removed it and re-sent the invoice with no explaination as to what it was. 

On the 4th day, Stephen contacted me and said the plans were ready. He billed me before he was willing to release them. I told him I needed to see one before I was willing to pay. It seemed a very unusual business practice and unlike other estimating firms I've used in the past. I was also concerned because the invoice that arrived was numbered #84 for the depoist and #97 for the final invoice. As their website stated that they've completed 36,000+ projects, I thought this was strange. And again, the 20% tax was on it. I again insisted on an explaination before I would pay. They again removed the tax.

The sample they sent me was a small snippet of what a takeoff would look like. It was very generic, but at least I knew something had been done, so I paid the remaining balance (less the bogus 20% "tax").

As soon as I opened the 'full' reports I realized something was wrong. The bids were incomplete, and the amounts were lumped together. They did not include wall tile as requested, and half the flooring was missing. The units and common spaces were kumped together. There were as many as 10 different carpet selections, but I only recieved quanitites for one.

I immediately emailed the estimator that sent the reports and CC'd Stephen. I said that the reports were incomplete and needed to be broken down further. They were unusable. The estimator requested a sample showing how I'd like the report to be detailed. I sent one right away. Her response was that that is how they normally do them, and they charged me accordingly, but I did not specify that that was what I wanted. I included the full plans (which included finish plans) and the specs. It doesn't get much more specific than that. 

She then again asked for a sample so she could make corrections. I told her I'd already sent one. She at that time informed me that I never requested wall tile, and that it wasn't included in the scope listed on their quote and she wasn't going to provide it. From the beginning I always wanted wall tile. Their quotes simply listed the plan name under scope of work, so there was never any clarification that they had no plan on including wall tile. I stated realizing at this time that I was likely getting scammed. Between the estimate numbers being so low, their website listing multiple awards the'd won but no mention of what the awards are, and their billing process of charging for a full report but being pushy about payment. Also, i've tried (unsuccessfully) to find the address listed on their website but I have no confirmation it exists.

I initially requested the reports be fixed, but once after going back and forth with the estimator and getting nowhere I then asked for a refund. Again, the reports are completely unusable. By now the bids were overdue and I had to do the take-offs myself. Also, Stephen never replied even once after the reports were released, even though I made sure he was CC'd on all correspondance. I also mentioned to the estimator about the 20% bogus tax. She said I was informed what it was, even though I wasn't...even after requesting the information several times.

Their solicitation email guarantees 97% accuracy, and their website boasts 90%. My preliminary estmate of just one of these plans shows we're missing approximately 10,000 yards of carpet and 40,000 sq ft of resilient. So at least $250,000.

My company has an A+ BBB rating. I would never never service a customer like this. I am asking for a refund.