We were referred to her as an Interior Designer thru an associate who had done a really good job on our kitchen. Hence we went forward with complete faith and trust on whatever she said and showcased to us on her capabilities in our initial meeting with her.
We met sometime in Sep '11 and decided to get started on the project, which was designing the interiors of our new 4500 sq ft apartment. The complete project was entrusted to her at a generous costing along with an additional estimate of Rs 175, 000 as designing fees. At the end of the conversation, she asked for an advance and we gullibly shelled out Rs 50, 000 as the first tranche.
From here on, she just seemed to disappear. She was either busy, or on a vacation.By Nov '11 (after 2 plus mths of chasing), she had not even managed to complete the design of one bedroom!!! At this stage we called her in and expressed our unhappiness on her casual approach and lack of progress. We insisted she now create a detailed time bound completion plan (almost a pert chart), and requested her to ensure she does not miss any of the deadlines. At the end of this meeting, she was actually shameless enough to ask for more advance!!! We thankfully refused and linked further payouts to completion of the entrusted project.
It was at this stage that we realized what we had got stuck with. She does have even a basic sense of designing!!! She has some standard stock shots from the Internet which she uses to impress you with in her initial meetings. Post that, she was just unable to come up with even one intelligent, leave aside innovative, suggestion on how to do up even a bedroom!!! What's more, her sense of proportions are just horrible - hence where should we place which furniture (including even the tv) had to be decided by us.
By the end of Feb '12 (after almost 6 months), we realized this was not getting anywhere. We decided to cut our losses and stop the project. We called her up, expressed our desire to terminate our contract and also requested her for a part refund. From this stage, like before, she once again became just too busy to meet, close and refund any part of the advance paid. She had initially sent us an e mail confirming that she would refund Rs 10, 000, but even that didn't materialize. From hereon, repeated calls and e mails remained unanswered...
We even requested our associate to speak with her and advise her to conduct herself with a little more grace and dignity. Even our associate seemed to be unable to add any sense into her. We've now approached the Gurgaon police and lodged a formal complaint. We hope things should move forward atleast now... It's really sad when educated people start conducting themselves like common thieves and swindlers.
Net net, would be advisable to just stay away from her and save yourself the agony of seeing good money go away with absolutely nothing in return...
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