gentlepuppies
Active Member
In July, I moved into a new condo and hired a small custom furniture store on Queen/Roncesvalles to build me a concrete kitchen table. I sent the guy a 3d model showing the exact design and dimensions. I referred him to a concrete table at CB2 that I want to match exactly in its texture. He quoted me $1800 and an August completion date, and I gave him a $900 deposit.
I also asked for a sample. He never provided the sample, and the next correspondence from him was a progress photo. In August, the thing was complete and looked like a rough block of black lava rock, and had shoddy detailing. He said he was an artist and took some artistic liberty with it, since he specializes in hand-made furniture. If I wanted machine-quality flatness, it would have to cost more, he said.
I said if he couldn't give me what I asked for, than he should have told me, so I could either take my business to a place that can do it even it costs more, or simply decide that it's not worth the premium over buying non-custom. At the end he agreed to build a new one from scratch using a bigger shop and provide a sample, but the new price is $2400 so I had to add $300 more to the deposit.
Getting him to produce the sample took up most of September, and when he finally invited me to review it, it wasn't even the finish level of quality (at least it's flat). He promised the final product will be perfectly smooth, so I allowed him to proceed anyway in the interest of time. Since then I tried to contact him at least 15-20 times for an update, with no answer to emails, phone calls or texts. The only recent text exchange was him asking "who's this", so I thought he changed his number but doublechecked anyway, nope still him, so I replied with an inquiry about the table... no answer.
I think he's putting my project on the backburner because maybe he committed to a lower price than is possible for him to do it profitably, so he's only spending his least-valuable time on it. I don't know if he has even started building the thing, and given how rushed the first job was to make the August deadline, this might drag into the new year. At this point I totally regret working with him, and want a full refund, but don't know if I have any leverage or legal standing. How do deposits work?
Ugh, this experience is totally turning me off mom-and-pop businesses. Should've stuck to Structube or Ikea.
I also asked for a sample. He never provided the sample, and the next correspondence from him was a progress photo. In August, the thing was complete and looked like a rough block of black lava rock, and had shoddy detailing. He said he was an artist and took some artistic liberty with it, since he specializes in hand-made furniture. If I wanted machine-quality flatness, it would have to cost more, he said.
I said if he couldn't give me what I asked for, than he should have told me, so I could either take my business to a place that can do it even it costs more, or simply decide that it's not worth the premium over buying non-custom. At the end he agreed to build a new one from scratch using a bigger shop and provide a sample, but the new price is $2400 so I had to add $300 more to the deposit.
Getting him to produce the sample took up most of September, and when he finally invited me to review it, it wasn't even the finish level of quality (at least it's flat). He promised the final product will be perfectly smooth, so I allowed him to proceed anyway in the interest of time. Since then I tried to contact him at least 15-20 times for an update, with no answer to emails, phone calls or texts. The only recent text exchange was him asking "who's this", so I thought he changed his number but doublechecked anyway, nope still him, so I replied with an inquiry about the table... no answer.
I think he's putting my project on the backburner because maybe he committed to a lower price than is possible for him to do it profitably, so he's only spending his least-valuable time on it. I don't know if he has even started building the thing, and given how rushed the first job was to make the August deadline, this might drag into the new year. At this point I totally regret working with him, and want a full refund, but don't know if I have any leverage or legal standing. How do deposits work?
Ugh, this experience is totally turning me off mom-and-pop businesses. Should've stuck to Structube or Ikea.