Fiato & Associates

I was interested in making some changes to my master bath and purchased the special offer from Fiato and Associates for a bath design and quote. Due to a delay on my part, Mike Fiato was very good at keeping in touch with me to set up an appointment. Mike came out and spent some time going over what I wanted in the new design. Within just a few days, he emailed me an estimate for the materials and a separate estimate for the labor. Although I have not had time to get the work done, I was very satisfied with Mike's work and estimates. I would certainly recommend his expertise to others.

This review is a few months late, but here it is: The 'Big Deal' on Angie's was offered as a "custom" bathroom floor design - with a written floor plan- for $49.00. Great, I thought! I want to remodel and upgrade my bathroom to a 'custom' level. This offers a professional designer who knows about custom bathroom design and remodeling, materials and fixtures, flooring, etc. who will view my bathroom, chat with me and eventually send me a professional floor plan and list of ideas for creating and decorating a renewed bathroom. Good bargain, as usual. WRONG!! The catch is in the phrase - custom - here meaning a handmade drawing - and it is literally only of the floor layout. It is not a design done by a professional interior designer. A standard estimate for construction of the potential remodel is the major part of this paperwork. Mr. Fiato arrived and we began our conversation, but there were no 'custom' design ideas to be found in any of the discussion that ensued. When I'd bring up ideas or ask about specifics of design, style and decor it went unanswered from a creative point of view - he is strictly a contractor hoping to get work. To be fair, he did mention the 2 most popular woods and tiles of his past customers and had a couple of samples of each and some standard pamphlets on counter tops. After I received the estimate and design via email, it finally hit me: this really was nothing more than the usual visit you get when you call contractors for estimates - and those are free! I had paid $49.00 for an estimate under the guise of a "custom" bathroom floor plan. Do I sound disgruntled? I am!! This feels like a scam. It appears to be a way to make money by misleading customers into paying for what is normally offered for free by professional contractors. And it puts Angie's reputation in an awkward light. I rang Angie's to alert them and, while I don't know the outcome, I did notice that he has offered the same "Deal" again - charging for what, at any other time, is a free estimate. I will not recommend or use Fiato & Associates - they are not professional custom bathroom designers as intimated - they are simply contractors.

I purchased the big deal and the contractor called me to tell me that he won't do repair work that he only works on new bathroom remodels. I purchased the deal for repair work since on the deal it clearly states tune up and hardware change out or replacement and drywall replacement just what I am wanting. It even says shower door installation and I was wanting my shower door swapped out as well. I feel like for $189.00 what was he expecting me to get remodeled?

Exceeded my expectations! My first clue that this was going to be a great experience was when he came promptly for his appointment and emailed the estimate within 24 hours. From then on it was smooth sailing. He didn't add a contractor's mark up, so we were able to get some high end products within our budget. The cost listed above was higher than his estimate because we added some upgrades along the way. He has 30+ years of experience and it shows in his work and the associates he's chosen. As a matter of fact, we liked them so much that we used his tiler, painter and electrician for more work on the house. One unexpected surprise was that he wanted me to follow up in a few months to make sure that everything was functioning properly. Has anyone ever heard of that? No, that's the integrity you will only find in Mike Fiato!!

When the guy came out he said he couldn't help me. He said that the thing I needed was more than their service could provide. He said they basically just take the bathroom and reface it instead of moving walls and items around which is what I wanted to do. He was a friendly guy. He was pleasant and professional. He was right on top of getting the appointment set up. I decided to get a refund on the deal.

I received the estimate. I do not care for the format in which it was presented.

They were quick to respond to my questions, it is just bad timing right now.

It went well. Michael showed up on time with another worker and they reviewed my bathrooms and proposed a design based on my needs. They returned the quotation within 2 days via email. Not sure what I will do at this point but I have an idea on what it would cost.

The service was fine. Everything went well. He was very personable, knowledgeable, and we talked through design ideas. He asked me enough questions to come up with a design and then provided me with that design plan. Unfortunately, it was more money than I wanted to spend at the time.

The service was a complete waste of money. The “custom” bathroom design consisted of him drawing a couple of rectangles on an 8 ½ x 11 sheet of paper with the dimensions of my bathtub, toilet and vanity. It was a complete joke and useless. There was no “design” involved. He did not ask me for any of my input or ideas about what I wanted and was impatient and cranky. Don’t know if he was having a bad day or if he is always that way. The “service” was basically just me paying him to get a quote for the job. I didn’t even get a copy of the drawing; when I told him I thought his “desgn” service was a misrepresentation and not worth the $200 he listed as the value, he got angry, grabbed his “drawing” and left. I asked him what I was paying for and his response was “for me to drive all the way down here.” (I noticed that in his most recent ad, he is now valuing the service at $99. In my opinion, it is worth nothing. ) He didn’t do anything differently than other contractors I received estimates from, only their input was free and they listened to what I wanted. He said they did a lot of custom bathrooms, but had no interest in listening to what I wanted. Just showed me some low end vanities that he could get a discount for and a cheap toilet and bathtub. Recommended a vinyl-type flooring. None of that was what I wanted. When I said that wasn’t what I wanted, he said something along the lines that “I could spend more for something crummy from Home Depot” in a tone that indicated I would be an idiot if I did that. I have just finished my bathroom remodel with another contractor. It is completely custom, has beautiful Italian tile and many custom touches. The contractor and I designed it together, it is gorgeous and it cost only a little more than the low-end bathroom he quoted me on.

the process was fine, but we didn't expect the end result, but it worked out best for all parties involved.

It was a very brief visit. Mike, the owner, seemed to be more interested in getting these proposals done rather than actually doing the job. I had already done some design work on my own, so I expected more for what I paid.

Mike showed up on time, talked to us about what we wanted to do and gave us an outline of several options. His feedback and everything he did was great!

It took several days for Mr. Fiato to contact me, due to an issue with Angie's List system not providing my contact information with my purchase of the package. Once he did find my information he contacted me immediately and was very flexible in appointment times. He and his assistant arrived on time for our appointment. Mr Fiato was honest that some of my ideas for the bathroom required construction work which was outside of his firm's capabilities. He offered to refund my $49, which I thought very decent of him. However, I was curious to get his ideas on what they could do for me so asked him to work up a plan. He provided the quote within a couple of days and as promised it included detailed labor cost and suggested product listings/pricing, along with a floor plan drawing. Overall I was satisfied with my dealings with Fiato & Associates, although I was a little disappointed in the floor plan drawing having expected it would include more detailed dimensions.

Mike's " detailed plan" consisted of the small pencil sketch he made of the bathroom (no measurements), a detailed list of the work involved without a breakdown showing what each task cost, just a total labor cost and a detailed list of materials with costs. I would have liked a breakdown of the labor costs so that if we decided to do some of the work ourselves (which he discouraged) we could determine what it would save us. His estimate came in at way over what we wanted to pay so we did not use his services.

What was delivered was not waht I expected.. but then for $49 what should I have expected.

All he did was come out and gave me the same type of estimate as the other contractors that I had come out.

Came in time for estimate. Tends to be a little verbose when selling himself. Liked his showing us samples of available materials. Arrived on time for job. Cleaned up afterwards. Areas for improvement: 1) Provide written address for flooring store, rather than, "It's on Almaden Expressway across from the car wash." 2) Provide written instructions for care of cultured marble. 3) My biggest complaint was when his crew cut the marble in our driveway they got marble dust all over our cars. They then simply hosed off the cars which didn't help much. I had to take the cars to the car wash to get them clean. Other than that, I was very satisfied.

Just measured for a remodel - he was very prompt and professional

The contractor was prompt He did not bring any samples of what he had done for other folks and only had 2 small samples of materials that he uses. He apologized and said that he usually has a full binder of samples but forgot to bring them. He listened to what we wanted to accomplish (get rid of the tub and install a large steam shower) and replace the sink and cabinet with a ready made one. He was quick to tell us what he would do to the bathroom, which was to essentially gut it and start fresh. He told us that he doesn't install ready made fixtures like shower kits but would quote us what it would cost individually. When it was clear to him that we didn't want something custom or high cost, he was in a big hurry to get out. It took several days to get pricing from him and the cost for a small hall bath was over $13k. I asked him about the Angie's List deal that included design and drawings and a few weeks later he sent me a hand drawn plan on plain paper. Not very professional. I got my $49 worth, but will not be using him for any future work.

Got $49 special off Angie's List. Mike came out & sent us a bid.He then came out & we went over bid to fine tune some items.He answered all questions, and explained how job would go.Soon after that we signed contract &he started soon after that.Job went pretty much as was explained to us. Will probably doing our 2nd bath.

Mike came by my house and began by telling me that if I got work done it would be expensive because my bathroom was large. He stated that he was telling me this because he did not want to create a design with a quote and then I think it was too expensive. He said he did not want to "waste his time." I let him know that I have gotten a few quotes and understand the price. He spent a few hours at the house gathering measurements and said he would submit a design and quote in a few days. Remember, all I purchased was a design regardless if I got the work done or not but in this case I was very interested in having him do the work. I received an e-mail a few days later saying that part of his team quit on him and that he could no longer do bathrooms like mine and I should go to Angies List and get a refund. Mike has been in business for more than thirty years and seems like a nice man. I am surprised that he could never do a bathroom like mines again. He completely wasted my time. I would definitely not recommend.

Mike was suppose to arrive at 6pm; he showed up 50 minutes late (no phone was received). I paid the $49 coupon price, but did not receive a drawing as was stated on the coupon. I did receive a quote that I can get from any contractor and NOT have to pay $49. I would like a refund.

Mike exceeded our expectations!! We had an indication of his timeliness from the very beginning. He emailed the estimate in less than 24 hours, which was in contrast to the other 4 contractors we interviewed. His time frame was less than a month vs. other estimates of one to three months. We were impressed with his number of years in business and his associates that he'd used for decades. As a matter of fact, we were so impressed by his associates that we hired them for other jobs in the house: doors, tile, ceiling, and electrical. The majority of the work was done by Mike and his associate, Fred. They reminded me of an old married couple who could finish each other's sentences. We also liked his product recommendations, high quality but not too expensive. His operation is like a well oiled machine! If I could give him a 10 star rating, I would!!

I signed up for a Big Deal for plans for $49 (at a $249 value). I got a pencil sketch without any dimensions or anything that was useful. I wasn't even expecting a full blue print, but what I got was certainly not worth $249. I'm angry about how I got ripped off. I think the gentleman that did it has been doing it for a long time and he knows that he is good at it.