Lifestyle Group Residential Remodeling

"We appreciate the member report and the time they took to explain their B grade. Being overachievers, we are always disappointed with anything less than an "A". Unfortunately, this is an example of a situation where we can't make everyone happy with the pricing we provide. Our primary goal initially is to really help you understand where the costs fall in a project. In that spirit, we break out the costs of a project by phase (electrical, plumbing, framing, drywall, etc.) and we separate the costs of cabinets and countertops so clients have a very clear picture of what adds cost to a project. It is difficult at times to be the "messenger" when we tell a client, "please don't be mad at us because we are going to give you bad news about cost." There are typically 2 clear approaches to pricing a project. First, we have the client that says this is my budget, tell me what I can get. Then, we have the client that says, "this is what I want... please tell me what it will cost." In some cases, we get conflicting information from a client. For example, if a member tells us a budget, but then says they want granite countertops, tile floors and cherry cabinets... we will show them the cost for those items they ask us to include... even if it blows that budget. It is important to note that we only do this when they request specific items and then we work backwards toward their stated budget to let them know what they can get for what they want to spend. It is entirely possible that a client can achieve a stated budget, but have to make more cost effective selections to do so. That might mean vinyl flooring, laminate countertops and maple cabinets... but the point we want to be sure people take away is that every single selection item has a different cost versus value. You might sacrifice the flooring because you really want those countertops... or for you it could be the cabinets that are most important. To us, all that matters is that we help you understand where your costs come from and we help you get exactly what it is that YOU want. Unfortunately, sometimes people blame us for a cost that they don't understand or hadn't expected. That is the part of our business that isn't very much fun... so we simply do our best to explain and politely reply to the reports in an effort to clearly explain our process."

"We are very sorry this member was not pleased with our efforts over 2 years ago when we visited her home to work with her on a kitchen design. Yes, this report was submitted more than 2 years after we visited the client's home. As we write this response on 12.20.12, there is only one more day left for members to submit 3 new reports for their free $20 VISA gift cards... a promotion being run by Angie's List to generate reports on companies. You can probably imagine how our company views reports over 2 years old submitted simply to get a VISA gift card. Based on such a lengthy delay, we certainly can understand why the member has forgotten a few key elements in her review of the kitchen design we had provided. First, in her 13x13 kitchen, she has 3 windows and 3 doorways. That is a total of 6 obstacles that prevent the installation of wall cabinets or appliances. If you saw a picture of a space, you would quickly come to the conclusion we spent many hours trying to deny... there was no new place to put cabinets other than the places they already were. This space was completely landlocked in terms of changing the design or floor plan. Every time we approached an option to make a more dramatic impact related to design, for instance closing off a doorway, changing a window location, or picking up the kitchen and literally moving it to an adjacent room, we were met with the answer of NO. And, to be perfectly honest, that was completely fine with us. Those things never offend us in any way... and we always communicate to clients that getting an answer of NO is every bit as helpful as an answer of YES. Her no answer simply meant we were limited in what we could accomplish with the existing space. Having said that, we took advantage of every available inch we could use and we maximized the function of the cabinets she had room for. What is slightly disappointing when we read this report was the lack of acknowledgement for the several additional hours we spent making various revisions after we met in our office to discuss the details. Based on that limited space we reference, we researched all types of "after market" products that could be placed inside of cabinets to further enhance their function. We also added glass to some cabinets and removed it from others. All of those changes were made in a joint effort with the client to maximize the function of what we could do for her. We really felt like we went above and beyond with her to address the challenges. I have said in the past that it is very difficult to apologize for situations where the doors and windows in the existing space limit the opportunity for change, especially when we have other clients who would have removed a window or moved a window or closed off a doorway to allow for a significantly more appealing design. As you read this, we simply want you to know when it comes to designing your space, we will ask you what will seem to be a million questions to learn about what is most important to you as it relates to your potential project. Then, we will do our best to make the very best use of your space using the answers you provide us. Thanks for taking the time to read our response to the review."

"We are really sorry this client was disappointed in the product they received. Given we visited their home OVER A YEAR PRIOR TO THIS REPORT, I had to refresh my memory on the design we completed for this member. My notes from our interaction indicated they were very nice people with a budget that was essentially unworkable for everything they asked to be included. That happens and is not at all unusual over the course of each year. When I saw this report, I wondered why it was submitted so long after we met with them. Then, I figured it out. Angie's List is offering $20 Visa gift cards for members who submit 3 new reports by December 21st... and the reports can be up to 2 years old. As a business owner, you can probably imagine what I think of year old reports where people get paid to submit them. On the other hand, I am very happy this Angie's List offer enabled the member to get some of the money back they felt like they wasted for the Big Deal purchase they made through Angie's List. I will take this opportunity to ask you to please scan through many of our reports to get a sense of what people think of our design process. We work very hard to add value and educate our potential clients as to all of the design options for a space. Sometimes, as is the case with this member, their current design really was the best use of space. We can't really apologize for that... we can only communicate that to the client after engaging in a lot of work on our end to come to that conclusion. We go to the home, take detailed notes of lengthy discussions, take detailed measurements, take photos of the space... and come back and go to work on making the best use of the space in the design process. Then, we meet at our office for the second visit for a variety of reasons... we can make changes to a design while you are here if it makes sense, we have a full showroom where we can point ot the products we priced, and you as a client can actually see our business function while you are here. We think those things give a potential client the maximum amount of information they need to understand what it would be like if they chose to work with our company. There is absolutely no high pressure sales tactics from our company. None! We hate being sold to that way when we buy things, so we will not do it to others. We simply do our best to educate you to all of the options available in an effort to show you what kind of partner our company might be related to your project. The member walks away from that meeting with 3D drawings and floor plans of the space, as well as project pricing based on the discussions at the home. Please let us know if you have any questions about our design process and we will do our best to answer them for you!"

"We thank this member for their report 18 months after the completion of the project. We don't understand the delay in the report submission, but maybe we should be thankful for it based on a few of the comments made. The member shared that she only got one estimate and she felt like she overpaid. We don't know how many estimates she got, but we do know this... in every single encounter with every potential client, we expect that we are competing with other companies, even if you tell us differently. I have a brother that jokingly said years ago that "buyers are liars". Well, we certainly don't believe that tag applies to all people, but we are smart enough to know that it is true sometimes and we are also smart enough to know that we can't figure out who is being open and honest early in the process from who isn't. I guess that's what 13 years in this business has done to us... it keeps us from being outright excited about a potential project sale and instead it makes us "cautiously optimistic" in all cases until a contract is signed! So, we ALWAYS work from the assumption that we are competing. ALWAYS! For you as a client, this means you are getting our best price every time. And, a very important point for you to recognize on the potential client side of the equation... how does a company like ours survive a prolonged economic downturn the likes of which our country hasn't seen for over 80 years with pricing that is too high? The answer is you can't survive. It just doesn't happen. As evidence, there are many very good competitors of ours no longer in business as a result of this lengthy poor economy. We have been in survival mode since 2007 when we first saw the downturn. We made changes way back then in terms of pricing and we reduced pricing to a set minimum level that we will not go below because we know at this price point we are very, very competitive in the market. This is the number that allows us to keep the electric bill paid and hopefully ensures we will be here if you have a problem so we can be here to fix it. That set pricing also makes it very easy to explain to a client at any point in time that we don't care what you spend... you can spend more or you can spend less... and we will be here to help you to get where you want to be from a budget perspective if that is your driver. So, in general, I think you will find one of our best qualities as a company is a very, very low pressure process that is highly supportive of what the client is trying to achieve. In the case of this member, she feels that $21,000 for her kitchen was overpaying and we couldn't disagree more... particularly considering that it is very difficult to accomplish any type of complete kitchen remodel in that price range where she got new everything throughout her entire kitchen. In reference to interrruption or tardiness on the job... we completely disagree. We have an online communication system and it contains a project calendar where we track daily progress of every project we do. We had zero interruptions on this project. None. This is where submitting a report 18 months later might cloud the facts. Don't get us wrong, we are not perfect and a problem can crop up that can cause a delay, but the only problem on this project was that the client came home screaming that her cabinets "weren't right". And, by screaming I do mean screaming! They were installed exactly as the design called for and she has recognized in this report that she likes the end product, which is great, but we had an uncomfortable week during the process where she struggled to visualize her space. In the end, we are very glad she is happy with the space and we are disappointed that wasn't equally thrilled with the process. Living through a remodel project of any type is challenging and please know we do our best to make it a good process, but some people genuinely struggle with having their lives in disarray and the process is very difficult on them."