Response from Lifestyle Group Residential Remodeling
Reading this review, you might be led to believe without the proper context that our price was absolutely outrageous as the member comments made it seem like we were just throwing in a little granite and walking away. That was definitely not the case. We were asked to price much, much more than that. We priced removing the existing kitchen countertops sink, sink faucet and disposal in this very large kitchen. We also were asked to price to remove the countertops in 2 bathrooms, one of which was the larger countertop in the master bathroom. Then, we were asked to price new granite countertops in the large kitchen, the master bathroom and the other bathroom. We also priced a tile backsplash in the large kitchen as part of the number. Finally, we priced new undermount sinks and sink faucets in the kitchen and each of the bathrooms, as well as a new garbage disposal in the kitchen. Now, most companies would price the cheapest granite they could offer. We will not do that. True, we might lose your project right up front... or have to reply to a nasty report like this... but, we want to develop customers for life. And, we want to work with clients who place an emphasis on finding a good partner. In order to do that, first we must price the project competitively. Clients are not foolish and we would not have sold literally over 2,000 projects in 16 years if we weren't competitively priced, nor would we have earned the Angie's List Super Service Provider Award every year since 1999. We are competitively priced and we know it. Second, we must be honest and work very hard to partner with and educate potential clients about their choices and opportunities for savings along the way. We are very clear from the beginning of every relationship that we always price to the middle or midrange of a client's product selections because we want to give them a sense of reality as they assess project cost up front. We have literally no idea what you will pick during the process. In most cases, you don't know either until you've had a chance to look at your options. Do you know how many people pick the cheapest granite available when they make the decision to jump up to the granite price point? Almost nobody. So, by pricing to the middle, we best serve our clients in helping them form realistic expectations. We end up having clients who spend less than our allowance.. and we have clients who spend more. This all happens once they pick the actual granite slabs for their countertops. It's not fair to approach the process any other way or we will do a complete disservice to our client who goes into a project thinking they will spend one amount, only to learn that everything is a change order in the more expensive direction. This particular interaction was difficult because the client "just wanted a number" and "an email" sent to them to give them a number. This negative report is exactly why we require second visits at our office... and we should have required it here. The member completely ignored the context of the pricing we were asked to provide them. We have every type of countertop in our showroom. We can point to things and help a member understand what certain products do to the pricing. We can show sinks and faucets and tile for backsplash. We can show pictures of other projects to give clients ideas for cost savings if it is helpful. Most importantly, when a client leaves our second visit, we are not at all high pressure, but they understand exactly what is in their price and many times we can make applicable changes before they ever leave our office. Make no mistake, we knew where this relationship was going in the first visit at the home based on the line of questioning. The member wanted us to pick the granite colors that first day at the house without looking at any materials, but he didn't know what colors he would like. That's difficult to do without input from a homeowner on whether they like beiges or grays or blacks, etc. That interaction was the basis of his reference to not being helpful with interior design. We also knew by the line of questioning at the house that low price was the priority, so we were not in the least bit surprised when they said in the report they got "many estimates". Being cost effective and looking for savings isn't a problem on our end as we help clients work to meet budgets every single day. We are really sorry we couldn't help this member and wish him the best of luck on his project.