Austin-Murphy Design

My wife did a review previously, but for some reason Unilocal is selecting which reviews it wants to publish and lists hers as a review they «don’t recommend» with no rationale as to why. So try this again, and see if they consider this review worthy of publishing. Here was our brief but expensive experience with Rob:
Unfortunately, I have to agree with Linda. We did not use Rob nearly as extensively, merely to help with a preliminary design layout for a major remodel. We liked the look of some projects on his website and were hoping he could help us achieve that look and a good layout. We found that although his rate seemed reasonable, his billable hours added up three times as fast as the architect we’d started with and as we would expect for one floor plan for a seasoned architect/​designer. And when he sent a bill, he would email the very next day to make sure we had mailed a check, which I find very unprofessional and led me to believe he was desperately in need of money, which would explain why the hours added up so quickly. After that and, much like Linda, feeling that he was charging way too much to provide not so much, we decided to stop using him.

Unfortunately, I have to agree with Linda. We did not use Rob nearly as extensively, merely to help with a preliminary design layout for a major remodel. We liked the look of some projects on his website and were hoping he could help us achieve that look and a good layout. We found that although his rate seemed reasonable, his billable hours added up three times as fast as we would expect for one floor plan for a seasoned architect/​designer. And when he sent a bill, he would email the very next day to make sure we had mailed a check, which I find very unprofessional and led me to believe he was desperately in need of money, which would explain why the hours added up so quickly. After that and, much like Linda, feeling that he was charging way too much to provide not so much, we decided to stop using him.

Rob redesigned our living/​dining/​kitchen space creating a mudroom and an open concept design with a foyer for the rest of the space. Our house, which was built in the 1950’s was very outdated and dysfunctional, especially the kitchen. In all fairness, he did a good job with the design and addressed our needs.
The problems we had with Rob had to do with time management, billable hours and lack of professionalism. I spoke to Rob early on surrounding time management issues. He did not seem to understand the concept of billable hours and wasn’t successful in managing his time to complete his contract with us. One example of this is when he came over and was offered tea (which he accepted) and then included in billable hours the 15 or 20 minutes spent making him tea while he chatted before we got down to business. At $ 70 an hour, that’s like somebody charging you $ 17.50 to over $ 23.00 to make them a cup of tea and chat. Who would possibly think that’s reasonable? Rob did until I addressed the issue and he agreed to try to stay on task and not include it in his billing. Another example is time he spent on extra drawings which were not part of our contract, with elements I specifically said I did not like or want. He initially included the time he spent on them in billable hours as well. Rob was very charming and very chatty. He wasted a lot of time talking about and admiring finishes that were already done, complimenting himself and chatting me up.
I originally gave Rob a very good review on
because I liked the work he had so far completed and also because he sent me an email with an attached link and this message:
«As I complete my work with you on the remodel, I’d like to ask you to write a review of my business on
, a directory of remodeling, building and design professionals. It should take just a minute or two and would be a great help to me.»
He also asked me again via a telephone call to complete this review. I thought it was a little bit strange to ask me for a review when he wasn’t finished and a little pushy to ask me twice in a few days time. The line «As I complete…» sounded like he was going to finish so I went ahead and wrote him a nice review.
I didn’t mention some of the mistakes Rob made in my original review on Houzz because these were not apparent at the time the review was written. One of his drawings caused re-​work for the electrician as lighting fixtures where not drawn in the correct locations and had to be moved. He also advised me to paint the fireplace a color he himself later described as looking like «baby poop».
After paying Rob for 3 additional hours (which I should not have done) to complete tasks from our original contract, he still did not finish. I decided to downgrade the original rating I’d given him on Houzz from 5 to 3 stars due to his time management issues and all things considered. The review still contained many compliments regarding the work he was able to complete, but I felt the revision was accurate and fair and a more complete reflection of my experience with Rob.
Rob did not like the revision so he called me up and yelled at me over the phone. He told me I was the worst and most horrible client he’s ever had. He said he hated working with me (he said the opposite while he was taking our money) and then hung up without warning. All he cared about in that call was that I’d changed my review and that it didn’t reflect well on him. He didn’t say one word about making things right which I would have been open to. He was unprofessional and unbalanced. That is how he has earned this one star rating
I feel like Rob wasted a lot of time schmoozing which he considers as billable hours and that he is manipulative in this way.
I’ll also note that when he references his business he uses «we» even though he is solo. One day I asked him if he had partners or others that worked for him because his website indicated that he did by using «we». He inferred that it made him seem more significant to make it sound like his business was larger than just himself which I think is deceptive.
The bottom line is that we had a contract which had a low and high end cost estimate to complete a specific list of tasks. I repeatedly told Rob that we wanted to stick to the low end. In the end, we reached the high end (which he blamed me for) plus we paid him for an additional 3 hours. Rob did not do any tasks that were outside of the contract nor did he complete it. He was also out of line, disrespectful and unprofessional during a phone call regarding a fair and honest review I wrote at his insistence on a website that he directed me to. I would warn anyone to be wary of doing business with him.