I hired Nancy Reicino of Nancy Interiors Corp. (also does business as Nancy Almeida and Decora Ltd.) to do a complete renovation of my home, which included the entire first floor, basement and exterior. The entire project took about 7 months.
During our interview, Nancy was likeable and friendly, and seemed to understand the overall look I was trying to achieve, so I offered her the job. The project began in April 2016. Payment for her services was required in advance. She informed me that part of her services included purchasing furniture, lamps, accessories, etc. for me. This is what I was looking for as well, as I work long hours, and didn’t have much free time to make purchases.
The early months of the project seemed to be going well, but then I started noticing inconsistencies and things which seemed to not be getting done. I began to question the discrepancies, and that’s when the issues began.
As a client who paid this designer a fee for her services, I have the right to ask for updates on my project, and inquire as to why things are not getting done. Nancy does not like to be questioned, and becomes defensive when she is. She is unorganized and deficient in communication skills. According to her, she has multiple projects going on at the same time, which in my opinion, may account for the issues I encountered.
I ordered six custom made panels, which cost me $18,000. Although the geometric design itself was the one I approved, they were not made to my specifications, and the craftsmanship was sloppy. They were done wrong twice. The first time, they were returned to the furniture maker to be fixed. When I brought the same issue to Nancy’s attention the second time, via text message, I was told “they should be installed”. She was not concerned that I was displeased with a custom order which cost me $18,000, nor did she offer to do anything about it. My concerns were dismissed. These panels were specifically designed to block off two rooms from my dogs. The largest open spaces in the design were not to exceed three inches. These panels had openings which were four inches, and presented a safety issue for my dogs. Her solution was to use them anyway “with retractable baby gates to add protection for the dogs”. Nancy’s responses to me were via text messages. I did not spend $18,000 on custom panels to cover them with baby gates. I asked her to provide me with the contact information for the person who made these panels on several occasions. She has refused to supply me with this information, thereby making my efforts to work with this supplier futile.
After three months, I received an email from this designer offering to have these panels fixed (only after I sent two more texts asking for this person’s contact information). On January 6, 2017, we agreed that they would be picked up, and fixed. She sent me an email stating that the furniture maker was away for the month of January. I was told “rest assured these will be taken care of” in February. This was agreeable to me, as I was glad to finally have an offer for a resolution presented to me. She was to contact him for a date and let me know. February has come and gone, and this designer has made no attempts to contact me any further to have this issue rectified, even though this is documented in writing. This is representative of the type of service this designer provides, and further establishes her lack of credibility.
In April, I asked her to purchase a desk chair for me. Throughout the months, I inquired as to whether or not all of the furniture, lighting and accessories we ordered had been received, as it was being delivered directly to her. I was told “yes”, it was received. In November, on the day she delivered and installed my furniture, lighting and accessories, I did not see the desk chair. When I asked her about it via text message, she did not remember that we had purchased one. She asked me if I could send her a photo to refresh her memory. Once I did, she told me it was never received. When I asked her what happened, I was told it was never shipped, and that she just emailed the dealer to find out why. Considering how things had progressed by this point, I contacted the dealer myself. I was told that it was not shipped because she never paid for the shipping cost. The dealer informed me that she did not reply to his requests for payment, therefore, he did not ship it. When I forwarded his response to Nancy, her reply was “he was obnoxious” because he would not accept the payment methods she offered. The dealer was very pleasant. He worked with me, and the chair was shipped promptly. He sent me an email thanking me for the business and noted, “I work with designers all over the world and have never seen such an unprofessional attitude. Nancy seems to blame others for faults of her own”. This is not the first dealer who had an issue with non-payment. There was a prior issue with the purchase of an ottoman from a different dealer. That dealer had to contact me directly for the shipping charges, because she was not replying to his requests for payment.
Also in April, lamps were purchased. They did not come with shades. I asked Nancy for months to order shades for me, we even picked out fabric during the Summer. I asked her to please be sure they would be ready once the furniture and accessories were delivered to my house in November. Needless to say, I never received any lamp shades. Once again, via text message, I asked her why. I was told that the lady she used for custom shades retired, and she did not know anybody else. She did not contact this lady until the week before Thanksgiving (as indicated in her text message), even though the lamps were purchased seven months prior. I inquired as to what I was supposed to do for shades, and I was told “I don’t know, find something online”. Any designer who is proficient in what they do would not have told a client to look online. They would have taken the time to find an alternative option, perhaps by calling another designer to see who they used, or asking for a referral from the lady who retired. I told her that she was the designer, and that she should find someone, as I had no idea what we needed or what to look for. Her response to me via text message was disrespectful.
This designer’s performance in completing tasks within this project was poor. When I inquired as to why things weren’t getting done, or what the delays were, she either gave me some rhetoric, or she didn’t reply to that particular question. I spoke to several people who did custom orders for me. After speaking with them, I learned that the prices I was given by her were highly inflated. When we compared the bills she gave me, to the work orders, the actual prices they gave her were much lower than the prices she billed me. She also instructed these people to “not discuss pricing” with me. After speaking with them, and reviewing prices, the reason why was evident.
I’m aware that it is common practice for designers to add a fee on to goods and services, but I was unaware that the fees she added on for herself were exorbitant. This clearly explains why she did not want pricing discussed. While speaking with another designer, I was informed that a reputable designer will give the client the fee for their services, and let them know upfront that a percentage would be added on to the cost of goods and services purchased by the designer, on the client’s behalf. This designer was less than truthful with me, as I was never told about any additional percentages being added to the pricing I was given. In my opinion, I believe this was done to imply that her fee was reasonable. I believe that she wanted me to think that the cost of the goods and services, which were provided to her by others, was high, and that she was only passing along their pricing.
I also learned that some things I asked her to order for me were not ordered the way they should have been. When I inquired about certain things, I was typically told “there’s an additional cost”. After delving into this further, I learned that the additional cost was because she did not place orders correctly. She told a particular supplier in November, that I just decided to change my order, so they charged an additional fee. After meeting with this supplier, and explaining that I did not just decide to change my order, the problem was quickly rectified, without any additional cost to me. He also confirmed that this item was not ordered the way I requested for it to be ordered. Instead of acknowledging that she did not order it the way she should have in April, and taking responsibility for it, she fabricated a story, and blamed the client for making a last minute change, therefore resulting in the additional cost.
NANCY NEVER RETURNED TO MY HOUSE TO COMPLETE THE PROJECT SHE WAS HIRED TO DO, LEAVING ME WITH AN UNFINISHED PROJECT. I HAD TO ENGAGE SOMEONE ELSE TO FINISH THE PROJECT SHE STARTED.
This designer claims to be in business for over 30 years. Based exclusively on the service I received, and how I was treated as a client, it is my opinion that she is a discredit to her profession. Her unprofessionalism and ineptitude in getting a project completed are disconcerting. It is inexcusable that my project was not handled properly, or completed. It is unacceptable for a client to be told to go to hell when inquiring about why things are not progressing on a project. This so-called designer is unqualified to refer to herself as a professional, as she has repeatedly proven that she is nothing but amateurish, at best.
Emails and/ or text messages referred to in this review are documented.
“The review above is based solely on my experience with this project and designer, and therefore not influenced by the comments, observations or opinions of others”.
