Madison+Design

Absolutely not true and Thumbtack allowing such untruths without more scrutiny is a question for another day. This situation with Alex was mostly a failed Professional Services Agreement negotiation to do the design and plans for a Single Family Residence. Ultimately we just couldn't agree to agree. To be clear, Alex only speaks Russian and thus all the verbal negotiations we had had to go thru an interpreter, which at various times were various friends of his (I assume). I don't know who wrote his emails (14) or texts (76). Also, the project was going to the first one in this country for him. On speculation. And the site is literally a hill at a 45 degree angle. A true 1:1 slope. It's the only remaining piece not developed that's surrounded by 100 lots that have been. There's clearly a good reason for that. Nor did I "raise the price". Ever. I originally gave him a fee and his only initial concern was that it was too high. So after contemplation and initially formally declining any reduction (due to the innate complexity of the project), I reluctantly reduced it $2,500 on the hope that would close the deal and we could get stated. It didn't. He then spent the next 3 weeks sending me various emails and texts asking this or that and promising to sign soon blah blah blah. So in the end I decided the project was just not for me and I humbly informed him of that. I then offered him one last option to salvage the whole deal and that was we go back to my original fee (the one I took the $2,500 discount from and not one cent more than I originally told him) and get started immediately...and I've been the enemy ever since. I did offer him one last bit of advice, that for his own good he forgo this particular project on a cliff and find one that's a bit simpler to be his first project. And that he will thank me later. I'm surprised and quite disappointed this is allowed to play out in the Reviews section in my Thumbtack profile. MM