Epicoutu Interior Design and High End Furniture
Introduction: Simple. We treat our clients like family, their satisfaction is not only guaranteed but we do our very best to exceed it. Your home is your sanctuary, why not live in a space you would normally wait to vacation to? Our designers are available at anytime to our clients to discuss future ideas or thoughts to immediately incorporate into the current design. We are a small firm which permeates through our team being able to offer a more personal buying experience.
Overview
Hired 2 times
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KIM N.
Mar 15, 2016
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Hired on Thumbtack
Hired on Thumbtack
First Impression:
I was looking to remodel my master bedroom, master bathroom and spare bathroom since I was planning on starting a family really soon and wanted everything ready for that. I went on thumbtack.com to place an ad and was contacted by Miguel from Epicoutu shortly. This was in August of 2015.
Upon first meeting Miguel and Sismai, I sent them pinterest boards of what I wanted and was upfront with what I wanted and of my budget, which was $25k -$30k for both bathrooms and bedroom. $30k if I was getting everything on my wishlist.
They came to my home for a meeting and while doing a walk through, they promised me everything I wanted, and much more. They even suggested that with my budget, I could even decorate my front foyer and paint the exterior of my house. I was highly skeptical of this and should have listened to my gut instinct but decided to give them a try anyways. They also went on to reassure me that communication with them will never be an issue since they check in with their clients on a daily basis just to let us know where we were with our project. This is not the case at all as I feel like Im constantly harassing them to get my project completed. After that initial meeting, I never heard from or saw Miguel again. It is now Mid March and my bathroom is not completed.
What went wrong:
After giving them a deposit check of $2500 on our first meeting, I did not hear back from them until a few weeks later. By this time, I was now working with Christie and Richard, her contractor.
When I did hear back from them, their estimate of what I wanted was quoted way over budget at $50k plus. I told them that that was ridiculous and my main concern was my master bedroom and the 2 bathrooms. I did not need the foyer or exterior paint that they unnecessarily promised me.
When they came back with the revised budget, it was still over budget at $40k but with no marble or anything that I had originally wanted. We worked on the numbers and materials a bit and came to a compromise with just the 2 bathrooms, NO master bedroom, no marble except for a small piece on my bathroom floor, all porcelain tiles at $31k. This did not include my master shower heads, or any sink handles, chandeliers or anything. Everything was basic. I had to go out of pocket separately for those items. Sismai even had the nerve to tell me that she was not making any money and that everything I wanted was too expensive. I dont get how that is a shocker given that she and her husband Miguel knew from the beginning what I wanted and what my budget was. Excuse me but $31k for 2 bathroom should be more than enough! Needless to say, I did wire them $13k on 9/2/15.
I never received any design boards of any kind from them but an itemized list of a la carte products that I can find from HomeDepot but much more overinflated in price. I was very concerned about this since I knew that I had to be very cautious of them at this point. Since I didnt see a glass door for my shower listed on the itemized list, I couldnt assume if it would be included and had to ask them about it. They of course added it to the a la carte and up the budget. Now I felt like I had to ask them about light switches and obvious items that belonged in the bathroom that wasnt in their a la carte list. I can tell you that my bathroom now has no towel hooks, pendant lights, shower curtain bar, or any of those items since I mistakenly assumed it would all come with a $31k bathroom remodel.
Since we were going with marble like porcelain tiles, I asked Christie to do a rendering for me of what the bathroom would look like with all the materials in. The rendering looked beautiful, but unfortunately, that is not what I got. They even used porcelain tiles on my windowsill instead of the cheap marble ones that come standard in any home.
Three weeks before Thanksgiving, they finally began working on the demo. Fast forward to today, mid March, I am now 7 MONTHS PREGNANT and my bathroom is still not completed!
I paid an extra $2576 for a custom vanity and what they gave me looked like it came from Ikea. The reason I went with a custom vanity was because they couldnt find anything that fit what I wanted and assured me if I spent the extra money that I would be much happier with the outcome and get it tailored to my specification. That is not the case. What they delivered was something that looked like it came from ikea. It didnt even come with a stone or mirror countertop.
End Result:
My patience is wearing thin with this company and as of now, I just want my money back for the vanity that was not delivered. Everything that can go wrong, went wrong with this project. In my spare bathroom, they ran out of tiles and used a totally different one that doesnt even match. I didnt make them redo this since I dont want them to take another month just to fix it. The doors are all crooked, the sink handles are not secure, my walls are all cracked from them installing the window covering. I am actually paying them for a job poorly done and not making any fuss. The least they can do is give me back my money for a missing vanity so I can finally hire someone competent to complete this project. I will be seeking legal action and reaching out to the Better Business Bureau. I have reached out to her countless times but so far all Ive gotten are empty promises from this unprofessional.
Conclusion:
Run, dont walk away from this company! Owners are very unprofessional and can not deliver what they promise but can sure take your money. I started googling this company and found that they have changed their yelp accounts a few times. They plagiarize and claim other design photos as their own. This makes a lot of sense now given that I was never shown any bathroom designs from this interior design firm.
Bathroom Remodel
Rosie A.
Feb 13, 2015
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Hired on Thumbtack
Hired on Thumbtack
I had the pleasure of working with Epicoutu Design firm. I called on a Friday late afternoon and was offered and appointment for the next day, on Saturday.
Sismai from Epicoutu Design came prepared with a proposal, was able to modify to my budget, kept working with me until we concurred on scope, size and end result.
By the fourth business day - I had a professional, breathtaking execution of a beautifully staged condo in South Beach!
I recommend highly.
Home Staging