Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:04/16/2025

  Type:Order Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Hired company on 4/24/24 for design build for full renovation on property in **********. Company intentionally misrepresented the budget for the scope of the project in order to get the job. Company never provided me renderings design and dimension book or detailed construction drawings in order to get proper bids on construction. Company submitted plans for permit without first getting my approval and leaving out critical information. Company advised me to submit owner builder for plans and do entire project owner builder claiming it would save me a huge amount of money which was totally false. Company also failed to explain all the risk and liability of doing all construction owner builder. Company represented he would hire all the trades and subs himself and manage the project, effectively acting as a general contractor but he has not GC license or even a business license according to ****. The rest of the company's malfeasance is detailed in the attached three page letter sent to the company on April 4 2025 without a response or refund of my money.

  Business Response

  Date: 05/03/2025

  Michael R Schubert Architectural Design LLC (MRSLLC) is a full-service Architectural Design Consulting firm which has been in business and in good standing with the **** in the state of ****** since 2015.

  As the owner and sole-practitioner of ****** I would like to provide the following responses to unsubstantiated fabrications and misconceptions (in quotes) presented by my former client as the complainant in a complaint filed with BBB on 4/16/25 (ID# *********.

  No "intentional misrepresentations" were presented to the client in regards to construction budget. Rather, provisional estimates based on median square-footage pricing and allowances were provided as a departure point at a very early stage in the design process. ****** uses a traditional discipline-based business model to provide fee benchmarks as follows:

  Sketch Design, Construction Documents, Permitting, Design Development, Bidding, and Construction Supervision. These fee benchmarks were well documented in the *************************** Agreement that was signed by the complainant on 04/20/24.

  Between 02/22/24 when consulting work first began and 12/16/24 when the building permit was picked up from the *** ****** had invested 188 hours in the first three phases of the consulting services package. This overhead included 11 hours of remote client meetings via Zoom, Face-time, and phone. During these remote meetings ****** presented 2d plans and 3d Sketchup models to the client for approval. The complainant's claim that "Company (******) submitted plans for permit without getting my approval and leaving out critical information" is unsubstantiated and false. A 24-page set of Architectural and Structural drawings was sent to the client on 08/16/24 for review and approval prior to upload to the ********************************************* permit portal (Eplans.)

  MRSLLC was compensated for executed services at the time the permit was issued. It should be noted that the permit application was uploaded to the building department in early August of 2024 and an approved building permit was issued on 12/16/24 approximately 4 months later. A simple ****** search puts average residential permit turn-around times in ******** at 8 months. The fact that ****** was able to pull a permit for a full house remodel in half the normal turn-around time speaks to the experience and competency of my firm.

  After the permit was picked up ****** invested an additional 81 hours in good faith on Design Development and Bidding - meeting with contractors and vendors at the job site to review various areas of scope including concrete flatwork, cmu wall construction, concrete coatings, electrical re-wiring, framing, drywall, window replacement, cabinetry, finish carpentry, exterior wall finishes, and paint. Also ****** sent the client (complainant) an invoice to cover overhead costs for consulting work including Design Development and Bidding phases on 03/25/25. The client refused to pay for these additional consulting services at which point ****** terminated the ********************* Agreement due to breach of contract by the complainant.

  The complainant claims that ****** offered to act as "General Contractor." This is not true. ****** is not licensed as a general contractor. Project Management and Construction Supervision are included in the ****** ********************* Agreement which includes providing advice and oversight to the owner on which licensed contractors and sub-contractors to hire but all contractors and subs are hired directly by the owner.

  All services that have been compensated by the complainant have been provided in accordance with the ********************* Agreement - as such no refund is justified.

  Customer Answer

  Date: 05/04/2025

   
  Complaint: 23211443
  
  I am rejecting this response because company's response is false, inaccurate and self serving disingenuous nonsense

  Mr Schubert who is really the only person of this company even though his wife's name is on all the email correspondence has no

  business license and is a scam artist. He according to his last employer had no prior experience in conducting a full scale renovation

  He was fully advised what the client wanted in finishes and improvements to the property as two months were spent prior to hiring him

  as to a full budget spread sheet which the company falsely represented to the client was an over estimate. Company agreement was

  on a percentage not hourly basis and he wasted hundred of hours of the clients time on wild goose chases among other things. 

  Company is a fly by night operation and he has no offices and operates out of a PO Box and the home of his brother.

  Weekly meeting at his assistance (even though he missed many) were constantly interrupted by his mother in law blaring the TV in 

  the back ground and his ear pods failing all the time. Again he quit the project several times going back to last year and he ****** off

  many of the vendors I had to source because he did not have any for many aspects of the project. 

  He has no proof I ever approved anything he did and refused to provide me the necessary documents so I could get a ** to bid

  the constructions costs out which again he purposely low balled in his "provisional budget" order to get me to hire him. Even though he does not have a 

  license he acts as his own general contractor by attempting to hire all the trades and subs himself. - see attached diagram he presented me at some

  point but never allowed me or the ** I hired to vet any of them. As he advised me he is doing all the labor himself on a house in 

  Aina Haina and that is the only way he actually saved the owners any money. He advised me to pull a permit owner builder claiming 

  it would save me on costs which was totally false as well as he never explained any of the liability. When I emailed him the attached information

  about owner builder after the fact from the DCCA  he just ignored it. (attached)  He just wants to get paid for doing nothing but causing me problems and not

  accepting responsibility for anything. He admitted by text that when I fired him and asked for a refund I would "have to start from scratch"

  which is the only thing he said that is accurate as he left a big mess for me and my ** to clean up and put us months behind in 

  starting the construction schedule for my renovation (over three months and counting).

  Mr Schburt also stated he doesn't care about the delays and my carrying costs either. 

  If this dispute gets escalated to litigation there are plenty of people that will testify against him

  as he is just scamming innocent clients like me who just wanted to get their home properly renovated on a limited budget
  
  Sincerely,
  
  **** *******