Absolute Remodeling, Inc. They only want your money. Los Angeles, California

We had a terrible experience with Absolute Remodeling, inc - please don't use them for your project! The website looked good and the office was nice, and they were all smiles and nods in discussing our project and budget. They came to the house so we could sign the contract, and the saleswoman went around the house and smiled and nodded as we signed the dotted line next to our budget and handed over a deposit check. 

After the architect and contractor made an initial visit, we received a phone call to say that it could come in up to $150K over our budget. They were unable to give any specifics on an estimate or get any closer than a $150K range, even though other contractors had been able to do so.

We decided not to continue working with them since we couldn't get an actual estimate from them and didn't want to commit in case it did go $150K over budget.  They said they'd send back the unused part of our  deposit.  When we got the check, we saw that they took $850 out!  They said it was for design work they'd started before the architect and contractor looked at it.

Who does that? We're furious and feel that $850 is completely unreasonable- why would you start design work before even seeing the house?? They didn't even get us an estimate, where others charged $200 for a consultation lasting several hours, with an estimate at the end.

They have been salesy, flippant, and disrespectful, and I wish there was something more we could do besides writing bad reviews about them on the internet.  If you're looking for an architect/contractor, our advice is to go with someone you really trust and skip the glitzy design-build companies- especially Absolute Remodeling.  They only want your money.