We are sorry that Diana Joseph is dissatisfied with our services. We feel that this review was triggered by sending her account to collections. She neglected to pay any of her invoices after her initial deposit and after she was more than $4000 in arrears we discontinued services pending payment.

I let Diana know, as I do to all our new clients, that our company is “focused on 100% client satisfaction. So if an issue ever comes up, don’t lose sleep, don’t worry, and don’t delay — just get ahold of me and I will always resolve it to your satisfaction.”

During the many months we worked with Ms. Joseph, she never contacted me or voiced a complaint. Kapan Shipman worked diligently designing two bathroom with Diana creating many iterations. In April, Diana wrote about the master bathroom: “Youza – amazing. i am sure there are some tweaks but you nailed everything important and made it look good!” In early May, she wrote about the powder room, “this is looking really good! I like it all except the pics.” She was referring to the pictures on the wall in the rendering and asked that they be changed.

In May, after additional work on the master bathroom, Diana wrote: “I am liking this a lot.” She asked questions regarding materials, costs, colors and other issues which were addressed. In response she wrote: “ok, the designs are good subject to seeing the tiles for the master and the wallpaper for the powder room. I think that is all you needed from me? thanks, Diana”.

There is no indication of any problem with Diana’s project at this point and as of May 20th she seems completely satisfied.

Shortly thereafter, we ask Diana Joseph for payment on her 4 open invoices and indicate that we cannot continue work until she has paid the more than $4000 she owed.

At that point, Diana Joseph wrote me that she was: “a little concerned about our progress given what I gave Kapan at the outset and how much time I am billed for ‘kind of getting there . It is possible that it is just hard for her to adapt her kind of minimalist/modern style to what I view as’ transitional’. I gave her pictures in the beginning just so we could be in agreement about what my words meant……. . The main concern is the powder room. The master is closer. I am not sure the over 3,500 is reasonable under the circumstances.”

This was a complete turn around and I called Diana to find out more. She explained that Kapan’s style deviated from the style of her house and sent a number of photos of her house as examples. I reviewed all the photos, Kapan’s work, and all the correspondences and work product. I found very clear evidence that Kapan’s work related well to the existing conditions in Diana’s house and to the photos that Diana provided us. The work seemed consistent with her instructions and to me appeared to be excellent design work. There was also no evidence in any of Diana’s previous e-mail that Kapan did not get her style as she now claimed.

I called Diana to follow up conversation but she did not take my call. My staff contacted Diana to make payment arrangements and to offer a possible discount based on her dissatisfaction, and she informed my staff that she was comfortable with her decision not to pay her bill.

In Diane’s review she gave us an F for responsiveness. She never mentioned that we were unresponsive prior to this and contradicts herself when she writes in her review that she had over 30 e-mails during the design process.

Diane also wrote that the design process “took a very long time to still be wrong.” These words are contradicted by her own e-mails and by the fact that her design took about 2 months to complete, hardly longer than her next designer who had the benefit of our drawings.

We are professionals, have an aesthetic and are guided by a design process. More than that, we are successful because we are dedicated to helping our clients realize their vision. Diana is wrong when she said that Kapan cannot work in a transitional style. Our design work is not about us, it’s about our clients. Kapan is comfortable in any style and as Diana noted of her work: “Youza – amazing… you nailed everything.”

As Managing Director of Barrington Strategic Wealth Management LLC, Diana should know that contracts need to be honored and work needs to be paid for.