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We were introduced to Gilbert Powell by a local (Massachusetts) businessman to get assistance with placement of our existing furniture, and with fabric selection for window treatments and upholstery. Instead of delivering a floor plan suggesting placement of existing furniture, and a color board keyed to our rugs, favorite decor, and artwork as promised, Mr. Powell (in his words) "redesigned the interior to make more sense and to show [us] how this could improve [our] environment with some minor changes." These "minor changes" included moving the front door of our house, adding a roof over the front porch, and adding another window. Mr. Powell also decided (again, in his own words): "as a designer, I did not feel that your [matched] sister rugs fit the living room and dining room correctly therefore I didn’t feel they should be used." Without discussing any of this prior to beginning work on the project, and without our authorization or agreement to changes in the scope and type of work, Mr. Powell sketched architectural changes on a picture of our house and started shopping for fabric in Florida (for our home in Massachusetts). He billed $225.00 per hour for his time, plus $125.00 per hour for his Massachusetts assistant's time against our initial $5,000.00 retainer. As of the date of this review, Mr. Powell still has our $5,000.00 retainer and we have nothing. We fired him as soon as we found out what he was doing.

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