Le Blue Goose — Local services in Skippack Township

Client Beware. You may get charged unexpectedly.

My wife and I were interviewing firms for a fairly large project we are evaluating at our home. We found Le Blue Goose via an internet search, and were initially contacted by Cindy. She was very responsive and we enjoyed our interaction with her. During her visit to our home she stated that she would like to get Harshil involved with the project as he was the new owner of the firm. He later visited our home with Cindy. During this meeting he asked very little questions and did very little investigation on what our goals were with our project. Late in the visit, we asked casually what the cost of drawings would be to which he provided a rough estimate. This was not an agreement from us for him to charge us for drawings but was merely a question we asked. We did provide him a site plan for our property that had been provided to us by the previous home owner. We provided this to all firms we interviewed. After several weeks of hearing nothing, he scheduled a meeting to sit down with us. Now, in the interim, we'd interviewed 4-5 other architectural firms. After the initial visit with each of those firms, they followed up by email and/or mail providing a full proposal. The proposals included a Scope of Work for our project and detailed listing of the services provided by their firm(s) and associated costs. The proposals also referenced the need for a formal contract to be signed prior to work being performed or charged. Any follow up conversation with these firms was a discussion of the proposal. However, when we had our second meeting with Harshil, he shared drawings that he had put together. Mind you, he put the drawings together after taking not one measurement of our existing home. (Whereas, the first step for all other firms is measurement of the existing structure before providing ANY schematics.) Moreover, the drawings were very unimpressive and lacked any of our desires for the project. Yet, several days after the visit, we received notice of an invoice for $650 for his "work". This was the FIRST notice of cost and came as a very unexpected and unwelcome surprise to us. Prior to the visit, and at the visit he mentioned NOTHING about a charge for these drawings. He never presented us with any proposal or statement of work, and we never signed a contractual agreement - all of which we have learned are standard practice in this industry.

Harshil and I debated the validity of his charges, and he quickly moved to the position of putting a mechanics lean on our home if we did not pay.

I would suggest caution before engaging with Harshil on any project, as you may find yourself on the hook for costs that do not...

This is our honest assessment about working with Harshil of Le Blue Goose.

Quality - Poor : GC doesn't know how to manage jobs (not uncommon in this line of work). Also he never paid his bill in full and expects us to offer support when he can't pay his contractors. 1 star

Value - Poor : If you like to get blamed and hit for extra costs that aren't your fault, that is their MO. We had the entire job turned upside down on us because his plans were no good. Despite that, we did the entire job without asking for an extra dime and still he stiffs us at the end... 1 star

Profesional? We can give him 5 stars for being unprofessional - He threatens to hire a different contractor to find issues with our work in order to sue us in court. I imagine that if we didn't rush out for Jay (the owner's) sake, this is exactly what would have occured. Also, he likes to hire contractors that don't speak english. Electricians, painters, drywall guys... None of them spoke english... 1 star

Responsiveness : Barely ever answers the phone to deal with your job because he's always at the next job trying to sell someone else. When we try to call him he just doesn't answer... A GC that never answers the phone, what a surprise! 1 Star

Timeliness: Multiple times did he say he was going to be at the site and he didn't show. We were concerned that we were not going to get paid on more than 1 occasion because of our interactions with Harshil... Second payment was delayed and final payment was changed from job completion to passing of the inspection. Inspection comes around, we pass without issues (wasn't our first time working with this inspector) and harshil still finds ways to create excuses about paying us on time...

If you're seeking a quality contractor for a remodeling job, you should be careful... there are very few honest contractors left out there and Le Blue Goose is not...

Le Blue Goose was highly recommended to me from a friend, and I strongly stand by their work and quality products! They provided me a professional consultation with a detailed estimate for window treatments in 3 rooms - bar area, bedroom, and lounge. Karen & Cindy engaged their expertise to provide superior material for cornices & curtains, and offered many suggestions to enhance the color and matching of the rooms. After the installation, they noticed the back of the cornice on the stage lacked color and they insisted on finishing it. I highly recommend Le Blue Goose and their staff is professional, friendly, and willing to go the extra mile to...