Condo Staging Project Gone Sour – How I was Fooled
Since starting and running my own interior design business, I’ve gotten burned, bamboozled and duped a few times. There was a time when I was a little more naive and didn’t trust my gut or walk away when I saw red flags. Those days are long gone. But it really took me until this scam situation to learn the lesson; you should not work with just anybody.
It took me a while to learn this lesson because, simply put, I am a very eager person. I am a go-getter. It’s hard for me to leave an opportunity alone. I have learned a lot of lessons from working with disingenuous people in the interior design industry. But, I’m done learning the hard lessons. I mean, I think I’ve gotten just a little bit wiser in the past years so I’d hope to not get myself into another scam situation. Anyways let’s get into the nightmare story.
AVOID COSTLY (AND UGLY) DESIGN MISTAKES
An interior design scam story…
So, this was in the early summer of 2021. I was having a great year as I just bought a fancy new car and business was good. I get a call one day from a lady, we will call her Shannon. Shannon tells me that she is looking for a designer who can help her stage her investment property. She tells me she wants to update the photos of the place for the rental listing to increase interest.
Shannon tells me a list of things she wants in this condo and also gives me a really tight budget. I’m talking a really tight budget and a helluva long wish list. I’ll break it down.
Shannon’s wish list
-Brand new bedding for 2 bedrooms
-Decor for 2 bedrooms
-A new rug for the living room
-Accessories for the kitchen
-Accessories for 2 bathrooms
-Furniture for the balcony
-Lighting for the balcony
-Decor for the balcony
-Accessories for the living and dining room
-New mirrors…
(the list went on)
Her budget was $800.
Now, $800 is a lot of money. But as we know, things cost a lot. I mean, even a throw pillow is like a minimum of $40. So, when it comes to decor and furniture, $800 can be spent QUICK.
Shannon also had a super tight timeline. Meaning, I did not have time to shop around.
I told Shannon I could make it happen. Which, I shouldn’t have, I should have gone running to the hills.
I told her that I would have to shop at places like Ikea given the tight budget. She said that would be fine, and to just do the best that I could do given the budget. She put a big emphasis on the budget. Politely, I told her that the place was not going to look like the Ritz Carlton with a $800 budget. So, I thought she had a realistic expectation for the outcome.
I took on the job…
Shannon received my contract and I never received a signature. I kept insisting that she needed to sign it. But, she didn’t. At this point, I should have terminated the project. But, I was an eager-beaver and guess I wanted the cheque to help pay off the fancy new car I just bought. Foolish of me!
So I took my fancy new car around the city and went to retailers like Ikea to buy all the items I would need. I was shopping in the discounted section of course, as I had to make do with the budget.
At the end of the shopping day, I calculated how much I spent and I was right on the money. I spent $800 to a T. Everything on Shannon’s list was purchased for the exact amount of money she wanted to spend. I was happy and thought that it would be smooth sailing from here.
It all went downhill from there
Staging day comes around and I pack up my fancy new car with all the decor and furniture. My car was packed. I get to the condo to meet Shannon and she is 1.5 hours late to open the door for me to start working. Clearly, another huge red flag, amongst many I didn’t even mention. But, at this point, I was in too deep and needed to finish the job.
So, I finally get into this condo and lug in the millions of items I purchased for this place. Shannon leaves me to work and gives me 2 hours to complete the job. 2 hours to stage a whole condo is not enough. But of course, the eagerness in me took on the challenge.
I am a fast worker by nature. I have always been fast-paced at everything actually. I’ve gotten plenty of speeding tickets, one cost me $5K. I swear I’m a good driver, I’m just fast. That’s what I tell the cops.
Anyway, so I am working my buttocks off staging this condo. It’s summer and I’m sweating bullets. But, I get things done RIGHT in time for Shannon’s arrival and the reveal.
Now, here comes the part where I knew I really got BAMBOOZLED, scammed and fooled
Shannon walks through the door, takes 5-6 steps, does NOT even look around and proclaims “I don’t like it.”
I was utterly confused. At this point I was praying she wasn’t trying to scam me.
I questioned Shannon on how she could make a judgment of the space when she barely left the entrance.
Shannon proclaims “The place looks cheap.”
I say…
“Well, Shannon, I had to make a dollar stretch, and there was a tight timeline, given these circumstances, this is the best outcome.”
Shannon proclaims that everything must be returned and the whole place needed to be redecorated by that same evening.
At this point, I had a panic attack. Had I been scammed?!
So, I anxiously started to pack up everything back into my fancy new car.
I told Shannon that she would need to be present during the shopping stage to see the options. Because clearly, we were not aligned with working with each other, it should not never even gotten this far, but it did. Her idea of what was possible within the budget was not realistic, I needed her to see for herself.
We go to HomeSense and Shannon starts putting everything in the cart, I mean, all sorts of things that were not even on her list.
We get to the checkout and it comes to $3K. She suggests that I should put it on my card and invoice her for it. This is where I drew the line and realized…
This is the scam
I said, Shannon, respectfully, you have lost your mind if you think I’m taking that risk.
We went back and forth, but I was stern. I knew if I charged it to my card, that was $3K I would never see again.
I was eager to work but I was not flat out stupid.
Between my hunger, exhaustion and her disrespect, all professionalism went out the door. I knew I had to put an end to the nonsense.
Shannon was visibly disappointed, but she had no choice but to charge it to her card.
I filled her SUV with these new items and I carried them back up to her condo.
Shannon gives me another 2 hours to re-stage the whole condo.
Shannon decides to sit and watch me work. She even points her finger at me, giving me directions.
When I was finished I swear I was so filled up with rage. I could barely make out a sentence.
In the end, Shannon was happy with the staged condo but refused to pay me what she owed me, of course.
I was duped and nearly scammed of $3,000.00.
Truthfully, I had never felt so belittled in my entire life. And certainly, I had not fallen victim to a scam before.
Shannon even had the nerve to propose that we work together again in the future. She was blocked of course, and never to be heard from again.
I didn’t think I could fall victim to a scam…
Never did I think I would be someone who would fall victim to a scam. This scam was more complex, sure. But, nonetheless, I was humbled.
From that day forward I became a lot more aware and strict with my business practices. I stopped being so eager and stopped giving people the benefit of the doubt.
And there you have it, an interior design scam story. I hope you enjoyed the read. If you want to read about a humiliating interior design story, click here.
The end.
