Morgan Design Group, Architects

"As always, when the client does not want to pay their bill, they make up excuses. Nick is simply incorrect in his description. Here is the truth: Nick wanted only the bear minimum drawings to obtain a building permit in Carroll County because he did not want to pay for anything else. My fee estimate was based accordingly. The only issues was that in my past experience with Carroll County Building Permits office, they would accept my architectural seal on the Structural Framing Plans. (they have done so for all past projects in Carroll County) However, for some unknown reason this time they wanted a structural engineer's seal. I explained this to Nick and we agreed to split the additional fee. No problem. Additionally, the permit office failed to do a complete and proper review of my plans causing me to spend extra time explaining to them what they failed to see on my plans. They wanted written item by item response which took additional time. My knowledge of local codes is actually quite food. Disagreeing with a permit official is not being "snotty", I am always professional and this was working in my client's best interest. I understand commercial construction quite well, including light commercial and wood frame construction. actually, i am considered an expert in this field. So, Nick is blaming me for the County permit office's incompetence."

"Very interesting! Lance Ruffin seemed to have dropped off the face of the earth. On 4/28/21 we sent him updated plans for his review and comment. We received no response what-so-ever.. I followed up with telephone calls and additional emails but no response at all. He has simply vanished. Clearly by the tone of his comments, he is the one with the unprofessional attitude and lack of maturity. Our company is not a dinosaur. In fact, we incorporate the latest technologies for design and production. I would welcome the opportunity to challenge him in court."

"WOW! We take great pride in our client services. I always keep my finger on the pulse of my clients feelings and expectations, therefore I am quite surprised by this review. First, here are some quotes via email directly from (consumer name withheld per their request) himself; A) "And again thank you so much for all the help, greatly appreciated" B) "Thank you so much for your help on plan submission, much appreciated". C)"I went through all the drawings, looks very good to me." D) "Thank you so much, Jeff, appreciated. I am glad that you did not misunderstand me. Please think this we are in the same boat until our journey concluded." (Sounds like a satisfied client to me.) By the way, (consumer name withheld per their request) DID NOT FIRE ME. I COMPLETED THE JOB FOR HIM. HE ACTUALLY GOT HIS BUILDING PERMIT THANKS TO ME. He purchased a piece of property in the city limits of Rockville, MD without knowing that the city has the most intense and restrictive building development regulations in the Country. IE they require all the site development and drawing submissions as a multi-story, large commercial project for even the simplest and smallest of single-family homes. Secondly, he wanted to put 10lbs into a 5lb box and simply could not afford to do it. He wanted an extremely grandiose design (double-curved stair is one example) I explained to him that A) the building regulations in Rockville would require a higher than normal design fee, and B) he could not afford such a large grandiose design. But he could not understand and did not believe me and insisted on said design, dispute my recommendations. He also insisted that I put windows in the basement without window wells, which would mean that you would see the earth through the window. Obviously, this would be absurd and a code violation, but he was unable to understand that. I provided my services in a highly professional manner with integrity and my drawings were of the highest quality. Regarding "service delivery", I even went the extra mile and accompanied him at the permit office (free of charge) and I was successful in securing his building permit. However, he decided to cancel the project when the Contractors bid came in high like I said they would all along. He said he was going to sell the property due to the overly burdensome building regulations in Rockville and the cost of construction. He expressed no dissatisfaction with my services what-so-ever, in fact, quite the contrary. (He actually praised me for my professional services) In my opinion, he bit off more than he could chew and is making me the "fall guy". Honestly, his review was a complete surprise to me. I have reached out to him to follow up on his recent comments, but he has not returned my calls. We have an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. Please see our other great reviews."

"Karla wanted a design that violated the Baltimore City Building Code. She was unable to understand this (she was an out-of-State client). I explained to her that as a professional architect I am bound to ethical standards, and I would not violate the Building Code. We worked out designs that met her needs and the building code, which she approved. Actually, it was she who delayed the project because invoices went unpaid for over 95 days. All invoices were very detailed with an hourly breakdown for each category, comported with the estimate of our fee, and 100% accurate. Please see our other great reviews."