My studio story with Stuart Allsop

In May 2017 I contacted Stuart Allsop ( a well known studio desinger and acoustic engineer) about designing my studio. We exchanged quite a few mails and we made an agreement:

Payment:

The normal method of payment can be any combination of wire transfer and PayPal (I prefer PayPal, since it is the cheapest method for both of us), and is split into stages, based on progress with the design. I suggest an initial non-refundable down-payment of 35%, followed by another 25% upon delivery of the initial basic layout and specs, and 30% on delivery of the completed design. The final 10% is payable after the studio is finished and ONLY if it substantially meets or exceeds the design spec goals, or six months after I finish the design. 

I made the first payment in July but there were some huge problems so the money did not go through until 1^st week in August. Stuart had said he was very busy but the initial design could be delivered in 2-3 months.

Mail on Oct 18^th:

Hi Ricardo,
Nearly there!  Coming soon...
Best regards,

Stuart

Next mail was 11/16/17

Should be ready on Monday, perhaps before.
Best regards,
Stuart

First video arrived about Nov 23^rd, 2016.  Not on the Monday but at least that same week. This was looking promising but was lacking a roof and ventilation system. IT was late but it did arrive.

Dec 15^th

I finally got a link to where I could see the high resolution video from Sketch up and access the skp file. Finally!

We exchanged a lot of very friendly and interactive mails between Dec 16-22^nd and I was feeling really positive. I asked for a slightly larger window in the live room and to make the storage area a bit bigger. He said he could do this and I would get the changes in a week or two.  I made the 2^nd payment.

Jan 1, 9, 19,20, 24, 26, 30- no answers at all.

Feb 2^nd, 6,

All the while Stuart has made at least 50 posts on the forum.

http://johnlsayers.com/phpBB2/index.php

Finally Feb 8^th—

Hi Ricardo,

I owe you a huge apology.  I've been keeping you waiting for far too long.  I have been working on your project, with several versions of what can be done with the extra half meter, but I have not advanced near as much as I had expected by now, as I have been bogged down in other projects that I thought would be completed by now, plus some personal stuff that I wasn't expecting.  I have no other excuses than that.  Nearly every day I've been telling myself "Today I have to advance on Ricardo0s studio", and somehow something always comes up.

However, I will be taking a vacation next week, and I'll be dedicating most of that time exclusively to your project.  I'll be out of the office, in a small town on the coast, without much internet connection, so there won't be any distractions.  I'm letting all my clients know that I'll be off for a week. So that's my promise to you: I'll give your project the attention it deserves, and hopefully get it to the point where you can get your architect to star on the drawings.

I do apologize, sincerely, for this major issue.  I'll do my best to make up for it next week.

Stuart

Feb 26^th and March 1^st a bit of communication but still nothing is finished as promised. No roof or HVAC.

March 8^th- the design in different formats and with some of the people and furniture stuff removed… but not complete.

I wrote on the 18^th, 25^th, April 1^st.. Never heard from him again.

Now it is 9 months not 2-3 months as we had agreed and I have a 90% complete design.

We only got to the 2^nd payment and the initial basic layout and specs were not completed. There is no roof or ventilation system in my incomplete design.

What we agreed would be delivered with the 3 payments was:

Building layout (considering the above 5 rooms in a building footprint of 70m2), basic structural design (to be reviewed by your own local structural engineer), isolation design, CR geometry, CR treatment, LR treatment, VB treatment, HVAC, and basic Bill of Materials.  

I did not even get half of what was agreed on for the price.

So now, I sit here with my local architect who has never built a studio and we do not have a roof or HVAC system. IT is clear that Stuart had intended to put the ventilation system above the kitchenette and the ducting and silencer boxes above the control room ceiling. ?  The roof in the live room appears to be about 4 meters.

I am way delayed in this project and very frustrated and let down by Stuart.  I know he does amazing work on this John Sayer Studio forum but this is clearly his highest priority in life and not satisfying customers. I love how wise he is but would never ever recommend anyone to pay him to do anything as you never have any idea when you might get it? IF there are a lot of posts on the forum, forget it as he will answer them all before he does anything for you… Pity..

I will have to go for advice somewhere else.

End of my story until I get my studio built—

Sorry Stuart but this was not my fault.. I tried to work with you and was insanely patient.