Last year, a friend of mine lost her husband to cancer at 32. She moved from Alaska to take a new job in Nevada afterwards, and in December hired a local engineering firm to help her legally change her home from 4 Bedrooms to 6 Bedrooms. She explained the situation to them, and that she knew very little about what was required. The firm was expected to do the work required to change the municipal records on the home to allow her to legally list it as 6 Bedrooms. She followed their instructions, and this past Wednesday she was surprised to learn that she would have to spend $13,000 or her house could not legally change status. This is because she needs a new septic tank. However they never informed her of this originally, and never forwarded her the quote from the company that checked out the septic system. When they emailed her saying she was good to go to list the home at 6 Bedrooms, they told her she'd need to "revamp the system" without further details. This was a lie, as the home was not changed to 6 Bedrooms in the municipal records. She was charged $4,000 for their services, and also found out that most of the paperwork they submitted was not submitted properly, and is now having to start from scratch. She emailed the owner of the company, providing records of previous contact and showing that she had been told by the owner that she was good to go when she wasn't. The owner emailed her back and told her it was her fault for not asking the right questions. Here is part of the email he sent her: Yesterday you indicated you did not understand what the scope or cost was going to be. I must ask, why didn't you ask and find out? PES has a reputation for customer service. My staff is highly trained to answer any and all of your questions. We pride ourselves in taking the time to make sure all your questions are answered and you fully understand the scope. However, if the question is not asked, we cannot provide an answer. Surely you must have had some indication that this was going to cost some amount of money. Yet you did not ask for clarification or for anticipated construction costs. A-plus sent us a quote after the permit was issued and in preparation for the question being asked of cost. Why it wasn't sent to you is contrary to our policy, but the work has not started yet and you can contact other certified installed and obtain prices for the installation. ___ So apparently this guy likes to pass the buck, and has no problem blaming a person who hired his company to do a job when they didn't properly inform the client. This is unacceptable and I think people need to be aware of this. Company name is Pannone Engineering Services, LLC (PES) located in Anchorage. TL;DR Young widow hires Engineering Firm for help, Engineering Firm bungles everything and blames client for not asking the right questions.