Claflen Associates Architects + Planners

George and his team couldn’t be more professional. With decades of experience and great listening skills they are a great designers that are a pleasure with which to work.
Jun 19th, 2021

I worked very closely with George Claflen on my home remodeling project. George and his associates were totally invested in a successful project outcome, and often went "above and beyond" in addressing the inevitable issues that arise. George and his team brought many excellent ideas to the project, and they gave my ideas and opinions equal weight. We had a truly collaborative relationship and the end result gratified both of us. One key reason I selected George was his long history in the Philadelphia area and his familiarity with old row homes, such as mine. These homes pose unique challenges and the Philadelphia codes, permit rules, etc., can be complex and daunting. George educated me and guided me through the process, jumping in himself where needed.
Jun 9th, 2021

We had a terrible experience with George Claflen Architects & Planners and would not recommend his services. We hired him to do our row home addition and renovation in January 2020 but ended up terminating his services five months into the project due to several inconsistencies and disagreements about his billing system. After asking for three estimates from other design firms, and despite his design fee of $23,600 (for an estimated project of $200,000) being significantly higher than others (in one case it was almost three times as much) we decided to hire George Caflen because we thought that he was trustworthy, and peace of mind was our top priority. However, five months into the project, and having completed less than 50% of the schematic design phase (which corresponded to 20% of the totality of the design budget), he sent us the first invoice. We had asked for an invoice as early as March bu we had not received one. The total amount of the invoice was $21, 280 for 146 hours of work (even though he had estimated 51 hours for this phase!). The invoice included a separate charge for $6050 for a 3D electronic model of the house, which according to him, it was not “part of design services" (he had never mentioned that this was going to be an extra cost for us or asked us if we wanted a 3D model before creating one). The bill also included a 67% discount “from standard hourly rates”, even though we had never agreed to pay him hourly for his services. The total amount charged to us after the arbitrary discount was $9,000 (or 38% of the total design fee). We were flabbergasted!! Not only were we far from completing the schematic design phase for which we were being billed in full (and which was already taking much longer than we had anticipated) but we were being billed in a manner that was totally unclear and not consistent to what we had agreed. We immediately expressed our concerns to George and respectfully asked for clarifications regarding his method of billing. He initially dismissed them and insisted on us paying the amount billed. He argued that the number of hours he had initially budgeted had not been enough and that he had his own bills to pay. After a few more emails he ended up admitting that he had made a mistake in billing us for the 3D model as a separate service, but did not remove the charge from the bill. Moreover, after several stressful weeks and after many unpleasant exchanges, he did not offer a satisfactory explanation for his billing system or showed a willingness to acknowledge our concerns. At the end, he agreed to reduce his bill to $5,600 but under the condition that we sign a confidentiality clause in which we agreed to not make or post any negative comments about his business or talk about the settlement amount we reached. The worst part of the experience of working with George Caflen is the way he treated us as clients when we asked for clarifications. At the end, we decided to cut our losses and reminded George that the Consumer Review Fairness Act (CFRA) "protects consumer’s ability to share their honest opinions about a business’s product, services, or conduct in any forum, including social media." Needless to say, for us  is very important that future clients of George Caflen and Associates are aware of this information so that experiences like the ones we had can be avoided by having a clear written contract, which he did not provide to us (caution: do not sign a notice to proceed before having a written contract).
Nov 12th, 2019