Cost of Interior Designer Initial Consultation and Acquisition

Good evening everyone,
we were interested in a house that has not yet been built, whose ground floor was a bit "difficult" for us and we needed opinions to help us decide whether to buy. So we contacted 2 interior designers.
Provider A) offers free floor plan checks on their website. The floor plan was sent in advance, a video call was held during which drawings were made and the recommendation was given that it is indeed not suitable for us. No costs.
Provider B) also offers help with purchasing decisions. We called and explained our problem with the ground floor. The floor plan and our problem were sent by email. The next day, a call came in confirming that it does not fit us as it is. He had an idea to save it if the access is made via the terrace. Afterwards, a very rough, non-to-scale first sketch came by email. But I should first clarify with the building authority whether it would be approved at all. Then we would go into more detail, otherwise not.
Now the access cannot be placed over the terrace and we generally did not like the idea. For various reasons, we decided against the property. Now an invoice arrived from Provider B for 2 hours of work for the phone call and sketch.
I am a bit confused because we neither talked about the price nor about a concrete contractual assignment. If the suggestion is not implementable, the acquisition discussion was not successful in my opinion (similar to Provider A).
Maybe I have a wrong perspective here, but don’t interior designers also have to agree on prices in advance or at least say during my first call that it is not free of charge? The mentioned hourly rate is not stated on the website (actually even higher rates), invoice without payment term.

I just want to know if this is usual even if the proposal is not feasible.
Thank you and best regards :D

While A offers free blueprint checks and that was indeed the case, B does not necessarily offer it for free, as I read it. He offers his service, you accept it, and thus make use of the service by sending him the blueprint. This results in an order. (Offer - Acceptance). Just because provider A does it for free does not mean it is generally the case. I find 2 hours of expense allowance okay and understandable, also for you. I did the same in my freelance work. Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t have earned much ;)

Note: blueprints are less about interior design and more about the tasks of an architect. Interior designers deal with the feel-good factor and interior design, furnishing, floor and wall coverings, and interior.

I do not see the order as acquisition, because you wanted to have the possibilities checked (that was the order), and A as well as B did that, so the order was carried out.

we were interested in a house not yet built, whose ground floor was a bit "difficult" for us and we needed opinions for the purchasing decision. So we contacted 2 interior designers. [...] We decided against the property for various reasons. Now an invoice from provider B arrived for 2 hours of work for a phone call and sketch. I am a bit confused, as we had neither spoken about the price nor a concrete contractual commission. If the proposal is not feasible, from my point of view the acquisition conversation was not successful (similar to provider A).

First, about the current confusion: I currently lack the time and inclination to look up the specific threads on this, but basically, the topic "an architect contract can also be concluded orally" has repeatedly been discussed in this forum. The particular problem of "tacitly concluded contracts" is, of course, not fixing either a positive or negative expectation formulation – resulting in the "confusion" experienced here. The architect has performed work and thus earned his fee. It is not clarified what result one expects: unlucky, but not the service provider’s fault. But "back" to the substantive problem: So you (again) "hooked" yourself up with an offer with a given and from you (I have not yet understood: in this case still to be filled / or again like last time only made attractive for you under the condition of your own improvement proposals?) framework? – then I would have to say after the story unfortunately: your learning curve is probably not exactly going like Schmitz’s cat ;-(

Tuition fees, contract is concluded, service provider has rendered performance...

Who orders pays.

I have already experienced that someone commissioned a craftsman to "take a look" and he then charged for the travel because the order did not come.

Being self-employed does not mean being the Salvation Army. Even an architect has to make a living from something.

I also think that 2 hours in this case seem reasonable.

Tip for the future: Generally, always address something like this directly in advance. I once had an energy consultant with me during a walkthrough for a property that we ultimately did not purchase. I asked what he would get paid for it, he said it was fine, he would book it under acquisition, that it would cost nothing. But I wouldn't have assumed that as a general rule. Since it's understandably difficult to assess where acquisition ends and the contract begins - just always ask directly, there's nothing to it.