Grubb Colin M & Associates

My mom passed away in 1998 and Colin Grubb & Associates was her accounting firm, so when I (as executor of the estate) had to find someone to handle the estate accounting, I figured I’d keep it simple and go with them.
As part of my due diligence, I got estimates for the work from both Grubb and two other Colorado firms. Colin’s estimate was $ 2,000-$ 3,000. The others were also in the $ 2,500 range.
Well, throughout what ended up to be a 2.5 year ordeal, the bill kept getting higher and higher. My sister started freaking out. I was concerned. Grubb’s firm was unable to stay on task. Instead of keeping a list of deliverables, he forgot to stay on top of things and left me to keep a project list. Because he never had a «next steps» plan, I always ended each call with, «what are the next steps and when are we going to talk again?»
Several times, his firm promised to do things and wouldn’t. Whether it was collecting financial records or completing returns on time, it was misstep after misstep.
At the end of the day, his bill came to a whopping $ 7,100 before I engaged my attorney to negotiate back down to $$ 5,000 and fired him. I had to engage another accountant to finish the job for another $ 500. Because of the delays and overcharges, we ended up paying more than double (but not triple as Colin invoiced) and the closing of the estate took 2.5 years instead of what should have been 1.5 years.
Hmmm… twice as long and three times as expensive as quoted? Go somewhere else.