Funny enough, today I happened to pass by a job I bid on about 9 months ago.
BIG job. Whole ground floor interior (not including private residences) of a large high-rise condo building. Huge lobby (about 50' x 80'), a 140' x 12' hallway, and the 8'x10' elevator alcove. All 12' ceilings. Their designer came up with an 8-color scheme, besides the usual they added color borders on all the walls, about 18" wide for each color, 3 in total. Popcorn to remove throughout, and the drywall definately wasn't even taped when the popcorn was originally applied.
I bid the job reasonably for the work entailed. As this was for a condo association, I was tempted to just pass on the job altogether - but when one of my previous clients who was on the board offered to hire me directly for the job, I decided to go ahead and submit a bid.
In the end, they went with a slop-jockey. I took a look today at the job they did, and all I can say is - they should have left it alone and just not bothered. I have never seen a mess this bad.
If I DO get a call to come in and fix this one, I will turn it down. There is no way I can charge enough to fix the nightmare these folks have on their hands now.