This. However, in our specific scenario dynamics were even slightly worse. In a first meeting said consultants apparently met some resistance but management decided to go through with it anyway. So in a later meeting, if I was the consultant, would I go and claim "Alright, I fucked up, got paid and got you gaslighted, but now we have to refactor to clean up our codebase with no immediate tangible benefit for your bosses" in front of everyone? Honestly, I don't think so.