Aphrodite Granite & Marble

This is why I am rejecting .....Here is an email sent from Aphrodite claiming they had to hire someone else to fix my counter topOur claim is if they had sent him first it most likely would have been done properlySo the the counter top has been compromised so much now that we do not think it can be fixedAnd if you read the the replies from [redacted] , he has no intention of compensating usAnd his hostility in the replies is one of the reason that we would not have them come back to our home.I am just trying to keep other consumers from having to experience what we have gone through [redacted]

I am glad Mrs [redacted] decided to use Revdex.com to express your grievancesBetter Business Bureau is the most fair outlet to determine grievances for customers and for companies since it listens to both sides of every situation, acts as a mediator and concludes based on information and explanation not simply feelings of expression Mrs [redacted] main issue regarding her backsplash is an aesthetic issue resulting from an unforeseen complication stemming from her existing tile backsplash and is in no way the fault or responsibility of Aphrodite GraniteThe issue has been explained to her properly and professionally several timesShe has been given four very reasonable options to help resolve the issue at hand but refuses to except any of them or to except any professional explanation of her particular situationShe simply demands that Aphrodite Granite be out of pocket thousands of dollars to solve an issue that is resulting from her own home owner’s responsibilitiesAttached is every written communication I have had with the customer which has been extensive and clearly shows that Aphrodite Granite has done as much as can possibly be expected to help the customer resolve her complaint but to no availPlease allow me to explain the situation and elaborate on options given to customer to resolve her issue she is experiencing: During the customer’s template appointment or measurement, our templater pointed out to Mrs [redacted] that he would recommend we make her new granite backsplash slightly taller than her existing Formica backsplash in order to cover the existing caulk lineThis is very common, so common in fact that it probably happens on every countertop we doMaking the new backsplash slightly taller than the existing backsplash should cover any old, crummy, yellowed caulk from the previous countertopThis helps eliminate any post granite installation work that the customer may need to do regarding trim, paint, caulk scraping, drywall work etcIt is more or less a convenient little touch that granite companies will suggest to make things easier for the customerThe height of the new backsplash was determined to be cut at ¾” tallThe customer agreed to this new height in backsplash and signed to the dimensions to be ¾” tall on what we call her cut ticket or her order formPlease see attached cut ticket with dimensions listed and customer signatureBefore we go any further I would like to point out that the backsplash in question, as it sits now and as it was originally installed is ¾” tallSo without any further explanation I have to point out that the customer technically got exactly what she ordered and it has been that way since her original installation Mrs [redacted] an existing tile backsplash that has been on the wall since before her existing Formica countertop was installedHer existing tile backsplash covers the entire wall from the underneath side of the upper cabinets down behind the counter top and all the way to the kitchen floorOur measurement for the new countertops was done with the existing Formica countertops still installed and in place Mrs [redacted] ’s installation occurred on Friday, February she signed off on her final walk-through and was completely happy with her installation and even expressed her gratitude to our sales person [redacted] who had done a follphone call with her that dayThe following week Mrs [redacted] contacted us saying she was unhappy with a particular part of her installation that her daughter had pointed out to her after visiting her homeThe new granite ¾” tall that was installed does not follow the closest grout line of her existing tile backsplash perfectly and she was dismayedI personally tried to discuss the situation with her over the phone however within about two minutes she hung up the phone with me and refused to speak with me any furtherI promptly contacted our accounting department and told them to not cash her check that she had written to us for final payment because we were having an unhappy customerIt is not our policy to cash a check until a customer is totally satisfied unless the check is already been processedMrs [redacted] ’s explanation that we lost a check is incorrectAfter further investigation and many photos later I clearly understood what the problem wasIt is a very simple explanation and is a very common situationHer existing tile backsplash is not perfectly level and therefore the existing tile backsplash grout line and our new granite backsplash do not line up perfectlySee attached photosAgain this result occurs on almost every single countertop granite companies install when dealing with existing tile backsplashThey don't match up because they were installed togetherThe correct way is to install a granite countertop first then come back and install the tile backsplash to follow the countertop itselfNot every Granite countertop is installed perfectly level eitherIn our industry we are more concerned with plainness to substructure rather than perfectly levelGranite does not flex and if there are any voids between the granite and the substructure the integrity of the stone may be at riskIf a customer wishes to keep their existing backsplash tile, they will just have to live with the way it lines up with the new granite tops or they can certainly remove and replace with new tile backsplash if they so wishI attempted to contact Miss [redacted] once again and this time she was a little bit more receptive to listening to meI explained to her exactly what she was experiencing and that it is a very common if not almost an expected result when dealing with existing tileHer story then morphed into an explanation that our templater told her we were making the new granite backsplash slightly taller in order to cover her tile grout lineThis is simply incorrect and I dispute itRegardless if that conversation actually happened or not, which I believe it did not, her order still called for ¾” backsplash and that is exactly what was deliveredI have also explained to Mrs [redacted] that even if that were the case we were measuring over her existing Formica countertop and that if the existing Formica countertop were not perfectly level then our measurements would slightly be off according to her existing tile backsplashAt the end of the day her existing tile backsplash grout line levelness is not of my concernMy concern is the granite install, its properness, its integrity, its exactness of cut, its craftsmanship and its dimensions based off the customers contracted agreement with usAll of the above where delivered properly as expected All this being said Aphrodite Granite always wants to do everything we can possibly do to ensure total customer satisfactionAfter all we are not perfect, we make mistakes and we appreciate it when customers work with us to resolve issues when we make a mistakeI treat our customers how we like to be treatedEven if we are not at fault, I will do what I can do to help the customer out and try to provide solutions that will make them happy and leave them a pleased customerThe very first thing I did was to check and see if there were any leftover material so I could simply re-cut the backsplash slightly taller and reinstall it to make the customer satisfiedUnfortunately with this particular job every bit of the material that was ordered was used to install the job originallyThis is very unfortunate because I probably wouldn't even be writing this response at this point if I had more materialI would've simply re-cut it to make her happy and moved onI explained to Miss [redacted] several times that I would have simply done this to rectify the situation but physically can't because there is no more material left over from her jobIt technically wouldn't really solve the issue because her existing tile backsplash is still out of level so even if I cut a slightly taller granite backsplash it would still look uneven with the next grout line, but if it would make her happy I would simply do it and move onSo because this was not an option we presented four more very helpful options that as far as I am concerned are above and beyond and should be considered excellent customer service attempted resolutionsPlease see attached for more detailed informationOption one, Aphrodite Granite would pay 50% of the cost for an additional slab of material so more backsplash could be cut for the customerA matching slab of material would cost $So another words Aphrodite granite is willing to spend $if the customer would share in the cost and we would re-fabricate and reinstall taller backsplash now having more materialWe believe that is a very reasonable option considering the customer received what was ordered and her existing tile backsplash levelness is out of our control in the first place but we are willing to spend $for more material to help share in the cost in order to help resolve her situationOption number two that was presented consisted of Mrs [redacted] finding a creative tile solution and Aphrodite Granite would pay our tile installer whatever labor it would cost to install her tile solutionThe vast majority of customers that experience the same issue that [redacted] is experiencing typically will find some sort of bullnose tile or little trim piece to cover the noticeable gaps caused by the out of level tile backsplashThe only difference is we normally don't offer to pay for it because the customers understand that we have nothing to do with the existing tile backsplash levelnessIn this case we were offering to pay whatever labor cost it is for a tile installer to install the tileOption number three, we simply offered Mrs [redacted] a $rebateAs far as I'm concerned this option should've never been offeredIt re-wards the customer monetarily and does not resolve the aesthetic issue she is experiencing yet deducts from Aphrodite Granite's profit margin for an issue that is not our fault and completely out of our control and out of the scope of our work set forth by our contractThe fourth option given in my opinion is the most reasonable and would completely satisfy the customers concerns with no cost to the customer or any cost to Aphrodite GraniteThe fourth option would be to simply remove the ¾” backsplash that was installed, cut it down to maybe 4½” and reinstall itThis would give a final look absolutely no different than if we purchased more material and cut the backsplash slightly higher than what it is nowIf the customers only concern is that the new granite backsplash does not follow her existing grout line perfectly and it has already been established that the granite will not ever follow the existing tile grout line perfectly unless we install the granite completely out of level or the tile backsplash is removed and installed properly, cutting the ¾” granite backsplash down to ½” would essentially give you the exact same looking result as cutting new backsplash slightly taller than the ¾” backsplash that is installed nowIf the customer simply wanted to resolve her concerns and fix the problem this is the option that she would have chosenInstead after several attempts and several weeks and going around in circles with the customer she refuses to choose any option and simple he thinks that Aphrodite Granite should purchase an $slab of more material and re-cut the backsplash for her however tall she wants and she will listen to no other reasoning or explanationsAfter weeks of professional discussion and several failed attempts it was determined that her project was going nowhereI frankly asked her if she really thought it was fair to withhold A $final payment for this very simple aesthetic issue that is very understandable and any fair-minded person can realize is totally unforeseeable and uncontrollable by Aphrodite Granite and if she really thought it was fair to demand that we are out of pocket $to resolve the issue when simply cutting down the backsplash she has now would give her the exact same look as cutting new backsplash slightly tallerAnd all that being said Technically she still got exactly what she ordered ¾” tall backsplashHer reply was that Aphrodite Granite is not a reputable company and she won't pay us until we recut her backsplashAt that point I explained to her I have done every attempt I can to help her resolve the situation, I've done everything I can do to try and help her out but at this point her request is unacceptableRegarding her second concern about plumbingShe doesn't offer much explanation in her complaint so I'm not exactly sure what she is referring toOriginally are subcontracted plumber had reversed the garbage disposal to the opposite side of which it was previously installedApparently he explained all this to her when he was doing the installation itselfThis is again a very common occurrenceThe customer had an existing top mount sink and the depth was significantly lessSwitching to an Undermount style sink with a deeper depth sometimes will interfere with the drain pipe coming out of the wallIn order for proper plumbing installation the garbage disposal has to sit higher than the drain pipe coming from the wallApparently this was all discussed during the original plumbing installation however she complained about this the following week too but Aphrodite Granite has already paid our plumber to revisit her home again and reverse the plumbing to the improper installationOur subcontracted plumber explained to her that if there are any leaks or clogs caused by the improper plumbing he will not cover or fix the issueHe is simply hooking it up the way she wants to make her happyI would be happy to hear any further details on what's wrong with her plumbing that she had to have a different plumbing company service for $but none are providedPer our contractual agreement any subcontracted work that is done is warranted, insured and handled through that particular subcontractorAphrodite Granite does not do any plumbing work and therefore a complaint should not be filed against us regarding work that we do not do

Complaint: [redacted] I am rejecting this response because:In the highlighted part of email it says So we paid a guyectThat sounds like they paid a guy that does not work for themIf he does, my apologiesAnd I still say if they sent him out the first time we would not be in this situationAnd as you can see his hostility through ***'s responses , they will keep saying that their work is goodIt is obvious they are not willing to compensate anything to usI just want to make sure this complaint stays on the Revdex.com file to help others stay informed of their work Sincerely, [redacted]

Oh my gosh this is getting so ridiculousThe email the customer highlighted and attached says "we paid a guy to come out and face polish the seam...." Yes we DO PAY our employeesWe had TO PAY our repair tech to re-visit their housePerfect example of how disconnected from the whole process this customer is and how stuff is just made up out of nowhereALL our employees wear Aphrodite Granite uniforms including "the guy" that "we paid" to doctor the seamHow you get to the conclusion that that means we had to hire an outside person to do the work is beyond memaybe if Mrs [redacted] spoke to Mr [redacted] , she would know thisOr if she had actually been at her repair appointmentI had a complete phone conversation with Mr [redacted] Telling him "a guy" named [redacted] that "we pay" because he is the "repair technician" would be coming out to face polish the seam and make it look as good as possibleSo stupid and frivolous just like the other complaints this customer has Furthermore I would add please read the email attachment that the customer is referring toI couldn't have said it better myselfthat email clearly shows that we were willing to come out a third time if necessary but that I wanted Mrs [redacted] to be present because Mr [redacted] was telling us one thing and Mrs [redacted] still complaining about nothinglike I stated in my original reply, if you are purchasing countertops or roofing or a new deck YOU have to bring a reasonable amount of common sense and responsibility to the tableWe inform our customers with website videos, preparedness checklists and expectation forms more than any other granite company I know of in the STL areaProblems arise when a customer does not pay attention or is not involved completely in the processWe stand behind all our work and will do what it takes to make the job correct (and we don't have to do it by hiring any outside help)Some customers you just cannot make happy

The company has contacted me and have done some work I am at this time satisfied with their actions and the complaint can be closed based on the work of the company as long as it continues and the work is completed to my satisfaction

Complaint: [redacted] I am rejecting this response because:I have not as yet received the warranty or the check [redacted] did call and we talked As soon as I receive the promised document and check I will consider the matter closed, and will contact you However I do believe that if I had not contacted the Revdex.com I would never received either Sincerely, [redacted]