Colonial Granite Works

I contacted Colonial Granite to get an estimate for new kitchen countersOn the day that the owner/operator was scheduled to come out at 12;30pm, he called to see if he could come at 9:30am, instead I advised that 10am would be better, as I had another granite company scheduled to come out at 9:30am He said, "Wait! You have someone else coming out"? I advised that I was getting a few quotes and information before proceeding He then proceeded to tell me that "...his time was valuable" and he "did not have time to waste with people getting eight quotes" First off, I am not getting "eight" quotes but if I was, that is my prerogative as a consumer Second, if he was an upstanding business guy with a good reputation, he wouldn't worry about consumers shopping around I advised that I was offended by his comment and shocked at his lack of business etiquette, then simply hung up the phoneNot only has he lost my business, but I am a REALTOR and frequently get asked for recommendations....I would NEVER recommend this company

I contacted Colonial Granite to get an estimate for new kitchen counters. On the day that the owner/operator was scheduled to come out at 12;30pm, he called to see if he could come at 9:30am, instead. I advised that 10am would be better, as I had another granite company scheduled to come out at 9:30am. He said, "Wait! You have someone else coming out"? I advised that I was getting a few quotes and information before proceeding. He then proceeded to tell me that "...his time was valuable" and he "did not have time to waste with people getting eight quotes".
First off, I am not getting "eight" quotes but if I was, that is my prerogative as a consumer. Second, if he was an upstanding business guy with a good reputation, he wouldn't worry about consumers shopping around.
I advised that I was offended by his comment and shocked at his lack of business etiquette, then simply hung up the phone. Not only has he lost my business, but I am a REALTOR and frequently get asked for recommendations....I would NEVER recommend this company.

I contacted Colonial Granite to get an estimate for new kitchen counters. On the day that the owner/operator was scheduled to come out at 12;30pm, he called to see if he could come at 9:30am, instead. I advised that 10am would be better, as I had another granite company scheduled to come out at 9:30am. He said, "Wait! You have someone else coming out"? I advised that I was getting a few quotes and information before proceeding. He then proceeded to tell me that "...his time was valuable" and he "did not have time to waste with people getting eight quotes".

First off, I am not getting "eight" quotes but if I was, that is my prerogative as a consumer. Second, if he was an upstanding business guy with a good reputation, he wouldn't worry about consumers shopping around.

I advised that I was offended by his comment and shocked at his lack of business etiquette, then simply hung up the phone. Not only has he lost my business, but I am a REALTOR and frequently get asked for recommendations....I would NEVER recommend this company.

Review: Company provided granite in kitchen in Dec, 2012. A portion of the granite was placed incorrectly and the kitchen drawer would not go back in at all. They provided a new under mount sink, but piping was not configured correctly and had to pay a plumbing company 800.00 to repair. Seam on counter where the 2 pieces of granite connect became separated a month after installation. Granite in bathroom has a "washed out" flaw in the design as well. Company has avoided phone calls to come back as promised to repair until May 2013. Set a time to come and repair and then never showed up or called.Desired Settlement: I feel that the company should provide a portion of money back as a refund for the extra expenses as I will need to pay a company to come a correct their poor service and product.

Business

Response:

1) Customers who do not purchase a plumbing package are responsible for their own plumbing alleviating us from any responsibility on that part. As per the contract the customer signed we are only responsible for the Granite Countertops.

2) The Countertop in the bathroom the customer is referring to with the spot in it was GIVEN to the customer for FREE.

3) We actually offered the customer another FREE piece for their vanity and they declined.

4) Why you would expect a refund for something you did not pay for is

beyond me. Ex. Plumbing not purchased through Colonial Granite or a Free

Granite Vanity and Sink.

5) As of 5/23/13 We were at the customers house to address issues and we fixed everything the customer ask us to.

6) We have this matter as being fully resolved

Thank You,

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

I do not need your money or refund, but instead I find it more beneficial to let other potential customers know that this has been the worst experience ever in dealing with any company. It would mean more to me if you step up as a person and [redacted] of a local business to realize you indeed let the ball drop on one of your jobs and it could have easily been avoided. The fact that I had to contact Revdex.com after you did not show up or call yesterday (after 5 months of waiting for resolution) only to have someone show up today after I filed the complaint is quite a coincidence. The guys did fix the problem and did agree that it was a crappy job performed by your previous employees. Ironically, it was such a simple repair that had you taken the time and possessed any customer service etiquette as being the [redacted] and corrected this initially, I would have not had 5 months to continue to be aggravated about the plumbing, etc. Speaking with 3 other granite companies about coming out to correct your errors, they ALL said they always discuss with customers what they can expect from changing a sink to an under mount. As far as the "free" counter top in bath, nothing about your job has been free and it is nothing more than all other companies offer at this time, however shame on you to think you can grab a shabby piece to place in a persons home just because you think it is "free" and they should have no opinion.

Regards,

Review: We recently purchased granite counter tops from Colonial Granite Works, the counter-tops were not sealed when they were installed which has caused damage to the stone. Our purchase was made directly with the[redacted] was the only person we worked with to make this purchase, we met him at his showroom, he came to our home to measure for the product and we also placed our order direct with him. Never at any time was sealing of the stone mentioned. We have had the counter tops for 2 weeks now and have several spots which are discolored. We did not know what was causing this until this past weekend. We happened to be at the State Fair of Virginia and saw [redacted] was there. My wife approached him just to speak and see if he might be able to tell us what was taking place. She took up less than 2 minutes of his time and even apologized for speaking to him outside of the office. He stated that the countertops needed to be sealed and he would call us Monday (today). The conversation with [redacted] was this past Saturday, 9/28/13, to get this scheduled. Today we contacted his office around 1:30 PM to see what we could get scheduled so the counter tops could be repaired and sealed- a voice mail was left by my wife with my number as well as hers. An hour or so later [redacted] contacted me and his first comment to me was that he did not appreciate my wife speaking to him at the fair about a work related item. Well, I am a small business owner myself and I get approached all the time by people with questions about the services I provide. He went on to tell me that he would have to see when someone could come back out as we did not pay for sealing in our purchase. I inquired as to how we were to know that was needed, his reply was "its natural stone." He was very unprofessional and sarcastic with his tone and comments. I was so disgusted with the way he was speaking to me that I ended the call. I, like most people, would assume that when you purchase something like granite counter tops that you are getting a finished product or at the minimum are advised of other services needed to maintain the integrity of the product purchased. That was not the case with this business owner and his company. We have also requested a copy of our receipt of purchase, this has not been received either.Desired Settlement: This company needs to stand behind the product that they sell. Repairs need to be made to the counter tops where they have started to discolor and the granite needs to be sealed so we can have the finished product that [redacted] and Colonial Granite Works advised us we were going to receive. In addition, a receipt for our purchase needs to be supplied as they have received payment in full.

Business

Response:

This is a particularly interesting case. The customer NEVER contacted us about any concerns about sealing, staining or anything about their purchase until the customers Wife rudely and obnoxiously approached me on the weekend when I was out with my family. As a matter of Fact the Customers mailed me their balance several days after the installation. So what went on between the time of install and then, I have no clue. Not knowing what has caused the stains or what type of work that was going on in the house after installation caused the marks/stains its hard for me to figure that out. [redacted] and I have two different opinions on professionalism. I offered to come out and he was not happy with the timeline in which we could come out. In essence he turned down the opportunity for us to come out and try and resolve the issue. [redacted] told me Verbatim, "Do not worry about it"

Consumer

Response:

I have reviewed the offer made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint. For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.

The owner of this company contacted me on Monday, 9/30, after a voice mail message was left for him the same day at 1:30 PM regard our concern with the condition of the granite. When the call was returned later that afternoon he was both rude and abrasive. There was never an attempt made to set a specific appointment time; the owner of this company only made comment that he would have to see when his guys would be back in my area. He did not offer any specific appointment time. When it was clear to me that he was not receptive to correcting this issue I did comment that he could disregard the request as I was put out with his behavior and his lack of professionalism towards me, the customer.

In addition another call was placed to his office on the afternoon of Monday, 9/30, at 4 PM requesting a copy of our receipt of purchase. At that time [redacted], a member of the team, was spoken to and advised of our request. In addition he was provided with the email address for submission of this receipt. [redacted] stated that he would let [redacted] know of the request. This request for a receipt was also included in my initial complaint filed with the Revdex.com on the evening of 9/30. As of today, 10/1, at 9 PM a copy of our proof of purchase has not yet been received as requested.

I no longer wish to have this company finish the job which they were paid to properly complete as the owner has shown both verbally and in writing in his response to our complaint, that he is a man of little to no integrity. I would not feel comfortable allowing him or a member of his team back into my home based on the way he has spoken to me regarding this issue. I do find it odd that he tries to use the fact that we paid for the counter tops against us in his response. We were provided a service which we believed to be complete so yes we did pay for the service as that is how business should be handled. Had we held payment for no reason he would certainly take measures to protect his best interest and collect his payment. [redacted] openly admitted that the damage we were seeing was due to the counter tops not being sealed, this was mentioned to us on more than one occasion. My wife did speak to him at the Virginia State Fair on Saturday 9/28, during that brief 60 second conversation [redacted] seems surprised that the counter tops had not been sealed making comment that his installers should have taken care of that when they were initially in my home. We had no reason to think that the owner of a company would be so grossly offended by a customer of theirs stopping them to ask a quick question about a recent purchase.

Regardless, at this point I would like a receipt of our purchase- that document can be emailed to me at the address provided. Pictures are available of the areas that are in question. One area is where a soap dispenser sat; certainly we should be able to set things on our kitchen and bath counter tops without having to worry about something as minimal as soap residue staining the stone. Given the manner in which this situation has played out a receipt is all we are requesting; he acknowledges that he received payment in full so there should be no issue with providing us a proof of purchase. This matter can then be resolved thru other means if need be.

Regards,

Business

Response:

I offered to resolve the issue and the customer declined. We also have pictures of the job after it was installed and it shows there was nothing wrong with the top when we left the customers home. Again, Obliviously there were no issues when we. Left or the customer would not have mailed their balance days later. They abused their countertop resulting in staining and they are angry now and want some form of compensation.