Granite Expo

BEWARE! DO NOT TRUST GRANITE EXPO OR GE CONSTRUCTION! OR THEIR SUBCONTRACTOR BPW INSTALLATION.
Wish I had never found this Company and their installation company. Purchased 3 slabs of quartzite from Granite Expo 3/12/2020. The salesperson highly recommended their contracting company GE,Construction to install the kitchen countertops. We had not planned on using them but he insisted that he would give me their best team and finally convinced me that they would do a great job and have it done by March 19, 2020. The contract included the bullnose of the 24ft of counter edges, measuring and cutting the material and installation of full countertops and stone backsplash, and hook up of sink. The cost would be $4200 plus the cost of the stone which was paid at time of purchase approx $3000 I signed the contract and when I went to pay for the installation, he told me I did not have to pay until the installation was finished and I was happy with the work. This made sense not to pay until it was installed properly. They asked me to have the countertops replaced and only 5/8 inch plywood installed the week prior by my wood construction contractor. It was ready for measurement. They sent out on one man holding a hand held measuring tape to measure my large kitchen, backsplash and many cut outs. I attempted to explain what to cut out and what not to cut out, he said "I know, I know".

On March 19, 2020 a very small pick up truck with 5 men pulled up with the material. We had not had a kitchen for a week and were very happy to get this finished.
PROBLEM NO 1. They had not done the bullnose of the edges. They then pulled my stone out of the truck and attempted to use a flat hand held sander to bullnose the stone. They made a horrible mess, causing dangerous cloud of material to fill the air at my home and my neighbors. We had to explain that this needed to be done with special tools with water and they needed masks to protect themselves. They seem upset and we asked who the supervisor was. They all said we are. Thinking they did not understand we said, "no, who is the boss" again they said "we all are".. They appeared to be upset at us for their mistakes. They left, with us thinking they would return in a day or two to finish the job. At that time we did not realize, since that is not our job, that because they had not done bullnose of the stone when they cut it, that now the stone was to short to fit our kitchen countertops.

We called daily trying to get information on when they would return with our stone since we had no kitchen. We are an elderly couple and were having to prepare meals, often in the rain on the grill and small gas burner. We we finally contacte Mr WU who was their subcontractor BPW, asked him when he would install or countertops. He replied "NEVER" I asked him what he meant I asked what he meant, He said "I AM NOT GOING TO DO IT". He said he had dumped my stone in Granite Expo and refused to finish the job.
Again we called Granite Expo, this was March 23, 2020 and they told us the were closing due to Covid 19 and we "BETTER COME AND PICK UP OUR STONE OR THEY WOULD LOCK IT DOWN"
PROBLEM 2. We are an elderly high risk couple who was left without a kitchen and they want us to pick up a ton of stone or they would lock it in for an indefinite time.

PROBLEM 3: We found a reliable stone company that was willing to send someone to pick up the stone. We had not way of knowing that since they had not done the bullnose the stone would not fit our countertops. They are the experts and should have told us this but they withheld this information. So when Vienna Tile and Stone received the stone they send a person to measure using industry standards which is using wood templates to fit the countertops so they won't make mistakes in the cutting.

When they did this they realised the stone had been cut so badly and cut up into so many pieces that it would not fit our kitchen. We had bought extra slab so should have plenty of stone to fit our kitchen with some left over. But because the cut it up on so many pieces it would be very difficult to bullnose the stone and fit it to our kitchen.

We called Granite Expo over and over, leaving many messages that if they could just leave us three slabs we would pick it up and this would end our contract with them. This large company refused to answer any phone calls or emails. I was begging them to please just contact me to fix this problem.

PROBLEM NO 4: They had locked down for Covid and used this as an excuse why they did not have to fulfill their contract with us. They left us with no kitchen during a pandemic. When clearly, even if Granite Expo had to shutdown, GE Construction could have remained open since they had essential work they had not finished. The rules for the shutdown were very clear that construction companies could have stay open to finish essential work that gave people and clean and safe place to live out of.

PROBLEM 5: The contracted date to install was 3/19/2020 prior to the shutdown, It was only due to their inciuompetence and their breaking the contract, not using industry standards to measure and cut the material. Their contract listed the bullnose of the stone edges and they did not do this. They did not measure and cut the properly and they did not use industry standards in measuring and in trying to do the edging on our property. Even their surety company's expert agreed that they did substandard work.

Problem 5. We had no choice but to try to get the stone to fit. We were abandoned during an epidemic without a kitchen and they refused to contact us to " just to replace the stone" They refused to contact us until they found out that we were reporting them to California Contractor Licensing Board and their surety company Surtec Surety. They then contacted us in September and offered to replace the stone. We had already had to have our stone company replace the stone. Surtec Surety had an expert stone contractor review GE Constructions measuring and bullnose policies and found that they did not do the work to industry standards.

Problem 6. We have many problems with the stone since our stone company had to build out the wall the get the stone to fit and Granite Expo cut the accessory sink holes 5 inches back from the sink. They also cut the sink hole in the wrong place on the stone not allowing the seam to come to the corner.

We were very unhappy and looking to lawsuits against Granite Expo and GE Construction. They have said many statements that were untrue to the contractors board and to the surety company. They are using the Covid 19 as a reason for not completing the job when they refused the job prior to March 23 and the installation date was 3/19/20

We had also called many stone companies and contractors that were finishing essential work during the pandemic. The state law clearly states that installation companies were able to continue work such and plumbing and installation so people to take care of themselves during the shutdown. They were just using this as a way to get out of not finishing the job and not paying for all the errors they made.

I would suggest that you not take the chance of this happening to you.. They use substandard procedure in measuring and cutting the stone. They actually found a picture of a tool used to do the bullnose and tried to tell the surety company and the licencing company that it was the tool the used on site when we were there and saw the sander they used. It is the same sander I used to do the wood countertop in our kitchen island. So if they make a mistake they will not fix it. They will do whatever they have to to get out of taking responsibility for any problems they cause.

Just don't take the chance.. It really is not worth it.

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response If you wish, you may update it before sending it.] Revdex.com: I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted] , and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me Regards, [redacted]

From: [redacted] Date: Tue, Oct 27, at 12:PMSubject: [redacted] Hi ***,I have already talked to [redacted] and sent her a receipt.Also we sent her a gift card for any inconveniences.Her request has been responded and resolved on her behalfThank you,-- AYOUB O***Office and Sales Manager,Interior DesignerGranite Expo LLC [redacted] [redacted] [redacted] [redacted] [redacted] [redacted]

Great company from initial estimate for granite countertop to installEstimator was friendly and courteousGranite Install team was professional, and left the work area very cleanThe install of the new under sink plumbing was great, another professional and courteous individualOverall price was very competitive and the ease of picking the granite and sink from their warehouse was greatI would highly recommend

[A default letter is provided here which indicates your acceptance of the business's response.  If you wish, you may update it before sending it.]
Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. 
Regards,
[redacted]

From: [redacted] Date: Tue, Oct 27, 2015 at 12:55 PMSubject: [redacted]
Hi [redacted],I have already talked to [redacted] and sent her a receipt.Also we sent her a gift card for any  inconveniences.Her request has been responded and resolved on her...

behalfThank you,-- AYOUB O[redacted]Office and Sales Manager,Interior DesignerGranite Expo LLC[redacted]    [redacted]

Review: A representative from Granite Expo came to my home and provided me with an estimate for granite countertops in my kitchen. I was getting estimates from other granite companies in the same time period. I had previously decided that the granite I would use was Santa Cecilia.

Granite Expo guarantees installation in one week and the date for my final measurement and template was set for Tuesday, March 26, 2013 with installation on Monday, April 1, 2013.

As I had not chosen a slab yet, on Monday, March 25th, I went to Granite Expo to look at granite slabs in Santa Cecilia. They did not have the variation I wanted and I was told that I had to choose from what was available in the store. A contract was drawn up and signed by the Granite Expo sales representative [redacted]. I declined to sign the contract.

When the representative came to my house to measure my counters on Tuesday, March 26th, I showed him samples of the Santa Cecilia granite I wanted to use. He showed me a slab of the granite that would be installed and we discussed the difference in the two samples. He acknowledged that he understood what I was looking for and that there were other slabs available that were not at the store. He said he would investigate this and get back to me. He did not ask me for a check or to sign an agreement.

I called Granite Expo on Friday, March 29th to discuss the breakdown of the pricing on the contract since I still had not signed it. Since they advertise 50 square feet, free sink, removal, and edge for $2,500 and I had 56.98 square feet and my price was $3,000, I wanted to account for the extra $500.00. After speaking with [redacted] and getting the price breakdown, I left with the impression that the numbers were being manipulated to get the outcome they wanted.

In addition, [redacted] informed me that they were not coming on Monday, April 1st to install my countertops because I had not given the measurer a deposit check. I explained to [redacted] that the measurer had not asked me for a check and was investigating other granite slabs for me. [redacted] said there was a “language barrier” and the measurer was not doing that. At this point I decided not to proceed any further with granite from this company. [redacted] told me I would be required to pay $200.00 for the 30 minutes the measurer used to make a template of my kitchen counters.

I objected for the following reasons:

I never signed a contract with Granite Expo and had no agreement with them.

I never paid them any money.

I was never informed that there was a charge for making a template if I did not get granite countertops from Granite Expo before the template was made.

I was never informed of the amount of the charge for making a template if I did not get granite countertops from Granite Expo before the template was made.

On Thursday, April 4, 2013, [redacted] emailed an invoice to me for $200.00. To resolve this dispute, I want Granite Expo to withdraw and cancel this invoice.Desired Settlement: Withdraw and cancel invoice

Business

Response:

Hi there,

Review: We have a contract with Granite expo to do our kitchen remodeling to be completed by April end 2013. We have had several issues during the process and able to finish the project 90% by June 1st week, with the delay of month.

The remaining 10% has not been done in spite us contacting them via email, phone and in person to their office several times and we are not getting good response.

We have already settled agreed contract price when 90% was completed with the verbal guarantee that, the remaining 10% will be done within a week.

The process has been a pain dealing with this company with so many mess up in work and and constant followup. We will never do business with them again and will not recommend to anyone. Granite expo had been very unprofessional throughout the process.Desired Settlement: We want Granite Expo to complete the remaining job at the least, if not compensating our time and pain over the months to contact them to get it done..

Business

Response:

Hi There,

Review: First off, the installers came late, didn't speak English that well and started installing the granite. They didn't tell us how much damage to the walls the removal would be and how much stuff they weren't going to fix (thank goodness we had painters here). They undercut both major granite pieces, one they thought they could get away with by cutting a 2" piece and shoving it to fit (thinking we were not going to notice the seam. Needless to say, during that process they damaged the wall. They didn't have the backsplash for one area and said it wasn't in the original quote, even though it was discussed in the initial meeting. So, we had to pay extra to install even though they were going to leave the wall damaged. Then after pieces were replaced and odd pieces fixed, the salesman requests more money and proceeds to argue with us about payment. This has been the worst experience from start to finish and I will NEVER recommend them to anyone. I cannot believe that they are still in business. Most unprofessional people to have to deal with.

Consumer

Response:

The desired result would be to get a partial refund for the damage that needed to be fixed in the house and to replace another problem that while looking underneath one of the counter surfaces. They need to be sure to tell their future clients the amount of damage that will be done to the area when they are remove existing counter surfaces and they should bring a template out before the granite is even brought out and installed for proper measurements and to go thru exactly what is being done, since there was a loss of communication from the person that came out to measure, from the person that worked up the price to the people that came out to install.

Business

Response:

RESPONSE TO [redacted]S COMPLAINT:

Maria,

We do most of the our businesses in this area based on our good reputation and referals since 2005.

This is construction works and we cant warranty to anybody what's behind and underneath their wall or old countertop Or what kind of issues that we might face after removal existing counters, however as always we try to explain all issues and fix them or give client a right direction to fix or find someone to fix them that are not part of the our work agreement. So unfortunately we cant simply tell anybody how easy or hard would be to do removal until we start doing it.

Every job we do- we try to be clear and understandable about pricing, how much work going to be done and common issues that our clients might face during the process. However, it's impossible to control-manage or direct all issues to customer that might happen because of the precondition of materials that used to build up many of houses. We are trying to approach positively every issues that need to be addressed to client. We did the same thing [redacted] and [redacted] 's countertop project. We did finished all issues that needed to be fixed and replaced without asking any penny if it was our fault or something that we could fix it to make our client happy. Now I must have clear some points that she addressed wrongly:

We have never given anybody exact time frame for the installation time - we use e.g. about or around to specify the time -as you know this is construction work-

We have signed a contract that explains all details about installation and process of finishing jobs as well as your sales rep's contact info in case you need something to ask or address issues that needs to be solved.

We did the same daily tear out work as we do over 10 years in that day - they did not want to use granite backsplash on the wall and they thought we just damage the wall -- in our literature it calls if you dont do granite backsplash you may need to patches walls ... as you know we didnt build that house- you might have faced cabinets or uneven wall issues or any necessary patches around the wall etc. -are not granite installer's job- actually they are not capable of doing carpentry or handyman work,

As you know, we have changed all those pieces -recut and install them under your demand.

Any initial quote are given at the job site -as you know-it's not final that's why you guys came over our showroom and we went over all details -signed a contract.

You were aware that removal of existing countertop from the wall is always needed patches and paints or whatever you are planing to do wall --even I asked you whether or not doing other works around the house.

I did not ask any extra money about doing all these things - You guys asked to have backsplashes some part of the kitchen and [redacted] agreed to pay whatever the cost extra for backsplashes. If you check the contract we signed, you would see that it says no any backsplashes ordered.

Consumer

Response:

I don't believe that everything was fully detailed and due to the miscommunication between the person selling the product and the person in the office drawing up the paperwork, the backsplash was lost. I spoke to the salesperson that sold the product and I saw the drawings that had the backsplash on them, for two different areas, and we only wanted it in one area, so, I do believe this was discussed, so an additional fee should not have been added. As for the damage during construction, this was not discussed in person, if it was in fine print in the documents, then it should have been discussed thoroughly while we were in the office, instead we paid the painters an additional fee to fix the damage. There is still a counter area that needs to be fixed because it wasn't noticed and we were not notified until after the installation and as I was cleaning the floors. The lack of communication or notification of the granite that was not sized accurately and then trying to let it pass was horrible. The arguing and yelling on the phone with [redacted] about the installation and price was unprofessional. The entire process seemed to me like a rushed job to try and get their money, with little attention to detail and no intention to inform the client of any issues that arose. Attached are the bottom of the bar counter where it looks like someone accidently cut the granite, but, to save money they wanted to salvage it, so a long screw was added for stability.

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:

Regards,

Business

Response:

Granite Expo, LLC is one of the leading granite and marble fabricator in this area and we do a contract with our client to minimize mistakes or to make sure every details are clear for everybody.

We also want our clients to read contract before signing if they have any questions regarding our policies and condition installing process.

Now, I did the same procedure to [redacted] and [redacted]- clearly stating that initial price quotes includes backsplashes - all around and that was the price my estimator gave them at the job site.

When they came in our store- I showed them different materials - same price range. The drawing she is saying she has seen was original drawing - again that how we draw initially - if you dont want backsplashes - less square footage. I asked them they said they dont want backsplashes- that's how I prepared contract and I gave her a copy of contract as well.

I dont agree with her about rushing and just trying to get money- first of all, we have been doing business in this area for 2001.

The point that I dont understand I initially discussed with [redacted] about backsplashes and he agreed to pay for it- he wanted me to cut and install backsplashes. I told him how much would it cost -even backsplashes I charged him less than what it supposed to be to make him happy in some point. I dont understand why [redacted] tries to get backsplashes cost back - even though [redacted] was agree to pay for it.

Entire installation process -[redacted] was at the job site and called me when some issues arose and I talked to him and gave him a date to do reinstallation and the cost. In my knowledge, initial installation process she was not at the job site- however she makes all guesses about the entire process that I simply cant accept it. There were couple of issues that needed to fix or replace it -we did.

Once we did all fix and replacement of granite- [redacted] called me asking more discount I just told him it's not possible- Now she complains about entire thing because of that.

Again I am not saying there wasnt any problem or issues- this is construction work and this kind of things happen, for me the important things is that we fixed and replaced pieces in our clients satisfaction that is the reason that they paid other half of the balance.

if you have overhang more than 5-6 inches - any kind of bar countertop, we put support underneath the granite- we did the same thing over there, however she didnt want it and we just unscrew it. Again it's also very routine work- but she is making guess that is unacceptable.

Thank you,

Consumer

Response:

This response is written to put fault on the customer. The contract should have been throughly read by us before signing, as we were rushed to sign. Any details that we were going to deal with during this process should have been verbally announced to us and clearly pointed out in the contract. As for not being on the jobsite, I was not on the jobsite the initial day of install, I was there for the rest of the install unlike the salesperson, even though asked by us to come out by the customer. We both remember stating where we wanted the backsplash while we walked thru the showroom. We are sorry that you misinterpreted what was requested. I see that arguing and disagreeing with the customer to justify all problems is how this company deals with their issues. As for paying the other half of the money, after a yelling match that insued by Granite Expo with the customer, with no apology, we paid the remainder of the amount to get them off our property and informed that we would never recommend or do any type of business with them again. There is a piece of granite that needs to be replaced, that was not noticed or even mentioned by the installers until after we looked underneath the counter, but we prefer someone else fix the work, pictures were presented in the last response to the complaint. (A large incision that was conveniently patched up by a screw with sealant). Again, no resolve in this matter, with cynical banter. It saddens me that companies justify their actions by placing fault on a customer's ignorance.

[To assist us in bringing this matter to a close, you must give us a reason why you are rejecting the response. If no reason is received your complaint will be closed Administratively Resolved]

Review: [redacted]

I am rejecting this response because:

Regards,