R.T. Donovan Company, Inc.

On my third purchase of River rock, I was give a different rock that I assumed was the same. I had to transport the rock in a borrowed dump trailer to a location 3 hours north of their gravel yard. I had assumed they sold me the same rock, but did not notice the differnce until I was 3 hours from RT Donovan. So, because of the distance and having to return the trailer that same evening, I was not able to return the gravel. When I stopped back in their sales person, Sara and I walk out bto the bin and it was apparent that their new provider had given them river rock that had a lot more fractured rock than round rock. She was helpful but had no authority to reimburse and referred me to the owner Tom Donovan. He was out of town and I was told he would call me which did NOT happen, so I call again and was given his cell number. I left another message on his cell number. All of this ocurred in April - It is now 06/24/2015 and I still have not even recieved a return call.Desired Settlementsimply charge me for the fractured rock that I used instead of the more expensive river rock.THIS SEEMED SO SIMPLE TO ME but I WAS NOT EVEN GIVEN THE COURTESY OF A PHONE CALL!!Business Response Contact Name and Title: [redacted]/General MgrContact Phone: [redacted]Contact Email: [redacted] came into R.T. Donovan in April. He purchased the 3/4" Natural River Rock, was loaded and left to his home in [redacted]. Days later he arrived back at R.T. Donovan complaining the rock did not match what he already had. We walked out to inspect material, please note, we did change suppliers but that was close to a year prior to his purchase and have never had any complaints except for [redacted]. I asked [redacted] to bring the material back and that's when he informed me he had already dumped it on a road and wanted know what we were gonna do for him since it did not match what he already had. I called [redacted] and told him about the situation. He said we could give [redacted] a yard of material to blend it in. He, [redacted] was not happy with that solution but without the original material purchased this was all we could do. [redacted] observed material loaded onto his trailer and signed invoice accepting material. See attached: [redacted]Consumer Response (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)There are SEVERAL incorrect statements in their response !. my home is in [redacted] - my property where I wanted the river rock is North of [redacted] - a 3+ hour driver one way to return the gravel so I was not able to get to RT Donovan while they were still open and HAD to unload the gravel as I had to return the borrowed trailer that same night.2. "Days Later" I returned the very NEXT day3. They state that they changed suppliers a "year prior" yet that next day when we went out to inspect the bin - the river rock that I had previously purchased was very visible in both back corners of the bin.3. "give [redacted] a yard of material to blend it in"there were 3 problems with this - first he only offered me 1/2 yard - second they had no material acceptable - and third I had to dump the load on my driveway where I had already put Crushed gravel and was not anywhere near the intend use area.4. "[redacted] observed material loaded and signed"I signed before they loaded AND never viewed the material as I simply sat in my truck and the only thing I observed was the guy in the loader giving me the thumbs up to go.As I had been treated fairly in all of my prior purchases I made the mistake of assuming that there would be no real problem and that it would be a simple matter to correct. The price difference between the gravel and the river rock for my 2 1/2 yard purchase is not significant and not worth the time and trouble that I have already spent. The main reason for my complaint is the fact that Sara was not able to do anything and I was referred to the owner TOM ---- and he NEVER even called me back -- though Sara said he had -- I have not received a phone call NOR a message nor do I care to at this point. I just wanted to let people know what kind of customer service they might expect if they have a problem.[redacted] Final Consumer Response (The consumer indicated he/she DID NOT accept the response from the business.)As I previously stated - I only want the DIFFERENCE between river & crushed not a full refund AND at this point, after having to make a formal complaint --- I do not wish to ever return to their businees AND sign any of their "Terms and Conditions"Sara saw the difference between the rock that was in the bin when I returned and that is when something should have been done NOT months later after Revdex.com complaint!!VERY POOR CUSTOMER SERVICEThanx BUT NO THANX[redacted]Final Business Response [redacted] requested and ultimately purchased Natural River Rock 3/4. [redacted]'s trailer was loaded with this material from the appropriate bin in his presence, and he accepted the material and signed the Terms and Conditions on the back of his invoice. Item 6 of said Terms and Conditions states clearly, in part: "It is the customer's sole responsibility to inspect material before ordering." He then hauled this material 3 hours away where he apparently determined that it was esthetically "different" than material he had obtained at some point in the past. Natural River Rock 3/4 is a non-specification decorative material. It is a natural product that varies in appearance depending upon where it was obtained, and may vary in appearance from load to load even when coming from the same source. This is the reason that Item 6 was incorporated into our Terms and Conditions. The only person who can judge whether a particular decorative material is acceptable for a particular application is the person purchasing it. This, of course, necessitates that the customer actually look at what he is buying. We encourage this, but if he chooses not to get out of his truck we can hardly demand that he do so.That being said, we regret that [redacted] is not satisfied with the material he purchased, and we would be happy to offer him a full refund upon its return.