A great job – a thankless customer

In response to a negative review on yp.ca

First of all anyone seeing this final product is going to be impressed.  It is a work of art.

We used Elegant Brown Quartzite which is a very expensive product approved and directly purchased by this customer.

The material arrived and the customer inspected the slabs and they were approved again.

Two main things that our contract states:

1) We have no control over the colour and shading variations of the slab.

2) We want to attend the residence once to template and once to install.

We made 11 trips to this residence.  They were not ready when promised then they were partially ready so we though we’d be nice and make 4 trips.  This snowballed as the project went forward because things were never ready and other trades would no longer cooperate with them so we could arrange things like the electrical outlets.

We were partially dealing with Henery who was acting as a project manager and he stated that yes, people do not like working for this customer because she is particular and she pisses people off.  OK, we deal with picky people all the time, it is my job.

At the end of the day the project looks great.  They are displeased with one piece of splash that has some sort of line on it and of course it is in the stone and it is part of the stone.  We used the material they ordered plus an extra slab that I paid for just in case.  There is no material left.  Each slab costs $2500.

What we did for this customer because that is what we do:

1) we made the extra trips and did not complain

2) she found a little spot on her island, a natural beauty mark that is hard to see for most people but a natural blemish none the less.  Our contract states that we have no control over those marks but we agreed to help her out and change it and we did so at our cost.

3) We recommended a seam at a specific location.  She refused to accept a seam there so we followed her direction and the piece broke.  We attempted a fix and it looked very good but she would not accept it so we replaced it with a seam where we originally requested at our cost.

4) There was also a fireplace involved.  She noticed we had some little scrap pieces and she requested to our crew a few extra trip pieces.  They did them at no extra cost.  It was a big unit with shelves on either side it looks brilliant!

5) We needed information on the electrical for the outlets but the electricians refused to attend the house while we were templating because they had also been making extra trips because of the customer.  So we had everything made for the backsplash but we had to re-work everything at our cost once the material was installed because of the changes needed due to the outlets.

The project is compete and the quality of work is exceptional, beyond industry standards and we have acquiesced to every demand that the owners had at our cost.  There is a piece of backsplash with a natural line through it, they don’t like the line (see rule #1) We have no material left and we would be willing to replace that piece if the customer pays us for the slab of ours that we used, all of the extra trips we made and all the extra work we undertook to complete this job plus the cost of the new slab.

In this situation we were taken full advantage of, and after the cost of the slab we used and all the extra work we are is a deficit on this job.  You will note the personal attacks in their complaint which is consistent with their bullying tactics in order to extract more out of our goodwill and resources.

Please note once again, they purchased the material directly.  We have no control over the colour variations in the stone and we expressly state that on our contract.  Furthermore we have gone out of our way to try to please this customer (we replaced the island because she didn’t like a natural part of it) and we also used the extra slab for them even though they ignored our advice.  It is my opinion that the issue in question is a natural part of the stone and therefore we have no obligation to replace it even if we had material to do so.

At this time we are requesting payment in full as the project is complete. We have not seen one red cent and the project is over $20,000.  I own this company and this is how I pay my bills and my employees, and our families depend on this business and it is thriving.

My policy is always to give people the benefit of the doubt.  Now we are being bullied ind intimidated into investing more money to please this customer.  We have received a letter from the BB and the response has been the same, and they have hopefully understood that this situation we have done what all customers expect – rolled with the punches, bent over backward nd at the end of the day created something exceptional

I’m glad to respond to this review because I’m proud to say that we’re going to do our best for you too despite this bad experience.  Hopefully we can do something exceptional for you too.

Corie “Wednesday” Amundson

Granite By Wednesday (AKA Stone Age Granite)

1401 St John Street

Regina, SK S4R 1S5

306-530-1117

“Your Granite Guy”

Condo Colours

Giallo Ornimental

Caledonia

Tan Brown

Steel Grey

Giallo Light

Viscount white

flash blue (copper brown?)

black pearl

Unknown colour

Another great review

Corie

I just wanted to let you know on customer feed back on your staff. They where amazing. Took extra time to do what was needed to finish job. Polite to all. And just good people.
We dont here enough of the good things in this industry. So make sure you let your guys know how great of a job they did.

Chris – Moose Jaw

“Best $5000 I ever spent”

Kyle from Winfield Road just came in to pay his bill, his install was Friday (three days ago). Kyle was originally thinking of getting Granite Transformations to do his countertop. However when he compared the pricing he realized that he could get real granite for less. He also considered laminate but for a little more, he chose to let us do granite.

I am pleased to report that he wrote a cheque to me this AM to complete the project and said "that was the best $5000 I ever spent".

We must have done something right! Let us do something right for you too, visit me, text me, call me, email me, tweet me, or fax me today!

—

Corie Amundson
Stone Age Granite
1506 Ross Ave E Regina, SK
Office: 789-1730 / Cel: 530-1117 / Fax: 761-2345
"Your Granite Guy"

Granite from a BIG BOX store? Maybe not….

Are you thinking of getting granite from your local big box store (Lowes, Rona, Costco etc…)? Well we’ve just started a project for a senior employee of one of these big box stores! You would think that being an employee and working at one of these stores you would get the best deals, discounts and so forth. Perhaps the big differences are:

1) Expertise – Sure you have people there selling granite and laminate and quartz. But what you don’t have is me. Ask any of the people servicing you at these box stores where the material comes from, how it is made, what the physical characteristics of each stone are…you’ll probably get a line of BS, maybe someone knows a little bit, but it’s unlikely that anyone at any of these stores is more qualified to talk about stone than me.

2) Service – When you come to my shop you get to deal directly with me. Once you’ve placed the order you still deal with me. Once we have template, fabricated and are installing your product, if you have any questions or concerns that my crew cannot answer, you have my cell phone number you can call me directly. Try calling that guy at Home Depot on his cell phone; it’s not going to happen.

3) Selection – We have many, many beautiful slabs in stock. What do you see at Rona? Little tiny chunks along with a beautiful glossy brochure. When you come to my shop, take a look, get a free quote, and take a sample home (no charge). We do not sell granite our of brochures here. Did you see a beautiful exotic stone in our yard that you want? Put your name on it and we’ll hold it till your ready. Next time you’re at Lowes ask them where they keep their slabs, you’ll get some puzzled looks.

4) Price – Even with all the perks listed above our pricing is very competitive and usually less than most prices you could get from any of these stores. They may try to promise $60 per square foot, bet after all the up-charges and extras that always seem to get tacked on, at the end of the project our price will still be lower.

5) Shop local – profits from the big box stores leave our community and fill the pockets of people who will never shop at your store, they may never even set foot in our community. Our business is 100% owned by Saskatchewan residents. Our profits get spent in Saskatchewan buying goods from local businesses.

Come see me soon!

Corie Amundson
Stone Age Granite
1506 Ross Ave E Regina, SK
Office: 789-1730 / Cel: 530-1117 / Fax: 761-2345
"Your Granite Guy"

Granite Transformation Take 2

Its going to be worth your while to shop around for granite if you are considering Granite Transformations. We had another customer with a quote of over $7000 from granite transformations. Final price here at Stone Age Granite $5800 INCLUDING a sink and tap.

I’m sure Granite Transformations has a good product but why would you pay more for something fake when you can have real granite?

Maybe the boys from Granite Transformations will give me a call and explain their pricing so I can quit bugging them!

I hope you’ll look us up if you are thinking of granite, mention this blog and I’ll throw in a free sink with your order!

Enjoy your summer!

Mystic White

Hi I’ve ordered THREE of these slabs and they will be here TODAY. 1 is sold and 2 are available BEST PRICE EVER! They will not last long, I bet they are gone by Friday.

mystic river

mystic river1

Granite countertop ideas

Some nice new colours just got the the warehouse!

Take a look and give me a call if you want a closer look…

Corie Amundson
Stone Age Granite
1506 Ross Ave E Regina, SK
Office: 789-1730 / Cel: 530-1117 / Fax: 761-2345

black astrus ed 672 slab 41 121 x 66 1

black astrus ed 672 slab 41 121 x 66 2

black marinace ed 668 slab 27 128 x 81 2

golden marinace ed 668 slab 21 125 x 78 2

mercury black ed 647 109 x 62 1

mercury black ed 647 109 x 62 2

Granite Transformations

A new customer of ours passed along his quote from Granite Transformations here in Regina.

Notice that their price is THOUSANDS more expensive than ours.

Granite Transformations provides small sheets of “granite” (which is actually crushed stone mixed with glues and such, not real natural granite) that go directly over your countertop. Good idea, might look nice. But why not SAVE some money and get REAL granite? Sure you’ve got to take off your old countertop but why have a plain old roast beef sandwich when for the same price or less you can get a AAA Kobe Beef sandwich?

For the quote below they have allowed for 48 square feet, with a price of $7000.

EDIT FEB 13, 2015 – I’ve been contacted by the lawyers for Granite Transformations disputing their quote below.  Since it is the actual quote provided to my by this particular customer I am not too worried that there is an issue.  However there are two mistakes.  First, their quote appears to include a cooktop cutout and an undermount sink. We did this job for the quoted price of $4,738 and even though we did not price in the cooktop cutout we did it at no extra cost anyways.  The customer did provide a sink.

I also note that our final estimate sheet shows 58 square feet, not the 48 square feet that Granite Transformations had quoted.  Our quote of $4,738 includes that extra 10 sf, granite transformations price of $7,000 appears to be only for the 48 sf.  Our quote does not include backsplash, it appears that theirs does not include backsplash either.

Like I tell most customers, save yourself time and money by coming here first, we’ll give you our best price and you can be sure that its probably the best price you are going to get anywhere!

Call today!

Mike Holmes on Granite vs Quartz

http://life.nationalpost.com/2012/07/30/mike-holmes-rock-out-with-granite-countertops-and-others/

A very interesting article. – Quartz is not "stain proof" but stain resistant. Quartz could also stain but we are experiencing reports of stains on either at 2 out of 1000 installs on both materials or less. Most stains can be treated and removed or they naturally dissipate over time.

Let me know if you have any questions. We sell both materials as EQUALLY great products and suggest you pick something based on the look you want as they will both perform equally awesome!