NEW ENGLAND STONE

Granite is unique in every piece. The sales person insisted that they come out and measure and Template the project which we did. We were told there was no guarantee if we did it ourselves and had to pay extra for that. We gladly paid. Then we went to the yard and mapped out the countertop. I wanted the granite to "Roll up" the back splash. After installing the counter the back splash was canted by 1/2 inch on 36 inches (Alot) and the corners were beveled backwards. We called the company, the owner himself came out to retemplate the job. As this granite was unique we could no longer have the backsplash match. They had to come and take out the counter top to try to match something they had. We were without counters for 2 weeks. When it came back the counter was OK, the new corner pieces were correct and the canted backsplace was replaced but it did not match and our one piece back splash and now it was 3 pieces. We called the owner back, he apologised and offered an "appology" we had a new piece of counter coming for another cabinet free of charge. When it arrives, it was not polished, I had to take it back and wait for it to be polished. The grain was running 90 degrees off from the grain of the other granite in the kitchen, and then a week later he took $250.00 from our charge card without our knowing it. We argued. It was ot be free according to him. He claimed he had to charge us for the rework he had to do on our counter top that his staff messed up! I called the credit card company and protested the invoice. It was supposed to be free to appologise for the screw up of our counder tops. He claimed he was to be paid for this 2 sq ft piece of granite AND I was to bring it back if I did not pay for it. I told him if he wanted it back to come and get it with in 5 days. I was not going to pay for it. He could have it back. We never heard anything. The granite is still in our kitchen with the grain running the wrong way. I have done 3 more projects since and now use a reputable granite person.

The saleswoman is very nice. She tried to find me the slab I wanted. I asked for Sea Grass limestone and she got a slab from somewhere else that I accepted. The quoted price was about $1200 more than what I had been quoted by another company. They had a rejected vanity top from another job (already cut for sink and faucet) in Sea Grass. They said they would give me that for "free" if I accepted a price of $3500. I said I didn't like the edge detail on it and they said they could change it to suit me, if possible. I showed her what edge detail I wanted on all the pieces. She said okay. When a man came to make the template, he seemed very competent and also asked me what edge detail I wanted. I showed him on an upstairs countertop the exact edge I wanted on the kitchen and lavatory. When the countertops arrived for installation (almost two weeks later), they had the wrong edge detail. The lavatory piece had the same ogee edge it had when I saw it in the stoneyard, and the kitchen countertops had a different edge. They had not called me to say they couldn't put my edge on the vanity top. Neither edge detail was what I had shown either the saleswoman or the template guy. They took them away again. Then the saleswoman tried to blame the error on me. Definitely not my mistake. Then they charged me another $600 to cut a completely new vanity top. This was not the original deal we had made, by any means. And this was a scrap piece that they couldn't feasibly have used on any other job. They re-installed the counters about 8 days later. (At this point, I'd been without a kitchen sink for a month and houseguests were coming in two days.) They also told me that the seam in the kitchen countertop would be virtually invisible; it's not, of course. Also, they "sealed" the countertop, but it had absolutely no effect. I don't know what they used, but the countertop absorbed water drops immediately and stains. I had to reseal it myself. No big deal, but if you're going to seal it, seal it (and for $4100 for a small kitchen and lav?). On the plus side, the saleswoman let me come after the templates were made and actually lay them out on the slab myself. And they did that part right. Also, the template guy did a super job and they fit against the backsplash perfectly. The owner, although seeing me several times in the shop, and directing the saleswoman's negotiations with me, and even speaking to me after the edge error occurred, never once introduced herself. Mainly, I thought that trying to blame me for their error, and never doing anything to compensate me for it, was poor business.

WE WERE THOROUGHLY PLEASED WITH OUR EXPERIENCE AT NEW ENGLAND STONE. THEIR PRICES WERE UNBEATABLE AND THE QUALITY GREAT. THE INSTALLATION WAS EASY AND THE INSTALLER WAS VERY GOOD.