ASSI

We had contracted with Home Depot to install Corian countertops, with a directional pattern, while Home Depot was having a sale that provided a free one-level pattern upgrade. The price of $7,278 was still the highest quote we had received for the product. We had confidence in Home Depot because they had handled a wall-to-wall carpet installation for us in newly finished space and it had been an excellent experience. The Corian installation was assigned by Home Depot to ASSI of Beltville, Maryland. I spoke to personnel at ASSI for some time about our order. I was advised that A) we would have to pay for wasted material of the directional Corian pattern that we had selected, and B) we needed to install the directional pattern going in one direction on all of the countertops in the entire kitchen (rather than flowing around the space, in the normal manner) in order to minimize waste of the directional material. Thus, at the cooktop end of the kitchen, the pattern would flow perpendicular to the edge of the countertop, whereas the flow would be parallel to the edge of the countertop elsewhere. That would look terrible. I tried to explain that the additional waste of the directional pattern is supposed to be built in to the higher cost per square foot of the directional pattern, which was at the very top end of the Corian line. My assertions were refuted. According to ASSI's practices, I was wrong. I checked with Home Depot and found that I was right. They do not charge for waste, and of course the pattern should flow around the space. That's why it's more expensive per square foot. I cancelled the order, and I called the manager of the department at Home Depot to let them know what had happened. ASSI's practices had blown up our contract. This experience with ASSI was very bad. The only good part about it was that they did not do the installation, because we knew that they were advising us improperly. Despite the high price that we were paying, in an attempt to squeeze every dime of profit out of the job, they were going to spoil the look of our kitchen. When you pay top dollar, you should never get the lowest quality work. A different company, located in Manassas Park, Virginia, installed our countertops in the same Corian pattern, and did a fantastic job, at a price that was nearly $2,000 less.

I cannot recommend ASSI to anyone. The entire experience from getting an estimate, to selecting a marble slab, to measuring and installation was just terrible. Ray, the sales rep/manager I dealt with, lacks basic customer service and communication skills when dealing with his customers. I felt rushed when I was selecting a slab. I also felt completely out of the loop when it came to getting an estimate and scheduling. If it weren't for my contractor, I would have never received an estimate or known when ASSI staff was going to show up at my house. I find it very inconsiderate when someone tells me they are going to do something but they don't follow through. Ray told me he would email photos of the marble slab to me; he never did. Ray told me he would email the estimate to me; he never did that either despite multiple requests. When the installation crew didn't show up at the scheduled installation time and my contractor called Ray, Ray never bothered to return his call. To make matters worse, Ray never bothered to consider my schedule when it was time to measure the countertop and threshold. His guys would have shown up at my house unannounced if my contractor didn't tell me that ASSI were on their way and would be at my residence in 30 minutes. ASSI didn't contact me to schedule an installation date and time. They just told me when they'd be at my house. It's stuff like this that makes me feel like I'm not a valued customer. The installers were late by an hour and a half and never bothered to call to let me know they were going to be late. Instead of taking responsibility for not contacting me, they blamed it on the person who manages installations. The countertop on the vanity looks great, I'll give them that. However, they didn't finished the shower threshold properly. On the underside of the threshold, they left a gap of about a half an inch between the top of the threshold and the bottom of the marble. They should have, in the least, caulked the joint to seal it from any water that's bound to get the area wet. Maybe they were rushing because it was 5:30 on a Friday when they were doing the installation. Regardless, there's no excuse for sloppy workmanship. Again, I cannot recommend ASSI. I encourage you to look at other countertop companies and avoid these guys.

The person from ASSI who did the measuring was great; he was helpful, on time, and made a few recommendations that were helpful in terms of laying out the counter. However, during the installation process, the installers were pretty rough in placing the countertops and wound up damaging the walls. I contacted ASSI for follow up and they told me that, per the contract (aka the fine, fine print), they were not responsible for superficial damages. Needless to say, I was disappointed in this response. I'd refrain from using them in the future, especially as the installers made no attempt to be "gentle" or prevent damage to the walls.

Our handyman contracted them for us. I'm not sure if they deal directly with the public. They called multiple times to confirm the date and our timeslot. They were really professional and really quick. They made sure that we would be happy with the quality of their work. They did a really good job and also cleaned up really well. They wanted to make sure that they had the address correct and knew where they were going. When I called back the woman who called me she knew exactly what I was talking to in reference to the job. I did not have to try and explain anything to her. She knew it off the top of her head. She was very professional and at the same time very familiar with her job. The job went really well. They are a great company. They told us exactly what we needed to do to make sure that the sink setting was solid. It was very strong and just perfect after the job was done. They gave us a two-hour window which was good because we were used to getting four or five-hour windows. They came out right smack in the middle of it.