Thompson Price - Kitchens, Baths & Home

Sub-standard framing and substrate installation. The tile had major deviations in grout spaces, with chipping of tiles. Additionally, the shower floor tiles did not adhere to base. The net result was a complete tear out of their work and another construction company was hired to re-do the project. We do not under any circumstances recommend this company.

Designer had no idea what she was doing. She pushed certain expensive items that were not our style at all. She was a terrible designer for the shower and didn't include materials for the niche when the shower was tiled. Later, they tried to "fix" their mistake, making the problem worse with cracked and chipped tiles as the result. Company refused to fix shower after they said it was completed.

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horrible company. Didn't work a full week once. Project was over 2 months overdue when he failed to show up. The shower they installed was terrible, sloppy and uneven. Thompson Price refused to come and look at job, yet demanded over $20,000. The shower had to be completely torn out and redone by Callier Thompson. The ceiling in the bathroom was not built level causing the shower the be uneven. The owner is a bully, the company lacks design and his sons run the projects terribly. Don't use this company!!

Great suggestions, timely and professional. You can find cheaper, builder grade designs and materials, but for a kitchen you want to use for years, I recommend (new business name) Thompson Price Kitchen, Baths and Home.

He wanted me to write him a check for $500 with the agreement that if he was chosen to do the work, that would be deducted to the price of the work. When he did the job, he knew my budget was $12,000-13,000 and when he bidded, he bidded at $21,700. I told him that was too far out of line so then he started chipping away at it and he got it down to $17,000 and I told him it was still too high. I asked them for my money back and he wouldn't give it back to me. So he robbed me of $500. He said that the reason he wouldn't give it back to me was because I had agreed for him to design my bathroom. I said that's what this is all about, I just went to him for a competitive bid because I had gone out to other prospects. He asked why I gave him the check so I told him I shouldn't have done that, I guess he was a nice face. I should have put it on a credit card, that way I could stopped it at the bank. He knew that if he got the check and en-cashed, I could never get my money back. I would never ever send anybody to Thompson Price to do any kind of remodel work for kitchen and bathrooms. That man will rob you blind.I'm a designer, too and he's probably got a lot of templates and pulls them out and makes a few changes here and there and then it would probably take you 30 minutes to do that. That's all he presented to me. To make 1-hour visit to my house and to spend 30 minutes on CAD and maybe spend an hour working up an estimate, $500 still is a lot of money.I turned him over to the Better Business Bureau but his response to that was the fact that he said I signed a contract to retain him to design the bathroom. I really don't remember doing that but the thing is if I have had done that, he should have given me a copy of it and he never gave me a copy of it. He may be talking out of his hat. I would never do business with him. He'll screw you upfront. If you decide to contract him to do the work, what he's gonna do is he's gonna go out and get a bunch of contractors. He did bad mouth Angie's List. He asked how we found out about him and my wife told him that we heard about him on the radio and we found out later that he is friends with the guy that does the radio show. He said that the contractors can go to Angie's List and they can put anything they want to on there. After he said that, I called Angie's List and I asked them about it because it doesn't make sense, that the contractors shouldn't be able to put comments on there in their favor; it should be strictly for people who have had work done by the contractor, that they should be the only ones that make referrals on there. The way he said it was that you can't listen to Angie's List because the contractors can get on there and can spin it in their direction. I don't trust the man, the company. That's just the way I feel. I know what he did to me. If I have to deal with it over again, I wouldn't have written the check. I just wasn't thinking when I did it.If anybody goes over there and looking for a competitive bid from him, they should not give him any money. He'll ask for money right upfront. People should understand that when we were out looking for bids on our home, we don't have to give money right away and I made a mistake. I'm sure there's a lot of other people who have done that, too. He'll ask for you to write him a check for $500 upfront and then he won't give your money back if he doesn't get selected to do the work. If he comes in your home, if he decides that he doesn't want to do the work, he'll give you a high bid. He knew what my budget was and I knew where the bids will come in at. He asked me what my budget was and told me that it's a bit low and kinda scoffed at that.

Design process was wonderful.  They listened to what we wanted and produced multiple designs and worked with us until we were happy. They offered suggestions that were key to a good finished product, things that we wouldn't have thought of.

We were happy with the final result.

However, what went on between the completion of design and the completion of the bathrooms was disappointing and frustrating.

To start with, the downpayment was much higher than we expected based on past experience.  The down payment was approximately 75% of the total.  They said this was because so much of the total was materials and not labor.

They said they could complete the installations in 2 wks beginning late in October.  It ultimately took over 2 months.  We told them up front that if the work could not be completed before the holidays then we wanted to wait until after the first of the year.  Neither bathroom was functional over the Thanksgiving holiday -- and we had 20 guests that day! 

We had 2 delays due to worker illness and one because a worker forgot to come.

Another delay was due to the need to order spacers from the cabinet company for one of the bathrooms.  We never got

 an explanation for why this also delayed work on the second bathroom. 

Three subcontracted companies were used to complete the project. All 3 ultimately had to return at least once to repair mistakes. Ultimately, it was decided that one countertop was outside prescribed tolerances and the stone company involved would replace it.  However, we did not want to go through the mess and delay to have that done so we have a less than perfect countertop. So, although this is technically a non-Thompson Price company, it is indicative of the quality of companies they subcontract work to. 

The master bath involved a long vanity and countertop with double sinks separated by an upper cabinet.  The two sides were not symmetrical.  It took many visits by various members of the team to figure out why the 2 sides weren't the same.  At one point Tom Price said, "things can be visually correct without being technically correct."  That may be, but it wasn't even visually correct. How insulting!    

All original materials installation was completed in December and they demanded final payment then even though there were significant problems that could have required major portions of the master bath be dismantled and reinstalled. At that time, there was no resolution yet offered for the problems. Because we feared a dismantled bathroom over Christmas, we asked that they wait until January to do any more work.  This meant, of course, that the bathrooms still were cosmetically challenged over more holiday events.  All work was ultimately completed in January.

Communication was not their strong suit.  When I would ask for dates that work would resume, the answer was always vague or "we will have to let you know."  They often didn't call when they said they would.  When I would ask if a specific thing would occur on a specific date, the answer was always, "that's the plan."  Somehow, that seemed like a slippery response. 

Bottom line:  they are great with design. Things got dicey after that.  Price was no bargain. Workers were very polite and careful to limit mess.  They covered flooring to avoid damage. Ultimately, the final result was good, but it was frustrating to get there.  Their folks did not catch mistakes; we did. I hate to think how things would have gone if we weren't home while work was done. I  felt that if I wanted it done wrong, I could have done it myself.

Update:  Fast forward 11 months after original completion.  Two of the 3 under-mount sinks had been replaced due to manufacturer defects approximately 6 months after project completion.  5 months later, one of the two replacements was also found to be defective.  The manufacturer sent a new sink.  When it arrived and the installer sent by Thompson Price canceled on us, Thompson Priced refused to find another one to finish the job.  They claimed they had only 1 such installer.  They'd better hope he never steps in front of a bus or I guess they'll be out of business!  Thompson Price's take on the problem was that they are not in the business to replace sinks; they are in the business to sell and install new ones. They also implied that they felt no obligation to help because we gave them this uncomplimentary review.  Subsequently, we discovered that the manufacturer no longer made the sink we originally had and the replacement they sent would not fit.  We were left with a sink that didn't fit and a countertop that no sink would fit. We had to find a stone fabricator to make a new counter and find a new sink (because we were not about to install the original brand again).  It took 4 months and $700 but we finally have a working sink again -- no thanks to Thompson Price.   

We were told initially that the job would start on April 8th. A few days before the 8th, T.Price called and moved the start date. They told us that this job would take 1 month (4 weeks), complete with a time line calendar. Our Installer, who did not work for Thompson Price, was very professional and always showed up on time and put in a full day and was very respectful of our property. Our installer bid the job and Thompson Price accepted his bid and he bid the job based on the 4 week schedule. The job never moved/progressed as stated and after 7 weeks, our installer walked off the job. Plain and simple, he was not making money on our project any more. We eventually had a new installer assigned to us and the job was finished 10 or 11 weeks later in June. There were plenty of problems with the job that were not the fault of the homeowner. Plumbing for the new tub was never discussed and nearly caused the new tub and framing to be pulled out at the end to better facilitate the plumbing fixtures. The original installer pulled the old toilet out and did not completely empty it before hand. We had a water event in the bedroom ceiling below the bathroom. We are currently waiting to schedule the painters in to repair the damage. Thompson Price has agreed to pay for the painters. The cabinets that Thompson Price had made for us was not measured properly. At installation time, the installer discovered that the Cabinets were too tall.Thompson Price had not measured for them properly. Electrical outlets were moved without discussion or approval which did affect the workability of the bathroom. We end up having electrical outlets place in our mirrors right by the sinks and the water. The saturday before the countertop templates were to be done, we received a voice mail stating that there was a 'reliability issue' with our new sinks. We were then told to pick a new sink from a list of 2 that they sent us. Thompson Price was conveniently closed at this time on Saturday so we could not even go in to their showroom and look at samples. We had to rely on internet pictures. We eventually found one that they had not offered up but said they could get templates for so our countertop template could be done. It is our firm belief that the original sinks we chose were never order, hence explaining the 'reliability issue'. We had numerous problems with the plumbers that Thompson Price used. We constantly have had issues with the job they have done and their attitude of "Well, it is good enough for my home, it should be good enough for yours".  I complained at the final walk through that the brown tile grout on the floor was on the painted wall. Tom Price Senior told me that all I needed to do was get a wet sponge to clean it up. I told him that that was not my job. They were responsible for the sloppy grout job on the walls and cleaning it up was part of the job. 
This Saga continued in October. We had used our radiant heated floor a few times and noticed that the wall around the thermostat would get extremely hot. One evening I was in my closest (which shared a wall with the termostate for the floor. I noticed an odd smell that was not right but could not pin point what it was. I noticed it again a day or two later. I sniffed around the thermostat. The wall was hot and the order was coming from the the thermostat. We turned it off and called Thompson Price and requested that the electricians come the next day. This request was not well received by Thompson price. When the electricians came, they took the junction box out. The box had several scorch marks on it. This is what I smelled, burning plastic. Thompsom Price did not replace the radiant heated floor but just the wire from the floor to the wall. I am a little hesitant but will give it a try.
It is now 9 months after this project started. The painters will be here tomorrow to clean up some of the mistakes from Thompson Price. We will never use Thompson Price again and will glad when they are completely done with our job. We chose Thompson Price based on the word of a well known and respected local Radio personality. I have lost faith in this person and in Thompson Price.

Contractor knew completion timing was critical from the outset.  Remodel was to have been completed during an extended period of homeowner travel.  Contractor traveled extensively after contracted with delays occuring in completion and errors made due to poor communication within their firm.  Contractor installed wrong accessories, wrong shower doors, created a cutout for a medicene cabinet that was not ordered, reinstalled a mirror in the wrong location, and did not complete trim work.  When contractor stated everything was complete, there was clearly no testing done by the contractor to confirm that.  Water literally trickled out of shower heads.  It took days to get the plumbing issues resolved.

Despite acknowledged problems with bathroom remodeling contractor refused to return retainer paid for kitchen remodel work (that was supposed to start after baths completed) contracted at same time as baths.  Another remodeler who subsequently did the kitchen had to do extensive drywall repair in the bathrooms. 

Do not use this contractor.

Tom Price is the focal point for this company.  He is outstanding at custtomer service.  whenever an error was made during the entire process, Tom personally ensured that it was corrected at no charge to me.

Thompson Price estimated that the project would take about 5 weeks and that is exactly how long it took. All of the contractors did fine work.