Starting off with the positive, the quality of work performed by the subcontractors of Shoreside was simply OUTSTANDING. On the main floor, we had about 1200 sq. ft of red oak natural hardwood floors refinished in addition to a new installation of 430 sq ft. In addition, we added new hardwood stairs with rug runner and new carpet with the smart cushion (top of the line) all installed in upstairs bed rooms, closets and linen areas. I cannot say enough platitudes for Will, the hardwood guy and Jason, the carpet installer. These guys are the best their profession has to offer and Shoreside is fortunate to have them on the team.
However, that all said this newer company had several missteps along the way which made this project extremely frustrating and time consuming. Lou is their go-to sales rep in this family company. During the initial sales presentation, he suggested we use a matching prefinished wood for the dining/living room AND steps to match up with the refinished flooring in the adjacent rooms. All seems logical and would save a few hundred dollars in the process. However, he FAILED to mention, that the pre-finished floor color would not match the existing floors after the refinishing process (sand and poly). His concern was more about the bevel match vise color match. This was an important missed communication on the part of the sales rep as at no time did he mention that the colors would not be even close! As a result, when Will the installer arrived, he immediately brought to our attention that the floor appearance between old and new would be very different and obvious. This outcome was completely unacceptable in our view. Why would the sales rep not advise and emphasize this important detail?
We were now forced to have the new prefinished floors and steps sanded to bare wood and refinished similar to the original hardwood floors at an additional cost in both time and money, and off our budget. As it was their sales rep’s mistake, wouldn’t it be expected that Shoreside would be responsible for the extra cost? Nope. This extra work led to scheduling delays and cost us extra time in hotels and certainly the inconvenience of having the house in complete disarray for a longer period than planned. The delay was incurred due to having to sand and refinish in a two-step process vise a single step because of furniture positioning. Add to that, the carpet installation was unexpectedly delayed by two days because of transportation issues, I’m sure out of Shoreside’s control, but still very inconvenient (and costly) to us. This was not a small project. TWO floors of a large house were involved.
I was able to relay my concerns to Vinnie, one of the owners and his partner. They were both very understanding, professional and accommodating, and tried to remain involved in the conclusion of the project while offering almost no pricing adjustments for the inconvenience and delays.
In addition, if it says the company will “remove sink” then make arrangements to have that task done. The customer should not have to find out during the install that the contractor can’t remove a sink. Again, minor point but it’s about attention to detail; company-management-sales-labor and customer all on the same page.
And lastly, as a final disappointing ending, the manager called to say that they would not complete one of our requested carpet runner bindings (without payment) after offering to bind “our remnants” (one a large 9 ft x12 ft piece that we only found out about after asking the installer about leftover carpet), as a courtesy gesture for their mistakes…really? And the offer was made by the higher ups. Thanks.
While we cannot say enough positives about their subcontractors, we cannot even remotely recommend this company. For a small company wanting to establish themselves, they need to go back to the drawing board and learn what customer service is all about. Take your business to a company that values it.
