If you are now liking them I would still try to get a discount and some money back as you will always wonder what your slabs would have looked like and a slight disappointment may always be there.

To another point, this is an example of why it is important to attend the templating when it is done and I recommend it if at all possible.

I chose my slab and knew due the size of my two separate counters that the entire slab would be used and cut in half horizontally. It had a definite pattern which was not real uniform and I trusted them to make the layout.

I was disappointed when seeing how they fabricated the one slab thinking I would have requested that they do the opposite of how they laid it out and put the section which had more interest of quartz pieces and bling on the sink side that is way more visible in the room. They only knew the sizes they needed to be and never saw the room and I only thought of that later, after I decided not to be present when they were doing it.

I chose not to go to the templating as didn't want to take yet another vacation day from work (many hours of my benefit time used to shop, return, and look for things for the project) and I will always regret not attending. There must be a reason they did it this way but again, I will always wonder though very happy with the job itself.

I would have had a real fit had they not used the slab I chose as some Absolute Cream granite can be on the yellow side. Mine was a true cream background and any other tone would have appeared "off".

Good luck.

Sounds to me like the stone yard made the mistake and sent the fabricator the slabs that were not tagged for you...was the fabricator involved in the selection process with you?

Talked to the fabricator today and they are denying any responsibility. When I made my deposit with them they told me to go and pick out my slabs and gave me the names/addresses of a couple of yards. I went and picked some out and they tagged it and said they would notify the fabricator, Premier.

Premier said they never got the notification so just used some of their stock granite on hand and said my issue is with the stone yard. I think that after telling me to pick my own slab they should have called me before installation to say they didn't have a selection from me and will just use stock granite. I don't know what recourse I could have from the granite yard as I didn't contract with them or pay them anything. The manager said that most people don't pick out their own slab when they use the more common granites. Which I find odd since the salesperson I worked with told me I would want to pick out my slabs since granite varies so much.

I'm just sick that I went through that much work and effort to pick out the perfect granite for us and it was all for nothing. I paid with a credit card. Do you think I have any recourse to dispute the charge through the credit card company?

Do you have any written documentation, contract, emails, etc. to show that you have picked slabs from the stoneyard that the fabricator failed to use? You can certainly dispute the charge with the credit card company - that will get the fabricator's attention - but the more documentation you have, the more likely you are to win the dispute.

"I think that after telling me to pick my own slab they should have called me before installation to say they didn't have a selection from me and will just use stock granite."

Exactly.

You did what they told you. They did not.

Dispute with your CC. The reason is that you did not get the product that you paid for.

I would also talk to the stone yard and get their side of the story. Why they did not call the fabricator, whether they normally work with this fabricator, and how these things (communication) are handled normally>

This post was edited by nosoccermom on Tue, Jul 8, 14 at 10:54

"Do I have any leg to stand on with the fabricator/installers? Do you think they'd compensate me in any way?"

melissak:

What does your contract say? Almost every countertop problem on this board has the he said/she said problem.

It isn't like you ordered a specific granite and they installed Corian.

If your contract doesn't specify which specific slabs they are to use, if I were a judge, I'd say you were out of luck.

I know a guy who owns a Premire Countertops and he is very customer oriented. Email me and if it's the same guy, I'll see what I can do.

If you've exhausted talking with the owner than call your CC company to get involved. Something similar happened with my countertop and the owner stalled around but finally gave me a 10% discount. It's discouraging that so many countertop fabricators will try to pass of mistakes and hope the owner doesn't notice.

I looked at the contract and it doesn't specify a slab. He said that I signed off on it. But the only thing it really says is that the counter was installed, the seams and edges are acceptable, not marred, etc. I'm getting even more upset because the owner is just being so nasty about it all, basically blaming me.

They tell me to pick a slab and that the yard would forward my selection. The yard echoes that same information. I do my job, there is a failure to communicate between the fabricator and supplier but somehow they are both off the hook and it is my problem.

The granite they installed is lovely and the installation was great. I feel a tiny bit bad making a stink about it but then at the same time I picked out granite that I like better than what they gave me and now it seems like I'm out of luck. I'm hoping for some better news tomorrow. I really don't want to be spiteful but if I am going to continue to be treated poorly after they made the mistake, not me, then I may have to contact my cc company and the BBB. Or take to social media and post my honest review of their company. I really wish people would just own up to their mistakes and do what it takes to fix it. All this time I thought the reason I didn't love my granite was because I made a poor choice. And I was willing to live with my choice. Only I found out it wasn't my choice at all, but one chosen for me because someone else made an error. :(

I think you have a good chance of having your cc company take care of things. You followed their protocol. They screwed up. Why that is your fault and they should be off the hook and you not receive what you purchased is beyond me.

Trebruchet, you frequently dismiss a case when the agreement was verbal. While your point of getting everything in writing is a good one, it is my understanding from an old business law course, that verbal agreements are just as binding. Now if the other person is going to lie, that makes it more difficult to prove of course. But not getting something in writing does not relieve people of their verbal contracts, as I understand it.

Maybe there is a lawyer here who can explain how the law works. That's just something that stuck with me from school.

Some contracts have to be in writing to be enforceable, and some don't. But without a writing, it's very hard to prove your case, including which slab you say you picked, so it's going to be very difficult to do anything about it. The CC company is just an intermediary, not judge and jury. they tell you to contact the company first and if you don't get satisfaction, they step in to facilitate a resolution of the dispute. But unless there's clear cut evidence, they're not in a position to "ding" the fabricator.

I think the series of events (her following their protocol to go pick her slabs) and the fact that the yard called to see if she still wanted her tagged stones is pretty clear evidence that specific stones were purchased and she did not get them.

That being said, looking back at your opening post, you say you like them now so I don't see that there is anything to worry about at this point. You are in a pretty good position. People don't need to be compensated for errors, just because, when things work out alright in the end.

Huuuge mistake on their part but you are lucky you are fine with them. Those are the kinds of mistakes you want!

"All this time I thought the reason I didn't love my granite was because I made a poor choice. And I was willing to live with my choice. Only I found out it wasn't my choice at all, but one chosen for me because someone else made an error. :( "

That says it all. It is a terrible feeling to feel taken advantage of and you are not being spiteful at all. Hopefully they will make sure this doesn't happen in the future. Sorry this happened to you.

I think the problem you would have with your cc company and in a legal proceeding is that you accepted delivery and didn't say anything for weeks. So the vendor will argue that while you may not have received the exact granite you picked, you got the equivalent so there was no harm suffered.

I know it is aggravating but part of any "case" is showing that you incurred legal damages. Even you say that now you like your counters fine, so that damages element is missing, unless you can show he gave you something of lesser value than you paid for.

This post was edited by sas95 on Wed, Jul 9, 14 at 7:23

I agree that it is not the end of the world. But the point is that while I "like" the countertops and they are fine, I don't LOVE them. I spent a lot of time finding the right slabs for us. And I never would have replaced my laminate that was "fine" and spent thousands of dollars on granite that I don't love. If I knew I was just going to get whatever slab they had on hand I would have chosen quartz so I could be certain of what I was getting. My main issue is a big vein running through the slab I got that the slab I chose didn't have.

I also think that I'm getting more upset about it because the owner of the company keeps being so rude about it. Telling me he does 20 kitchens a day and cannot be expected to call every granite yard in the city just to see if I made a selection. Maybe that's true but I only have ONE kitchen that I will remodel ONE time and I only expected him to make ONE phone call and that was to me, saying they didn't have a selection from me and did I make one. I probably would never have considered even taking this any further but he hasn't even apologized once. I'm heading out there to pick up some backsplash tile that came in that I already paid for so we'll see if he has anything different to say....

I completely agree with you.
Dispute the charge with your credit card company. You did not get what you paid for. The substitute product may be of equal value, but you did not agree to the substitute.

Document everything.

Does this granite place work more frequently with the fabricator? I would tell them that there was a screw-up between the two, and that they need to figure out a resolution.

Well if you are settling, then he should be grateful and thankful, offering you a very good discount. I totally agree about how much time and effort you put in, for nothing - and he can't even be bothered making a phone call in the course of his business operations?

If I picked something I loved and they delivered whatever they felt like, I would ask them to replace it with what I purchased or take it home. There is no reason you should have to settle for their error the rest of your life, while they get paid thousands of dollars for screwing up. This is a high end purchase and big investment

He's being a royal jerk, trying to intimidate you. Since he is not a mature adult and respectable businessman, let your cc company handle him. I'd get a full refund and deal with a different fabricator for those stones with your name on them. I wouldn't want a counter I just "liked" that I waited my whole life for which would annoy and disappoint me every day. Why should you be expected to do that? You have a more than valid complaint. You are to be a saint, give him $$$$, while he doesn't even treat you respectfully?

Fine that it's just a hunk of stone to him, but his stance that you shouldn't get what you worked hard for and purchased is ridiculous. It was his mistake. He's got insurance.

This post was edited by snookums2 on Wed, Jul 9, 14 at 13:41

Before stopping payment for goods or services received I would suggest you read the law from whatever state you are in to see what you are getting into....if this guy is installing as many counters as you say he does, I am sure he knows his rights inside and out when it comes to payment

If a charge is disputed, that doesn't mean that payment is revoked, so it's not like putting a hold on a check.

Of course it is like putting a hold on a check, the merchant has the money taken from his account

If you pay by check and then stop/hold payment, you've actually withheld payment and there may be laws that apply. If on the other hand, you've made payment by credit card and you dispute it, you're absolutely within your rights - both under the law and under the credit card agreement (both between you the consumer and the issuer of the card, and between the issuer of the card and fabricator). When someone agrees to take a credit card in payment for goods or services, they agree to the dispute mechanism too.

Hun,
The fact he's doing all that is his way of apologizing.
When it's all said and done, in and beautiful, you can turn to him and simply say, "Apology accepted."

I wonder what happened to change his rude tune? One doesn't start singing such an about face without external pressure or realizations.

I am thrilled for you. Be there for every step, right!?

Glad to hear that it all worked out.

Yeah, I'm betting either his side or the yard found some evidence of the ball being dropped beyond just the fact that they told you to go choose and should have assumed you did. He sounds like he used to think it was on you and now knows it's not. Congrats!

Super! I'm so glad you are getting "your" counter that you love and not settling!

Great to hear!!! So happy for you!

Congrats!!!!

As to why he changed his tune: Well, he's getting the slabs for free, right?

And as far as what actually happens in a dispute, here's the explanation. It's a temporary credit that the CC company issues to disputer's account. The merchant only gets the payment reversed if the CC company decides in the disputer's favor. So no payment is withheld.

"How does the dispute process work?

After gathering information and any documentation you may have, we issue a temporary credit to your account while we investigate the transaction. We then notify the merchant of your dispute. If the merchant responds, we evaluate the information provided. If we decide in your favor, a credit is issued to your credit card account from the merchant's account and the temporary credit we had issued is reversed. If we do not decide in your favor, the temporary credit we issued during the investigation is reversed. If the merchant does not respond, we decide in your favor and a credit is issued to your credit card account from the merchant's account and the temporary credit we issued during the investigation is reversed."

If I got the story straight the reason he's not apologizing is because it's not his fault. It was up to the stone yard where you picked out the stone to notify the fabricator. How would the fabricator know that you picked out a slab at that particular stone yard unless they called him to let him know? It's the stone yard that should be apologizing (and basically they are because the slabs are now free).

As far as not calling you about the stone he eventually did use, a lot of people just don't care (especially if they buy their granite with a kitchen package at a Big Box stores). They specify a granite that is on display in a 12 x 36" slab at the store and settle for whichever one comes their way. Maybe the fabricator is used to that kind of client. Most people don't even know that they are supposed to be present at the templating.

I think the fabricator probably put great pressure on the stone yard on your behalf to allow him to use those slabs for free, and you should thank him for refabricating that slab as a gesture of goodwill.

awesome! so glad you'll be getting the slabs you pd for and picked out!

take a pic of what's there now and then the new slabs to post for us - I wanna see them both.
also glad you'll be in on the layout of the slabs.

did they give you a new install date? and keep a close eye on how it IS installed.

Sometimes it is worth fighting when you know your right. It doesn't,t usually work out but so that it did for you this time.

It may technically not be his fault but there is absolutely no reason to be a jerk to your customer.

(edited because my language wasn't very nice)

This post was edited by deee on Thu, Jul 10, 14 at 7:59

I'm wit'cha, dee. I was thinking that would be why the apology should be made.

Truly, at this point it doesn't matter whose fault it is. It needed to be fix and it's happening. But he didn't need to be a rude jack ass to her. Especially when she was just sick about it!