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Home Depot countertop MSI installed Belenco quartz instead

HU-322664963
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago





I purchase Stonemark Calacatta Vicenza matte at Home Depot. They hired Cutting edge for the installation and they installed Belenco quartz color Belluno. There’s website markings all over my countertop. Throughout the whole process I was not allowed to see the slab. Any advice on how I can get Home Depot to fix my countertop?..before I purchased the countertop I did research on MSI quartz but not Belenco.

Comments (37)

  • Angel 18432
    3 years ago

    What does your contract say? If you didn't get what the contract says then call them and complain.


  • HU-322664963
    Original Author
    3 years ago

    Contract said Stonemark Calacatta Vicenza Matte. They said the reason it was a different product was because the name changes between companies due to naming rights. That doesn’t make any sense. They are still refusing to fix my countertop

  • PRO
    Joseph Corlett, LLC
    3 years ago

    If there were any substantial difference between engineered stone products, I'd say you have a case. There isn't; you don't.

  • PRO
    GN Builders L.L.C
    3 years ago

    Same crap different name. I buy kitchens from a manufacturer in Florida and HD sells the same cabinets under a different name... They do that all the time.

  • PRO
    Joseph Corlett, LLC
    3 years ago

    Please post pictures and dimensions of any installation issues.

  • HU-322664963
    Original Author
    3 years ago

    I’ll be posting them in my next discussion....I’m in the process of making a YouTube video

  • HU-322664963
    Original Author
    3 years ago

    If it bothers you so much your more than welcome to come over and prove me wrong. At the end of the day Home Depot sold me a brand/product and installed something different. Anybody in my position would be upset. I spend around $4300.

  • HU-322664963
    Original Author
    3 years ago



  • HU-322664963
    Original Author
    3 years ago



  • Muriel Thompson
    3 years ago

    How about showing what it actually looks like in your kitchen? And no, not everyone would be upset that an installed product has a label on it that is different than the label it was marketed with.

  • Emily F
    3 years ago

    Is the website marking underneath the overhang the installation issue you're referring to?

    I recently discovered my granite overhang is unfinished with branding painted on it like yours. We bought the house 5 years ago and only recently noticed when I was inspecting something on the floor underneath and looked up. I think it's normal to leave the undersides unfinished, although I bet a lot of people are surprised when they see it.

  • HU-322664963
    Original Author
    3 years ago

    I was definitely surprised when I saw www.Belenco.com underneath my countertop....especially when I purchased Stonemark Calacatta Vicenza matte quartz by MSI.

  • ci_lantro
    3 years ago


    https://www.houzz.com/discussions/3783091/seeking-countertop-experts

    My understanding is that MSI doesn't manufacture any quartz. They source it & import it. Apparently Belenco is one of their suppliers.

    Read the thread I linked above.

    I went to both MSI & Belenco's websites. The two quartz's are indistinguishable in the website pictures. I have seen huge differences between a given name quartz sample & an actual slab of same name quartz. Don't see what the quibble is about.

    Unless you're angling to get free or almost free counter tops out of Home Depot. Which is what this is starting to smell like.

  • HU-322664963
    Original Author
    3 years ago

    I called MSI. The MSI representative told me that the countertop Home Depot installed was not their product and that their countertop did not have belenco website markings. The MSI representative offered to arrange a three-way call with Home Depot, so that he can find out what was going on. He called Home Depot and we spoke to the costumer order Specialist. She told the MSI representative that she did not know anything about my order and was not allowed to give any information about it. The MSI representative asked her to transfer us to a supervisor who did not answer the phone. Once again contract said Stonemark Calacatta Vicenza Matte.



  • PRO
    Patricia Colwell Consulting
    3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    I hope you have time to killl since IMO this is a no brainer unless there is some huge errors in install move on. So post your contract in this post and then we can see exactly what that contract says and yes we need to see this in your kitchen and not a couple of samples which BTW I am having a really hard time seeing the issue at all. As for th printing under the overhang unless you spend the day on your hands and knees will never be seen and it it really bugs you get another piece of quartz to cover it.

  • Muriel Thompson
    3 years ago

    Where are the pics of the installed countertops?

  • just_janni
    3 years ago

    It's. The. Same. Product.

  • ci_lantro
    3 years ago


    The following quote is a review on the Home Depot website posted September 08, 2020. The photos at the top of this thread are the exact same photos that are posted in the review left at Home Depot website.

    I had stonemark Calacatta Vincenza with Matte countertop installed and spend around $4300. Material is made from www.belenco.com and the color is 6114 Belluno. Quartz looks darker than the sample and the vains are darker and fuller. I went to 5 different Home Depot stores and this quartz does not look like their sample. Material looks cheap and scratches easy. There are markings all over underneath my countertops. Do your homework before installing Stonemark countertops. This quartz come from a company made in Turkey. It seems warranty is through belenco. Buyer beware.

    https://www.homedepot.com/p/STONEMARK-4-in-x-4-in-Quartz-Countertop-Sample-in-Calacatta-Vicenza-with-Matte-Finish-P-QSL-CALVIC-3X3/311329041#overlay

    There is nothing in the review about installation issues. There is a 3rd photo that shows a seam in the quartz

    The photo at the link is crisper than the one I have copied here. You can see the seam but it's the kind of seam that you want to have if you have to have one.

    And nothing was said about 'MSI Quartz' in the HD review.

  • HU-322664963
    Original Author
    3 years ago
    last modified: 3 years ago

    Home Depot website said Stonemark Calacatta Vicenza with matte. My contract said stonemark Calacatta Vicenza with Matte. Sample given said stonemark Calacatta Vicenza with matte. Sample at the store said Stonemark Calacatta Vicenza with Matte. Countertop installed by Home Depot said www.Belenco.com 6114 Belluno.

  • HU-322664963
    Original Author
    3 years ago





  • HU-322664963
    Original Author
    3 years ago

    I called MSI. The MSI representative told me that the countertop Home Depot installed was not their product and that their countertop did not have belenco markings. The MSI representative offered to arrange a three-way call with Home Depot, so that he can find out what was going on. He called Home Depot and we spoke to the costumer order Specialist. She told the MSI representative that she did not know anything about my order and was not allowed to give any information about it. The MSI representative asked her to transfer us to a supervisor who did not answer the phone. Once again contract said Stonemark Calacatta Vicenza Matte.

  • jmi626
    3 years ago

    If it were the same product, the price should be the same. I don’t think the OP wants free countertops but wants to make sure she/he is getting what she/he paid for. Get to the bottom of this and figure out if it is the same or whether they installed wrong countertops. Am curious to know what the case is.

  • Angel 18432
    3 years ago

    Please keep us updated on what happens. I don't blame you for wanting to get

    to the bottom of this situation. HD should not be advertising one thing and installing another (even if it's in name only for the same product) it's confusing to consumers.

    HD are known for sourcing "cheaper" products in some depts, perhaps this could be one of them.


  • PRO
    Joseph Corlett, LLC
    3 years ago

    " You’re not getting free counters."


    Maybe not, but the fabricator I worked for nearly twenty years ago had to replace perfectly good countertops on a Home Depot job once. Customers didn't like the color or some dang thing. HD tells the sub to eat it or lose the contract. As long as HD doesn't make the fabricator eat too many too often, it's worth it.

  • ci_lantro
    3 years ago

    Don't encourage the OP. He/ she is angling for free counters but they really wouldn't be free. The cost gets passed along and every counter customer that comes along gets to help pay for them. Or the fabricator loses his shirt; his employees don't get a raise. Maybe someone gets laid off. Or he closes the doors. Less competition means everyone left gets to raise their prices.

    MSI has started mfg quartz counters. Actually, only sorta' because they formed a joint venture with Spectrum Quartz/ Hirsch Glass.


    http://www.spectrumquartz.com/


    http://www.spectrumquartz.com/products/simplicity/

    IIR history correctly, MSI got in a bind when the tariffs got slapped on Chinese quartz. MSI sourced a lot of quartz out of China. That is likely the impetus for them starting to mfg quartz in the US.

    It makes no sense for a big business like HomeDepot to source from MSI back when MSI was merely a distributor for any & every kind of private label quartz out there. Not when HD can go to the guys who make the quartz, like Belenco, and buy direct from the mfg. Add to that the fact that HD knows where the material is coming from vs MSI quartz from various mfg's. And cut out the MSI middle man.

    And, of course MSI is not going to admit to sourcing from Belenco because MSI has to markup the price they pay Belenco. There could very well also be stipulations in the contract prohibiting either company from divulging their source/ their customers. The flunky who answers the telephone doesn't know any of this...strictly upper management is privy to this kind of information.

    Back in the day, my family always bought Kenmore appliances because they were getting a Whirlpool for less than what a badged Whirlpool cost. And a funny thing happed years ago. One of our tenants bought a brand new car. It was a Dodge Aspen on the back of the car. The front of the car said it was a Plymouth. They laughed about it and drove it anyway.

  • ci_lantro
    3 years ago

    OP is the only one 'freaking out', jmi626.

    Did you read the thread that I posted earlier?

    This one? https://www.houzz.com/discussions/3783091/seeking-countertop-experts


  • Sammy
    3 years ago

    I‘m inclined to agree with @jmi626 and @Angel 18432 on the fundamental issue at hand here vis-à-vis the origin/authenticity of a product one receives versus what was purchased. By the way, the abbreviation for manufacturer is mfr, not mfg; mfg is short for manufacturing. 😉

  • ci_lantro
    3 years ago

    If you want 'origin/ authenticity' in your quartz, you do not buy distributor quartz like Pental & MSI-Stonemark.

    Where is MSI quartz manufactured?

    Treated and pressed, natural quartz stone is one of nature's hardest minerals. Q Premium Natural Quartz is manufactured using internationally patented Bretonstone® system of Breton S.p.A., Italy, as well as state-of-the-art manufacturing systems across the globe.

    ^^This info predates MSI-Spectrum Quartz-Hirsh Glass joint venture announced 12.19.2019.

    What we do not know is if MSI is marketing only the quartz from the joint venture or if the Spectrum Quartz is just an addition. Apparently it is an addition because of OP's experience in September with quartz sourced from Belenco.

    If the OP had truly researched MSI quartz as OP claimed to have done ("before I purchased the countertop I did research on MSI quartz but not Belenco."), then OP would have known that the 'MSI quartz' could have come from any number of unknown sources.

    Adding that we have yet to see any pictures of the installed quartz or the so-called 'installation issues'.

    OP has alluded to the installed quartz not matching the samples. Not unusual at all. And how big was that sample? One of the 4" x 4" ones that you can purchase from HD?






  • ci_lantro
    3 years ago

    Sammy, send me your email addy & I will happily submit all future posts for you to proof read. Muchas gracias! :-)

  • HU-322664963
    Original Author
    3 years ago

    its been 4 months since Home Depot installed my countertop and the only solution they offered was to clean the Belenco markings with cleaning supplies. Store where the countertop was purchased knows nothing about my order or can’t give any information.

  • suedonim75
    3 years ago

    Ok, that would’ve been good to know in your OP.

    You claim there was installation issues, you ignore requests for pictures. People have repeatedly asked you to post actual pics of the counter, again, request ignored.

    If after 4 months HD refuses to do anything, what do you think anyone here can do?

  • suedonim75
    3 years ago

    ^^^From the very first post, I was sure that the printing was the real issue. When an OP has real installation issues they always post additional photos.

  • Angel 18432
    3 years ago

    Well you must have a copy of the contract if they don't


  • PRO
    Debbi Washburn
    3 years ago

    Not to beat a dead horse, but the big box stores often develop brand names for products they sell so they can be competitive and exclusive. In the early days it was Hampton Bay for lighting and ceiling fans - these items were made by other companies but sold as Hampton Bay ( Now Home Depot has manufacturing for many fixtures overseas ). The same thing happens with cabinets ( look up American Woodmark ). Stonemark is the "brand" they are using for countertop material. It is not a manufacturer. Belenco happens to be just one of the quartz manufacturers that supplies quartz to various distributors. If you look at Stonemark - it also offers granites. Those are going to be supplied through a stone distributor - there is no Stonemark granite pit.

    This type of branding happens all the time in many industries.

    I think the only quartz countertop companies that manufacture and market their own product exclusively are Cambria, Silestone and Ceasarstone. But there may be others now that the product is in such high demand.

    So sorry you are upset with your purchase.

  • Kim Stuart
    3 years ago

    All of you who are hating on the OP can just stop with that crap right now. The issue is that MSI are either liars, idiots or both.


    I live about 15 minutes from an MSI showroom/warehouse and we went over there twice (last month, March 2021) to pick out countertop slabs, and had the exact bar code and name on our pull sheet for the delivery to the fabricator that MSI uses. Which is Midnight Majesty - Concrete Finish, that's what we bought, the MSI website and the showroom and every person in there calls it that, and if you call MSI on the phone or walk into their shop, that's what it is. Nothing else, and nothing different.


    So the installers show up at my house yesterday and they have stuff that has "www.belenco.com" stamped all over the back. We looked at a LOT of slab options, manmade and natural, and we have a decent budget for the size of our project, and we're paying for multiple slabs to cover the space. I want what I paid for, that's all.


    I called MSI and the guy on the phone SWORE to me that this slab was NOT FROM MSI. No way, not possible. They don't even know who Belenco is, he tells me.


    Now the installers are freaking out, we are freaking out, the guy who owns the fabrication shop is not answering his phone and we have to choose whether or not we are going to let them install something that the freaking supplier says IS NOT WHAT WE PAID FOR at all.


    And now we see "Volcano Black" stamped on the back of the slabs as well. WTF is Volcano Black and what does it have to do with us?


    I called back to MSI - and on the second call, someone else tells me that they don't know Belenco, if that slab says "Volcano Black" on it, then it's NOT an MSI product.


    Installers take the whole mess and leave, our project manager is now freaking out, he goes over to the fabrication shop, finds the offcuts from our project, and says they have the same stamped on the back.


    I get in the car, go to MSI - boy were they surprised - and asked them to pull a slab and let me see the back. At this point they are freaking out since they've told me twice that it's not their product that's been delivered to my house.


    Anyone want to bet as to what I found on the back of that slab in their warehouse? And the back of a bunch more slabs? Funny how when you get into the guts of their warehouse you can see what's in there, but they don't allow you past the first couple rows when they are showing you pulled slabs.


    So now we are going to have to get our install next week, everyone in the project is pissed off, and all this could have been SO easily avoided if MSI had simply said, "yes, that's our product" instead of lying about it TWICE when I called them and had to make a snap decision.


    My only real regret at this point is that we didn't just pay the 25% more and get the Diresco from Stone Collection that we originally found, even though we'd have had to wait for a shipment to come in.


    If you Google around a bit, you can see that MSI and Belenco have been working together since 2015, and this is not the first - not even close - time that this has been an issue. It also turns out that MSI/Belenco/a couple other Turkish and Indian companies got popped by the US Dept of Commerce and fined for dumping and improper gov't subsidies in 2018 when Cambria Quartz went after them in court.


  • Mike Keys
    2 months ago

    So Kim, you're saying that the OP got what he paid for? I think that's what you were saying. Thanks for the info. Maybe a takeaway is that it's quartz and they are all similar quality over different manufacturers and names.