Reviews

2/10

Unfortunately, by the time the job finished, I was extremely UNHAPPY! Am I the only one? When Martin first came to my home, I was happy with how he spoke and what he suggested.... After I gave him my deposit, he called to say the quartz I wanted was out of stock for 2 weeks, and he would pay the upgrade himself if I couldn't wait. I told him I can wait 2 weeks and thank you for the offer. The installers were booked to come and I took a day off of work, by 1pm the intallers had not arrived and after many calls I was finally told "there is a problem with the cut" and they will come first thing the next day. By 1030 the next day, the installers still had not arrive, after many more calls (and another day of lost wages) the installers arrived by noon. But would not unload as they were nervous they would get a parking ticket. Both my conceirge and myself told them they won't but they wouldn't and stayed in their truck for another 45min. Finally, they off loaded (didn't not get a ticket) and began work by 1pm. The "installers" damaged a wood support when they removed the old counter-top. I heard a noise as they were removing it and Uri (who happened to stop by due to earlier issue that I had with the installers on their arrival) and when I told him I heard an unusual noise when they removed the old counter, he told me that was normal and I will be happy with the end result! I told the installers when they were done that one of the drawers is now not sitting right and not opening and closing properly. They looked, and said they did not do anything wrong. They "tried to fix it" but didn't. I had another one of Rio Stone's contractor look at it but nothing was fixed... One day when I opened the drawer and found a shimmie in it... I looked closer and found the wood piece that supports the drawer was cracked, which was causing the sag. I also noticed that the piece above the drawer and under the counter (another support piece) was replaced with a piece of wood that was not substantial enough (both front and back)... I took pictures and immediately wrote to Uri. I was told they would get back to me. Two weeks have passed and I have now called in another company to fix the problem. The people who installed the back splash, used a sharpie marker and red pen on the marble tile (on the front not the back) when making their cuts and some marks did not come off (after I called to complain!).. there were black sharpie marks on the new white quartz counter (because the installer didn't protect it) but that did get removed. The back splash installers did not clean up after themselves either. When I hired this company, I asked for references to speak to.... I read the reviews on this web site as well... and for such a laid back customer I'm very surprised of my experience. Two friends were waiting to hear about my experience before they called Rio Stone... I would not recommend this company.

Approximate cost of services:
$4,500.00
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Company Response

Hi HCV, I hope all is well. Thank you again for partnering up with us on your project, and thank you for your (ruthlessly honest) opinion regarding working with us. Although HomeStars is a great and necessary forum for us to be able to discuss these issues, it is also fair for us, as a reputable, passionate business to address several issues and discrepancies regarding what you wrote.

A) Regarding the delay of the material, we as fabricators and installers have access to a wide variety of granite and quartz options in the market. We also depend very much on each one of our reputable stone suppliers. Unfortunately, when there is a large demand for a specific material or colour, our suppliers can run out of merchandise at a moment's notice, sometimes after we have finalized the project details with our client (i.e. you). This occurred in your situation, and we made sure to be perfectly open and transparent with you regarding this issue. This is very much part of the Rio Stone value system.

B) In regards to the delay that occurred, you are correct, and we truly regret and apologize for the delay. However, we also explained to you several times that as service providers of high end architectural surfaces such as granite and quartz, we need to make sure that before the final fabricated product leaves our shop, the quality inspection has to be either perfect or close to that. When we realized that we wanted to provide you, the client with an optimal finished product, we realized that we would need to delay your job so it can be acceptably finished. As frustrating as this is, it is very standard, especially with finishing materials such as stone, etc. Also, please note that since you as the client did not make it clear regarding unloading and parking arrangements, our installer had a legitimate concern for getting either ticketed or towed. Unfortunately they actually did receive a ticket, and we do have proves of this if necessary.

C) The main bulk of your criticism is the most concerning, as this is either a complete misunderstanding or a total fabrication on your behalf. The moment we looked at your cabinets, we were concerned and spoke with you about this, that your cabinets were literally rotten and falling apart. They were also completely not leveled, and this was an added cause of concern. Moreover, you had the old granite that was very much attached to the old (rotten) cabinets, and our guys literately remover chunks of old granite to be as careful with your cabinets as possible. Our contractor, who was referred to you was also involved in assisting you with the cabinet issues, along with the back-splash installation and other issues that you needed to take care of. Ironically, you seemed to be extremely satisfied with our contractor's work, as you put it in your own words; "Thank you! The tiles look awesome and your cleaner did a great job"..."Extremely happy"... Once again, we are just wondering where this animosity towards our quality and professionalism is coming from?

D) Once again, the final claims of your review are in fact shocking and surprising. We did clarify with you that we would get back to you, and get one of our installers back in to your project to deal with any concerns you may have. Moreover, all of these issues that you bring up, and the horrendous pictures that you posted definitely do not reflect the outcome of your project. I am wondering why you decided not to post actual pictures of the full overall final project?

It is great that honest forums like HomeStars exist to help both homeowners and legitimate and ethical businesses communicate with each other. We could have handled this situation in very different ways, however you decided to take this unfortunate step of de-legitimizing our great company, and we thank you for that. We thank you because it helps us always strive to improve our service so that we can continuing providing an awesome service to our majority of satisfied present and future clients.

All the best,

The Rio Stone Team.