Distinctive Surfaces

Hi Lisa. We hate to hear that you and Jeff are not happy with your experience with us and would like to address your concerns. The piece that you referenced was a remnant, which is leftover material from another job. All remnants are sold as-is. There may be damage or discoloration; we don’t hide that and put that disclaimer in multiple places within our paperwork & verbally state it. That is part of why they are sold at a discounted rate. Remnants are the “scratch and dent section” of stone. The reason for listing it in paperwork is to be as transparent as possible, and to set expectations.
This is why we have people come and look at the remnants so that they can tell us how they want their job cut, as what is desirable is subjective. On all of the remnants that we install, you or your husband physically came into the showroom and, while looking at the pieces, dictated how you wanted them cut. We cut based on what you requested. We are not sure if they will attach to the review, but we included pictures showing the remnant with the requested diagram from the layout form that you signed, as well as pictures of the installed vanity. They are overlaid with the areas where it was cut clearly showing we followed your direction. There are also other pictures of the install, illustrating what a beautiful job we did on your install.
We do apologize it took some time to return your email from Jan 12 with full answers on Jan 26, though we had communicated with you during that time period to let you know that we were trying to gather information so we could get back to you with complete answers. We are unclear where the 3-week time period came from or saying that we ignored your calls. While this is not an excuse, this was in the midst of several people in our very small office and half of our crews, being out with Covid, not to mention that your original sales rep had just left to go on maternity leave, stretching us all very thin. We regret that we were not able to get back to you more quickly, but we were extremely limited on staff at that time, which we also communicated.
Once we received this notification that you had given this review, we had our staff to go through their emails and realized that we had missed that you had responded a little less than 3 weeks ago, on Feb 8. That is totally on us, and we sincerely apologize for the lack of response. Up until we realized that, we had been under the impression that we were waiting on you to let us know when you were ready for us. Truly, we are sorry we dropped that ball; it was not intentional to ignore you.
At the time of your last email on Feb 8, when you responded to our Jan 24 email, you said you were still not living in the home, so that does seem a little misleading to imply that your daughter has not been able to use her sink for 2 months. You also mentioned that you were going to check the sink to see if there was an issue with the silicone, as it seems it was not confirmed to be an issue. As we mentioned to you on Jan 26, we are happy to come out and run more silicone if the sink is leaking.
Regarding the $64 for the brackets that you returned, we have since issued you a refund. We had already agreed to that in the email to you on Jan 13, when we discussed crediting the money toward the new total if you moved forward with the shower pieces, or refunding it if you did not choose to move forward. This review is the first time we have heard that you were not going to need the shower pieces, and that you chose to get them from elsewhere.
At the end of the day, the goal is always for our clients to be happy, even if it is means going to another vendor. We are sincerely sorry to hear that you don’t feel good about your experience with us, and we will reach out to you directly regarding the email you sent us and will issue the refund now that we know you want. We hope you have a blessed day.

Pam,

Thank you for your review and praise for our work! We love working with you too! You make it easy on us with your fantastic taste and attention to details. Your clients are lucky to have you in their corner!

Melissa, I am sorry that you are clearly frustrated with my company. We love doing work for your builder and have worked with him for many years. The vast majority of 100’s of customers we have worked with through him, as well as the 1,000’s of our direct customers are extremely happy, so it bothers me that you have some concerns. We think your entire home is gorgeous and were honored to be a part of the project.
Let me start by taking responsibility, as I did when we spoke. Yes, in May of this year, we installed the wrong material in 2 bathrooms (swapping the 2). Once that mistake was discovered soon after, but while the house was under construction still, we immediately offered to correct the issue, but you let our sales associate know that you thought the colors we installed looked better than what you picked out. When we again discussed this with you just last week, we offered again to replace the vanities, and you said that you weren’t worried about it, and said the same thing about it looking good and also said that you did not want to live in any more construction zones. We understand wanting to be done with construction. If we have in any way not been clear in the past several conversations on this, please know, as we stated back just after the May installation and again in our discussion: our original offer stands, and we are more than willing to replace the colors installed in error at no charge to you.
Regarding the seams, there was extra glue left on a seam and backsplash, and one of the splashes had been pushed (obviously after the install was complete based on how the epoxy separated—and likely by another trade doing work in the house). We came out twice (once in June and again in July) and corrected the areas in question. If they were not fixed to your satisfaction, I wish you would have told us at that time. We pride ourselves on our quality, but we are humans, and there are occasionally mistakes. Like we did on your home, we try to fix them as quickly as possible once they are brought to our attention.
Once I saw your review stating that you emailed me and I didn’t respond, I combed through my email searching for all 3 email addresses our sales associate had on file for you, and I have nothing in my email from you. I wonder if possibly your email was sent to the wrong email address? As I am with this, we take concerns from our customers seriously, and had I received it, I would have responded. I am sorry if any action on my part made you feel like I was not being responsive.
Regarding your concern on the end of the kitchen granite, the first time we heard about this issue was 5 months after installation. What we said to your husband was that it was not like that when we installed, and the problem can be that when other trades come in and inadvertently use their products on our stone or cleaning crews come in and use incorrect cleaners on stone, it can cause problems that we can’t always correct. Neither sealer nor silicone would cause the darkening in only one area that the picture shows. Sealer is a fantastic invention, but it can’t always protect stone from chemicals misused on stone. If the way we phrased the conversation came across that we were blaming you, that was not what was intended at all.
Addressing your issue regarding the appointment: although the builder set up the appointment for us to come out on Friday, the 28th, we emailed with them, spoke to your husband, and left a message for you (at your husband’s request) letting you know we would not be able to come out on Friday, but that we wanted to set up another time to address your concerns and see if it is possible to correct the area in question. As you are aware, we did that this past Friday, and your husband signed off that the work was completed satisfactorily.
I truly hate that you had negative feelings about this, and I hope that the work we did to correct your concerns helps your feelings about the project, and if you still have concerns, I ask you to contact us again. I would be happy to discuss this with you again in a more direct manner at any time. Have a blessed day!