bad granite countertops

[Tina]

Well, it's true that in Europe it's Quartz that has made the biggest transition into fashion.
The functionality and ease of maintenance is also a nice benefit. Depends on the style of home really. I would go quartz for anything transitional and contemporary or minimalistic.

[Jennifer]

I flip and sell houses. I used to work with Granite Direct and Victory GRANITE. DO NOT GO HERE.
Now I work with West Point Stones. Amazing customer Service and they have never lied to me. They always let me know in advance when my install in scheduled for and they are quick. Look them up give them a call.

[Jennifer]

NorthWind wrote:

<quoted text>
Hi RAC,
Did you get your work done with Shayne, That Granit and Marble Place? Were you happy with the work quality and charge? I'm considering him for my kitchen reno. Thank you.

I would reccomend West Point Stones. They are awesome there i use them for my flip & selling of houses

[Jen]

Tina wrote:

<quoted text>
Jen...you sound invested?! Lol

Tina,

I know a good product when I see one! And I'm always happy to pass on a good name :)

[mark]

i recently got my kitchen done by a small company called accurate counter solutions, its owner operated and the work is flawless.
i needed a seam in piece and it is almost like its not there at all, the were on time and finished my kitchen in 2 weeks. i would recomend them to anyone.

[Julie]

Don't waste your time with Hyatt Granite/stone. We did and are looking for someone to finish/fix our counter. The ordering went well enough but after that the service went downhill. For the measuring, they rescheduled three times in the same day. We had picked and inspected our piece of granite when we ordered the work. We had wanted to get seamless counters on our island which had two 15ft counters, but decided against buying a second slab because of the cost. Our sales rep contacted us to let us know that they had enough our style of granite left from another customer to give us a both seamless counters on our island at a reduced cost. If we been able to inspect the second slab we would have turned it down. There was a large dull spot in the stone (size of a dinner plate) that no amount of cleaning would remove. How this was missed prior to and during installation is anybody's guess. It took three weeks to get someone out to look at this. Promises were made that it would be rectified(needed to be polished by skilled tradesman). Then the real circus began. Appointments were made and missed on a regular basis. One guy showed three hours early for an appointment when it had been made clear at booking that no one would be available at the house until the appointment time. He got the key from the neighbor telling her that this was the arrangement (it was not). My poor neighbor didn't realize and had been holding our key for contractors as we had extensive renovations going on at the time. This fool from Hyatt Granite set off our alarm and left saying he forgot to bring the right tools. When the counter top was finally polished,three months after installation,it was a haphazard job leaving buffer rings on the counter and polishing spray on our freshly painted walls within a ten foot radius. Needless to say, we DID NOT want to deal with them anymore. When we first walked into the showroom, we were told that Hyatt Granite wanted to be the "go to" place for granite in Calgary. If our experience is any indication,they have a long way to go.

[dsstonesmith]

Hi Folks,
I have been following these posts for a while now. I am a geologist who has been working in the 'Granite' industry for some 30 years (or maybe just a bit better). Here are the black and white facts about buying granite...!!! It is an entirely unregulated industry in North America!!! For what it's worth the very most expensive granite you might be able to purchase is probably the worst investment! AND...! Just because a shop has a sign out saying "Granite" doesn't mean that you are going to get a fabricator that knows anything more about stone than you or I might know about cutting and finishing wood. It is very important that we educate ourselves as consumers about the products that we want to put in our homes and equally so that we educate ourselves about the companies that are going to sell them to us! Out of conscience I no longer sell or fabricate stone. Rather I truly believe it is necessary to educate the fabricator (because they are facing serious risk and liability) and the consumer (you and me). if you have had good experiences with a given company I am grateful (and you are lucky). If not... I apologize.... As a starting point for the education process (for both fabricators and consumers) I offer Granite-911(.com). The only risk you take is a phone call. And I do not sell granite!!!!
Thanks for the opportunity to vent...

[dsstonesmith]

P.S. to my last comment... I ABSOLUTELY believe that natural stone is one of the very best investments that one could make for their homes....
Sincerely,
dsstonesmith

[dsstonesmith]

Julie wrote:

Don't waste your time with Hyatt Granite/stone. We did and are looking for someone to finish/fix our counter. The ordering went well enough but after that the service went downhill. For the measuring, they rescheduled three times in the same day. We had picked and inspected our piece of granite when we ordered the work. We had wanted to get seamless counters on our island which had two 15ft counters, but decided against buying a second slab because of the cost. Our sales rep contacted us to let us know that they had enough our style of granite left from another customer to give us a both seamless counters on our island at a reduced cost. If we been able to inspect the second slab we would have turned it down. There was a large dull spot in the stone (size of a dinner plate) that no amount of cleaning would remove. How this was missed prior to and during installation is anybody's guess. It took three weeks to get someone out to look at this. Promises were made that it would be rectified(needed to be polished by skilled tradesman). Then the real circus began. Appointments were made and missed on a regular basis. One guy showed three hours early for an appointment when it had been made clear at booking that no one would be available at the house until the appointment time. He got the key from the neighbor telling her that this was the arrangement (it was not). My poor neighbor didn't realize and had been holding our key for contractors as we had extensive renovations going on at the time. This fool from Hyatt Granite set off our alarm and left saying he forgot to bring the right tools. When the counter top was finally polished,three months after installation,it was a haphazard job leaving buffer rings on the counter and polishing spray on our freshly painted walls within a ten foot radius. Needless to say, we DID NOT want to deal with them anymore. When we first walked into the showroom, we were told that Hyatt Granite wanted to be the "go to" place for granite in Calgary. If our experience is any indication,they have a long way to go.

Hi Julie
I can't help with the alarms but I might be able to help with your giant spot. Could you send me the details (i.e. what kind of stone and perhaps a photo?)
dsstonesmith

[Maria]

Several of you have given good remarks about That Granite and Marble Place and Shayne in particular. I can't seem to find them on line or any contact information.

[Amanda]

Maria, Shayne incorporated his business in July 2011 under Laporte Custom Stone. He is growing his business and joined the BBB as well. His website is www.laportecustomstone.com , and should have contact information there. Good luck!

[Maria]

Thanks Amanda. I found Shayne.

[Dan]

Has anyone used Silkstone and Granite? What was the experience like?

[Marie]

michelle wrote:

Kings stones and granite have the best prices by FAR and the work was very good. I spent 30% less than anyone else. installed within 2 weeks!!!

Richard came to our house to do a quote, he didn't even have a pen to make a quote. The tried to remodel out whole kitchen with all these changes. When we were ready to order the price changed.."standard" is not "standard" the prices go up. The young gal at the front desk is more knowledgeable than the sales man!!
Shop Around...Stay away fro Granite Direct their counters are out of China and they are proud of shipping their work out of Cdn. BOO

[Gina]

Meena Sharma wrote:

Hello Ashley, can you please give us your phone # and address, so we can look after your concern. We tried going in our system we do not find any ashley who was dissatisfied with your work. your help is appriciated. may be got wrong company.
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Isn't Vaman out of business now?

[Desere Pressey]

Deborah wrote:

I had a mitered waterfall countertop done by Fine Line Granite. I am amazed at how well it all went.
great job!

Thanks for taking the time to write about your experience with us!

Cheers
:)

[Desere Pressey]

Dear Confused,

The product and 7-step process Fine Line Granite was using to seal their stone was called Granite Shield. This is not the standard one step sealer used within the industry, rather a catalyzing process that repels stains for the lifetime of the stone.
A standard sealer needs to be reapplied every few years, and will wear away considerably with use of most standard kitchen cleaners.

Matthew is out onsite for custom lazer templating.
This is not a required process, as a standard chloroplast template can be made. The latest advances in technology though, allow for a more custom fit. Not all walls are square, and if you don't want major gaps or the dust and debris of retro fitting onsite, the lazer template process is of value.
This also ensures that waterjet CNC fabrication can be adapted more easily for the fabrication stage. Again, a more precise method.

Matthew is highly vested in his sister operation: Ekko Cabinetry Ltd. www.ekkocabinetry.com
He concentrates on serving his full kitchen renovation clients, as well as those whom have saught him out for their countertops by referral. He does not spend his time in the office quoting all day as his clients typically come prequalified.

[Anonymous]

Desere,

Nice sales pitch, but it's full of misguided information. Maybe you're trying to make a sale, or maybe you don't know any better. Either way, it's sad that all of these granite shops in the city think that they can feed clients all sorts of bullshit in order to gain some extra revenue.

Laser templating is NOT required for a custom fit. You will achieve an accurate fit templating by hand, and as an added bonus - you don't get the mix ups that I've often seen with laser. Granted, laser can be of value, for you as a company, but the CLIENT WILL NOT SEE ANY ADDED BENEFIT except for perhaps higher costs.

I know of plenty of companies here in Calgary that will laser template. They then take their jobs back to their shop and cut those walls straight rather than scribing. But the client thinks they're getting what they paid for.

Construction is a sad industry for one main thing; lack of standards and ethics. I'm in the medical industry and I can tell you this - if I advertised in the same manner as many of the granite shops in Calgary, I would lose my license.

[john]

granite shop gets your money then never answers the phone when you have a problem,industry hackers

[Sarah Cuthbertson]

Ralph H wrote:

I decided to use Hyatt Granite/Stone Calgary to up date our tired kitchen.We went to their show room on Saturday picked the stone from stock and they measured on Tues, arranged demo of existing counter tops on the following Sunday and installed on Tues. The whole experence was great, knowledge, professional, super product, follow up, if I didn't know better one might think they really care about their customers. They supplied the taps, sink, demo, install and we could not be happier. Go see them before you make your decision it will be worth the trip

Ralph,

Its been an entire year since we served you and thank you for the lovely comments! We hope you are still enjoying your counter tops today as you were last year. You were an excellent client as well and we endeavour to produce Fine craftsmenship. Thank you for the Public Feedback :)

Sarah