The Home Depot

I gave three stars as "A-OK" only because in the end, after some of our time was wasted, much aggravation, and we were forced to send complaining faxes, $ credits were given back. We even had to email photographic proof of cosmetic damages that happened during the installation of our two new silestone bathroom countertops. We had a good rep at H.D., but her hands were tied to her employer's procedures to handle complaints. H.D. basically makes their customers who have legitimate complaints "jump through hoops" to get justice. While it is understandable, and reasonable for H.D. to require everything in writing and photos, it is not reasonable to expect all customers to have a camera, to know how to send pic's online, or to have a fax machine at home with a dedicated fax line!

Here are the complaints that we emailed our H.D. rep:



1. Both of the bathrooms' walls incurred multiple rips & chips during tear out, as shown in the photos. One of the installers said that they are not allowed or expected to repair this, and that they assume this is part of a remodel and our painter will take care of it. We were not told up front that we, not H.D., had to repair any resulting cosmetic damages done to our home during installation. We did get a $120 credit back to us, which made a total of $420 in credits that we had to spend our time in getting, and faxing, written estimates from a "glass & mirror" company, and a painting contractor, or we would not have received any credits.



2. We were told that pads would be put down on our hardwood floors &/or carpet. The only pad they put down was directly in front of the sinks.



3. The first faucet hole was drilled inside the house with the counter top already installed. While they did use a shop vac, dust still went everywhere, and cleanup was minimal, including leaving dirty handprints on a side wall. My husband asked them if they could drill the other bath 2-sink faucet countertop holes outside, and they did so.



4. At first they told us they aren't supposed to caulk the side backsplashes, which would have left an unfinished look of holes & gaps. They did agree to do this caulking after I asked them to, as It didn't make any sense. Why wouldn't Home Depot/Stabella want a complete job to be done when side back splashes are part of that job? This was unbelieveable to us.



5. After the previous aggravation, at the end of the install, we were asked to sign an Installation Customer Approval/Installer Waiver of all possible Liens, which we did not believe was appropriate to do after reading it thoroughly. What really upset me is that the two Stabella installers said to us that they won't get paid untill we sign away all our legal rights by signing that "waiver of rights" form. I thought that was a "do it for us" sales closing approach to get us to sign. I'm sure some customers fall for it.



So, while we did eventually get credits back on our up front, "paid in full" money, it will be up to you to decide if you want to have your time and talent wasted, along with a lot of aggravation, especially if you don't have the fax, pc, and camera equipment handy that we did. I say this applied to countertop installations by H.D., since I've got to believe that some cosmetic damage should be expected by H.D.'s contractor, Stabella, when doing a complete tear out/install. Oh, and it appears that Stabella also goes by the name "Stone Systems of North Carolina", as it has the same address and phone number (also same address & phone # as "Silestone of NC"). That first name is listed on the BBB website, and shows a "D" due to the fact that they did not respond to one complaint filed against them with the BBB. (BBB relevant web page = http://www.bbb.org/charlotte/business-reviews/stone-natural/stone-systems-of-north-carolina-in-monroe-nc-111429 )