KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Granite can transform your kitchen or bathroom. That transformation has one metro family in a tug of war with the installation company.
Granite is a work of art with each piece looking a little different, but you need to make sure the right one shows up on installation day.
"We had pink Formica countertops previously. We were trying to join the 2000s," Christina Cline said.
The job cost Cline thousands and caused a big headache.
Cline says the granite that was installed didn't match what she picked. "Each bathroom had a different color. One bathroom had a lot of silver another had a lot of orange in it," Cline said.
Cline says the entire job was a disaster from communication to the dusty and wet mess the crew left behind.
"They were going to give us $400 as a discount. For the way he treated us $400 was not enough," Cline said.
Christina asked for a 50-percent discount.
We asked Cline about that high discount. "It is pretty steep and I understand that. I thought I could use that as a negotiation tool but the more belligerent he got with me the more upset I became," Cline said.
Cline is one of two customers who called for action disgruntled over work done by Granite Center.
After our calls, Granite Center swapped out the wrong granite for one customer, but put the blame on Cline for her troubles.
In a statement the sales manager Jerry Chen said, "Home owner allowed Granite Center Inc. employees to waste their time putting in the wrong colors. Do not know the motivation for them to waste 94 SQFT of high quality granites, let alone waste the many hours needed by our skilled craftsmen to fabricate. Can only speculate that there may be a tiny proportion of the public that will use such an ill conceived scheme to maybe get a reduction in price for their kitchen and bathrooms."
Granite Center refunded Cline's $3,050 deposit at the time of the dispute. Now Chen tells call for action he wants $6,050 back from Cline for wasting granite.
"I don't find any argument. I don't understand how he feels like he's at a loss here when I feel like I’m at a loss," Cline said. She had to deal with a torn apart bathroom and kitchen until she could get new granite installed, and ended up paying more.
The lesson in this whole mess, make sure you examine the granite before it's installed in your home.
When you're negotiating a price adjustment, stay calm and reasonable with your offer.
