Century Tile ripoff inferior quality so called Marble Ft. Lauderdale Florida
I purchased a total of $1362.00 worth of tile to retile my bathrooms, I chose what I was told was Black Granite fo one bathroom, after it was installed and cleaned of excess grout I was shocked to see the floor stained and numerous fine scratches almost on every tile. I asked the installer (which had worked for Century Tile at one time) why is this like this, his answer was that he never seen this happen in all his years installing tile, he mentioned to me that the so called Marble (which was what the cartons read, inspite of Century telling me it was granite from China, hence the lower cost of other granite they had in the store) made a very weird odor when he was cutting it, indicating that it was not genuine Marble, and that it seemed to have some coating on the surface which made it shine like marble.
We attempted to get our money refunded for that portion of the tile plus the cost for the installer to remove and install new tile which amounts to aprox $500.00 they refused to cooporate at all and blamed the installer for not being more gentle with that type of tile, I was never told, nor is it stated on the cartons that this tile can not nor should be installed on floors.
The last person we spoke to was Eddie Lezcano, he was very rude to my wife and when we said we are not going to settle for this, his answer was have your lawyer call us. We have filed a report w/ the consumer affairs, and are disputing the charge w/ the credit card company, but would appreciate it if you can help in any way. We would like a refund of $500.00 so we can complete this bathroom. Thank you very much
Anthony
Plantation, Florida
U.S.A.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
Kt
Leesburg,Virginia,
U.S.A.
More to the Story Perhaps
#2Consumer Comment
Wed, February 20, 2008
As always, there is always more that can be added to a story. First, I find the complaint a little hard to believe, or that there isn't more to it. Such as the ex-employee who was once there installer. My first question would be was this installer a licensed professional? Insured? The reason I ask this is many homeowners get Ripped Off because they do not get certificate of license and insurance. Florida is very rigid on testing for the construction industry, and insurance they "installer" should have completed operations to cover the consumers claim.
But, if the installer was licensed and insured why as an expert, did he continued to cut and install the inferior product, shouldn't he have noticed the difference or imperfection immediately. Shouldn't the consumer get the refund for the cut and install from the installer who didn't do his job. EXAMPLE: If you hired a professional painter to paint your house tan, and you bought the paint, but the paint supplier made an error and gave you a bad mix that was blue, and after the painter applied and used 2 cans of paint, and you took these empty cans back, and maybe some full cans and the supplier credited you on the full cans only, but not the used on labor cost...Don't you think the painter, as an expert, should have immediately known there was a problem?
It's like having a framer frame a wall with warped lumber, and the drywaller comes in and hangs drywall over a badly warped wall, and now you expect the lumber supplier to credit you the labor and material (drywall) for PROFESSIONAL Licensed Contractors .... "PUTTING GOOD WORK OVER BAD". Didn't this installer install bad tile? If this consumer did not get proof of Florida contractor license, and a certificate of insurance...than the lesson here is ALWAYS hire a Licensed and Insured Contractor to do your work. AND GET PROOF! $500 is a small price to pay for this lesson.
Sometimes you get what you pay for, and you get a deal because the unlicensed contractor you hired ... they don't pay the State for annual licensing (after completing and obtaining a license), they don't pay insurance premiums, possibly payroll taxes, etc. You can't compete on a labor price if they haven't played by the same rules and regulation.
I worked for several large Florida homebuilders during my 20 year career as a Contracts Manager and hired Century Tile for probably about 90% of my jobs. I knew there suppliers, and know that the owner is a perfectionist on quality. I am now a builder/remodeler myself in Northern Virginia and have actually purchased and shipped materials here because of their commitment to quality. I know they are licensed and insured, they have taken all the appropriate steps, and followed the proper channels to service homeowners in the Broward, Palm Beach area.
RipOff Report: I hope that you have guidelines that do not allow anyone to just inadvertantly post a complaint without a basic fact finding on the involved parties.