- Report: #712100
Complaint Review: Tudor Artisans - Kennesaw Georgia
Reported By:
Jens -
Freeland, Washington, United States of America
Submitted:
Updated:
-
Author Not Confirmed
Why?
Tudor Artisans
2125 Barrett Park Drive NW, Suite 101 Kennesaw, 30144-3613 Georgia, United States of America
Phone:
404-474-3282
Web:
www.tudorartisans.com
Categories:
Business Rating:
(0)
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Tudor Artisans A Quality Ripoff by Dishonest Artisans Kennesaw, Georgia
We purchased a custom, Tudor-style cast stone fireplace surround from Tudor Artisans for $5,046 that we intended to install in the living room of our new home under construction in Washington state. Extensive discussions were held between us, our contractor and Tudor Artisans representatives to ensure the surround was sized correctly. We prepaid for the surround and it was delivered, but several of the large column pieces were sized incorrectly. More discussions ensued with all the parties.
Tudor Artisans offered us several options to rectify their error. Two of their options were impractical: we could ship the entire thousand pound+ surround back to Georgia, at our cost, and they would recast a new surround- this, however, would delay our construction schedule; or, they could recast the incorrect column pieces, but the color would not match, and this would still delay our construction schedule. One option remained: to pay our contractor to have a professional stone mason cut the stone to the correct size. Tudor Artisans ensured us they would reimburse the costs for this correction- or so we thought.
Acting on Tudor Artisans' word, we arranged for a professional stone mason to set up at our construction site and carefully cut the 6 column stone pieces. We sent Tudor Artisans a bill for $663.50 with all appropriate documentation for the work. No response. We followed up with telephone calls and emails- no response. We reported them to State of Georgia Governor's Office of Consumer Protection. This office also could not get a response out of Tudor Artisans. We reported them to the Atlanta Better Business Bureau and finally got a response, but what a dandy of a response!
In discussions with the Atlanta BBB, and in face of the documentation I provided, Tudor Artisans' representative, David Hiers, admitted to shipping the incorrectly sized surround pieces. However, Mr. Heirs stooped to the lowest of lows in explaining why his company would not reimburse our $663.50. His reasons included accusing my wife of lying, that he never agreed to reimburse us (contradicted by his own email), that our contractor, who hired the stone mason, was charging too much (as though only Tudor Artisans was allowed to make a profit), and several other reasons completely unrelated to the issue.
It soon became apparent to me that Tudor Artisans was more interested in squeezing a few hundred dollars than in doing the right thing. In the end of discussions with the Atlanta BBB, Tudor Artisans offered $100 dollars for their mistake, an offer I refused. I refused to take their measly offer because of principle and because I have started a new hobby in my new life of retirement- the hobby of making sure everyone in America is aware that Tudor Artisans is a company that offers quality products but has very shoddy customer service provided by unethical, disingenuous staff. They take your money up front and will not make good on their mistakes with their products.
Tudor Artisans offered us several options to rectify their error. Two of their options were impractical: we could ship the entire thousand pound+ surround back to Georgia, at our cost, and they would recast a new surround- this, however, would delay our construction schedule; or, they could recast the incorrect column pieces, but the color would not match, and this would still delay our construction schedule. One option remained: to pay our contractor to have a professional stone mason cut the stone to the correct size. Tudor Artisans ensured us they would reimburse the costs for this correction- or so we thought.
Acting on Tudor Artisans' word, we arranged for a professional stone mason to set up at our construction site and carefully cut the 6 column stone pieces. We sent Tudor Artisans a bill for $663.50 with all appropriate documentation for the work. No response. We followed up with telephone calls and emails- no response. We reported them to State of Georgia Governor's Office of Consumer Protection. This office also could not get a response out of Tudor Artisans. We reported them to the Atlanta Better Business Bureau and finally got a response, but what a dandy of a response!
In discussions with the Atlanta BBB, and in face of the documentation I provided, Tudor Artisans' representative, David Hiers, admitted to shipping the incorrectly sized surround pieces. However, Mr. Heirs stooped to the lowest of lows in explaining why his company would not reimburse our $663.50. His reasons included accusing my wife of lying, that he never agreed to reimburse us (contradicted by his own email), that our contractor, who hired the stone mason, was charging too much (as though only Tudor Artisans was allowed to make a profit), and several other reasons completely unrelated to the issue.
It soon became apparent to me that Tudor Artisans was more interested in squeezing a few hundred dollars than in doing the right thing. In the end of discussions with the Atlanta BBB, Tudor Artisans offered $100 dollars for their mistake, an offer I refused. I refused to take their measly offer because of principle and because I have started a new hobby in my new life of retirement- the hobby of making sure everyone in America is aware that Tudor Artisans is a company that offers quality products but has very shoddy customer service provided by unethical, disingenuous staff. They take your money up front and will not make good on their mistakes with their products.
1 Updates & Rebuttals
David
Alpharetta,Georgia,
USA
Tudor Artisans Response
#2UPDATE Employee ..inside information
Wed, January 11, 2017
This complaint was filed by a customer of ours some years ago. I wanted to respond to this complaint as I personally was the manager that dealt with this customer's issue. By responding, I do not want to restart this debate, but have felt remiss in not responding at all.
The issue with this customer's fireplace mantle was that our shop sent some pieces: 6-8 pieces out of approx 20 pieces total uncut to the correct dimension. The pieces shipped where the outer mantle surround pieces were a bit too wide. Normally, we charged for any cut from its full mold size, but had not charged this customer for any cuts. That said, we did show smaller width parts on the approved drawing, and failed to cut all pieces to match the drawing.
The customer's contractor/builder called us to inform about the problem. We all discussed options to resolve, and it was agreed that the install contractor would price the cutting of the pieces to size (said he felt comfortable performing the cutting). We agreed to wait and receive a price from the contractor, but stipulated that we wanted to know the price before they were cut. This was because, as we said on the call, we could make new pieces (and cut to the correct size) and ship cheaper perhaps.
Instead of hearing the proposed price, we were sent an invoice for about $700 for cutting 6-8 pieces of stone. We tried to debate with the contractor and the customer, but the only response was that they wanted their payment. We could have made correct cast stone pieces and shipped for half that price! We offered to pay the price of the costs we would have incurred, and no response came. The next we see is this ripoff report which will never be resolved.
The customer did admit that they loved their fireplace - as our customers seem to do (to our knowledge). We make great architectural items for Tudor and Gothic architecture - and are very proud of the quality and value we bring to a restoration (or rew construction) project.
As a side note, we do not make cast stone products these days - we switched to carved limestone some years ago. Therefore, parts are not made in a mold at a predefined size (as is all cast stone) and then resized via a cutting operation. Each piece is custom made by hand in limestone for each project. If we make a mistake from the approved drawing now, we make and ship parts at no cost to our customer.
