We did not experience any problems when Metro Tile or Tile One, Inc (Metro Tile, 5455 Shirley Street, Naples, FL 34109) installed kitchen/hallway tile in our unit back on 2002, which is why we hired Metro Tile in 2015 to remodel our two bathrooms. Note: Metro Tile is where we purchased the tile; however, our final check was written to Tile One, Inc and mailed to the same location where Metro Tile is located. Bottom line, big mistake on our part. We did not receive the same quality of service that we had in 2002. Each bathroom was approximately 35 square feet. Overall, the experience was a "nightmare". It took Tile One 23 months to complete the job. Collier County issued their "Certificate of Completion" on June 15, 2017, approximately 23 months after we paid our 50% deposit. In addition to the almost two-year delay, we experienced numerous construction issues due to poor workmanship including two or possibly three different project managers. The construction problems included the following known defects: (1) The shower doors in the guest bathroom were installed incorrectly as the subcontractor (?) reversed the doors. Tile One's project manager failed to identify the error. The shower doors were installed in September 2016 and took Tile One until June 2017 to correct the mistake. (2) The shower curbs on both bathrooms were not caulked underneath the curbing. (3) The vanity drawer would not open because of incorrectly installed base molding. (4) Inadequate caulking around the shower floor and walls. (5) There were 1/4" gap between the drywall and the recessed lighting "ring" in the shower ceiling. In other words, you could easily see that there was an open gap between the drywall and the light. (6) Broken transitional piece of tile between bathroom tile floor and bedroom carpet. Kendal, the owner, commented to us on June 15, 2017 that we were to blame for the delays because we did not live in our condo during the majority of the remodel phase. However, for the record, Tile One had our condo key / lockbox to our unit for the entire remodel period (almost two years). Tile One had complete unrestricted access to our unit at all times. Tile One also had our out of state address, emails, and phone number. Tile One's total lack of communication was unacceptable. Furthermore, the fact is, Tile One should have been more efficient given that we were living off-site, and not impeding their subcontractor’s job performance. We rated the "Quality" as a Grade C (fair); however, this is my average rating for the entire period of performance because the job took almost two years. I would rate the contractor's initial work prior to our inspection as a Grade D. We do want to thank Donato V. Pensenti, Superintendent of Tile One for finally saving the day. It appears that Tile One finally hired the right guy but it was too bad that it took approximately 23 months to complete two 35 square foot bathrooms. Mr. Pensenti was very professional in his response to us and perhaps Mr. Pensenti could "school" Kendal in how to deal with customers. It's not Mr. Pensenti's responsibility to apologize on Kendal's behalf. I recommend that Kendal work on his management skills and learn how to show empathy, kindness, and consideration to his customers who have experienced the problems that we have. What is shocking to us is that Kendal offered no apologies for all of the inconveniences that we experienced over the last 23 months. As a minimum, we would have expected Kendal to honor our request to "earn airlines miles" by using our United credit card", however, Kendal refused our request and wanted to charge us a 3% surcharge. After what we experienced, Kendal should have accepted our request. No one should have to wait almost 2-years for a job to be done right.
