Carolina Custom Kitchens & Bath LLC

I went with this provider only because our builder uses them. I shopped at several other vendors in our area, and found other vendors' staff to be much more helpful and easier to deal with. However, we decided to stick with the builder's selected countertop firm because the builder pressured us to.
-I asked the Carolina Custom Kitchen staff about pricing on a particular quartz countertop, and the lady was silent on the phone. ??? Every other vendor in our area readily disclosed prices. We went with the granite because we could not get a quote from Carolina Custom Kitchens on quartz, and the store staff was so difficult to get definitive information from.
-They lied to us about the timing of the installation.
-We noticed when we moved in that water around the sink went right into the granite. My husband was told by this firm that "they don't seal the granite." We had never lived anywhere with granite not sealed, so this was strange. Water dries from under the surface, but was obvious that any colorant, or oil droplets, were going to be a problem with these countertops. I started contacting the firm in the February about oil stains that were appearing from use, being that they did not recommend the surface be sealed (?). No definitive recommendation from the store personnel, which again, is SO strange compared to other vendors in our area.
-Have tried to have them come to house to remediate the damage from stains, and possibly re-seal (am waiting - is now July). 
Conclusion: there are great vendors in the Raleigh-Durham area for countertops, wonderful staff at other businesses, and competitive prices. Among them, Home Depot and Lowe's are easy to deal with and offer frequent sale prices, and when you have problems like we did, their services have some type of guarantee. 

We'd been considering this upgrade to our house for about a year. Carolina Kitchen and Bath had been recommended to me when I polled a few neighbors about their purchase from a DIY store, and they said and quot;I should have gone with Carolina Kitchen and Bath.and quot;
At first, Gresham provided an estimate via email - just a general pricing for me - which was great because it gave me an idea of what to save up for - when NO ONE else would do this. VERY helpful!!
Then, later, when we got more interested, he came out and did a full estimate, and it was within $100 of his general estimate, so I was very pleased.
It still took us a while from that point to decide to move forward, just because it IS a lot of money for countertop replacement when we really didn't need it. Key word: need.
Because of our personal hesitation, we went back and forth on selection, process, if we could cancel and when; we were probably the most annoying customers ever, but Kate (in the showroom) and Gresham, never once even hinted we were 'that customer'. For that, I totally appreciate all the pre-installation work and the professionalism.
Once we decided, we moved forward and selected our granite by going out to the warehouse on our own (they let us with no hesitation) and picking out what we wanted on our time, scheduled on our time, etc. Again, ALL wonderful.
The ONLY problem came down to the install day itself. The guys came - a team of 3 or 4 (I can't remember) and ripped out the countertops as expected, except in the butler's pantry, there was a LOT of banging. Once everything was in, they told us they were done, and we found one nick in the granite - which we had to ask them to fix, and they tried to tell us it was 'normal' (odd, but we made them fix it), and then we noticed hammer-head sized dents along the backsplash in the wall. This was the problem. When Gresham had come out for the estimate, he said the walls would look like nothing had ever transpired, and everywhere EXCEPT the butler's pantry, it did.
We decided to ignore it and just fix it, but it ate at us a little bit - not because it was messed up, but because the guys that did the install ignored it. They said nothing about it - as if they didn't even noticed - which couldn't have been true. That is why professionalism gets a B. The install team ignored the problem.
So … when we found another nick in the granite, I asked about whether that could be fixed and told them about the banged up wall. I didn't expect anything to happen as we did say we are handy and can/could fix it. HERE is where true professionalism comes in. Upon receipt of my email, I had a very quick reply that 1) they would come out and fix the granite and shared with us more about the warranty and 2) they credited us some of our purchase price. That was both unexpected and very welcome.
Yes, I still leave professionalism at a B (and not quality because the granite is just beautiful) because the damage shouldn't have happened, or it should have been commented upon, and unfortunately, the company is represented not only by Kate and Gresham and Zac (who came out after the fact to see the damage) but the installers, too. They *all* would have had to be 'perfect' to get an A.
We are VERY pleased with the granite, though, (it's truly BEAUTIFUL) and are already looking to working with them again on our next house!

From the initial choosing of the countertops themselves to our current unfortunate issue with them (manufacturer error - not the installation) Kate has been incredibly helpful as well as an advocate. Both she and the owner, Gresham, have been professional, responsive, and respectful throughout this entire process. I have have never experienced customer service to this degree and will / would recommend them to anyone.

Kate and Jennifer were great to work with - very responsive and professional from beginning to end! They were very helpful in choosing the color of our new counters, and once we made the decision to move ahead, work was scheduled quickly. The day of the install the two man crew arrived promptly and went straight to work. The tear-out and install went fast, and we couldn't be more thrilled, they are beautiful! We can't wait to work with Carolina Custom Kitchen and Bath on the countertops for our next home!

Very well.

What a fun and wonderful experience! From my first contact with Carolina Custom Kitchen and Bath to the installation of my countertops I have been impressed and gratified by their knowledge, responsiveness and professionalism. Not only did I get a prompt and accurate quote, I also had as much hand-on assistance as I wanted in picking out granite and blending tile colors. Gresham was great to work with and answered all my emails and phone calls, even at the busiest of times. He kept me informed about timing and how the work would progress. The installers were terrific. I left my kitchen in their hands and returned to a spotlessly clean kitchen and gorgeous new countertops. They neatly stacked all the old granite in my garage and left it as clean as my kitchen. My daughter and son-in-law also had Carolina Custom Kitchen and Bath do all the countertops in their new house and had an equally great experience. I can't say enough good about how easy and worry-free Gresham and Kate have made our building experiences - I have already highly recommended them to several friends.

The sales person, Tim Koester, did not show up at show rooms as scheduled (should have been a clue). Was told by the owner Gresham Riggs that he would pick slabs for installation. He did the layouts himself. It was agreed that the slabs would be cut at their location and that the sinks would be picked up to size the cuts. This did not happen. On the date scheduled for installation, the installers did not arrive until 3:30 PM instead of 9 AM. Phone calls were not answered or I was told repeatedly that and quot;they're on their wayand quot;. The installers plainly expected to cut the sink holes in the house which WAS immaculate having just had the last coat of paint on the walls and the last coat of finish on the floors. The installation took 3 days which delayed other craftsmen finishing their jobs. The installers repeatedly walked in and out of the house with mud on their shoes.
Some of the cutting was done outside, but the saw was positioned such that the slurry sprayed all over the front of the house. The rest of the cutting was done IN the house. Sealer was put on the granite while the dust was still spewing in the air. I had to SCUBB it all off because the dust was imbedded into the sealer. When they were finally done, the installers made it clear that they did not expect to clean up as and quot;this was the way they always did new home installationsand quot;. They told me they expected the builder to hire a cleaner after they finished. Since I was my own general contractor for the house, that meant me. One installer did do some clean up, but it was minimal and only after I called Gresham Riggs and had a few words with him. Every room in which granite was installed suffered dings in the just painted walls and/or trim. It took 8 man-hours just to clean the floors. Every single surface in the house - every wall, piece of trim, door, window, and cabinet (inside and out) had to be cleaned when these people were done. This took many days. And I have pictures to prove it.
The granite was not the same thickness on the left and right side of the stove necessitating raising the adjoining slab to match the height. The meant that the window trim had to be cut off. There is an obvious height difference on each side of the stove. Four of the 6 slabs used in the kitchen have divots in the surface; one in particular is immediately obvious.
I did mail the check the following day after receiving the invoice by email, but received a call from the sales person, Tim Koester, wanting to come by and pick up the check. I told him I had already mailed it and I did not agree to put a hold on the check and reissue another one that he could pick up.
I wouldn't have these people put granite in a dog house.

Was remodeling a kitchen in order to put a condo on the market. Had heard good things about this company, and they seemed affordable. I let the workers install new countertops while I was at work. Although the granite looks good, they left a mess all over--dirty floors and old countertop screws inside the cabinets. They didn't even bother to clean the granite that they installed.On top of that, they damaged one wall and forgot to tell me that I would need to hire a separate plumber to hook up the sink and a separate electrician to fix the outlet boxes in the new back splash. They also did not cut the granite so that I could install my existing faucet, meaning I had to buy a new "one-hole" faucet.I spoke to the owner/manager, who said he would come to look at the shoddy work (and clean up the mess), but he never followed through. I expected this to be an easy process with dazzling results. I was disappointed at the lack of care and the unexpected, added expense.

I was updating my house for sale and wanted good, solid, middle-of-the-road granite. Gresham, the owner, took me to a stone warehouse filled with the most beautiful and varied marbles and granites so I could see the choices available. He knew a great deal about the grades, cuts and origins of the stones. He clearly loves his business! He had previously come to the house to measure every surface, and once I chose the stone, he could place the order immediately. He and his crew installed the granite the next week, taking about two days, and cleaned up every speck. He stayed in touch during the whole process and was entirely professional and responsive.