POMPEI MARBLE & GRANITE

Hired company to install three granite countertops as part of total kitchen renovation. They did not comply with agreed-upon installation date, thereby messing up my general contractor and our vacation. They came a day late and were only able to install one of the three pieces. Another had been cut six inches too short and would have needed to be replaced. The workmanship on the piece that was installed was shoddy: multiple scratches in the granite, sloppy and crooked seam by cooktop, bends and curves in the wrong place to match the base cabinets, and overhangs over base cabinets that varied wildly in depth (from less than 1/2 inch in some places to 3 1/2 inches in others.) We believe that the reason for this is that when they came to measure the job, they did not do the professional thing, which is to make a template of the base cabinets. They merely measured with a tape measure. Thus, the cutting was inexact. They did not respond to MULTIPLE phone calls and letters asking them to either replace or fix the problems, or to remove the granite and return our deposit. We complained to the local department of Consumer Affairs, at which point we found out they are not even licensed to do this work, as required by law. We were thus forced to have someone else remove the defective granite and install new countertops. We were VERY pleased with the second company. Pompei was fined $500 by Consumer Affairs for doing home improvements without a license, but still refused to return our deposit. We were forced to sue in Small Claims Court, and we won the case with a judgement that they were to return the full amount of our deposit, plus court costs. They have refused to pay the judgement. We are now trying to pursue collection via the local law enforcement authorities, but they seem to have done a very good job of hiding their bank account information. (The check we wrote for the deposit seems to have been deposited in the personal account of one of the executives; they paid the Consumer Affairs fine via a money order, etc.) For shoddy workmanship, refusal to honor agreements, and scofflaw attitude even when found to be wrong in a court of law, we would advise everyone to stay away from this company and its store!!

We met with Giuseppe Domenico in early September 2008 to contract for fabricating and installing approximately 30 sq ft of granite kitchen counter surface. Giuseppe was recommended . He sent me to a stone yard he deals with to select the slab to cut from. We selected a specific slab. Later in the week he came to our home to measure and suggest design details. He quoted the price $2,800 including removal of the old Formica counter top and cut out for the sink and faucet as well as the quarter round edge. He would take care of all the details of the installation. I asked if he would protect my newly installed ($1200) wood laminate floor. He said he would use a hard board on top of my finished floor to protect it by taping the board to the floor. I indicated I was anxious to have the install done ASAP. I gave him the $1400 deposit. Three weeks later I did not hear from him. I called the stone yard to find out if Giuseppe picked up the slab. He did not. The yard informed me that the slab was no longer there and that I should pick out another one. I spent another half hour at the yard to select a new slab. I gave his shop a call and left a message. Another week went by before he contacted me. I was somewhat anxious to get the job completed and get moving on the rest of the remodel. Finally he wanted to do the install the day after he called. But I was not able to let his crew into the kitchen at that time. So, we scheduled the install for the next Monday. Giuseppe?s crew arrived before he did. They came at 7 PM and laid a dirty, dusty, gritty drop cloth on my new floor. I insisted they put down the Masonite sheets I had to protect the floor. The crew finished by 9:30 PM. I paid the remaining $1,400 by personal check. Early the next day I looked at my new counter top. I discovered that it was high in one corner, and that the joint between pieces looked very amateurish. I immediately put a stop payment on the check. I called Giuseppe to let him know. When he called back he was very upset. When I told him why I put a stop pay on the check he said it was because of the poor cabinets and their installation. He told me to get my cabinet man in to see what was wrong and that he had no responsibility for it. I called an installer who came that evening and said the counter would be fine on the cabinets but there was more wrong with the counter than he could correct! The front edge overhangs at opposite ends were different by one inch. The sink was not square to the corner, it was off by one and a half inches to the left, and the installation near the range was not properly cut out. The floor had impressions from something heavy being rested on it. He came the next night and moved the slab on my insistence that the sink was not square to the cabinets. When he did, the part that was not level became level. He cut into the existing wallboard to move the slab enough for it to fit. He had to redo the seam near the sink but it came out unpolished.