J & S Granite & Marble LLC

Awful.  They were quick to get my business by telling me they had some marble, sent me a picture of the piece they would use, and then taking my money.  After that, I had to chase after them for 2 weeks.  They would tell me they would install on a Monday, and then no-show, no reschedule, and i would have to call and call and email until i would get a response, and then they did the same thing again- no show.  They have terrible service.  The install went poorly - 1 part of the marble is not the same color as the other 2 pieces.  They installed it crooked, scratched the marble, and scratched my new wood floors.  No professionalism.  After 3 weeks now i have been attempting to get the discolored peice removed, I was told they had a new piece for me, and again, i am chasing after them to get it done.  they say they will call on Monday, and now it's friday and no one will call me back, answer the phone, or respond to my emails.  DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY.  all they do is over promise and under deliver.

Total disaster.  
1. First off the measurements were way off.  The 1.5 inch overhang fluctuated from 0.5 inch to 2.75 inch. 
2.  The agreed design only had 2 seams, when then tried to install it there was 3
3.  They cracked the granite and tried to hide it from me
4.  The proposed solution to the short overhand was to cut a 24x48 section of the drywall and recess my cabinets into the wall.  This is an exterior wall so I would have no insulation or support to hold up the wall
5.  While installing the granite onto the peninsula, they didn't set it on top, rather they slid it onto the peninsula causing it to shift.  This make a huge scratch in my brand new floor and made my peninsula no longer 90^ to the wall
6.  The gap from the wall to the granite is about 5/8 of an inch.  There should be no gap.  It is so large the back-splash wont cover the gap.
7.  I put a deposit down on Jan 21, 2014 and here we are on July 29, 2014 still trying to resolve this.  The president of the company, Shane, was scheduled to come to my house to view the situation and negotiate a settlement.  She cancelled, via email, after being 10 minutes late. A phone call seems appropriate in this situation.
*******URGENT******* Shane (president) had my credit card on file and used it for personal use. I have over $2,000 charges on my card from her.  Police report has been file and 

All was fine until installation.  One section of counter had a chip/dent larger than a dime in it.  The damage was there prior to installation, but it was installed anyway.  (unfortunately we were not there - a neighbor was keeping an eye on things for us)  Also, the dishwasher bracket was not installed as promised.  We called and installer and granite repair person were sent out.  The dishwasher was attached properly at that time.  The repair person made a "repair" to the granite, but it was still very obvious.  The area had a dull finish and was rough to the touch.  We called the company and said we either wanted that section of counter replaced or we wanted a refund of the cost of that section.  After many phone calls we ended up with a credit to our credit card for the cost of the damaged section.  If you should use this company - DO NOT PAY CASH - as you will have no recourse.  I absolutely recommend using a credit card.  Also, be home for the install and check over every piece of granite prior to the installation.  Keep a close eye on everyone to make sure all is done and done right.  If you do this you may be pleased with the discount prices of this company.

They had a showroom with lot of different granite samples.  They were very helpful and provided a quote within 30 minutes.  Price was better than anywhere else I went for the same granite.

The installers were semi-professional, although they thought nothing of throwing their tools on my new granite.  Sink was set-in crooked, had to come back and break it away from the granite and re-set.  Chipped a bit of the granite in the process.  They fixed the small chipped spots with epoxy.  The person who does the scheduling is totally unorganized.  Never returned phone calls, I had to always initiate the call.  The owner would not return my calls, always had a reason why it didn't happen.  In the end, we have our granite and our cut-out pieces, but after alot of frustration that is truly not worth it during a remodel.  I would not recommend.

I contacted Joe for an estimate for countertops using my estimated square footage. We eventually ended up with 3 different prices. I mistakenly signed a contract that "can be adjusted once the measurements are done" and put down a deposit. Then once I started thinking about this open ended contract that can be changed at her whim! I chickened out and within my allotted 3 days went to the office to cancel the contract and get a refund. Shane refused to do either, insisting that "I trust her and she will measure and bring a new contract". When she arrived, I again asked for the contract to be voided and my money back. She left to get her checkbook and would drop off the check that night. But, it didn't happen and now she has a new excuse each time I contact her! which is difficult because the phone doesn't get answered very often. It's been 3 weeks and the refund has not been issued. No services were provided by J&S, other than the free measurement so there is no reason for not voiding the contract or providing a refund.

UPDATE: The situation from my last review has been resolved. My sister mistakenly signed a open-ended contract and had problems breaking the contract and even further problems getting her deposit returned. Since I was gifting the countertops to my sister I became involved in the negotiations for the price. I understand the deposit has been returned, a full 9 days after it was promised as "in the mail". My experience was not good and I sincerely hope that it was a major exception to their company policy.

mm

Approximately 2 weeks after the counter tops were installed, my husband noticed some small chips in the beveled edge of the counter tops.  He contacted Shane at J & S to look at the chips and fix the problem.  She said they would be in the area on a specific date (unfortunately, we don't remember the exact date).  He waited all day for J & S Granite to show up.  No one showed, no one called to say they wouldn't be there.  We tried calling several times to reschedule, Shane never got back to us.  Eventually we went through our cabinet maker.  Shane assured the cabinet maker J & S Granite would fix the problem.  I eventually set up another date.  On that date, I told Shane I would have to take the time off work to meet with them.  Shane ASSURED me they would be there.  I took 3 hours off work to be home; J & S never showed up and never called to say they would not be able to make the appointment.  After the second missed appointment, Shane eventually called to say she wanted to set up another appointment.  At that time I told her we were tired of dealing with a business that didn't keep appointments or didn't feel it was necessary to contact us if they could not keep an appointment.  After trying to work with J & S Granite for several months, It became evident they had no intention of fixing the problem.  We went back to our cabinet maker.  He hired another company to fix the chips. 

The granite is gorgeous (it comes like that out of the ground, not because of J&S) and the price was good.  The experience with the owners however?  Absolutely horrible.

My husband built our kitchen from the ground up.  Made the amazing birch cabinets himself.  They're stunning.  Because of that, we wanted the best possible counter top for them and decided on granite.  After getting estimates from several different places, we decided to go with J&S/Granite For Less.  In the interest of full disclosure, their price was the best because they gave my husband a 10% price reduction after my husband installed the owners cabinets in their home.

Joe (the owner) sent his son out to measure/template for the counter top.  A week later, the installers showed up to do the install.  They had no problem with two separate areas of the granite installation.  But the biggest piece?  The larger counter top with the sink hole cut in it?  It didn't fit.  It was CLEARLY measured incorrectly by Joes son and then cut wrong.   The installers and my husband struggled with it for awhile before they realized that...once the sink was in...the counter top was cut too far to the right and you COULDN"T drop the counter top/sink down.  The installers called Joe and Shane, who came out with the original template.  They both FULLY acknowledged to my husband that the counter top was NOT going to fit.  The company owners solution?  He told my husband to take a tool and CUT OUT A PIECE OF OUR CUSTOM MADE BIRCH CABINETS !!!!   And then he left.

I was VERY unhappy about that and felt that since THEY were the ones who screwed up, we shouldn't have to mar our gorgeous cabinetry...THEY should have to recut the granite.  So my husband called the owners on their cell phone (one of their employees gave us the number).  The owners response?  "I'm not going to recut that.  It will cost me too much and I'm not taking that kind of loss".   My husband said that if they were going to do NOTHING and force my husband to destroy a part of our week old cabinets, they should at LEAST discount some of the price.  Joe laughed.  We were stunned.  Their employees, however, told us "Not the first time we've dealt with this".  WOW.   And a two hour install turned into a 6 hour ordeal.  The employees had to stay late on a Friday afternoon/evening because their bosses didn't care about THEM, either.

So, my husband took a tool and ground out a HUGE piece of our cabinets he'd worked SO hard to build for me.  And he had to do that because the owners of J&S Granite For Less didn't care that THEY'D screwed up and made it VERY clear they had ZERO intention of doing the right thing and fixing what THEY did wrong.  And the "free bathroom vanity counter top" that was supposed to be part of the deal?  Never got it.   Of course, considering their business ethic, I think we'll just consider ourselves lucky to not have to do ANY more business with them.

You really do get what you pay for.  Pay a bit more and go with a company that cares about the quality of work they provide and correcting THEIR mistakes.