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What a day. I got a call from my installer today and they asked if the cove splash should be a different height than the set on side splash. You can imagine my suprise. I said no and of course the counter was built wrong. So they bring the top back and we start to work on cutting the splash to the right height when out of the blue we get a call from the customer.
She says, “I don’t like the color and I want to change it.” This is the best phone call we have ever received from a customer.
I have the file in the computer, so I just have to order more material and recut. Should save a ton of time and we don’t have to fix the old one and we charged for the second top.
Many years ago, when I was a Fab, we did complete remodels also. One large full kitchen remodel we did for a Doctor, picked the same color – Bone – for everything, the floor tiles, the cabinets, the Corian top and sink, the faucets, the paint, EVERYTHING was BONE. The last day on the job I was turning the keys back over to the owners, and they said “We changed our mind we want it ALL redone in WHITE ……………” The next day we started the tear out, some people have to much $$$ !
We just did a hospital where the plans called for Mojave everywhere. The day we finished the site supervisor did a walk through and said, “That Corian Beach sure does look dark this time.”
We tore everything out and started over. Thatfully we have a cnc and just recut the tops. Plus we got paid twice because the architect specified the wrong color.
I have a customer of mine that every two years calls me to redo her kitchen. We have done it three times now and I am expecting a call from her shortly. She just picks a different color each time. Large job too, 120 square feet of counter tops and 50sq feet of tops that sit on the upper cabinets. She can see the tops of the wall cabinets from her sitting room upstairs and wants them all to match.
John
We had a close call a year or two ago where a customer said to the installer that the color looked darker than they remembered. Then when he came in to pay the balance on the job he said it again, not really complaining but just mentioned it. I now began to wonder what was going on so I checked into it and found out that we did it in the wrong color.
I set up a meeting with the customers and took their original sample and put it on the counter and told them that we made a mistake. The wife said immediately that she would not allow me to remove her counters. I explained that I would redo her job in the right color and she said that there was no way, her husband had finally hooked her sink back up and this was the color she wanted from the start but had felt it would be too dark but after seeing it installed she loved it.
We really dodged a bullet on this one. We gave the customer a gift certificate for dinner at a really nice restaurant and reordered the material for the job we now did not have the material for. She called back about a week later and felt bad that we had given her the certificate but thanked us for all we did for them. Defiantly a happy ending for a job gone wrong.
Shane
Shane,
Does she refer you company now because of the steps you took to satisfy the customer? It never fails that when you make a mistake and go the extra mile with the customer it pays off in the end with more referrals.
Andy,
She would in a heartbeat, she was very impressed with us even though we made a mistake. I just love it when that happens.
Shane
Thanks guys!!!! I was just reading through all your counters gone wrong thinking I’ve been lucky and haven’t had any go wrong. Well just went to shop look at a laminate top with a Karran undermount sink customer asked for white, but bisque is what is in it. So Shane do I need to make it a steak dinner so the sink looks white or what. Guess I might have a display top now whether I want it or not.
Reuben,
Maybe a steak dinner and a movie will do it. But seriously how does it look? You know people have such a hard time picking colors it might be an idea to let them see it and if they are okay with it you could offer up a discount, or that steak dinner. You would be money ahead if they were okay with it. The only problem I have doing that is I really want the customer to be happy with the job and not to settle today and bitch about it tomorrow. But who knows maybe that was the color they really wanted.
Shane
Shane,
I,m waiting for them to come and look at it for themselves. I personally think the bisque looks better than the white, but they are trying to match the appliances. I’m like you I want them to be happy tomorraow and not just today. Maybe they will realize the sink doesn’t have to match the Fridge clear across the room. Guess time will tell. If they don’t take it have you ever treid to pop those sinks off the laminate and be able to use them for another job? Naturally this is not a most wanted color to sell to someelse easily.
Reuben,
I have yet to do a Karran sink install in laminate. I really think it is a good idea but I am waiting for more feedback on how they hold up over time. I guess after the SSV thing I am a little paranoid. I have cutout solid surface sinks from solid surface and used them again but I don’t think it would be the same in your case. Good luck, maybe they will be glad you made the mistake.
Shane
A little new to the SSV story. I know it is a product gone away, but was its problems so maybe I have someyhing to prepare for or prevent in doing the Karrans under laminate. I haven’t had any problems so far and been doing them for about 2 years maybe thats not a long enough tract record.
I would say two years is a pretty good track record for having no problems. The SSV was a bad idea mainly due to the solid surface material being laminated to a wood substrate. With such different expansion and contraction rates it was doomed to fail.
Shane
Just got done with the wrong sink customers and they decided to take the sink. I did not tell them yet, but I will be giving them an certificate for a good meal. Guess it was my lucky day afterall. Bt the way if you decide to try the Karran laminate tops I recomend the Bond method.
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