I recently worked with Glen Rapaj and Express Marble & Granite to install new countertops and sinks in my kitchen and bathroom. Glen is one of the owners of the company. Let me start by saying I have no issue with the installation and I am satisfied with the work they did. However, I would caution anyone against working with Glen as a result of his ethics and disrespect to his customers. He was extremely unorganized and personally made the project very unpleasant.
My first interaction was with an employee of his, Michael. Michael was very pleasant to work with and quick to respond to any questions or needs. He was a big reason that I decided to move forward with Express Marble & Granite. However, Michael was fired 1 hour after I received an email from him. I found this out when I was told that Michael doesn't work there by another associate, while I was at Arizona Tile picking out slabs of granite. The reasons were none of my business, so I though nothing of it.
This is where things began taking a turn for the worse. At this point I began working with Glen and another employee of his. They seemed to be unaware of any of the progress that I had made with Michael, so I had to send them the contract that had already been negotiated. I was not concerned about this at the time, as it seemed that Michael's departure was sudden. In the contract, it clearly stated that tax was included and that the "final price includes removal of all counter tops with assistance from the owners in its removal." During our negotiations with Michael, it was very clear that "assistance from the owners" meant that I would remove all of the sinks and backsplashes, and they would do the rest. I also added a clause to the contract that payment was due on the day of completion of the job, and that no deposit was required up front. I did this after reading some of the questionable reviews from Express Marble & Grantite's previous customers. Glen said that he was confident in the work they do and agreed to this provision.
During the fabrication process, there were a few instances where I received contradicting information from Glen and his employee. For example, we originally agreed on one seam, but I got a call saying the fabricator said he can't do one seam and they will need to have a second. I told them that we had agreed on one seam and asked what changed. I was forced to be the middle man between Glen and his employee. Eventually I get a call from Glen asking me what the problem was with having the one seam that we originally agreed on. This was obviously confusing and left me feeling less than confident after the fabricator said they couldn't do one seam, but Glen said they could. We agreed on one seam, which I am happy with, but the process was more complicated and unorganized than it should have been.
Despite being 2 hours late, the installers did a great job. They were clean, fast, and thorough. I was pleased with the work they did. The only issue was them forgetting to install a piece of granite on the window sill, which Glen agreed to provide for free as part of the job. I wasn't concerned by this because I assumed I could get it from him when I paid.
When it came time to pay was when the real issues with Glen occurred. First, he tried to add sales tax to the already agreed upon cost, which clearly included tax on the contract. When I refused to pay that, he tried to charge me an additional $350 for the removal of the old countertops, which was included in the cost of the contract, "with the assistance of the owners," which I provided as negotiated with the original employee, Michael. When I again refused to pay more than the agreed upon cost he became disrespectful, and then told me that if I wanted the windowsill piece that he originally promised, I would have to pay $200 extra. I again refused to pay more than what we agreed on, which is when he told his employee to start the process to put a lien on my house.
For the next 3-4 days he held the windowsill piece hostage since I refused to pay more. After finally agreeing to give me the sill piece for the originally agreed upon price, he insisted on cash, which concerned me based on how unethical he had been up to that point. He said he would only accept cash because I was somehow being shady and he said I would cancel the check. After finally agreeing on a certified bank check, he then insisted I sign something else stating that the job was done, which was supposed to be the point of the original contract that he had such a hard time abiding by. He agreed to stop the lien process, and I signed his pointless statement.
The point is that the work was well done, but Glen was extremely disrespectful (I have texts to prove it), and he made the experience miserable because he didn't want to follow through on what he agreed on, while somehow accusing me of doing him wrong. Beware of Glen and include every detail on the contract IF you choose to do business with him. read more