Upscale Kitchen and Bath

Upscale Kitchen & Bath strives for the perfect remodeling experience. As anyone can see by all the other reviews online about our company. I personally met with Bruce Stark and Doris Fewer on July 1, 2017. We executed a contract for a master bathroom remodel at that time. I advised Bruce & Doris of our installation lead time that was running 10-12 weeks. Ms. Fewer insisted we have a start date no later than October 1, 2017. I agreed it should not be an issue. Since then, Florida has been struck by the second most powerful hurricane to ever make landfall in the United States. Displacing many of my clients and employees, work came to a halt for nearly a month. Thereby making us unable to begin the Stark/Fewer remodel until October 23, 2017. A date they have found to be wholly unacceptable. The claim that we have not communicated other than to say ?shipment delayed? is entirely false. Our communications have been as follows: 7/1/17: Date Sold - Contract Signed 7/28/17: Meeting at our Lutz showroom addressing various questions. Including Ms. Fewer?s desire to ?select? her specific panels. 9/20/17: Email from Doris to Upscale regarding start date 9/20/17: Response email from Upscale detailing the delays caused by Irma. Excerpt: ?Due to hurricane Irma, there has been some product delays. We do have some panels in stock, however choices are a bit narrower than usual.? 9/25/17: Follow up phone call placed from Upscale to Doris. Advised again of delays. Offered alternate stone panel selection to keep October 1st installation date. This offer was declined. Explained I could have panels air freighted in at tremendous expense, but willing to do. This would still put installation beginning October 23rd. Was told she had to discuss with Mr. Stark and we would hear back. 10/4/17: Having never received a call back, received the following email: ?It's been a couple of weeks since we last talked on the phone. ? You indicated then that the current warehouse stock doesn't have the slab color we selected, so once shipment arrives, I'd still like to arrange an appointment to select the panel. ? Are we still on target for an install date the week of October 23rd?? 10/4/17: Attempted an immediate return phone call in response to email. No answer. Left voice message. 10/11/17: Email from Doris claiming she received no response to her 10/4 email or voicemail left with answering service 10/6. We received no message from our service on 10/6. 10/12/17: Response email from Upscale. ?I have some panels that are being air shipped in slated to arrive the 18th that you can come take a look at. Our container doesn?t arrive until November 20th unfortunately, but again I will have some panels to choose from on October 18th. As long as I have something you like, we?re still looking good for the 23rd.? 10/12/17: Response email from Doris setting her own appointment and once again reminding us of the original October 1st commitment. ?How about an appointment for Saturday, Oct. 21st at 11:00am to select a panel? ? ? You'll have Carrara Venato panels amongst the choices from your Oct 18th shipment? ? Because I'm not interested in waiting until after Nov. 20th, since per contract, work was to commence no later than Oct.1st.? 10/13/17: Called Doris to discuss panel ?selection? or more appropriately lack of choices. No answer. Recording stating no voice mailbox set up. 10/18/17: Email from Doris ?confirming? the appointment she set for herself. 10/20/17: Email to Doris from Upscale explaining the air shipment was running a few days behind, but including photos of stone. Offered to begin work as stone panels were in fact en route. Email as follows: Hello Doris, We are still waiting on our shipment. I?ve attached a photo of the stone that the slabs were made from. They are all from the same block, so they all look the same. I have a crew that should be available Wednesday to start your bathroom, but the the stone will probably not be in until after we begin. Everything else is in and ready to begin. Please advise. 10/20/17: Rude response email from Doris: ? Still waiting on shipment (of stone) ? What does that mean? ? ?? A week? ?? Three weeks? ? Two months? ? ? Have a crew that should be available Wednesday ? ? Explain. ? Your crew might start on Wednesday to tear down the current tub/tile and prep but can't install the shower walls, shower pan, fixtures, glass panel/door until the stone arrives? ? ? That would render a currently functioning tub/shower inoperable, until which time the stone arrives, then custom cut and installed.? Would that be an additional week, three weeks, two months, or longer? ? Everything else is in and ready to begin ? ? We're now at 16 weeks past contract signing and deposit.? All of the "everything else" for this job is standard materials/size, nothing custom.? Easy to order (exchange/return) with product delivery within 8 weeks. ?? It appears you're telling me you don't know when shipment will arrive. ? Is this correct?? Doris Fewer 10/21/17: Before we could respond to her 10/20 reply, a negative review was posted to Angieslist. I personally responded with the following email in its entirety: Doris, I just received this email along with your negative review on Angieslist. First, let me apologize again for the delays in beginning your project. I am aware that per your request, I included a start date of no later than October 1st in your contract. That being said, this is clearly a case of force majeure. Since executing your contract on 7/1/17, Florida was hit with hurricane Irma. The second most powerful hurricane in United States history. Completely stopping installation on 10 projects for nearly 2 weeks. This put us behind on a labor side. Then Port Tampa was shut down for a couple weeks allowing only shipments of gasoline. This delayed shipping arrivals exponentially for everyone, not just Upscale. There was absolutely no way for me to anticipate a major national disaster while executing your contract. As I explained before, I do have a couple panels of your stone (plus some others) that I am air freighting in from China (at tremendous expense) in order to satisfy client obligations. These panels do not represent a ?selection? of panels, as I?m only bringing in enough for the immediate work at hand. Original expected arrival was 10/18, however it is now expected 10/23-24. Air freighting 1740 lbs. from China isn?t as simple as ordering a sweatshirt off Amazon Prime. Sometimes delays occur. So, we are expecting Carrera Venato this week, just not a ?selection? which is why I included the photo of the expected stone in my previous email. Our primary container is still slated for a 11/20 arrival which will have a selection of Carrera Venato panels to choose from. However, you stated you have no desire to wait that long. A crew should be available Wednesday to begin work means exactly that. That barring any unforeseen circumstances, I have a crew finishing a job Tuesday, thereby being available to begin your job Wednesday. It is remodeling however and sometimes things run a little over. I will not improperly complete someone?s project to move onto the next. Our reputation reflects that. There is plenty of work on your project that can be done while the panels are en route. The stone can literally be done last. Cutting and installing the stone typically takes no longer than two days. Which again, is slated to arrive this week. You would not even experience a hiccup in the installation process.? The only custom item for your project is the shower pan which is a non typical drain location for a pan that size. It was ordered and fabricated specifically to fit your home. You are correct, everything else is not custom sized and can be resold.? I hope I have adequately answered your questions. So, I would like to assist in making this right by you however I can. First, I would kindly ask you to retract your review as I hardly think a 3 week delay following a major national disaster warrants damage to our impeccable reputation (not counting the crazy person whom we never contracted with). Following that, we can: A) Move forward with your installation and deliver the beautiful bathroom you hired us to build. B) Refund your deposit and part company. I will eat the $700 custom shower pan. Please advise how you would like to proceed.??? Wishing you continued success, Royce H. Amsden Owner Upscale Kitchen and Bath As anyone can see, there has been no lack of communication as stated in the Stark/Fewer reviews. We have in fact made every effort possible to accommodate the installation timeline. There was simply no way for us to plan for or expect a natural disaster. Our contract is very clear that the 50% materials deposit is non-refundable after the 3 day cancellation period. We were still willing to issue a refund in the interest of conducting business the right way if the clients were willing to cease their efforts to damage our impeccable reputation. Since, they have contacted every consumer protection agency at their disposal and left negative reviews all over the internet. Upscale Kitchen & Bath is still willing to issue a refund, though not legally bound to and having incurred tremendous expense securing the job materials, if this client is willing to cease, desist and retract their unwarranted reviews.