I purchased countertops and had them installed from Lowe's of South Boston. It has been a complete disaster. The following is a sequence of events that took place.

Counter Tops

9 Feb 2007 Friday:
Ordered solid surface countertops and cabinet for kitchen island from Lowe's of South Boston. We specified that we wanted a solid surface countertop with no seams, bull nose edging, and easy to maintain that would not scratch... The salesperson Marybeth Chillemi insisted on the Formica Solid Surface. At this time, the countertop we picked was on a special promotion at $62.00 per sq foot reduced from the normal $72.00 per sq foot. I had taken a template of the existing cabinets and the new cabinet for the island came to 48.3 sq. ft. I would remove existing countertops and sink and install new sink when countertops were in place. It was set up for their contractor to come and make a template of the countertops on Mar 6, 2007 after I installed the new cabinet purchased from Lowe's. The new cabinet was to arrive by the end of the month to give me time to install prior to Lowe's contractor making the template.

1 Mar 2007 Thursday:

I received a call from the trucking company as to when I would be available for delivery. I told them I could be there the next day Friday 2 Mar 2007 for delivery. They said they only delivered in that area one day a week, which was on Thursdays and they would not be able to deliver until the following Thursday 8 Mar 2007. I contacted the installers to see if they could come and make the template the day after Friday 9 Mar 2007. They said they would have to reschedule and it would be delayed two weeks. I asked them if the measurements on the cabinet would be okay as it was and island. They said no that they had to make a template of the island or come back and there would be an extra charge. I told them not to reschedule as I would make arrangements to get the other cabinet there. I called the trucking company back and made arrangements for me to drive to Richmond and pick up the cabinets the next day. I was in Norfolk stationed at the Naval Base and I would take a day of vacation and pick them up and deliver to my home in Boydton Virginia. They said this would be okay. I picked the cabinets up on Friday and installed over the weekend and removed the existing countertops to be ready on Tuesday for the installer to make the template.

6 mar 2007 Tuesday:

A Mr. Rick Lucas with Five Star out of Salem Virginia the installer for Lowe's came to make the template on this morning. He did not make a template of the new cabinet, just took the measurements. He said they would not be able to install the countertops until 20 Mar 2007. This meant that I would be without the use of the cabinets and sink for (15) days. I told him I would not be able to be there on 20 Mar 2007 as I had to be at the Naval Hospital for pre-op for surgery that was scheduled later. My wife would be there.

8 Mar 2007 Thursday:

Marybeth Chillemi called and said there would be and additional charge of $135.00 that she left out of the contract and it would have to be paid before the countertops were installed or made. I explained to her that I had to drive to Richmond 120 miles away to pick up the island cabinets because Lowe's could not get them delivered on time to have the template made, to prevent another two week delay.

20 Mar 2007 Tuesday:

Five Star came and installed the countertops. My wife called me that night and said they installed the countertops, but there were some problems, that they had broken some supports on the cabinets and scratched the newly painted walls. They also corked the backsplash with corking that did not even match the countertops, The backsplash was to made as part of the countertop and not a separate piece, this was made very clear to Marybeth Chillemi the sales person at Lowe's as we did not want any seams and this was the whole purpose of getting new countertops. I told my wife I would look at them when I could get home and contact Lowe's.

30 Mar 2007 Friday:

I got home 30 Mar 2007 and checked the cabinets and installed the sink. While installing the sink, I found they had cut the opening for the sink to large and I had to build a frame inside the cabinet to support the sink and be able to fasten it in place.

2 Apr 2007 Monday:

I contacted Lowe's and explained the problems to them with the sink, the scratches on the wall that the wall had to be repainted, there were scratches in the countertop, one countertop was not square on the cabinet, the cabinets had to be repaired where they broke the supports and they did not cleanup their mess from installing the countertop. They said they would contact the installer and get back with me.

16 Apr 2007 Monday:

I contacted Lowe's again as they had not gotten back with me on the problems with the installation. They said they were waiting on word back from the installer.

26 Apr 2007 Thursday:

Called Lowe's again and spoke with Grant in install sales. He said he would send someone down on Saturday 28 Apr 2007 to check the cabinets when I could be there.

28 Apr 2007 Saturday:

Paige Fallen from install sales at Lowe's came to look at the countertops, she took some pictures and agreed that the workmanship was of poor quality.

1 May 2007 Tuesday:

Shannon from Five Star called to set up a time when they could come and look at the cabinets and he would bring James Koffman the sales rep for Five Star with him.

14 May 2007 Monday:

James Koffman called from Five Star and said they would be there to look at the countertops between 9:00 and 10:00 on Monday 21 May 2007 to check the countertops.

16 May 2007 Wednesday:

Called Lowe's and spoke with Shawn in install sales to let him know when Five Star reps would be there.

21 may 2007 Monday:

Shawn from Lowe's arrived at 09:30 and the reps from Five Star were an hour late arriving at 11:00. They inspected the countertops and said they would take care of the problem. Shawn from Lowe's insured that the problems would be taken care of as he had the power to make it happen and we would be totally satisfied. He said he would call us back on Tuesday 22 May 2007 to let us know what they were doing to resolve the issues.

22 May 2007 Tuesday:

Shawn did not call us as promised.

28 May 2007 Monday:

I went to Lowe's of South Boston to find out the status of the countertops as they failed to call and let us know. We talked with Shawn and he got a little huffy with us and said we were impatient ( I now question his professionalism ) We then went to the store manager Jeremy McNeil and explained what was going on and he said he was unaware of this problem and would call us the next day.

29 May 2007 Tuesday:

Jeremy McNeil store manager for Lowe's did not call as promised.

30 May 2007 Wednesday:

Shawn from Lowe's called and said they were still trying to get up with Five Star and would call on Friday 1 Jun 2007 with a definite answer and the solution.

4 Jun 2007 Monday:

Shawn from Lowe's called at 4:00 PM and said he had called Five Star 3 times with no results. He would call us back tomorrow 5 Jun 2007 Tuesday with a solution.

5 Jun 2007 Tuesday:

Shawn called at 12:00 noon to say the store manager Jeremy McNeil wanted to come and look at the countertops. They said they could be there between 3:00 and 4:00 o'clock. We said this would be okay. Jeremy the store manager said he would call us later in the week after he talked with Five Star and they decide who is going to pay for the damage, the replacement of the countertops and the fact that Lowe's did not order what we specified.

8 June 2007 Friday:

Jeremy Lowe's store manager called and said the owner of Five Star would come down and guarantee the work would be done correctly. Jeremy also said he would call us back on Monday or Tuesday 11 or 12 June to give us a date the work will be done.

13 Jun 2007 Wednesday:

We have not received a call from store manager Jeremy McNeil as promised.

14 Jun 2007 Thursday:

I called Lowe's Customer Care in North Wilksboro to inform them of the problem we were having with Lowe's of South Boston with the countertops and how dissatisfied we were with their service and the quality of work that was performed.

18 Jun 2007 Monday:

I still have not received any responses from Lowe's. I filed a claim with the Better Business Bureau today to try and get this resolved.

20 Jun 2007 Wednesday:

I still have not received any response from Lowe's as to the solution. I checked the contract and found that Lowe's also overcharge the price of the countertop. The price was $62.00 a sq ft for 48.3 sq ft. $2994.60, but instead charged $3824.12 plus taxes $79.17 per sq ft. With all the mistakes, workmanship and no professionalism Lowe's personnel have shown, I want the countertops removed, a refund of the product, pay for the repairs to cabinets and I will buy new countertops from another supplier.

20 Jun 2007 Wednesday:

Contacted Customer Care at North Wilksboro as a follow up on complaint of countertops. I spoke with Jennifer and also got the telephone number of the District Manager Fred Anthony in Roanoke Virginia. He was not in and they said they would leave him a message to call me at home or work.