ComplaintsforSet In Stone of Charleston, LLC

• Initial Complaint

  01/16/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  Entered into a contract with the business on February 3, 2023 to have a paver patio installed, with a projected April install deadline (we were told that the project would take 2 days in total from start to completion, as it's a small patio). We put down a 50% deposit totaling $3367. April and May came and went without our project getting started, nor any communication from the business, so we reached out and got an updated estimate of August or September. Those months came and went, and again we had to reach out many times before getting an updated target of October. October went, and we again had to bug them for a reply, at which point we were told we'd get a realistic timeline after Thanksgiving. We are now in January 2024 and haven't heard anything from the business. No work has not yet been started, yet alone completed. Communications from the business have been sparse, vague and erratic regarding each delay, and we are growing concerned that they will never perform the job we contracted them for nearly a year ago, for which they took a sizeable goodwill deposit.

• Initial Complaint

  11/27/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  In October of 2022, we (wife and I) contracted with Set in Stone to install a patio paver in the back yard of our new home. Initially we were told it would be done sometime in December or January. We paid him a deposit of $5,875.00 for him to order the materials. Since then, we have gotten excuse after excuse as to why it couldn't be done, my wife has at one point given him three options (see attached text message chain) in order to resolve the issue but he never responded to our suggestions. My wife has been handling this up to now but I'm now going to deal with it and I'm hoping that you folks can help us resolve this matter. Steve (the owner) has portrayed his company as being veteran owned and I too am a veteran, I've left him three messages between his work and cell number since last week, appealing to his honor as a veteran but he hasn't bothered to respond. I had my wife forward her text message correspondence to my phone and I downloaded them to my laptop, unfortunately the date/time stamp didn't come over with them but I've separated the individual texts so you can follow the sequence of their messages. As I said earlier, we've been dealing with this for over a year and we're very frustrated. Ideally, we'd like him to do the job in the next 3 to 4 weeks (hard timeline, either he meets it or we go through the court system to resolve) or refund all of our money, including his admin fee for non-performance of the contract (see the original and revised attached contract documents) so we can find someone else to do the job.

• Initial Complaint

  11/06/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  We hired Set In Stone Hardscapes to install pavers in our driveway, In April 2023, we sent a $7000 deposit (50% of the job). Steve Baugh indicated that they were 4 months out, so we expected the job to be done in August, in July, I reached out to Steve. He indicated that with weather and labor problems, the job would be pushed out to October. In September, I followed up and he indicated that the job was now scheduled for November. I reached out to him at the end of October and he told me they were pushed back to January. I’ve asked for my deposit back, and he has now quit responding. I echo a previous complaint. Sorry, if you can’t perform the job, return the money. You are not the victim, Steve.

• Initial Complaint

  10/30/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  We contacted Set in Stone back in September of 2022 to have them come look at our yard and give us an estimate of putting in a patio. Steve (the owner) showed up and showed us some awesome looking patios from different pictures in a magazine and we decided right there on the spot that we wanted him to do the job. After he came up with an estimate, we gave him HALF down (almost $8000) to get us on the books. He told us up front that it would be January because he could get to us because he was so backed up due to weather and other things. We were fine with that and gave him the money and signed the contract. Well, January came and went. February came and went. It was then communicated that ‘March or so’ would be the expected start date. March came, and in March it was communicated that mid-April would be an expected start date. April came, and it was communicated that ‘about another two weeks’ would be needed. On or about May 3rd, we reached out to Set in Stone, there was again no reassurance of the project being commenced on any definite start date. We continued to get vague and intermittent responses to for about another three weeks. We had one more communication with Set in Stone in June. In that communication we told Set in Stone that we intended to move forward with another company since there was still no reassurance of a timely and definitive start date. Set in Stone replied to this request that it would “happily refund [all] money minus 10% plus any associated fees (receipts will be provided if any)”. We agreed to this in writing with them on June 2, 2023. But after that, we still didn’t see the money and no communication from Set in Stone. At this point we decided it was time to get a lawyer and take the route of litigation. After our lawyer got involved and sent them a certified letter. In that letter we gave them two options. One option was to start work on our patio, in which case they could keep the money we gave them and we would pay them the last half after the job was finished. The second option was to give us a total refund (they would not keep 10%). They all of a sudden started communicating and chose the second option of giving us a full refund. They even signed a legal agreement with us to pay us back and we agreed to let them pay us in two installments. The first half was due by July 15th and the second half was due by August 15th. This was a legal binding agreement that our lawyer put together and THEY signed. Well to date (10/5/2023) we still have not seen a dime of their money. So at this point we are going to the next step and taking them to small claims court and then submitting a complaint against their contractor’s license. So bottom line is that we paid this company thousands and thousands of dollars up front at the beginning of October 2022 and here we are one year later and no money back. It’s sad because we loved what we saw in the pictures of what they built to date and we feel bad because we know they are going through a rough patch and can’t seem to get back on their feet. But that’s no reason for the customers to suffer. So at this point I would suggest staying away from them and finding another company. We ended up going with a company called Feria Landscape Concepts and they were wonderful. We got patio done within a month of the down payment. And the down payment wasn’t HALF of the total job either. Difference of night and day between the companies.

• Initial Complaint

  10/10/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  On March 13, 2023 we met with Steve who works for Set in stones regarding installing steps for our patio. He was super quick to reply to our calls and messages. He came on time to our house. We discussed what we needed and we paid 50% down payment for the steps that would cost us total $2800. He informed us that it will take him about 4 month to get “this small job” done and it will only need one day. After four month we tried to contact him and his company via phone calls and emails but we had a very hard time to get to them. They would eventually reply via text message that the delay was because either was due to death of an employee or rainy weather. We were eventually promised that in September we would have our project done. In September we tried to contact them again but no one replied to us at all. Not to our messages, phone calls or voice messages. We tried again on Oct and no response. We asked them that we no longer want their business and we want a refund of our 50% deposit but still haven’t heard back from them. They are very difficult to reach and we are worried that they took our money and will never get back to us again. My wife Yosra alkabab was the one who met with Steve and paid him the deposit by check.

  Customer response

  10/22/2023

  We have heard back from the company thru a text message on 10/9/23 stating they will refund us  but we have not received anything from them yet. 
  
  They are very hard to get to. They don’t reply to phone calls or texts. 
  

• Initial Complaint

  09/12/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  Contract was signed in December 2022 for $7100. Initial discussion stated project would be completed in 3 or 4 months. Emails from the company stated the project would begin May 15, 2023, and no response was received from the owner as the start date passed. After numerous attempts to contact owner, the owner communicated by text message in May 2023 and could not provide any timeline as to completion of project as he made several excuses for the delay. Owner, Steve Baugh, stated he would refund the deposit by August 2023 and as of September 2023 no deposit has been refunded.

  Business response

  09/12/2023

  We did in fact miss the May install date, because we had a major death in the family, as we explained to our customer. May was a very difficult month for our family, and being a family run business, this unfortunately effected our business negatively. We regret that and had hoped to move passed that but after additional weather delays slowing down progress and pushing back their installation date further the customer chose to cancel in June. We explained our cancellation policy does not honor a refund beyond the cancellation period, however, we understood their experience was unfavorable and felt if we did not agree, we would face negative backlash. So we agreed to a refund by August. We have had an extremely slow season and with installations taking more time due to weather issues, this has cost us more and taken us longer than expected to return. We tried to arrange a payment towards this August 24th through one of their representatives, but our request was ignored and the customer has now taken legal action. We are now in the fight of our lives to save our business reputation we worked so hard to build over these last 8 years, because we felt pressured to agree to go against our cancellation policy and honor their return. This customer has taken to every social media outlet and now law enforcement to press criminal charges against us with false statements, in what should be a civil matter. We have been advised by our attorney to not return any money until this legal matter is resolved. 

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