Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:09/18/2024

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  This summer Colonial services was hired to restore tarrazzo floors in an old building in Fort Worth. The same flooring was used in large parts of the structure and it was fairly easy to imagine what the finished roduce would look like. Upon completing, the floors were dull, there were swirls all over the floor, a large wall mirror was broken, an the hall outside the door was not cleaned in violation of the contractor's agreement signed by the company. I was sent pictures after completion which he lauded as looking great. When I expressed my disappointment, he blamed it on the original installer (90 years ago) being drunk when he was working on my unit.
  
  I enlisted a store restoration company with over 40 years experience to look at the work and also the manager of the entire complex, both of whom thought the work was shockingly bad. When I expressed this to the Colonial Services owner, he accused me of not using professionals, referring to the two I used as a plumber and housecleaning lady. Many statements in his emails and also conversations seemed irrational and aggressive. I don't feel he would have treated a male client in the same manner.
  
  I did not want him to try to correct the horrible work done for several reasons; the processes he proposed would not have worked according to the expert, I was uncomfortable having him in my unit or in the building, and did not trust the process he used that ending up taking a fraction of the time quoted by others. He feels he is entitled to the work he did that caused damage and was billed at $600.00 per hour.
  
  The floors were restored by a second service and are now stunning and exceed my expectations. They mirror the work done in every other unit with tarrazzo flooring.

  

  Business Response

  Date: 10/03/2024

  In response to Client (BBB) Complaint
  We first looked at the terrazzo floor on June 14th. The client was not on location for the original
  inspection. This looked like most 50- to 100-year-old terrazzo floors we do, rough. Which is typical
  because 99% of the time they have never been restored. It was common practice for most
  companies to apply a high viscosity sealant wax as a finish after the installation grind, instead of
  spending the time and money to properly polish terrazzo up, decades back. You never quite know
  what is under all those layers of wax and unknowns with these specific floors. You are inspecting
  what you can see.
  We commenced on June 28th. We noticed as we began the floor stripping process that there were a
  couple of small areas that showed some unfinished installation issues from the original metal
  diamond cuts.
  The client was notified of what we had discovered. The client was also notified that we would not
  know how apparent the metal diamond swirls would be until the final polishing. After stone or
  concrete is resurfaced with lower diamond grits, then you move upwards in multiple steps with high
  diamond grit levels to pull the mirror finish up and out.
  The full restoration process was finished on June 29th. Client was notified beforehand what time we
  would be done, so she could come and look at it. We were done a little later than that. Did not see
  or hear from client till later that evening when she text to tell me “thank you”, while she was at the
  condo.
  I immediately called her on the phone and asked her to please walk through the condo before she
  left the building because of the installation swirls that I had already mentioned twice in our
  communication. I explained the original install blunder from 100 years ago.
  The restoration process that we were hired to do looked amazing, but it had exposed pre-existing
  conditions from the installation.
  It appeared that one or possibly two metal diamond steps in some areas were never fully
  completed from the original installation 100 years ago. There is no way to know or even see the level
  of severity that might be hiding, until the finished polish. Unfortunately, the pre-existing condition
  diminished a superior final product. The restoration process that we were hired to do was flawless.
  I explained the only two remedies to cure the poor original installation from 100 years ago to the
  client on June 28th and 29th. We agreed on the first option. I moved our schedules around to put her
  as a priority the following Monday, July 1st. Sunday June 30th, I received a text from her to cancel the
  agreed appointment. She said she needed time to think. I never heard back from (client). I
  contacted her the following week on July 6th. She informed me that she was not going to pay
  Colonial Services and that she had hired a competitor company.
  (Client) never paid Colonial Services her required deposit of 35% or any monies afterward for the
  stone restoration project.
  We have a satisfaction guarantee warranty with the opportunity to remedy. Colonial Services was
  never paid any money or given the opportunity to remedy.