AIBU to ask for a refund...

[OrganisedMeal]

I had a marble worktop installed in my new kitchen in August 2023. I noticed a couple of dings that had been filled when it was fitted as the colour was off so the fitters came back and redid them. I've since had them back as the silicon all along the sink up stand failed and was coming away.

About 4 weeks ago while on the phone (the rare occasion I paused in the kitchen) I noticed a small loose slice of marble under the worktop directly below the kitchen tap. Upon close inspection there is also a crack directly in-front of the tap running from the tap hole to the edge of the worktop and down through it.

I asked the supplier to come and look, they were busy before Christmas and sent one of their fitters this week who immediately said it wasn't cracked it was a vein and he couldn't feel a crack. I demonstrated I could with my nail and then he offered to polish it and said it would be gone in minutes. I declined the offer as I think its in a place that will now be susceptible to water damage and there would have been a risk of damaging my Qettle tap and its just a patch repair on an expensive worktop. He was insistent on going to his van to get the tools to polish it and then my DH entered the room and we had the same conversation and declined the polish fix and I asked him to get the sales guy to call me as I don't want a patch fix on this.

After they left I went thought my photos taken on the day of install and have one when it was first installed with no crack, then one after they drilled the tap hole and the crack is visible, as the photo was taken further away I had to view it on my tv and zoom in to see the detail, it shows the crack after the tap hole was drilled. The photos are time and date stamped. The installers spent quite a bit of time huddled over the sink & the island polishing various things on the day, I tried to stay out of the way and now feel like I've been conned. They also applied a lot of liquid sealant and told me to leave the worktops for 24 hours to seal them.

The sales guy left me a v/m yesterday, could barely hear him, don't know if that was deliberate but stating he would have noticed the crack if it had been there when they fitted it and it must be something that's happened since. He suggested using a repair service, I don't want this repairing. He is yet to see my photos. Do you think IBU to ask for a refund?

I would ask them to rectify it rather than get a refund, how long is the warranty?

They wont refund you, realistically - they might replace that piece if they agree it was cracked by them, but in reality your agreement is likely to say it covers repair or replacement.

Id be forwarding copies of the photos to them.

Also - Why did the silicone fail? Is there movement in the worktop causing that? And can they explain how the worktop could have cracked all the way through in such a short time anyway? Sounds like its just not fit for purpose - you might get somewhere takingbthat angle?

@Greensleevevssnotnose I can't see any mention of warranty on the quote or invoice.

@Saz12 this sounds like the way to go. I'm about to forward the photos and mention the product is not fit for purpose as it really isn't. If it had been in for a few years this would maybe be easier to accept but just a few months and I've been super careful with it and turned my kids into little marble warriors or should I say worriers!! It was damaged on the install and I suspect they tried to hide it.

I’d ask to speak to the owner, give them an opportunity to replace it but if they refuse then I’d ask for a refund and then when they refuse that, send a letter before action / then issue a small claim. The process is quite easy to follow online. I think you might have to take this to small claims court if they deny responsibility for the crack/poor workmanship and I absolutely would push for this. We had a similar issue where they’d mis measured the worktop so came too short on one side and they tried to fill the gap with silicone and get away with it !!! Had to really push to get them to admit it wasn’t good enough and agree to replace it, they tried v hard to fob us off. It was stressful. Good luck!

@Muthaofcats thanks for your reply. I'm about to contact the owner and see where this goes.

To update on this, the owner came back and tried to polish out the crack claiming it was a natural fissure that had opened up.... hmmmm ok.
Then a few weeks ago I noticed some large darker splotches coming through on the splash back behind the sink run. Transpires they used the wrong type of silicone and it's bleeding through the marble. He has agreed to replace this and I've asked him to replace the lot with quartz instead so we won't need to bother him again. Marble wasn't the right product for a few reasons...