The Grout Doctor

Revdex.com:I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me. Sincerely, [redacted]

I'll refund her full purchase price, but will not pay for the other contractor. But to reiterate I have no control over mildew/maintenence in the interim. And a note to all, if you have a problem CALL us. Thank you

Complaint: [redacted]I am rejecting this response because:
Thank you for your response. I would like to address the points you provided in your response and show some evidence as to how I came to this conclusion.
1)      The fact that you “ALWAYS do what you say you will” does not prove that you actually did this work, in any level of quality.
2)      “Sealers do wear off over time”: with this “work” having taken place under 10 months ago, and the fact that I started noticing the water damage in September (7 months after the “work”), this is approximately half the time that the NTCA recommendation is for.
3)      The home was new construction when the work was done. No one lived in the home yet and therefore it was impossible that any previous moisture as a result of water damage could have taken place. This is in reference to the document that you supplied titled “back of job sheet.pdf”, 2.G. Also, I never received a copy of this document.
4)      “We also have no control of the maintenance done by the homeowner”: I have my house professionally cleaned every other week. I discussed the mildew in the shower with my house keepers back in September/October 2015, and they also suspected that the grout was not properly caulked or sealed when installed. This, of course, is not an expert opinion as the house keepers are not tile/grout professionals. However, this is the full assessment of the contractor that did the repair and re-grouting work this month (December 2015):“As you can see around the edges there was the most mold, and there should have been at the very least a clear caulking around the edges to help prevent water damage. There were also areas that were missing grout entirely, which should have been addressed after completion however for someone who doesn't work with grout every day. Nobody would expect you to bring it up. For such a new home, it shouldn't have needed to be re-grouted this soon if it was installed properly.”
I am also attaching some photos of the before and after the repair work that was done in December.
Sincerely,[redacted]

To start with we ALWAYS do what we say we will. We take pride in the quality of our work. Sealers do wear off over time, the NTCA recommends resealing showers on a yearly basis. The running water will break down the sealer. As far as mildew goes, every house is different, ventilation is the biggest...

way to mildew prevent mildew. See the back of our form. I will not pay for the other contractor. We also have no control of the maintenance done by the homeowner. It has been 10 months when I received this complaint. We tell our customers to call us if they have a problem, this is the first I have heard about this.

Revdex.com:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and have determined that this proposed action would not resolve my complaint.  For your reference, details of the offer I reviewed appear below.I wish what the story you just made up was true. As $20 is not a lot of money and I would have gladly paid it on a monthly basis. Unfortunately, this is not the case. I have spoken with [redacted]'s mother [redacted] several times regarding numerous problems with this house including the back 2 rooms flooding the day I moved in which caused them to become stained and moldy. It's important to note the carpets were never replaced until 9 months of phone calls and emails to the homeowner after the flood happen. I called [redacted] at least once a month regarding this issue, she informed me "our insurance doesn't cover it". Meanwhile, my 7 year old daughter was forced to sleep in a room with carpet that reeks of mildew. Although my complaint is not about the flood and lack of effort. Between all the phone calls and emails regarding flooding and other water leaks throughout the house, not one time was I ever informed of a $20 tax that I was recently forced to pay in one lump sum. Your company is very rude. Your most recent comment is completely false and made up. As a company who just recently started managing this property, I find this very disrespectful you would make false claims of something that you know absolutely nothing about.
Regards,[redacted]

Revdex.com called business to follow up on this complaint and spoke to Fred Jaconette, owner. He said that he had set up an appointment with the consumers but they called and cancelled. He called them back and is awaiting a return call from them.

The Grout Doctor from Dunedin Florida overlaid new tile on my shower floor today. I am very pleased with the professional work done by the installer [David] from his punctual arrival, area preparation, and neatness to his job cleanup and pleasant personality. I would highly recommend this company based on this job experience.

Dear Mr. [redacted] I'm happy to discuss these issues with you.  What you may not understand is that the property management company doesn't have a say in how repairs are processed.  The owner of the property makes those decisions.  We do our best to hold him accountable to the lease and...

to his management agreement.  However, he decides what vendors are used and what repairs are authorized.  I've attached a copy of your lease for your review, and the work orders that were on file.  According to the notes the property manager took appropriate actions to get the repairs in process.  Century 21 has no authority to terminate your lease and under the circumstances that would not be adviseable to you.  As such please contact me directly so that I can make sure our manager and the owner of your property are all performing their duties in accordance with your lease and the law.  I can be reached any time at [redacted].  Just ask for [redacted].Thank you,[redacted]

[redacted]:
I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID [redacted], and find that this resolution would be satisfactory to me.  I will wait until for the business to perform this action and, if it does, will consider this complaint resolved.  I thank all parties involved for their assistance in resolving this dispute.
Regards,
[redacted]

Thank you for your comment, however, in life there are two sides to every story and the above is absolutely not the entire truthful story. The lease states there is a rental tax fee which is imposed by the City of the property a tenant lives in, Mr. [redacted] has refused to pay this tax ever since he...

moved into the property. The owner finally frustrated after numerous attempts to collect this from the tenant has hired our company to manage the property. Tenant now still refuses to pay and did not pay the rent on time as stated in his lease so therefore a late fee was imposed in accordance with the lease. Unfortunately, we have to treat everyone equal and must enforce the terms of every lease. We are neither mean or rude, the fact that the tenant disagrees with their obligations that we must uphold does not make us rude or extremely rude. We wish you the best in your next lease since you failed to live up to the one you are in now.No money is due to tenant and non will be refunded, the lease states his obligations and we must abide by them.

Mr. [redacted] hired an Agent to sell a property for his deceased mother.  However, Mr. [redacted] didn't disclose that the loan on the property was significantly higher than the value of the property.  As such, the title company couldn't allow the sale to proceed.  The Agent communicated...

this to Mr. [redacted] on multiple occasions, as did the title company.  The Agent is now working with the bank on Mr. [redacted] behalf to negotiate a short sale of the property.  The property is scheduled for foreclosure in February because Mr. [redacted] hasn't paid the mortgage.  However, the bank has indicated that they would consider delaying the foreclosure and authorizing a short sale of the home if Mr. [redacted] would provide some required documentation.  Mr. [redacted] is unwilling or unable to do so and as such the process is stalled.  Mr. [redacted] Agent is unable to resign as his Agent as the home is still under contract for sale.

This is a complete fabrication and totally inaccurate account of the project.
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Went the clients residence and look at a number of issues.  There was staining on shower marble floor, fracture cracks on the bathroom floor and three small tiles had come loose on the entrance to closet.
On the floor cracking I expressed concern that the tiles were not properly installed and movement had caused the stress fracturing.  Repairing this was not something I wanted to untake.  
With the three tiles that had come loose, no big deal.  These are small 1x1.  I also mentioned.  By the way these are not "white marble", they have grey veins running through them. I also believed the grout was delorean grey non-sanded throughout, and was stated to the client.
With the shower I said I would try to remove the stain using a deep stone cleaner, but was unsure if this would be successful.  I explained that if we could not remove it we would adjust the price. We also discussed if the marble and grout had been sealed. He believed it was but was uncertain and had no idea of type or manufacture.  It was agreed that we would reseal  everything using Miracle 511.
At the very end the customer showed some cracking of grout where the counter tops and backsplash meet and were the floor and dam step meet. Agreed we would caulk those, white on the counters and delorean grey on the floor.  
Finally the customer mentioned that there seemed to be some leakage on the enclosure base.  I looked closely at it could not see any meaningful gaps, but said we would run a light bead of clear silicon along the edge.  I also pointed out that there was clear silicon on the glass from the intial installation.
We returned two days later reinstalled the loose tiles, plus one additional tile.  Caulked the counters, which I did and the floor/dam seams.  This work was performed after we applied the stone cleaner(s).  First we used StonePro Stone Cleaner which removed some of dirt and oils.  There was still a yellow stain in 3 locations.  We then used Aquamix Heavy Duty Cleaner  3 applications.  Same results.  Showed this to the client and they were not satisfied.  I then said I would use an oil stain remover from  StoneTech and see if it would work.  I have used this product previously and it has worked.  It was explained that it had to set over night and that my associate would return the next morning, which was a Saturday, to remove it.  I said I could not be there due to other commitments.  We made an accommodation to come back around noon so they could go to their children's soccer games.   The extractor was applied and the short walls and seat area were sealed.
Tom my associate returned on Saturday removed the extractor. It did remove some the yellow stain.  After reviewing this with the customer it was decided to do another application and return on Sunday at their request. During this time frame and on Sunday morning Tom and I were in communication with each other and everything seems to be ok.  
Revived a phone message from the client late Sunday morning.  Called back and said he had mainly called because Tom had not arrived when he had called but was there working then.  At this point the client mentioned the color problem, the silicone issue, the rug issue and caulk haze on  the counters.  I talked with the client and said we would come back on Monday and change the grout color, the silicone would be looked at and Tom could clean the counters right then.  That was agreed to.
I spoke later with my associate and he said the client was satisfied with what the extractor had done with the yellow stain. It was not perfect but 80%/90% and the client was ok  and happy.  
I rearranged my calender for that Monday and was prepared to pickup a lighter grey grout caulk and change the color.  Then I received another message cancelling Monday with the client saying he was going to get his original tile contractor to come in to look at the situation and the glass enclosure contactor.  We would then determine what the next step would be.  
I contacted the client on Tuesday simply asking how he wanted to proceed with the project.  That is when everything went to hell. The client was actually asking if I wanted to take legal action against him and if so our agreement mentions arbitration as the venue. I replied no, if the client was that dissatisfied I would just except the loss and move on.  That was the last I heard from him.  
Sorry but I do not believe we did anything wrong and did no damage to any of the tiles.  We only sealed the walls and seat area.  The shower floor is the only area that was cleaned and that was with standard cleaners and products using standard industry scrub pads. There was never any mention of the tiles being scratched , which we could have taken care of and would have done if we had damage the tiles in anyway.  I carry polishing pads with me at all times. The other issues, grout color and rug are simple fixes.  I will also mention the carpet is very old and dirty and was to be replaced.  
This client was not charged for any of the work performed and got what he wanted a “No Cost Solution” to a problem of the previous tile contractor.  
 
[redacted]
The Groctor Doctor

Century21NW evicted me for nonpayment of rent after giving me a receipt confirming so. They tried this twice before to no avail. The papers were not served according to the law; the writ was not served or followed according to the law, and was not allowed to gather my property/belongings. When I returned the next day to retrieve my pets, I discovered that someone with the lockbox code had entered my apartment and stolen several thousand dollars worth of property. I again tried to get the rest of my clothes, property,etc., but was denied. After numerous attempts to meet with them for the remainder of my things and being denied, they finally agreed to 2hrs at the end of the 21st day, knowing I cannot get everything out in that short timespan. Come to find out, they had already put my apartment on the market for more $ while I was still living there, before I was told about the eviction.

This is the most difficult property management company I have had to deal with for rentals. Home repairs were not completed in a timely manner (had to follow up), was accused of not paying rent, etc. Will not use this company again.

To Whom It May Concern; We received the dispute from Mr. [redacted] and were in the process of responding to him regarding his move out summary dispute and do apologize that it took longer than our 30 day time frame.  We have since completed Mr. [redacted] dispute and will be issuing...

him a refund in the amount of $515.00 which will also include the $135 that the tenant stated they hadn't received yet.  Please see the attached letter that we have sent to Mr. [redacted] regarding his dispute and the resolution we believe that his will satisfy  Mr. [redacted] and again apologize for the delay in getting back to him.

Hello, This file was sent to us by another Century 21 office that closed its doors.  Unfortunately, we could only proceed based on what the owner of this property requested of us.  However, the situation was ultimately proven to reflect what Mrs. [redacted] is stating.  Therefore, we...

honored her request and returned her entire deposit as instructed by her landlord.  Please accept the attached as evidence of satisfaction on behalf of all parties.  Thanks.

I hired The Grout Doctor in December to regrout and treat a bathroom with vintage tile. Met with him before hiring him and he gave a written quote and we discussed, in detail, the nature of the work. He came on a day with bad weather in December and may have been rushed. Work wasn't done properly and he came back out a week later to fix the issues. So I thought. Now, 6 weeks later, grout is cracking and breaking all over the place and we're discovering completely unprotected spots in the shower he was to fix. It wasn't insignificant money either --- roughly $700-$800 dollars. Had another tile guy out who said his work was sub par. My check is long cashed and I can't reach him to redo the work.

I cannot think of another professional that we have had, in our home, who worked as hard as Steve. Beautiful job, absolutely astounded by the difference. Shower tile looks better then when it was originally installed. Lovely guy, friendly and left our bathroom in immaculate condition. Cleaned up continually after his work. Beautiful smile, very warm person. We wish him well and would have him back, in our home anytime. His hard work ethic, on an extremely warm and humid day was just unbelievable. We cannot thank him enough.

Review: I brought in the Grout Doctor to try and remove a stain in our white marble shower stall and then reseal the entire enclosure. The guy came and gave a fair quote for the work and showed up as promised 2 days later to do the work. He put down some fluid solution on the stains and nothing changed. He then said it was permanent and would never come out. I asked him about a natural paste solution. He then offered us some crap from Dupont that would do the trick. He put it on and came back 24 hrs later to remove it. It seemed to work great. Most of the stain was gone. He then suggested doing it one more time. We said sure. Again he came back and took it off. The stain was almost entirely gone now. On the first visit he was also supposed to re-caulk our sink areas and make sure they were good to go. He left the counter tops covered in dirty grout and caulk everywhere. No big deal I know how to clean up after slobs. So I did. Then I checked the loose tiles he had to fix and he used the wrong color grout to reinstall them with. Our grout was almost a white color and he used a dark gray color. He also put the carpet down under the loose tiles and grouted them in. Bigger issue now to deal with. I looked around to see what else this guy did wrong and found in random areas he put the dark gray grout. I basically have dark grout all over my master bath and it all has to be taken out. I explained this to him and he said no problem he will fix it. So now back to the shower stall. After the second application of the paste I checked it really carefully to see that he not only bleached the stain out but scratched all the tiles in the stall very badly. He used a metal painters tool to scrape all the beautiful tiles up. The tiles are all damaged now and need to be polished and sealed. The caulking in the stall itself is all over the glass and in huge clumps. Its a total mess and I have to carefully remove it by hand as to not scratch up the glass. This guy and his employee are absolutely the worst I have ever seen. I didn't pay him a penny and in fact want to hold him accountable for all the damage. I know however that a legal battle is the worst solution. Nobody ever wins and I don't have the energy to fight this. So i'm basically telling you don't ever let this guy in to your beloved home. He is a total amateur and has no respect for you or your home. If anybody wants to see the proof just email me and I can show you all the images of all the damage this it caused. Now I'm off to find a real professional tile installer/fixer and a quality glass person that can remove all the silicon caulking and get us resealed correctly. What a nightmare.Desired Settlement: No resolution from the contractor is required. I would never let this person back in my home.

Business

Response:

This is a complete fabrication and totally inaccurate account of the project. Went the clients residence and look at a number of issues. There was staining on shower marble floor, fracture cracks on the bathroom floor and three small tiles had come loose on the entrance to closet.On the floor cracking I expressed concern that the tiles were not properly installed and movement had caused the stress fracturing. Repairing this was not something I wanted to untake. With the three tiles that had come loose, no big deal. These are small 1x1. I also mentioned. By the way these are not "white marble", they have grey veins running through them. I also believed the grout was delorean grey non-sanded throughout, and was stated to the client.With the shower I said I would try to remove the stain using a deep stone cleaner, but was unsure if this would be successful. I explained that if we could not remove it we would adjust the price. We also discussed if the marble and grout had been sealed. He believed it was but was uncertain and had no idea of type or manufacture. It was agreed that we would reseal everything using Miracle 511.At the very end the customer showed some cracking of grout where the counter tops and backsplash meet and were the floor and dam step meet. Agreed we would caulk those, white on the counters and delorean grey on the floor. Finally the customer mentioned that there seemed to be some leakage on the enclosure base. I looked closely at it could not see any meaningful gaps, but said we would run a light bead of clear silicon along the edge. I also pointed out that there was clear silicon on the glass from the intial installation.We returned two days later reinstalled the loose tiles, plus one additional tile. Caulked the counters, which I did and the floor/dam seams. This work was performed after we applied the stone cleaner(s). First we used StonePro Stone Cleaner which removed some of dirt and oils. There was still a yellow stain in 3 locations. We then used Aquamix Heavy Duty Cleaner 3 applications. Same results. Showed this to the client and they were not satisfied. I then said I would use an oil stain remover from StoneTech and see if it would work. I have used this product previously and it has worked. It was explained that it had to set over night and that my associate would return the next morning, which was a Saturday, to remove it. I said I could not be there due to other commitments. We made an accommodation to come back around noon so they could go to their children's soccer games. The extractor was applied and the short walls and seat area were sealed.Tom my associate returned on Saturday removed the extractor. It did remove some the yellow stain. After reviewing this with the customer it was decided to do another application and return on Sunday at their request. During this time frame and on Sunday morning Tom and I were in communication with each other and everything seems to be ok. Revived a phone message from the client late Sunday morning. Called back and said he had mainly called because Tom had not arrived when he had called but was there working then. At this point the client mentioned the color problem, the silicone issue, the rug issue and caulk haze on the counters. I talked with the client and said we would come back on Monday and change the grout color, the silicone would be looked at and Tom could clean the counters right then. That was agreed to.I spoke later with my associate and he said the client was satisfied with what the extractor had done with the yellow stain. It was not perfect but 80%/90% and the client was ok and happy. I rearranged my calender for that Monday and was prepared to pickup a lighter grey grout caulk and change the color. Then I received another message cancelling Monday with the client saying he was going to get his original tile contractor to come in to look at the situation and the glass enclosure contactor. We would then determine what the next step would be. I contacted the client on Tuesday simply asking how he wanted to proceed with the project. That is when everything went to hell. The client was actually asking if I wanted to take legal action against him and if so our agreement mentions arbitration as the venue. I replied no, if the client was that dissatisfied I would just except the loss and move on. That was the last I heard from him. Sorry but I do not believe we did anything wrong and did no damage to any of the tiles. We only sealed the walls and seat area. The shower floor is the only area that was cleaned and that was with standard cleaners and products using standard industry scrub pads. There was never any mention of the tiles being scratched , which we could have taken care of and would have done if we had damage the tiles in anyway. I carry polishing pads with me at all times. The other issues, grout color and rug are simple fixes. I will also mention the carpet is very old and dirty and was to be replaced. This client was not charged for any of the work performed and got what he wanted a “No Cost Solution” to a problem of the previous tile contractor. [redacted]The Groctor Doctor

Consumer

Response:

Review: 10837855

I am rejecting this response because, we have picture and new quotes to repair all damage caused ** The Grout Doctor. The tiles in the base of the shower stall are damaged and deeply scuffed and scratched. According to the new marble restoration contractor the damage may not come out and the tiles may have to be replaced. We are still working to get a back up estimate for the damages done ** The Grout Doctor. At the time TGD was at our home I had call Mr. E** and advised him to personally come see the damage to which he refused. He has not personally seen what his laborer did. There is now clear silicon all over the glass and not just in the corners. The grout that was replaced in the closet entrance was not even close to the samples I provided. Carpet aside good or bad should not have been installed under the tiles. The tile in the Closet is in perfect condition and wasn't being replaced.

Review: Workmanship was incomplete and sloppy. Excess material was left on floors and counters, and tile was not sealed properly.Desired Settlement: Refund of at least part of our payment, as we now have to hire a qualified contractor to redo the job properly.