Hard Lessons

Tom McNall

M**** (the names are protected here, whether innocent or guilty) brought up a customer who bought a Black Absolute counter from a competitor and then called M****’s shop to complain. He related that when this particular consumer washed the countertop, it turned grey. And not for a minute – but for good!

I quickly said “Not A*** S******** and she bought it from Stone ******?”

“Yeah – the ******’s wife,” he said. “She was cheap. She saved herself a thousand dollars by buying from Stone ******. She called me complaining, and I told her to call you”

Instantly the images and events of about eight years ago came rushing back. I got a call from a certain fabricator/tile store asking me to go look at a Black Absolute counter in a high-end condo tower overlooking the Detroit River. At the time, I was getting a lot of these calls about this particular seller of stone products and wondering to myself “Tom, do you really want to be associated with this company?”

The stone representatives went on to spew propaganda to me in hopes that I (as a recognized expert in the business) would believe it and repeat it to the customer. What was their reasoning for the discolored stone?

First, of course, was that it needed to be sealed. Second, they speculated that because the condo was so close to the water-treatment plant, it was the city’s fault for using too much chlorine in the water and because of that, it was either discoloring the stone or leaving a film which could be removed with a simple polish.

And, finally, all processors of Black Absolute put a thin wax on the stone to protect it during shipping, and it will come off easily.

My BS meter was on high alert and told me that perhaps these guys were the cheapest bid because maybe – just maybe – they used an inferior product that was actually Absolute Grey as opposed to Nero Absoluto (aka Black Absolute).