Rock Tops Inc. Closes

   The Dec. 19 shuttering of 15 locations in seven states also leaves plenty of problems, from homes with unfinished kitchens to suppliers with unpaid bills – and workers unsure of exactly when they became unemployed.
   Due to the multiple states of operation, the full extent of the company’s liabilities isn’t known. An unofficial online forum, set up by an independent Michigan stone fabricator, currently serves as a central source for information.
   Macomb-based Rock Tops operated showrooms in Michigan, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Tennessee and Ohio, with two fabrication plants in Michigan. It offered lower per-square-foot fabrication prices than most competitors; it also charged for additional work, such as some cutouts, and also collected 100-percent of a job’s cost in advance from consumers.
   The company closed all its facilities on the afternoon of Dec. 19, with various reports on the Internet noting that phone calls directed the individual operations to remove all employees and lock the doors.
   The reports also noted that some of Rock Tops’ 200-plus employees – paid through the ADP payroll service – found that their ADP accounts showed termination dates earlier in the month.
   Reports from newspapers and television stations detailed complaints from consumers in at least four states concerning pre-paid countertops that weren’t delivered. An article in the Jan. 2 Macomb Daily noted that Rock Tops owed $5,000 in property taxes.
   While some Internet reports hinted at a bankruptcy filing, no notice was on file – as of Jan. 2 – at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Detroit for Rock Tops Inc. or its two owners, Charles Thiede and Bob Gasiorowski.
   In several states, government authorities are telling consumers that their claims with Rock Tops’ closure are civil, not criminal. However, the Macomb Daily noted that Macomb County Sheriff Mark Hackel is starting an investigation into possible fraud.
   The Eastern Michigan Better Business Bureau office in Southfield, Mich., recorded 50 complaints with Rock Tops since December 2005, noting that 42 had been “resolved;” although 14  of those cases were “assumed resolved” and the company “failed to resolved the complaint issue” through the BBB’s process. One case remained unresolved, and six were deemed “unpursuable” because Rock Tops went out of business. (The BBB office also noted that Rock Tops “is not a BBB Accredited Business.”)
   BBB records show Rock Tops starting business in August 2000. Various company press releases on the Internet noted that it started as a supplier to large home-improvement stores, but shifted to direct retail sales in 2003. Gasiorowski joined as a partner in 2002.
   The press releases also claimed that the company installed more than 9,000 countertops annually, and received referrals from more than 10,000 customers.
   The Macomb Daily reported that efforts to reach Thiede and Gasiorowski were unsuccessful, and home telephone numbers for the two have been disconnected.
   Keith Kargol, president of Michigan Cut Stone and Tile in Caledonia, Mich., set up an online forum on Jan. 2 to act as a clearinghouse for information on Rock Tops. It’s at www.michstone.com/forums.