Queen City Quartz & Granite under investigation by Erie County

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) -- A local family has gone months seeking to get their money back after paying a local company to remodel part of their kitchen. The problem is that the company never followed through with the work and kept the cash.

That family contacted Call 4 Action.

For months, Call 4 Action has been looking into Queen City Quartz and Granite located in Buffalo. The Herdlein family of Snyder had big plans to remodel their countertops in their kitchen, but instead ran into a lot of problems with Queen City.

Queen City Quartz and Granite looks like a credible business. Online, they market themselves as Buffalo's "top provider for all things quartz and granite" and say that they can be trusted.

Don't tell that to Kathleen and Tom Herdlein. They feel betrayed by Queen City Quartz and Granite ever since they hired the company in the fall to redo their kitchen countertops. The project was exciting initially.

"And, I said I'm going to splurge and get a new countertop and he was like, 'okay, sounds good to me', so we went out shopping for countertops," said Kathleen Herdlein, who says she had just received a bonus from her employer.

It was just weeks before their son was set to get married and the Herdlein's wanted the countertops to be in place before the rehearsal dinner. They cut Queen City Quartz and Granite a $4,430 check, which was then cashed. Tom says he tried to get in touch with Duane Polar, a co-owner of the company.

"From that point on, I tried to contact him several times and he never responded," Tom said. "We contacted the police and other law people to try and resolve it that way, but here we are almost a year later and still out the money."

The Herdlein's ended up going with another company to get the countertops done and contacted Call 4 Action looking to get their money back -- for months we've been trying to get answers.

WIVB News 4 finally made contact with Queen City Quartz. A company representative told us that the company's been losing money on various home remodeling and construction projects in the Buffalo area and out in Rochester.

They also said that they've been taken over by new owners and that a repayment plan is in the works. They said Kathleen and her husband should get a call.

Dan Goodell, the new majority owner of Queen City Quartz and Granite tells us he bought his stake in the company in March and has been working to fix the company's financial status.

The Erie County Sheriff's Office was approved to seize leased equipment from the company several months ago, but that order never went through because Goodell says he cleared up back payments. Queen City Quartz and Granite was initially sued over the late payments by United Financial Group.

Still, Queen City Quartz is under investigation by Erie County's Division of Consumer Protection
and the Better Business Bureau revoked their accreditation.

"By not answering complaints, it shows that there is not a commitment to being responsive as laid out in the accreditation standards, so because of that, that's why the decision was made to revoke their accreditation," said Katarina Schmieder, communications director of the Better Business Bureau of Upstate New York.

"This is why we always encourage consumers to look a business up on BBB.org to see what their rating is, see what the reviews are and see what other people have experienced. It's so important to do your homework and do your research before you decide to hire somebody."

The Herdlein's hope others learn from their story.

"Be vigilant and before you hand anyone money, make sure you do a thorough check online to see what the company's reputation is," Tom Herdlein said.

As for that phone call the Herdlein's were due, Kathleen tells us that Goodell called her and promises to refund them their money on Monday.

If you have a Call 4 Action complaint you can call our hotline at 716-879-4900.