Silestone review: does not honor warranty against defects! 48

I had a Silestone countertop installed in my new home in 2007. After a year of use, it showed circle marks everywhere and it is completely cloudy. The product has made my once beautiful kitchen into an eyesore. I get so mad everytime that I look at it when the light shines in from the windows.

Silestone warranty is a bunch of garbage! They will find any excuse that they can not to honor their warranty. Apparantly all problems are because of something that the homeowner did to the countertop. I am absolutely furious, and I am planning on putting a monstrous sign out front of my house about the inadequacies of Silestone! Don't install it in anything at all!

We purchased a Silestone countertop through Home Depot and it was installed by Silestone if Atlanta. We have had several problems with Silestone of Atlanta and do not want to deal with them. Their installer did an improper job and their representative gave us the run-around. We had a large area of counter unsupported behind the sink and the installer propped it with two "sticks" (1/2 x 1/2) thinking we would never see it. When we where finally able to convince someone else from Silestone of Atlanta to inspect the work He agreed that is was poorly done and fixed the problem. This was the worst issue.

We where told by the representative that the countertop is so hard it will dull your knives, yet about a week ago when unloading the dishwasher we accidentally hit the counter with a glass "glass" and the glass is fine but the countertop chipped. I called Home depot and told them what had happened and told them I was concerned that it had chipped so easily and wanted to find out if it could be repaired. The only thing Home depot told us was that the same installer who tried to hide a poor instillation us would fix it for 75$ when he was "in the neighborhood" and no explanation was given as to why the counter would chip so easily. We where also told that the warranty does not cover chips!

I installed silestone just over a year agao and also have chips, scratches and discoloring. I am contacting Silestone to request a resolve as Home Depot has been less than helpful to this point. I will post my experience.

Home Depot is the worse, the worse. We installed Silestone in our kitchen about 1 year ago. It looks beautiful until we realized that it was scratched (days after the installation). Since it had the warranty..., we did not worry thinking we would call them and they would came out and maybe polish it or something like that. Not at all, it took an array of phone calls to every inept employee in Home Depot, including the so call mgrs. The issue was explained at least 10 times (I consider more than 2 times too much). I asked several times to speak to the mgr of the store and every time I was told he would call within 24 hours and up until now, I am still waiting for their call. I was so upset with them that I stop calling and my wife took over the attempt contact. She was bounce around so much that she gave up as well. She even suggested that we would look for outside help to repair the countertop, but I was determined to make that warranty work. To make this very long story short, it is almost a year and they have not cover the warranty. one employee even call me at one time to ask me what I wanted because her mgr told her to call me to find out ( %$OI$UO#$ ) yeap!...I almost pull the hairs off my skull. I told her to let her mgr know that unless it was him calling me, to not send anyone else anymore to do his job and I hung up. Weeks later I rcvd a letter from Home Depot telling me that scratches were cover under the warranty and they provide tips about the care of the stone. I was furious and ready to go the stone off my counters, and take it to smash it in their customer care desk, but my wife stop me and we left it like that. She said my health was not worth their millions and since then, we are always telling people about our experience and how bad they are. We lose no opportunity to tell everyone that is willing to hear it. We are trying very hard not to give them business at all. I have not given up and I know one day, there will be a collective lawsuit against them and I will be part of that. SF

I have sileston countertops. I AM VERY UNHAPPY WITH SYLESTON. This sileston surface was suppose to be right under a diamonds in hardness. THIS IN NOT TRUE. Sileston chips with a bump of a pot. The colors are grest but, I will go back to a laminate. The laminate in the hous I bought had been here 40 years, no cracks, no stains and now after spending 5000. I have chips and yes there is a warrenty but I have to take time from work. I would not buy silestone if you are looking for new kitchen surfaces.

We purchased a new home in 2004 with Silestone countertops. In early 2005 we found a crack over the dishwasher. The original installer came back and did a repair. That lasted a few weeks then the crack returned but we have not been able to get the installer back. We contacted the local Silestone office and they finally got another installer to visit our home.

He wanted to put in a new countertop that we would pay for since he said it would be impossible to match the rest of the counter if he only replaced the cracked piece. Then he seemed to disappear.

We now have contacted a third installer who is working with Home Depot. He came looked and discovered another crack that would now require them to replace the entire countertop. Like all the other posters we have not done anything to create these problems other than normal usage of a countertop. After four years of runaround by various people representing Silestone I am ready to bring a class action suit against a company who refuses to honor their warranty.

If anyone would like to join me please send me your information and the problem you have had with your countertop. I work with a lot of attorneys and feel that we could find someone willing to tackle this issue.

Thanks, John Beane and send emails to jbeane@johnbeane.com

Silestone promotes their product as manufactured from quartz. In fact, several of their colors including coffee brown, absolute green, the stellar series and Dali are made with more than 35% recycled glass. They do not provide information in their marketing literature to indicate that these colors are made with glass. Glass is similar to quartz, but does not have the same durability. Silestone has an obligation to consumers to provide accurate information on their products.

Surprise, surprise, , , I had Silestone installed 4 years ago. Wish I would have gone with Granite because we now have a 24" crack coming off the very sharp corner cutout for the stovetop. Silestone says it isn't a manufacturing defect and not there problem. Home Depot says it isn't their problem and they only have a ONE year (read the fine print on the contract) installation warranty says it isn't an installation issue. SIlestone blames it on thermal shock or house slab settling. BULL! The crack has gone ACROSS a cemented joint into another section of Silestone, The crack started in a sharp corner cutout of the cooktops smallest burner. This burner is also used the least. The other three corners are fine but all four corners were cut in with very sharp corners. In my opinion, this crack is due to the sharp corners of the cutout instead of the installer radiusing the corners. Also, the countertop is staining/fading near the faucet area. Has anyone out there experienced a crack coming off a cooktop corner? I'm not giving up. Someone is going to replace this thing or give me my money back! Mr. John Beane, I am ready to join a class action lawsuit! It also looks like the common thread here is Silestone, Home Depot and no one honoring anything.

We've experienced the exact same issue as counterissues01, a crack from the corner of a stove and denial of warranty based on thermal shock. Home Depot however is going to bat for us to try to get this covered. Silestone is of course not returning even their calls, so we'll see. John Beane, we will likely be contacting you too.

Has anyone moved forward with a class action lawsuit. We two have Silestone and have replaced it twice due to cracking at the stovetop cutout. It has now cracked again.

I purchased coffee brown Silestone countertops about 6 mos ago. I purchased the Silestone because the EXPO rep had told me I could take hot pans off the stove and serve them up directly on the countertop. WRONG! I placed a hot pan momentarily on the counter and when I removed it, a circular sparkly glass crystal ring was left behind. It seems the heat softened the binding agent and the glass crystals raised to the surface. I was HORRIFIED! After looking around the place more closely, I discovered other less-pronounced semi-circles of glass crytals around the kitchen.

After reading the warranty, I'm sure they will call it thermal shock despite clearly stating that "moderately hot" pans can be momentarily set on the counter.

I already recieved a sizable discount on the countertop since I had a very bad installation experience through Home Depot, so I'm going to have to just live with it.

What a let down. I feel like I have to be so cafeful with what I thought was the most durable countertop out there.

I had Silestone installed in a new home in 2006. I now found a crack from the corner of the stovetop cutout. The installer is coming to inspect next week but I bet they tell me it's from settling or thermal shock...however, it started underneath the stovetop! It is obvious to me it is from the stove cutout.

I've had my Silestone for less than a week and have small chips and cuts, and I've been very careful with it. Home Depot is also involved. I'm wondering if a "common" denominator is the 2 cm (which I have) and not the 3 cm Silestone . . .

I have the 3cm and haven't had any problems with cracking or chipping.

We have had out silestone for 5 years and was told it had a 15 yr warranty. Over the winter we noticed a crack and contacted Silestone. Silestone sent out a rep who then told us that it was not properly shimmed. Of course the installer, who they recommened, said that was not the case and asked if we placed hot items on the counter. Directly...the answer is NO however...we do use an electric griddle to make pancakes. Perhaps this is what they refer to as thermal shock but...where else am i suppose to make pancakese...I did not have silestone installed just so that i could make pancakes on my cheap formica in my basement kitchen. Never in my life would i ever recommend this product to anybody. They misled me and denied my warranty. The kitchen store that i bought it through has also quit selling this product because according to them...it is NEVER Silestones fault. Ridiculous!

We had Silestone installed September, 2008. Just noticed a crack coming from a sharp angle where two pieces meet. Pacific Stone Design, the original installer, states it was caused by impact (I know better) or stress coming off a seam caused by shifting or settling. Not covered under warranty. The installer said it could be repaired by making the crack larger, drilling a hole at the end of the crack and filling it all with epoxy. Altho they claim no liablity they will do this free of charge. I am inclined to have them replace the entire piece but it might be a noticable difference in colors due to age factor. Does anyone have any experience with the crack being filled? Any experience with changing entire sections of a countertop resulting in a bit color difference? Is John Beane still thinking of a law suit?

We purchased a Silestone counter-top called Vanite, which is a trademark name of the manufacturer Vangura. The purchase was made on November of 2010, through IKEA. Yesterday (Sunday, February 27, 20120), while cleaning the counter-top after breakfast, I noticed a 1/4" circular spot on the surface that I could not remove by cleaning. I tried several times to remove the spot with recommended cleaning materials, including a cleaner developed especially for Vangura, for use on products engineered with Silestone. Needless to say the spot could not be removed and further examination with a bright light indicated that it was in fact, no ordinary spot. And it wasn't going to be removed by normal cleaning procedures recommended by the manufacturer. The counter-top has never been exposed to any of the conditions that would void the warranty. So imagine my surprise when I called Vangura only to be told that it would cost me $92.00 per hour to have someone come out and check on the spot. The representative I talked to said I should try using a combination of Bar Keepers Friend and lacquer thinner to try and remove the spot before she sends someone out. She warned me that it might take several hours to fix this spot because it's not covered under the Limited 15-Year WARRANTY. I tried explained once again that it was not a spot that could be removed by mere cleaning. The spot is void of surface material, lacks the sheen of the surrounding polished surface, and appears porous to the touch. So, I'm going to hold back on her recommendation to try Bar Keepers Friend and lacquer thinner unless I can get that recommendation in writing. I can tell by my initial contact that it will take a great deal of time(Patience) and hoop jumping(Persistence) to get these people to honor a warranty. I'll keep you posted.

Interesting. Before I "signed off" on my counter, the installers came back to deal with "imperfections" I'd noted. They actually "sanded" them away and told me the top isn't just a "finish" but goes all the way through. So when I've had spots similar to what you describe, I've taken a counter cleaner and my scrubbie to them and they've gone away. Have you been that aggressive with them yet?

Hi PMacy,
When you asked, "Have you been that aggressive with them yet? Did you mean the spots or the people who are not honoring their warranty?" Yes I have been aggressive with a scrubbie and a can of Bar Keepers Friend. As I said before; "The spot is void of surface material, lacks the sheen of the surrounding polished surface, and appears porous to the touch". I do have a little expertise in the area of cleaning hard surfaces. I was a working partner in a residential and commercial cleaning company for 10 years. My responsibilities included the maintenance care and cleaning of hard surfaces of floors, counter tops, etc, for both commercial and residential accounts. You name it, I cleaned it! And when I ran into spots that I couldn't remove with conventional cleaning solution methods, it usually required a more aggressive procedure. That is why I agree that sanding will probably resolve this problem too. However, the spot on this counter top is a manufacturing defect. No one should have to pay $92.00 an hour to have someone come out and try to convince me that a defect is not covered under the 15 YEAR Warranty they hyped when they sold the product to me. If the the top isn't just a "finish" but goes all the way through as they claim, then my installer should not have a problem doing the same thing your installer did. Except this spot did not show up until one year after the counter top was installed. Vangura will try and slough off their responsibility to honor their warranty by claiming that we dropped something on it. Or we exposed it to thermal shock, or a myriad of other things they predetermine in their warranty exclusions. Businesses historically try to avoid covering warranty claims. I was hoping Vangura was different. They came highly recommended. They seemed like a good company to deal with. But hey, that was before I payed them six grand. Thank you PMacy for your input.

watermarks are not possible to remove.. my countertop was $5, 000 .. it is chipped ... minor prob.. but watermarks are horrific..nothing.. and i mean nothing removes them ... i have an unsightly expensive countertop...

We had Silestone installed 6 years ago, it is pitting . Contacted Home Depot who in turned contacted the installer Counter Intelligence. The representative came out wrote a report that in his opinion the counter top was defective. Cosentino will repair it but not replace it, because pitting will occur. really ? Should have gone with granite, there is very little difference in cost. So much for warranty and how Silestone is so much better than granite ! Cosentino does not stand behind their warranty, actually their advertising is false stating how it will not scratch, stain, chip, is heat resistant, etc. DSterling

Thank you for all your comments. My contractor says he uses Silestone. I will be questioning him and rethinking my decision to use quartz instead of granite.

SILESTONE WHILE THE CLAIM IT TO BE STAIN RESISTANT IT STAINS VERY EASILY AND THE ONLY CLEANER SAFE TO USE ON IT IS WATER CHEMICALS PRODUCE A CLOUDY SURFACE THAT IS PERMANENT

Don't buy this product. We spent a very large amount of money for kitchen counter tops. now we have a huge crack that the installer says is covered under the warranty. The company refuses anything saying that it is due to settling of the house. We had an engineer look at the house and he says there is no settling and that's an excuse they use. The crack is no where near "thermal stress" . The warranty they give is a scam--it is for manufacturing errors only and must be demonstrated immediately--?so what's 15 year warranty for. There is need for a class action suit that I will gladly join.

Purchsed ECO product from Cosentino the Manufacturer. Had a rubber drain mat next to the sink periodically and noticed that the material had changed color and the surface became raised and rough. Took 6 months for the rep to come out and inspect and seemed to be in agreement that this was a warranty issue. Got a rejection 3 months later...I pushed this up the ladder and finally won on the appeal. The mfg approved for full replacement due to color matching is not possible to replace a section of this top. Fabricator / Installer comes out to remeasure and was very nice and "we'll contact you when the product is ready". Since the warranty does not cover installation and replacement the fabricator balks at doing the job since there is no money in it for him. I've heard way too many stories about this type of situation between manufacturer and installer. This material cost the manufacturer about $10sft...Fabrication and installation is another $90 sft and after 16 months of chasing, I still do not have this resolved as the can keeps getting kicked around as everyone is blaming the other guy...no one wants responsibility anymore.
Good luck with ECO countertop products...

The only way Home Depot will fix things after warranty or if mfg. refuses, is if an employee pushes them. I've been able to get whole countertops replaced for my customers after the installers have refused. I went out and looked, took pictures, and shamed the managers to do the right thing.

But if you call up screaming, yelling, or cursing, it isn't going to happen. We have to go through proper channels before pulling out the big guns. I mean, it's not like you are bleeding out on the floor and need instant action.

We purchased Silestone countertops from Home Depot on 2/5/11. We were stupid & believed in the 15 year warranty. Here we are 10/24/13 with a big crack near the dishwasher. The installer came out & took pictures & said it wasn't their problem because they only guarantee for 1 year. Home Depot only guarantees for one year. The Customer Service Representative (who did not even sign their name) from Cosentino says they do not cover cracks. We did not do anything to make this happen. This is an older house so no settling was involved. We paid a lot of money believing we were getting the best product possible. We have recommended the product to our friends. Needless to say, we're extremely unhappy. The 15 year warranty is not worth the paper it's written on. My recommendation is DO NO BUY THIS PRODUCT!

My Silestone counter top was installed by Home Depot in June of 2013. I bought it because it was beautiful and marketed as a durable surface for a kitchen. WRONG! This stuff chipped after I tapped it with a stoneware plate while unloading the dishwasher. My Formica lasted 25 years with no problems and now I am stuck with a chipped countertop after a little over 6 mos. The Silestone "warranty" is crap, ( it doesn't cover chips or cracks) and so is this supposedly harder than diamond "Quartz" countertop. I would have installed Formica had I known that with Silestone you can't even work in your kitchen without fear of ruining the damn countertop. DON'T BUY IT!

I had Ryland build my new home in 2011, my wife and I fell in love with the Consento silestone counter tops so instead of granted we decided to go with silestone. Wow what a mistake, we now have 3, 18 to 24 inch cracks at 3 different counters. Ryland told us our one year warranty is out, the installer said they were put in correctly, and you guessed it silestone said it's not covered under their 15 year warranty. SO what is covered? What silestone calls color pooling, during the manufacturing process, and cracks. Well if the silestone has pooling or cracks they don't ship it so the consumer has NO warranty. Anyone interested in a class action suit for fraud? How can any reputable company get away with this?

Everyone needs to file a BBB complaint!

I purchased the blanco silestone two years ago and have several little cuts and tinny holes do to just everyday ware and tare. I have contacted the warranty department they sent someone out to take photos. After the rep. submitted our claim silestone refused to do anything, they claimed that the product was not faulty and will nothing about it. I will make sure I tell everyone I know that the product is very soft and that their warranty is good for nothing. DO NOT BUY SILESTONE FOR ANY REASON!

I agree! Do not buy this product. Our Silestone is cracked, pitted and dull.

This is December 2014. We just moved back into our kitchen after a very expensive remodel.
We installed white Silestone and two weeks later we absolutely HATE it! The Silesstone site says it's hard, stain resistant, etc. Well BS! We already have a chip from where a sauce pan hit it.
Anything metallic, be it a can of soup, a dinner knife, an aluminum throw away pan leaves gray scratches everywhere and coffee, wine, anything with a color sinks right in and even after scrubbing your tail off with Comet (as recommended by the retailer) leaves a shadow.
We are seriously thinking of having this horrible, disappointing rip off of a product yanked out and replaced.

I purchased a dark brown silestone from Home Depot in winter of 2013. Had no problems till now and last night I dropped a "glass" glass from about 6 inches above the counter on to the sink edge. The edge chipped and the glass did not break. So much for harder than diamonds. I am not happy and would not recommend this to anyone.

Hi,
I am about to take legal action against Silestone and Home Depot. I spent 50K remodeling my dream kitchen. I was going to pick Granite however I was told by Home Depot to use Silestone instead due to uniform look for the contemporary look I was going for. What I was told was (it has the same 15 years warranty. It is just as durable if not even more and you don't have to sealed every year). I asked: Is there any down side to it? Answer was: NO. Big mistake. In less than 12 months it had a little crack which I blamed myself because I was washing a cast iron grill and I hit the corner. However 3 months later I was cooking and I placed a hot pot for 3 seconds on the counter and it formed a huge ring on the surface. Their answer (nothing we can do about it). Really? First Home Depot misrepresented their product. Second their warranty is WORTH NOTHING. The problem I am facing is even if I wanted to pay out of packed they can't replace only the portion of it. Anything connected to that piece would have to be replaced which is the entire kitchen counter. I am beyond disappointed and even if I don't win the case I will go to court for it. I would not have purchased this product if I knew better. Hard surface counter was made to be used in the kitchen. I don't want to burn my hand or have to cover at all times in order to protect a product that is sold as "just as good" or "better" than granite. Anyone has a comment?

Do not purchase Silestone from Cosentino.Their warranty is worthless! and their problems are many.
My problem is with color pooling(also known as resin pooling.resin is what bonds the stone pieces together)
According to their reply to my claim, no color pooling spots are covered by warrant, regardless of the size, the color difference,
or location of the spot.
I have several spots, but trying to be reasonable, I claimed only the largest (1&1/2 size of a quarter), very dark, greasy looking
on a light color countertop, and right in front near the sink.
Your eyes are drawn to this spot, and Home Depot agreed with that, but to no avail.
Spotting makes no difference, Cosentino doesn't cover it .I guess it could be the size of a dinner plate and they wouldn't replace it.
Color pooling, not covered period!
This piece should never have been sent from the manufactuer, and shouldn't have been used by the installer.
I got a huge run-around from the installer.There were 2 complete false starts(6 months wasted) and many calls
before the claim was finally submitted to the manufactuer.Then another 2 months for a reply.
All Home Depot offered was a 10% discount on the cost of the job.I finally negoiated 13%.
Very disappointed!I have to live with this defect.
Definetly buy Granite instead.Not much more money and much much better satisfaction.

Has any one had problems with silestone sinks ? Ours has small cracks around the plug hole

Don't even get me started on Home Depot or Stilestone reps. A man came out twice to check out our white flecked counter top with tan weird shape coloring. He tried all sorts of chemicals and was puzzeled. Agreed this was not a burn. We hear nothing...call after call to Home Depot AND Stilestone does no good. Company said.."you must have put something on the counter that doesn't belong in the kitchen"! What? Like what? They didn't know. Then it was..."you must have had a dish drainer sitting there for some time". Lol...don't own one...and so if I did? You can't drain dishes on the counter? Now another place is developing the same discoloring. Isn't there something to do about this company? I posted a complaint...more like warning people not to purchase...on there FB page which they promptly removed.

We are also experiencing problems with our Silestone countertop. Please don't waste your money on this product because Silestone (Consentino) will not stand behind their product when it fails. They just blame the customer. Our island countertop is cracking from the underside, it spread up the side and 18" across the top. A small chunk even fell out from ththe underside. The local installer inspected it and said it wasn't installation error and he indicated on his report that the cause was undetermined. Nothing hot or cold has been put there. Days later we received a letter from Silestone indicating our claim was denied and that it had to be caused by us, the customer. They are claiming improper care or as a result of thermal shock. They sent a copy of their warranty which is worthless! It's ridiculous. Clearly the product is failing. It's man made and they refuse to acknowledge that sometimes it fails. Now they aren't returning my calls, emails, FB posts, tweets, etc. I won't stop fighting them on this. If you are considering Silestone...don't buy it! Disappointed in the product and even more upset with the lack of customer service. I've never been treated so poorly by a company.