Thinstone Ireland

I seem to be an outlier here with the glowing reviews I’ve read of Thinstone Ireland and fair enough, their product is lovely (I love the stone I got)) and the work done on my fireplace – thank you, Michael! What I had serious issue with here was the aggressive, bullying behaviour of the MD of this company, Declan Conway, who I met once in person (very friendly then) and subsequently dealt with on the phone. It happened back in November (had been away so only reviewing now)
At the time, I was looking at stone options for a fireplace and spent time figuring out the hearthstone, particularly. I had discussed it with Declan at that point. He was charming at the beginning, very charming, gave me his time, offered ideas for the hearth stone, all of which I appreciated and thanked him for. I was delighted.
I had been undecided with the hearth stone however. I loved the idea of sandstone but was concerned about the porosity of it and was trying to decide. The guys said they’d seal it well and it should be fine and I was happy with that. So I went back and forth with Declan then re size/ shape for a while trying to see what might work as I was also trying to gain space in my room.
In the end, I changed my mind from getting 2 small hearth stones, (the second being removable, only there when the stove was lit - not a good idea, in hindsight ) to one fixed piece and I rejigged measurements accordingly. I had already paid at that point for the price for 2 pieces and had been told by one of the guys who took my visa details that I’d be refunded the difference if the measurements were changed.
This was a consideration as the hearthstone was extremely costly – 400 euro for the smallest size of hearthstone you could get within fire regulations. While chatting with Declan I asked about this and he explained that the cost was in the cutting and edging etc and I thought, grand and went ahead.
But when I changed it to one piece I, (naturally enough,) expected it would be less expensive. When I asked the question, if there might be some refund, I didn’t get an answer so I asked again, politely, as we were confirming other things. I knew that I had gotten Declan’s hackles up by then. He was curt in the text, said that was the price and that I’d gotten a discount (really?) and said I could just cancel the order if I wanted! I was a bit taken aback, thought it strange, an overreaction to a customer’s question. (little did I realise what was to come) I said no more and was happy to go ahead, obviously. I loved the stone.

Some time after than, when the stone arrived, I rang, really disappointed that the hearth stone hadn’t properly been sealed as they’d promised and was already stained from being put in by the guy installing my stove. In fact, the installer had been worried when he saw the hearthstone, could see it wasn’t sealed, very raw, covered it as best he could. Even the guy who clad the wall later (who worked for Thinstone) could see that the hearthstone was not sealed, had commented on it.

I rang Thinstone Ireland to see. I was very disappointed, annoyed and wanted to know what happened and what could be done to clean and seal it properly. I asked one of the guys if Declan could ring me back. Declan didn’t return my call so I rang back after a few days and instead of discussing the issue with me in a civil, professional manner (as one might reasonably expect from the MD of a company) Declan went ballistic on the phone. He was literally raging, didn’t give me a chance to even speak, said Micheal, who was due to clad the wall, was to put in the hearthstone (which wasn’t so) and said I had no business getting the stove installer to do it – also not so. This had been agreed with myself and Michael. It was irrelevant to Declan. He didn’t care who put it in. All I wanted to know was why the sealer wasn’t put on

Thinstone Ireland has just completed erecting stone cladding on our house. From the first contact to the last day of completion everything went like clockwork. All questions was quickly answered and stone was delivered on que. The stone mason/master craftsman, Barry McGourty, carried out the work with no fuss and a lot of expertise, in fact we hardly knew he was there until he had finished, a real gent to deal with. I can without any doubt what so ever recommend Thinstone Ireland, and Barry, to anyone who wants thorough and professional stone work carried out on their home. Thanks Barry and Thinstone. James and Mary.

We had Thinstone Ireland do some work for us front of house also garden wall, Very pleased with the finished product a great Quality job highly recomended.