Buyers Beware
First let me say that I've never posted to yelp before, but I am an avid reader of the reviews, which is how I came across Andersonville Kitchen and Bath (AKB). As you will see the reviews paint a very positive rosy experience with AKB, but I will tell you that my experience was sub-par. From day one when I walked into their showroom, I felt that they did not take me or my project seriously. At that point, I should have walked out then, but being my first renovation/construction project, I was naive and too excited about getting my project off the ground and completed.
My project was a desk in a small one bedroom Chicago condo. I work from home, so the purpose of this project was to provide more work/life balance regarding functionality of my space. I wanted it to be tasteful to go with my current kitchen cabinets and to be as functional as possible in my small dining room space. Anyone who lives in a small Chicago home knows that every inch of real estate counts. My expectations were clear and this was shared with AKB from day one.
Warning: Don't just go on their design recommendations. Make sure you question everything - even the depths of the drawers and the size of the cabinets. Don't just go on the "flat" pictures that they show you. Make sure you ask to see the full function of the drawer or cabinet. I went to them because they were "design experts" and I'm not sure who would recommend a drawer for a desk that was only 1 inch deep, let alone 2 drawers that are the same. Or a cabinet designed for a printer to be placed in a sliding drawer that does not fit in the drawer, but this is what I received. Make sure you inspect everything; I would recommend rechecking their measurements at your home against their layouts.
Speaking of the cabinets. What a mistake. I have Merillat in my kitchen, which is another reason that I sought out AKB since they offer this product in their showroom. However, when I went in to meet with them, they pitched me on a "high quality" and "custom" cabinets called Dura Supreme. What I should have heard was more money for less value because that's what I received. Don't let them up-sell you on Dura Supreme. For custom cabinets, they are a joke. They have many imperfections and even when you get replacement pieces (because you will), they will also have imperfections.
At one point, the owner told me that my expectations were too high and I needed to reevaluate them, (which is only one of the comments that he made to me). That's the type of customer service that they provide. I have never been treated in such a disrespectful and condescending manner by a vendor in my personally or professionally. Until now I have never been threatened by a vendor (or owner of a company) that they would hang up on me, the paying customer, as I am trying to get my plight heard.
Also I've never heard of a project where you pay for all the cabinets up front. Most places require half down and the remaining balance when they are installed, but AKB required that I pay for the cabinets in full or they would not order them. Again, being my first construction project, I agreed to pay in full. Keep in mind when you do this, you have no repercussion if needed.
To look at my experience with a positive view, I would like to thank AKB for teaching me a lot of lessons on what NOT to do and what a POOR project partner looks like, which will help me to make better choices on my next project.
Also while we are looking at positives, I was very nervous about hiring a contractor-- probably more so than working with AKB (little did I know that was the least of my concern). They recommended Nermin & Sons. Nermin has been wonderful to work with and has diligently and skillfully to resolve the issues that AKB created. I would highly recommend Nermin for any installation project. http://www.nerminandsons.com read more