Yes, the showroom is attractive and selection is good. Casey's design wasn't bad, as far as it went. Otherwise, our experience with Cypress was so bad, we wish we had sued them.
Disorganized: Cypress Cabinets is completely understaffed. In over 30 business days (excluding weekends), someone worked at our house on 13 days. Two people they sent worked for a couple days, then Cypress fired them for incompetence. All their work had to be redone. Three days went to figuring out what electrical work needed to be done (the plans drawn up by the in-house designer didn't indicate such essential details) and redoing electrical work that was done incorrectly. One of the workers admitted they were all expected to work multiple projects for the company at once.
Poor communication: On multiple occasions, we were given no notice that no one would be working. Mixed messages abounded: The project manager was AWOL, the site managers cross-communicated, and no one thought to talk with us. Had we not begun to check in regularly, the project simply wouldn't have gotten finished. At one point, the site manager told us that the countertops would be ready in 4-5 days. When we hadn't heard a word on day 5, we called and were told that it would be an additional 8 days. This kind of thing happened over and over.
Ridiculous overcharges: My son gave the designer a very clear budget. The final amount was more than three times that. One example: Somehow, it never occurred to the designer, project manager, or site manager that moving the island would require a change in the flooring. The flooring guy checked out the site and gave us a verbal quote of $1500 for three days labor. BTW, we supplied the flooring. The next day, the written quote outlined exactly what we were told verbally, but with a cost of $1850. We complained and they knocked it down to $1650. When the work was finally done, it took two guys a half day to do. Of course, we were told the price is the price. After a good deal of pushback on our part, they cut it to $1100.
Now for the ugly part. The entire kitchen renovation was paid for by my adult son. He was an active duty nuclear engineer on a Navy submarine when he was disabled in a car accident. As a significant point in his recovery, he wanted to make the kitchen accessible. Near the end of our project, the project manager showed up at our house for the first time since the renovation began. The issue that brought him there was that once again, communication had been horrendous. At one point, my son and I started to ask a question at the same time. As if dealing with recalcitrant children, the project manager held up his finger to silence me, then leaned down to my son and said to him, as if he were five, "Now, what is your problem?"
Yeah. So. Let's just say that neither of us handled that well. You do not talk to my 25-year-old, brilliant son as if he's a whiny five-year-old. Some stereotypes about sailors, like their swearing vocabulary, are true. My son proved that in his answer to the project manager, who stomped out of the house saying he was going to pull his crew off the job.
That afternoon, my son, with his caregiver next to him, spoke on the phone with the owner of Cypress Cabinets for the first time. He expressed his displeasure using considerably more measured word choices. He reiterated that the purpose of the renovation was to make the kitchen accessible. The owner declared that he had "never heard anything about it being accessible." Then he told my son that he expected the final payment by the following day. Don't worry about the fact that the finishing touches haven't been done, the owner said. They would be seen to.
The next day, my husband and I went over to Cypress Cabinets. The owner happened to be on the floor. First, he denied asking for the payment. He denied telling my son that he wasn't aware that the kitchen needed to be accessible. In fact, it became very clear as we spoke, given that he couldn't pronounce the word "accessible" and that he said it "had different meanings in different contexts," that he had no idea whatsoever who his client was, a quadriplegic in a wheelchair. He repeatedly claimed that in 30 years of being in business, no one had ever complained about his work. Then came the true kick in the gut. "You know," the owner said to my husband and me, "your son has a problem with the truth." What kind of business owner responds to a customer's concerns by saying that the paying customer is a liar?
In the three months since the project was finished, Cypress has not managed to take care of a non-functioning cabinet door, in spite of trying three times to figure out what hinge it needs.
Bottom line, stay away from Cypress Cabinets. read more