BEWARE - BAIT AND SWITCH!!!
I am remodeling a condo for resale, and was referred to Deco for cabinets and granite. After my initial visit, I was ready to give this business a 4-5 star review, based upon friendly service, efficient quoting, and competitive prices. I spent at least an hour with their saleswoman, going over granite and cabinet options, showing her photo examples of exactly what I wanted, before settling upon my final choices. I was very pleased with the estimate provided, and returned several days later to seal the deal and officially place my order.
A different person was assigned to help me, but no sweat - I had a printed copy of my quote, complete with CAD drawing, and I assumed that they also had the info stored in their computer system. When the invoice was produced, I even compared it line by line against the quote, and confirmed that they were identical. The order was placed and I sent my contractor to pick up the cabinets the following week. When my contractor delivered the cabinets back to my place he got straight to work, installing the first one.....and when I stopped by to check on progress, I was horrified to find that they had sent him back with the WRONG cabinets.
Explanation: the cabinets were the correct style, but the wrong color. I had specifically chosen a WHITE color scheme - white cabinets with white granite - and had discussed this choice AT LENGTH with the woman who produced my quote - I showed her numerous photos of the desired layout/color scheme, and repeatedly referred to their white cabinet/granite display, which was conveniently located right behind her desk. At one point, I did briefly inquire about their cheaper, honey colored option, but when she said that white cabinets were a bit pricier, I said no problem, I really really want the white. When I went back days later and completed the order, of course I never questioned whether they were ordering me the correct color. However, the cabinets now sitting in my kitchen, half installed, are ALL WRONG.
I freaked out and called Deco. The guy who answered the phone was polite enough, but told me that that we will need to return the cabinets, have them "inspected" by their salespeople, and then wait another 3+ days to get the replacements in....and he emphasized how they normally couldn't even accept a cabinet that had been drilled or installed, that they were making a major policy exception to even consider exchanging these cabinets. I was left feeling very unsure of what would happen if I even attempted this exchange.
After giving myself time to calm down, I called again the following morning to ask a few questions - namely, what color did the original quote actually specify? I noticed there was NOTHING regarding color on my estimate, but the actual payment invoice did say "Verona Shaker." A bit suspicious. The salesperson confirmed that the original quote was indeed for the honey colored cabinets, NOT the white.
HOW WAS THIS POSSIBLE? As explained above, I spent at least an hour with the salesperson on my quote, and I was as specific as I could possibly be. I am now left to believe that the original salesperson, Jessica, deliberately used the lower priced cabinets for quoting, figuring that it was an easy bait-and-switch for when I picked them up and saw what I was getting.....at that point, I'd be under pressure just to fork over the extra 30% or so for the white color scheme I had originally counted on receiving.
At this point, to expedite my reno and to avoid ever having to deal with these people again, I'm having my contractor paint these cabinets white. Not ideal, but preferable to getting sucked into a big drama over returns/exchanges and price differences where I'm 99% sure I'll end up getting screwed anyhow :/.
In summary, BEWARE of doing any business with these shady folks. Make sure you specify exactly what you want, and get ALL the details in writing. Their prices seem great, but it's not so great if you are not actually getting what you ordered!
I naively trusted that they wouldn't take advantage of their customers (much less a customer who is both five months pregnant and battling cancer - wearing a chemo turban and all!), but I guess that was my mistake :(.
I have already warned my contractor, my RE Agent, and the several friends I'd referred to Deco to avoid this business at all costs. Hope you fellow Yelpers can at least benefit from my mistakes. read more