I thought long and hard about whether to post this, as I'd like to move on from this nightmare…read morescenario, but ultimately I think my experience can help others make a better choice.
I started working with The Cabinet Center several months ago to remodel my kitchen.
One thing I learned about a company like this is that ultimately you have to judge them based on how well they deal with issues that come up. And when you do a full kitchen remodel, issues do come up. The people at The Cabinet Center were nice enough initially, and very helpful with not only selecting cabinets, but also recommending people to work with regarding appliances, construction, and counter top. It was this all in one approach that I agreed to work with them. The sales pitch always goes well, as some say.
But when problems started to crop up, that's when the quality of their service really took a nose dive. By time my kitchen remodel project was done, it was 3 months later, despite how The Cabinet Center assured me it would only take 3 weeks. I was stuck with a gutted kitchen, dust everywhere, half my condo sectioned off, with no sink, fridge, or stove for over 9 weeks. What's worse is that each week, I was given affirmation things will soon be on track. That made things worse. So what went down?
1. The wrong cabinet pieces were ordered. Supposedly this "never happens" as I was assured when I ordered my cabinets. Yet sure enough, it happened. Once this went wrong, all construction had to stop. To make matters worse, when they reordered the piece, the cabinet makers forgot to deliver it. The piece sat in the warehouse for a week until I called to figure out what was wrong. The Cabinet Center was blaming the cabinet maker, and the cabinet maker was blaming the cabinet center. I really didn't care who caused the problem at this stage, I just wanted it fixed.
2. The cabinets were sitting a warehouse, and never shipped until I called. What makes me angry about this is that there was no sense of urgency or interest helping me when this was realized. The Cabinet center told to call the cabinet maker to see if I could push things along. When I called them I was told they didn't want to talk with me because their customer was The Cabinet Center. I was in a screaming match with people until everything wrapped up. That's not how customer service should work.
3. They said I never ordered a backsplash for my countertop when I did. I was promised that my counter top order included a backsplash, but when it was installed, none was installed. The Cabinet Center's manager then dared question my understanding what was agreed upon, as if I made things up. I was flabbergasted. It wasn't until the construction people who were remodeling my kitchen agreed with me that the backsplash was part of the order (they happened to be in that initial meeting when a backsplash was discussed), did the manager finally agreed that "something might have been discussed". So what did they agree to do to fix the problem? Charge me an additional $750 to put it in (But it's a discount they say!) How nice of you...
4. They said they would repay me for the problems they caused. As of today, I still haven't seen a final check. I'm not even bothering with pushing for it, because the amount is a joke, and they been nonresponsive. They just didn't care about my plight, didn't care to fix it, nor wanted to even compensate me when clearly they messed up.
I will say this, they did eventually help out, 7 weeks after I had no fridge to use, to give me a loaner, as a nice gesture. A gesture they only did because the construction people felt so bad for me they literally called The Cabinet Center to see what they can do show a little sympathy. And for this, they acted like they were saints or something. Please.
Just thinking about this experience still troubles me. Mind you, they only take checks, so you can't even dispute things with them via your credit card provider. The owner of this place needs a serious wake up call on how to work with customers. Remodeling a kitchen is a major decision anyone goes through. You want to believe that even one minor issue with the process is something that The Cabinet Center recognizes and wants to go out their way to help out with. Even a one day delay can feel like a lifetime when your kitchen is gutted. I suffered for many weeks, and The Cabinet Center didn't care.
Consider this my fair warning.