We spent well over $100,000 at Hingham Lumber for home reno materials, including a full set of…read morekitchen cabinets. Going to Hingham Lumber for kitchen cabinets was a horrible experience and a big mistake. The Hingham Lumber designer mismeasured for more than half the cabinets had them made wrong. Rather than fixing their mistakes, the HL designer and cabinet department manager stonewalled us and the manager subjected me to verbally and physically abusive behavior.
Due to the HL designer's mismeasurements, an entire wall of cabinets was not long enough to fit the space. To avoid weeks of delay, we agreed to adjust the placement of cabinets in our kitchen rather than having these cabinets redone. Also, the upper cabinets on the same wall didn't line up with the lowers as they were supposed to. We had repeatedly told the HL designer our design and space required they line up. When, after installation, we found the upper cabinets didn't line up, the designer said that - regardless of what we wanted - she had deliberately designed the cabinets to not line up because it was "customary". Again, to avoid weeks of delay, we agreed to have only one upper cabinet at the end remade with an extended section on one side. Because of Hingham Lumber's mistakes our kitchen doesn't look as good as it should have.
The HL designer also mismeasured three lower cabinets that had to fit together between a wall and a load bearing post. They were too long to fit in the space. She told us to have our contractor cut into the load bearing post to deal with her mistakes! The HL designer ordered a back panel for these cabinets that was too long, with completely wrong trimwork. The crown moldings for the cabinets didn't arrive with the rest of the order. The HL designer said she forgot to order them. Then it got worse.
The HL designer scheduled a revisit to our home. When she came, she brought a man she introduced as the manager of the Hingham Lumber cabinet department. Together, the HL designer and manager tried to blame our contractor, and then us, for the designer's mismeasurements. I reminded them the HL designer was the person who measured for and ordered the cabinets. Then, the six foot four male manager (more than a foot taller than I) suddenly stepped forward to stand toe-to-toe with me. His face turned red, he shook his finger right in my face and he shouted that Hingham Lumber wasn't going to pay to redo the cabinets they had mismeasured. I told the HL manager to move away from me, but he didn't. My husband shouted at him to get away from me, but he didn't. I had to start to step forward to get him to step back and finally get away from me.
The HL manager finally agreed to take responsibility to have 4 of the 11 mismeasured cabinets remade. He said it would take four to six weeks to deliver them. The HL designer had previously told us it would take two weeks for delivery if any items needed to be remade. I asked the manager if his longer time period was in retaliation for me refusing to accept his bullying. He didn't answer.
A week later, when we'd heard nothing from the designer, we contacted her. She hadn't even ordered the replacement cabinets. A week after that, a Hingham Lumber employee called us. This HL employee wanted to know if we were going to file action against Hingham Lumber regarding their manager's behavior. This HL employee then said any idea the designer and manager had acted inappropriately was only my "perception". I told him there were witnesses to the HL manager's behavior. He then asked me what I wanted. I said I wanted Hingham Lumber to order the cabinets that had to be remade right away and give a delivery date so our contractor could schedule his time. I also said I wanted Hingham Lumber to reimburse us for our contractor's charge for having to install cabinets a second time.
Hingham Lumber still didn't order the replacement cabinets we needed. In desperation, I contacted the cabinet maker, Tedd Wood, directly. I asked for Tedd Wood's help in getting the cabinets we needed. Within 48 hours of my call to Tedd Wood, Hingham Lumber finally agreed the corrected cabinets would arrive timely and gave me a delivery date. (Thank you, Tedd Wood!!!)
Hingham Lumber has never reimbursed us for the extra contractor fee we paid for Hingham Lumber's mistakes. Instead, the store billed us for $700 (plus interest) for miscellaneous cabinet parts, including some which arrived long after the cabinets were installed. This amount is far less than the extra fee our contractor charged us for installing the cabinets twice. Neither the store owner nor any of the HL employees involved ever apologized to me for the verbally and physically abusive behavior of the HL manager. We're now considering whether to take action to collect the contractor fee Hingham Lumber owes us and more, since Hingham Lumber seems to care more about avoiding the consequences of their bad behavior than treating their customers well and fairly.
