First of all, I have to confess to being a great fan of Kohler products. I have purchased items…read morefrom them for over the past 30 years - everything for the home from the kitchen, to the bathrooms, the family room, and basement. I love their designs and innovation, their products are well-made, and even though sometimes they break down over time, they are usually reliable - albeit expensive.
So when we realized that we needed to do a remodel on our master bathroom, we were confronted with several decisions - (1) budget for a full remodel? (2) a partial remodel with the exact products we needed? (3) could it be done within a particular timeframe or put this off until next year?
We did some research and discovered that the "Kohler Signature Store by Studio41" was the only place near us that carried the entire Kohler line and staff that focused exclusively on their product who could offer suggestions, guidance, and information that we needed to make an informed decision.
At Studio41 we met Alicia Schafer, a Senior Designer, who immediately assessed our needs, took the time to show us designs, introduce concepts and ideas that would complement our home while offering the best value, as well as address concerns about purchasing a package for a full remodel or phased construction. Given the availability and design of certain Kohler products, we were able to determine that the phased approach would better suit our needs.
Alicia was very knowledgeable, patient and considerate in helping us make our choices. She addressed technical issues pertaining to a particular product and how it may have aligned with our situation by doing the research and providing us with the correct specifications. She did not speculate, ensuring that everything was in order and as advertised. We made our decision, placed the order and she offered to help in any way she could, aside from notifying us once our order arrived. She provided us an approximate window of when the products would be delivered.
After several weeks our order finally arrived. Alicia worked with us to have the items delivered on time, which arrived well packaged, secured and labeled, on a pallet and placed in a convenient place for our contractors to access them.
Now, this is where things get tricky: Our contractor, inadvertently installed the drawer pulls on our vanity cabinet incorrectly. We determined that he did this because Kohler included only "short" screws with the drawer pulls that would only accommodate single-wall drawers rather than the separate drawer-fronts on this Kohler model. This particular placement would eventually cause a misalignment and drawer- front failure because the stresses of use are placed only on the drawer front and not on the drawer.
We also discovered that an optional vanity cabinet drawer that we ordered would not fit - not because of the design of the drawer itself, but because the plumbing in our home adhered to a building code that configured the drain in a manner contrary to products that comply with a more modern code. We contacted Alicia, told her of the problem, which she understood and offered a complete refund once the item was returned to Studio41.
On the day we returned the drawer, Alicia happened to be there. She immediately processed the returned item and had it credited to our account. It was at that point we raised the issue about the drawer-fronts. She was incredulous that the wrong screws had been included with the drawers and there were some concerns about the competence of our contractors. Nevertheless, after we discussed this issue at some length, we realized that we were at an impasse: Who is responsible? The customer? Studio 41? The contractor? Is Kohler responsible for not including the proper hardware? Would this require the full replacement of drawer-fronts and hardware?
Alicia, after some discussion with Zack(?), offered to replace the drawer-fronts on six (6) vanity cabinet drawers and include the correct sized screws. She stated that they would place the order and they would arrive in a reasonable period of time. We received the replacement drawer fronts within a matter of a couple of weeks.
To be clear, Alicia and Studio41 could have stuck by the "corporate" line, maintained that Kohler was not responsible, that our contractors should have used better judgment and acquired the correct sized screws before attempting to install the drawer pulls. But they recognized our frustration and that perhaps Kohler personnel failed to include screws for the drawer pulls that were required for that drawer design.
We appreciate the professionalism and understanding displayed in an unusual situation in which - at least this time - full consideration was given to the customer, their happiness, and satisfaction over what could have been a standard response of "buyer beware".
Kudos to Studio41 and Alicia Schafer! We will be making future purchases and recommendations!
