After several years of consideration, planning, and budgeting; at the beginning of this year, we put our trust and faith in Lowe’s to help us design our dream kitchen. We started this project in January with the goal to have the project completed in April. We acknowledge and appreciate that the Coronavirus pandemic created many obstacles and caused many plans to be altered; however, our issues began weeks before the state of emergency took hold.
We placed our cabinet order with Jim at the 1010 Mc Dermott Dr. in Allen, Texas location. We discussed the style and color I wanted. We even helped me remove the door with the correct color from the display, so that I could carry it around and match it with a sink and other appliances. Despite being personable and seeming knowledgeable, Jim wrote the order for the wrong cabinets, wrong color, wrong vendor, wrong everything. Fortunately, we questioned the items listed on the contract and were able to cancel the order before it went into production. He created a new order, credited, recharged, and poof! we owed an additional $2800. We understand that Kraftmaid is a superior product; however, we feel some accommodations could have been made to make up for this significant error.
A few weeks later when many businesses were shut down, we reached out to Kraftmaid to find out if our delivery was on schedule. We were given a delivery date, and we asked Jim to contact the construction company/installers to find out if they were still working. We did not hear from him, so we contacted the installation department on our own. We scheduled the work and followed up with guy who would be doing it.
When Jim designed our layout, he selected a farmhouse sink with an 8 inch apron. This is exactly the style sink I wanted; however, I knew nothing about apron lengths or the adjustments that needed to be made to the cabinet that holds this type of sink. Jim gave us a style number for the sink he had chosen, but it was no longer available in any store or on Lowe’s.com. We tried to contact Jim to find out why we could not locate the sink he had selected, but we did not hear back from him. We went ahead and ordered a different sink with a 10 inch apron because, again, we didn’t know that it would be a problem. Our installer informed us that our cabinet was built for an 8 inch apron, and our 10 inch apron sink would challenge the structural integrity of the cabinet. We contacted the store, only to learn that Jim was out for an extended period of time. We started searching all over the internet for an elusive 8 inch apron sink. This is how we learned that 10 inch is the norm, and for whatever reason Jim had ordered a cabinet made for a unicorn. It seemed the only possible substitute was a Kohler model with a 6 1/2 inch apron and double the price of the original sink. We had a hard time believing that this was our only option, so we contacted the store to try to get some help. The associate in the design area told us we should go to another retailer. We spoke to another associate, who did some research, and she gave us information on several styles that were not the correct size or material. The styles she gave us were also very high ticket ($1200-$2000). The original sink was $700. At this point, she also suggested that we just “order a new cabinet”. We ended up ordering a sink from Amazon. This has added a 7-10 day disruption and left us without a functioning kitchen.
After we found a sink that would work fo us, we had to pack up the 10 inch apron sink and haul it back to Lowe’s to return it. We then learned that we had never been charged for the sink, even though we had purchased it on line and picked it up at the Allen store. This caused endless confusion as customer service tried to charge us and credit us, something that apparently can’t be accomplished within a 48 hour time frame. While dealing with this debacle, we also learned that the associate, who had charged us for our countertops, had done so incorrectly. This would hold up the production and, of course, installation of our countertops.
More crediting and new charges took place, and in the end, we were charged an additional $199 because another mistake had been made.
We think we have everything under control now. We have put together a reasonable time frame for all of the players to complete their installations and make our kitchen whole. We have two small children, one with special needs, who we are trying to homeschool. We are no different than any other family right now, trying to adjust to the new normal. However, we are washing dishes in our bathroom, cooking exclusively in a microwave, toaster oven or on the grill, and feeling out of place in our own home. We recognize that any remodel is going to cause a period of disruption and adjustment, but we also know that this process could have been much smoother if there would have been communication, follow up, and a general sense of accomplishment in helping a family achieve their goals. The decision to spend nearly $25,000 is not an easy one for our family, and we find the lack of accommodation and blatant disregard insulting. I have been in sales for nearly 30 years and only occasionally have been on the receiving end of a sum this large from a single customer. I am far from perfect, but I put as much effort into pleasing my $5.00 customer as I do my larger spenders. We understand that accidents happen; otherwise we would have taken our business elsewhere back when the original cabinet order was done incorrectly. However, we feel that this project has been handled carelessly and unprofessionally.
Thank you for your time. We would appreciate any response you feel is appropriate.
Our remodel experience was bad
Good morning,
After several years of consideration, planning, and budgeting; at the beginning of this year, we put our trust and faith in Lowe’s to help us design our dream kitchen. We started this project in January with the goal to have the project completed in April. We acknowledge and appreciate that the Coronavirus pandemic created many obstacles and caused many plans to be altered; however, our issues began weeks before the state of emergency took hold.
We placed our cabinet order with Jim at the 1010 Mc Dermott Dr. in Allen, Texas location. We discussed the style and color I wanted. We even helped me remove the door with the correct color from the display, so that I could carry it around and match it with a sink and other appliances. Despite being personable and seeming knowledgeable, Jim wrote the order for the wrong cabinets, wrong color, wrong vendor, wrong everything. Fortunately, we questioned the items listed on the contract and were able to cancel the order before it went into production. He created a new order, credited, recharged, and poof! we owed an additional $2800. We understand that Kraftmaid is a superior product; however, we feel some accommodations could have been made to make up for this significant error.
A few weeks later when many businesses were shut down, we reached out to Kraftmaid to find out if our delivery was on schedule. We were given a delivery date, and we asked Jim to contact the construction company/installers to find out if they were still working. We did not hear from him, so we contacted the installation department on our own. We scheduled the work and followed up with guy who would be doing it.
When Jim designed our layout, he selected a farmhouse sink with an 8 inch apron. This is exactly the style sink I wanted; however, I knew nothing about apron lengths or the adjustments that needed to be made to the cabinet that holds this type of sink. Jim gave us a style number for the sink he had chosen, but it was no longer available in any store or on Lowe’s.com. We tried to contact Jim to find out why we could not locate the sink he had selected, but we did not hear back from him. We went ahead and ordered a different sink with a 10 inch apron because, again, we didn’t know that it would be a problem. Our installer informed us that our cabinet was built for an 8 inch apron, and our 10 inch apron sink would challenge the structural integrity of the cabinet. We contacted the store, only to learn that Jim was out for an extended period of time. We started searching all over the internet for an elusive 8 inch apron sink. This is how we learned that 10 inch is the norm, and for whatever reason Jim had ordered a cabinet made for a unicorn. It seemed the only possible substitute was a Kohler model with a 6 1/2 inch apron and double the price of the original sink. We had a hard time believing that this was our only option, so we contacted the store to try to get some help. The associate in the design area told us we should go to another retailer. We spoke to another associate, who did some research, and she gave us information on several styles that were not the correct size or material. The styles she gave us were also very high ticket ($1200-$2000). The original sink was $700. At this point, she also suggested that we just “order a new cabinet”. We ended up ordering a sink from Amazon. This has added a 7-10 day disruption and left us without a functioning kitchen.
After we found a sink that would work fo us, we had to pack up the 10 inch apron sink and haul it back to Lowe’s to return it. We then learned that we had never been charged for the sink, even though we had purchased it on line and picked it up at the Allen store. This caused endless confusion as customer service tried to charge us and credit us, something that apparently can’t be accomplished within a 48 hour time frame. While dealing with this debacle, we also learned that the associate, who had charged us for our countertops, had done so incorrectly. This would hold up the production and, of course, installation of our countertops.
More crediting and new charges took place, and in the end, we were charged an additional $199 because another mistake had been made.
We think we have everything under control now. We have put together a reasonable time frame for all of the players to complete their installations and make our kitchen whole. We have two small children, one with special needs, who we are trying to homeschool. We are no different than any other family right now, trying to adjust to the new normal. However, we are washing dishes in our bathroom, cooking exclusively in a microwave, toaster oven or on the grill, and feeling out of place in our own home. We recognize that any remodel is going to cause a period of disruption and adjustment, but we also know that this process could have been much smoother if there would have been communication, follow up, and a general sense of accomplishment in helping a family achieve their goals. The decision to spend nearly $25,000 is not an easy one for our family, and we find the lack of accommodation and blatant disregard insulting. I have been in sales for nearly 30 years and only occasionally have been on the receiving end of a sum this large from a single customer. I am far from perfect, but I put as much effort into pleasing my $5.00 customer as I do my larger spenders. We understand that accidents happen; otherwise we would have taken our business elsewhere back when the original cabinet order was done incorrectly. However, we feel that this project has been handled carelessly and unprofessionally.
Thank you for your time. We would appreciate any response you feel is appropriate.
Paul and Alyson D