Closet Factory Fort Lauderdale

Very happy.

On time and on budget

Having very successfully worked with professional designer Lori Kasten of The Closet Factory on our two previous homes, we confidently requested her services for our newest home. Our challenges of a tight time schedule and downsize from our current home were easily overcome and exceeded our expectations. Our project required designing and installing two custom closets for the master bedroom (his and hers with distinctly different requirements), two guest bedroom closets and a home office. Knowing that we would get possession of the new home in only mid-November and needing to move in by mid-December, Lori visited the new proporty with us in early September. She immediately went to work and came up with designs that optimized the available space such that despite a smaller footprint in each area, we ulitmately achieved the same amount of storage. Within a week we had the designs for all the closets and an amazing plan for converting a virtually wasted loft area into a remarkable home office that would accommodate both myself and my wife. Shortly after receiving the initial plans, we met with our interior designer and Lori at The Closet Factory's sophisticated showroom to review the designs, make any minor modifications that we desired and to select the materials, hardware and stone surfaces from their impressive selection of options. Any changes in the plans that we requested were immediately done at this meeting. Lori is extremely well skilled in computer aided design and the modifications were shown to us just moments later on a large screen television in their conference room. When our interior designer expressed an interest in selecting the actual slabs of granite that would be used as the work surfaces in the custom office, Lori couldn't have been more gracious or accommodating. She quickly made an appointment with our interior designer and my wife, accompanided them to the granite supplier's facility and assisted them in selecting the specific slabs. Lori is always willing to do whatever she can to obtain the best result and the homeowner's satisfaction. The two master closets are located in a passageway between the master bedroom and the master bath, which has a large amount of custom millwork. Lori selected materials that were a near perfect match to the existing cabinetry thereby creating s seamless transition between the spaces. Having had two separate home offices previously, we were delighted to discover that Lori converted this awkwardly shaped space into both a functional and elegant work environment suitable for any discerning executive with more usable work area, filing and storage than we had ever anticipated. This room has now become a showplace that all visitors to our home admire and remark upon. Lori and The Closet Factory have a long history of working with interior designers on large scale projects involving multiple tradesmen. That experience proved invaluable to us as her team of engineers, demolition staff and installers were able to coordingate their work to accommodate the many other trades (electricians, plumbers, window and flooring contractors) without interfering our causing any delays to our already difficult schedule. All appointments were kept and The Closet Factor team was always punctual while adhering to the allowable work hours of our community. It is no surprise to me that The Closet Factory is often the choice of the interior designers for so many of the celebrities and professional athletes with homes in South Florida. I want to express my sincerest appreciation to Stephon Newman (owner of The Closet Factory) Lori Kasten and their supporting team of engineers and installers for all their effort in achieving such an outstanding result. Our home is truly enhanced by both their talent and the pride that they take in delivering an outstanding product.

"CONSUMERS BEWARE!!!!!" I HAVE NEVER BEEN SO DISSATISFIED AND SO DISENCHANTED WITH A COMPANY AS I AM WITH CLOSET FACTORY/AIG AND MOST OF ITS EMPLOYEES. I contracted with Architectural Interiors Group (AIG), a subsidiary of Closet Factory--AIG is no longer in business and has been replaced by Motor Trend Garage--in June of 2013 to remodel my kitchen and master bath. Once I signed the contract--it was more like putting my initials on a set of drawings/renderings, not an actual contract--I was assured by my salesperson/designer Frank that the work on my house would take two and a half months to complete. The work finally began the first week in October of 2013, with Frank and Devin, the work foreman at the time, guaranteeing that I would have my house back the second week in December 2013. Shortly after the demolition began, I revised the contract and asked Frank to change out the tile in the general areas of my house. Even after the addition of the tile work, Frank still maintained that the house would be completed on time. In early November I asked Frank to do a faclift to my two additional bathrooms (change out vanities and commodes). The demolition of the kitchen and master bath was done in one day, causing excitement and confidence in AIG and its personnel. Then the nightmare began. It took three AIG workers three weeks to tear out half of the floor tile. After complaining to Frank and Devin about the slow tile removal process, one person (Steven) was sent in on a Saturday, and this one-man wrecking crew removed the remaining tile and took out the vanities and commodes from the two other bathrooms--one man did in one day what three others couldn't get done in three weeks. Work continued on and off during the next ten months--at least four contentious meetings took place during this time between my wife and I and Closet Factory personnel, including the owner Mr. Stephen Newman, the lead designer Elia, the Operations Chief Jared, Devin and Frank--and on 17 July 2014 I was finally able to conduct a final walkthrough to take back my house. It's been a year and three months since AIG began working on my house, it's been six months since I did the final walkthrough with Elia and Jared and drafted a final punch list of items that still needed attention, and as of today, 3 February 2015, there are still items from the punch list that remain unresolved (warped cabinet door that needs to be replaced, two drawers in a linen tower in the master bath that don't close properly, replacement of a rod-lock in my front door broken by AIG employees, removal of oil stains left by AIG vehicles in my driveway, etc., etc.). As I see it, AIG was never ready to take on large remodeling jobs. Not only did AIG/Closet Factory not have knowledgeable personnel in charge, but they didn't have enough workers available to complete the work they contracted to do. I chose AIG to do my work because I trusted the Closet Factory brand, I believed all the stories and assurances coming from Frank, I trusted Mr. Newman's words when he told me that his company or his employees would never hide anything that went wrong and that everything would be done to my satisfaction, regardless of what it took to make things right, and boy was I wrong. I don't know how good or bad the Closet Factory is at building closets, but one thing I do know is that this company has no business doing any type of remodeling work. A list of irritants in dealing with the Closet Factory and its employees follows: --Workers would come to the house not knowing exactly what they were there to do, or without the proper tools to accomplish the work they were sent to perform (workers would take the liberty to go into my garage and take my personal tools and ladders to use as their own) --Foreman not on job site to ensure work was being done on time and to proper standards (I ended up acting as the foreman in most instances) --Workers would cause damage to equipment being installed (deep scratches in brand-new microwave and dent in oven door)or personal property stored in the house, damage that Closet Factory would either not repair, replace or compensate for --Jared, the Operations Chief, not returning calls or answering text messages unless I reached out to the owner, Mr. Newman (comes across as arrogant, argumentative, uncaring and unyielding, and doesn't have a clue about what customer service means) --Eric, the "Jack of All Trades," who although knowledgeable in many facets of construction, is the sloppiest and most careless worker that I have ever encountered (has no concept of what it means to care for someone else's property) The only person at the Closet Factory who took a personal interest in the work being done on my house--this coming after many heated arguments and after she was convinced of the wrong-doing by Frank my salesperson and designer--and who worked tirelessly to ensure that things were done right was Elia Alvarez, the lead designer, and for a period of time the Operations Chief. I commend Elia for trying to make right everything that everyone else had done wrong. It was an uphill climb for Elia, but she kept at it, and had it not been for her herculean efforts, the work done to my house would have resulted in a total disaster. Not sure who responded on Feb 8 2015 on behalf of the Closet Factory, but I can assure anyone reading my review that AIG was part of the Closet Factory, and owned by Mr. Stephen Newman who is also the owner of Closet Factory and Motor Trend Garage. The writer is correct in claiming that I have never been a customer of the Closet Factory directly, but since AIG is no longer in business, I venture to say because of its lousy record, I can only file my review for the Closet Factory, but making clear in my review that I contracted the work done to my house with AIG, company "THAT WAS" under the same ownership and management as is the Closet Factory. My claims are completely accurate and true, regardless of what the company representative who wrote the response wants to make prospective customers think. Mr. Stephen Newman knows very well that his company, AIG/Closet Factory, still hasn't completed the work listed on the punch list drafted on 17 July 2014 and signed by myself and Miss Elia Alvarez, an AIG employee who at the time was Mr. Newman's Operations Chief, but who is now Closet Factory's Human Resources Chief. Rather than doing the right thing and completing the work that still remains to be done on my house, Closet Factory and its management team tries to hide their misdeeds with smoke and mirrors in an attempt to deceive prospective customers into thinking that I'm just filing a frivolous review against their company. I'm an honorable person who would never file a false claim against anyone or any company just to do harm. I submitted my review to warn prospective customers so that they can make an informed decision when they decide to hire the Closet Factory/Motor Trend Garage.

This company is horrible and I can't deter enough customers to not waste their time getting a quote from them. Their biggest sales pitch is that we are the biggest in the industry and did $900,000 in sales last month. I'm not sure if I believe it but their customer service and business practices are very poor. I feel bad for all of the customers who paid way too much for the same product that can be manufactured elsewhere with better customer service. In addition to overprices quotes (100% more) they also attempt to use hard sales closing tactics by telling you they can only provide a quote if they come back out. This is not told to you upfront.

I was extremely pleased with the custom desk/bookcase/cabinet system that The Closet Factory designed and installed for my mother in her condominium in Boca Raton. Lori Kasten was the design consultant from Closet Factory who incorporated all the and ldquo;must-havesand rdquo; and other ideas into a beautiful, functional design. All of the exposed areas of the entire unit were made of maple wood and stained to closely match other wood in the home. We were given an installation date (Sept 24th) at the time my mother signed the contract (July 30th), and they did the complete installation on that date exactly as promised. The unit was assembled by an extremely competent installation team led by Jose. Jose and his assistant did a masterful installation job, and stayed to help me install the phone lines, cable lines, modem and computer, etc. They couldn't have been more helpful or professional. I was very impressed with the craftsmanship and skill they exhibited. After they finished the installation, both Jose and his assistant took multiple photos with their phones of the finished unit. That showed me that they had real pride in their work and ndash; something you don't see much of these days. Bottom line and ndash; The Closet Factory did a great job and my mother is thrilled with the desk/bookcase/cabinet system they designed and built for her home.

Expensive. Was ready to complete the deal and work them. Was told at the last minute that their offer of 18 months same as cash and $400 off that they advertised was nost avalialbe with the great 'deal' that we had been offered. We had been strung-along for some time thinking we would get the financing and discount and only to be told when we were ready to move forward that - that particular deal was not available to us. It was a deal breaker for us. We moved on from there - never to hear from them. They were smug and had not a caring attitude. Woiuld certainly not recommend working with them.

PLEASE READ THIS REVIEW BEFORE YOU HIRE THIS COMPANY. In February, we met with Rick Staller, a design consultant for Closet Factor. Rick Came to our house and spent over an hour listening to what we wanted installed in the office and at that time he took measurements of the office. We made an appointment a week later and met Rick at Closet Factory in Deerfield Beach to pick cabinet styles, colors, granite, fixtures, etc. We were told that this project would take 6 weeks for the cabinets to be built, and then it would take about two or three days for the installation. It is now THREE MONTHS LATER and we have a desk that does not have the proper support. The solution was for them to stick a few pieces of unsecured wood under the desk to hold up the granite. Now we can't access the electrical outlets so we can't use the printers or computers in the office. IT GETS BETTER....my wife has been dealing with Rick Staller, who had continually told her that finishing and correcting this project was a priority. After not hearing back from him on Friday May 9, she called him. He argued with her telling her this project was a priority, and when she asked when it would be finished, his only answer was that he would call her back....but he never did. ON MAY14, another week later, I called and asked to speak to the store manager. He wasn't available, but a guy named Ryan or Brian, called me back. I told him that we were not happy with the service, we certainly did not feel like this project was a priority for closet factory, and we were still waiting to here from Rick Staller when someone was coming to fix the desk. He apologized and said he wasn't aware of the situation. He called back and guaranteed someone would be by between 1pm and 4pm on MAY 15 to fix the desk. ON MAY 15, I took of work in the afternoon so that I could make sure the project was finished properly.....ONLY NO ONE SHOWED UP. I called Closet Factory around 4pm to let them know no one showed up, and they said he would be there in a half hour. I called again at 6pm and let them know that no one ever showed up. At 6:15PM, a man called and said he would come over now. I told him that contractors were not allowed in the gated community after 6pm unless for emergency service and he asked if I wanted him to try to get in anyway. I assume he didin't even know what he was coming for, because it's not a 15 minute job. I asked him if he could come tomorrow morning at 8am and he said he doesn't make the schedule. I told him to have his manager call me. When the manager called, I asked if they could have someone there at 8am, and he said "HOW ABOUT SATURDAY?" There were no delays charging my credit card for the products and services which were delivered adequately (at best) with pathetic customer service. Closet Factory knows that once they have your signature on the paper and the project has begun, you can't back out without major losses in time and equity. That's is what they are banking on.

He was very neat and cleaned up the little bit of mess there was in the closet. He was on time and finsihed in one day. VERY HAPPY WITH THEIR WORK.

It’s almost Christmas, and I said in my last testimonial that I would write about my next experience with the Closet Factory, and so here I am. This was one of the most painful experiences in my adult life and so I give them, their sister company (AIG) and the designer a big F. When I brought up the subject of an entertainment center spanning a wall in the living room, my designer hopped right on it and within a couple of days I had a computer generated printout of what she'd come up with. My requests were pretty easy and this installation was to be built around an antique map case that we've owned for many years and just had refinished. The designer saw it and took measurements to properly build the new structure around the map case which would include two lower cabinets and book shelves above, but she was incorrect in her measurements which we found out when, finally weeks after promised, it was put together in our living-room and we attempted to slide the map case into the designated spot and the opening was too small. So let me start at the beginning where I liked the mock-up of the entertainment center. I thought it a better idea since there were so many steps to this process, to give the entire job to the Closet Factory so I wouldn’t have to coordinate all the steps myself. I'm new to FL and have little or no experience with providers here. 1. Remove the old entertainment center at a cost of $950. Mr Destruction Derby guy showed up at about 10 a.m. on the first day and spent most of his time on break or on the phone. It was much later in the afternoon when the 2nd guy showed to pick up the salvage from the deconstruction of the old center and cart the garbage off to the dumpster, except there was only a small place that had been started. It was the and quot;pick up the garbageand quot; guy that really did all the work and they finally finished about 8:30 p.m. 2. The tile was supposed to be pieced together for the 2nd step because there wasn’t any under the old center and the contract noted that owners were to supply the tile. We thought we had extra tile but it turned out that we didn't have enough so we purchased new and different tile and it was ready on the date that the tile setter was supposed to be here. His appearance was delayed because we did not have the tile which was absolutely wrong. We followed the contract to the letter. He showed up 2 days later with only the directive to patch the tile so AIG, which is the source for the Closet Factory's building and construction of everything, sent him with no more instructions than a and quot;1 linerand quot;. The tile setter was excellent but it would be my guess that he'll soon find another job because AIG is so disseminated in their directives and keeping their promises that nobody knows what they are supposed to do until they get to the job site and see the depth of the work. 3. Now comes another and totally unexpected need and so the tables turned and the Closet Factory was the angry group. It seemed that the guys that demo'ed the old entertainment center took off too much and now it had become necessary to hang new drywall. I think they would have been happier to build it against the cinder blocks but at our insistence, since moisture can penetrate concrete cinder blocks they had to have a drywall crew come to replace what the first team took off. It was at that point that our designer completely quit talking to us. We'd had numerous conversations with her before this project started but have not heard the sound of her voice since this turned sour. We'd occasionally get emails from her telling us that she was in the background watching but it was AIG's responsibility to build it. She's only the designer. She was so out of this, it's difficult to remember what she looked like. The building of the unit was to take 6 week and installation was supposed to start on Nov 18 and take a total of 5 days; 1 day for the demo, 1 for the tile and then 2 more days in case anything was amiss. The job was finished today and everything that could have gone wrong did. Over in 1 corner of the unit there were to be 4 glass shelves for collectables. They were delivered for installation 7and quot; to large. Now come on.....I could understand 1/7th and quot; but 7and quot;???? So 3 days later the installer came with the new shelves and 3 out of the 4 were broken or chipped. Today it was finished and while it is beautiful, it was the most miserable negotiation I can remember. The bookshelves bow if the shelf is more than half full of books and that is the way it will stay. The installer shored the shelves up to the best of his ability but said that they never build installations like this and certainly not book-shelves this long. How come the designer didn't know this and completely walked away from this mess? How come AIG approved the plans and sent somebody at the beginning to check the designer's measurements? Our total for this job was $8390. and for that we were patronized at every turn. We got promises from the owner of AIG that were not kept, promises from the manager who's response was and quot;we welcome your feedback because it helps us to be betterand quot; but the promised dates came and went and were not observed. The day installation started, 2 cabinets with no doors were delivered. They stayed in the living-room for several days before anymore appeared and the installer told us that the unit hadn't been built yet. Stay away from this company and please believe that we are mild mannered folks. We can handle a lot, but not lies and people tossing us to the dogs. Now this company thinks they are finished with us and I think this was a rip off and if these shelves bow much more, they will be useless to the tune of $8390. I certainly hope that people read this. I noticed 2 D testimonials on their reviews. I should have paid more attention but the designer was so politically correct that we were convinced that we had made a good choice. My woman's intuition must have croaked somewhere along the way as there was no sincerity with this company or their designer. She promised what they could not deliver.

We had to correct the closet designer many times when she was entering the measurements into her computer program. We were so concerned about the accuracy of her measurements that we did the measuring and designing ourselves, and met again to ensure the corrections were made. Approx. cost of service was 8700$, then she added some discount we were never told about and the price came down to 6900$. We were a little confused as to how she came up with such a high price, as we did not choose many of the high upgrades available, but only chose what we needed for space organization. It would have been nice to have an indication of the cost at the beginning, rather than finding out after we put six to seven hours of our time into meetings. Overall, the experience was extremely frustrating and took far too much of our time, and was too costly. We would definitely not recommend this company!

It went just as she said it would. The day of installation was firm from the day we placed the order and it looks great and meets our needs.

They were very good to work with. The sales lady new the product well. She took our input and made suggestions to improve the design. The price was a higher than a local competitor but the final product is well worth the additional cost. We are very happy with the final product which is the dark cherry.

Free consultation and Angela Tilley spent atleast 2 hrs here on a weekend. Came back with plans, went over, negotiated, set up build and followed up. Angela Tilley was very efficient. Closets are beautiful. We requested one minor move of hardware in one of the closets, and they were out here and moved, patched and its now perfect. Cost was higher that we originally thought but end result is beautiful and company is very good to work with, especially Angela. We are currently working on a future office build-in, garage set up and a couple minor shelving projects. So far, all has been great.

I saw an ad in the HomeMag of Closet Factory and decided to give them a call. A designer, Jeanne came out to my house and took measurements of my closet. We discussed what I wanted and the colors and style. She showed me a presentation of their portfolio and how their installation is performed. After we spoke, I told her that I would get back with her when I was ready. Unlike some companies, Jeanne was not pushy at all and would always follow up with me. I decided to move forward with the project and Jeanne and I kept in contact throughout the entire time. If I had any concerns, she would follow up with me and revise the design plans if necessary. In August the installer came to my house and installed my closet in no time. He was very professional and showed me how to use some of the accessories that I purchased. He asked where I wanted my accessory part installed before he installed it. He just didn't assume. I was so happy with my closet and I get nothing but compliments about my closet. GREAT JOB !!!

Their service was very capable. The installer was very professional. They did what they said they were going to do.

It gave me a tremendous amount of space. They did a tremendous job. Well pleasing and very well mannered. I couldn't ask for anything better.

Mark Shenkman was our sales advisor, he was very nice and helpful from the beginning to the end. He come when the installer was working and then to check the final quality of the job. Everything was a good experience, from the time we spend with the designer time till the end of the job. The installation was performed in time and very professional. Highly recommended.

Each and every category of construction was handled professionally and efficiently by the designated tradesman that was assigned to the job. The room conversion began on March 4, 2013 by removing the existing carpeting, moldings (crown and base) where required, removing an existing closet/walls, reframing and refinishing the walls with knockdown and paint and installing the tile floor laid on a diagonal. The beginning of the next week the Murphy bed and all of the cabinetry was installed. The crown molding and baseboards were reinstalled where appropriate. By the middle of the following week the installation was complete. Ms. Wan quoted me a date of installation and completion and the company met that date precisely. It was a pleasure of not experiencing excuses and/or delays.

They had good attention to detail. The quality was, I felt, very high and their follow up was good. I think it is important to pay attention to all of the details of their plans so that you are well aware of any changes or other costs.

Contacted Closet Factory by telephone, drove 30 mins to see and visit the showroom. A pretty fair amount of demo material available for viewing. The gentleman handling our sales questions and interview was eager to respond to questions and demonstrate various models and materials for our closet needs. We sat and looked at printed material as well and decided to make an appointment for an estimate. We were assured that they do this regularly and we could come up with a fairly close estimate of time and material. The appointment was indeed kept as arranged. We spent apx 1.5 hours discussing needs, taking measurements, room dimensions, and such. Various custom details were broadly discussed. The visit to our home ended with the agreement that the salesman/designer would go back to the factory and come up with a starting point set up. We were told that we would also be able to view the basic design online (with the appropriate sign-ons, etc). We were asking for a fairly large overall project - four walk-in closets, and an entire room custom-designed as a huge walk-in closet. They told us the basic layout might be ready for viewing in about a week or so. We gave them longer - apx three weeks - and called. We were then told that the layout was not complete, that they would get back to us in another week or two. Another three weeks went by and we called again. No work had been done on our project. Of course, we can not trust a major job such as this to a firm that had not done any of the promised work at all.

The quality of the work was good as well as the service.

They were phenomenal. They were very competitively priced. My salesperson is excellent. They are very professional and thorough about explaining their products. They have a lot of extra features in terms of how they install the product. Just as far as the quality it of the work I was really impressed with them.