Kitchens On The Fly

To explain the story of how our kitchen remodel nightmare began I will enclose the first of many e-mails I have sent to Michelle in hopes of a resolution to our kitchen remodel.

Michelle,

I feel as a consumer and as one of your clients I wasn't listened to when trying to explain problems with the kitchen you were hired as our designer for. It's VERY frustrating to spend over $8,000 and still not have the kitchen you want or dreamed of. I feel that when Craig or I brought up problems or concerns to you regarding the cabinetry you didn't listen and changed the subject and totally ignored our concerns. There were also times when I waited all day for you and you never called or showed up (May 27, 2011). I also waited for you a few days ago as I told you I would be home for the next hour and you didn't show. There are many times when we left messages to have you call us and you never did, until you needed a check. Then you seem to call frequently. I do feel that if I went with Lowe's that we would have spent more money on cabinets but they would have actually listened to my concerns instead of just ignoring them. I guess the old saying still stands ?you get what you pay for?.

The moral of the cabinet story is that if we could not get so many of the items we needed for the kitchen then why did we go with this line of cabinetry? I'm sure there are many other cabinet and door styles we could have looked at that would make an easier time of building this kitchen.

CABINETRY PROBLEMS / ORDERING ERRORS
First, let me say that I?m happy that Craig didn't follow your instructions of building a wall that was according to your written diagram you gave us of 139? because it would have been very wrong. Good thing he has the knowledge to stop and remeasure himself. When asked, you didn't even know what I was talking about.The cabinetry over sink should be a 24? long cabinet, it is an 18?. The original plans have a W2724 cabinet for over the sink with a valance arch 6? by 27?. When mentioning this to you several times you now find an excuse that I am too tall to have a 24? cabinet over the sink? I'm still the same height as when we originally worked on the cabinetry in April so I don't know why this is your excuse now. You need to admit that you screwed up.The trash pull out is for an 18? base and you cannot use the lids on the trash cans, it does not fit correctly in the 15? cabinet, the door does not shut all the way, even with a hinge adjustment. When mentioning this you told me that everyone loves that trash set up. Fine, they can love it but it's not what we ordered and that's not what is on the plans.The shelves on all base cabinets and some uppers do not come to the end of the cabinet, this should have probably been mentioned to us before they were ordered as it is very important. The pantry only comes with a few shelves and you did not care, changed the subject, and spoke as if everyone should know that a 90? tall pantry should only have 3 shelves. You could have offered to help us purchase some or have them made.The panel on the side of the fridge only being 24? wide. That was a horrible error and you even implied to Craig that I said it looked good. How could I ever say that it looked good when I?ve never seen it? I would never OK a 24? panel on a 36? refrigerator.The valence is very wrong. From the beginning of cabinetry planning I had wanted a straight or arched simple valence. As in problem number 2, the original order was for a 6? by 27? valence. Now that the cabinets are in place you tell me I can't get a simple valence. Thank goodness we have a knowledgeable installer who can find one! When Craig tried to talk to you about not being able to cut down the 36? valence because of the inlay molding you would not listen and did not even come over to look at it. Good thing it didn't fit because after looking at it when I returned home from Florida the stain and style did not match the cabinetry at all. The island was originally a 36?, 4 drawer, drawer base, a 15? one drawer base and a 9? one drawer base. You called to tell me that the 36? drawer base would be on back-order so I ok'd the 30?, 4 drawer, drawer base with a 15? and 18? base. When delivered I ended up with a 30?, 3 drawer, drawer base. When mentioning this to you on 6/6/2011 you looked at me like I had 2 heads. Maybe you should check your notes on that one. One of the base cabinets was damaged on delivery and luckily Paul was here to take a picture and know that it was damaged. Then, the cabinet door opening was wrong on the 15? base so we did get a new 18? with hinges on the other side so we could swap it with the 15?. That one problem was resolved, phew. Although no one ever informed me when the delivery was coming and the man just showed up one day. Good thing I was home. There was also an error in ordering the new cabinet because it did not have the cushion close cabinet hinge. Luckily the delivery man was able to take it off the damaged one and put it on the new one. Crisis averted, no thanks to you.When opening the box to the new 30? refrigerator end panel we discovered damage. I took a picture and e-mailed it to you as well as Craig calling you. You implied that we were not telling the truth because the box wasn't damaged. I find that ridiculous. Why would we want a damaged panel? So we can wait longer to finish the kitchen? Lucky for us the young man doing our installation was able to cover the damage so we don't have to wait for another panel.
COUNTERTOP ISSUES
What part of ? Make the island just like this but shorter? when referring to the island in your showroom don't you understand? It has a place for 3 stools to be sat in at the the island with an overhang. This was talked about SO many times that I really am just in awe that you could even stand in my home and tell me the counter was never to have an overhang. You actually stood in my kitchen one day and told me it has to have a 12 inch overhang (not a nine inch like some have) because I am so tall and my knees would be at my chest when sitting at the island. You have decided to not remember any of these conversations to cover your own liability in regards to the piece of granite on the island.You keep referring to the fact that Craig initialed the measurements on a piece of paper that you had. He may have, but since the paper was in front of his face for less that 15 seconds and he did not even have a chance to read it, I can hardly call that fair. Shame on us for not taking the paper and reviewing it thoroughly before returning it to you. With all the previous errors you have made we really should have paid attention but at this point we just wanted the kitchen done and you out of our home. You told us that the countertop would not have a backsplash and that it would be extra to have one. You said you did not price it with a backsplash because you knew we were doing a tile backsplash and did not need a granite one. When I mentioned this to you on 6/6/2011 you again looked at me like I had two heads and have chosen to forget the conversation where the backsplsh was discussed. Good thing we actually like the backsplash. Yahoo, finally one of your screw ups in our favor! The original price for the granite countertop was $39 per square foot and we were charged $45 per square foot. When questioned, you replied that the countertop was 39 square feet and not the price, that I must be mistaken, and it was never $39 per square foot. I do find this funny because when given the original price ? no measurements had been taken so there is no way you could have said that it was 39 square feet of countertop. I do however realize that the extra ogee edge we ordered at $22 per linear foot is correct and was charged accordingly.
SINK ISSUES
The sink in your showroom has a white grate at the bottom of the sink to protect it from scratches. When placing the order for the sink I asked to have the grate also, you stated that it would be an extra $20 to $22 dollars and I ok'd that price. When asking you about this on 6/6/2011 you again have