NERSTRAND CUSTOM CABINETS

The job was left unfinished and the communication and customer service was terrible.
   The owner never came out with a blueprint to go over things with us.  He was out in early April to talk timelines, etc. but that was the last we heard from him. Then, I started getting emails from his "assistant"  and an emailed contract telling me to make a copy and sign and return to them.  It was very odd, the communication___everything was so off.  I've since run into someone who went with another cabinet maker in the area and they had a beautiful blue print and they were so delighted with the service from this other place.
   First, Nerstrand Cabinets left the shelving and the pins for us to do, citing that "most of our customers like to put the shelves where they want them".  The problem was that the shelves are very heavy, we have 9 foot high cabinets and the corner cabinets are very difficult to reach.  I went to work on the shelves and three of them didn't fit, one kept dropping off the hinges and another was too big and wouldn't fit inside the cabinet.  There was sawdust and screws left in the cabinets. 
   Second, some of the cabinetry was very shoddily done and other pieces were beautiful.  I had to request twice that they clean up the glue and scratches and fix the pencil eraser-sized hole in the top joint on one door.  It looked like something a kid did in shop class.  Our island has an 8 inch crack running down the panel and I had to ask twice before they fixed it, as well as an inch diameter hole where a knot fell out.  The cabinet for the trash bin was not closing properly due to one side sticking out and I had to request twice that they fix it. My requests were spaced a week or more apart and were very friendly in tone.  I've saved every email. 
   Third, they haven't bothered to show us how to make adjustments if things get a little off on the cabinetry and they left some filters for the range hood but didn't take any time to show us how it works, etc.  The electrical guys helped me with it and I know it really wasn't part of their job.
 There were numerous delays in the installation and we went a whole week, after some of the cabinets were in place, where no one even showed up.  They didn't call or let us know what was going on.  I had requested a flatware drawer and it was never put in and they never replied to me when I wrote to them about it.   They continued to leave it on the contract though until I said I'm not paying for something they neglected to put in.   Things get worse.
 The owner said I had to work with a woman named Jaime for our granite.  He said she worked for him and she'd help us select our granite and backsplash.  I met with this woman and I didn't really care for her demeanor and I asked the contractor if I could go to someone else for the granite and his reply was "Jaime works for me, she's the best" so, I just thought I had to continue. The granite selection became a very unpleasant experience.  A review has been done on this business, JM Home Enhancements.
I even wanted to look at different countertops like cambria and the owner of Nerstrand Cabinets acted as if it was an affront to him.
He was so eager and determined that I go with this particular granite person.  I think it's strange when the contractor is more invested in securing a job for his subcontractors than in ensuring the satisfaction of their customer.
  My granite was selected by June 13th, my cabinets were templated on June 23rd and we didn't received the granite until July 22nd.  I wasn't even called by Nerstrand Cabinets about the delay.  I was expecting the granite to be delivered on our contracted date of July 6th..  However, when I contacted them the day before delivery to find out what time to expect the delivery the next day, I was told it wouldn't be for another 2.5 weeks.  They told me the delays were quite common but I've since inquired of other contractors and they say that was simply not true.
The granite person was also suppose to do our backsplash at $60 sq. foot (which I now know was terribly overpriced).  She ordered the wrong tile.  She was trying to pass off some really horrible sandblasted limestone in lieu of my chosen polished marble tiles.  Luckily, I had a sample of the chosen tile and a picture she had taken of the tile.  However, this didn't stop her and the owner of Nerstrand Cabinets from sending me an invoice asking me to pay the restocking fee and also adding on a "designer" fee.  What a bullying move and they didn't have a legal leg to stand on so it was dropped rather quickly.  
  On August 6th, I get a call from the owner (while I'm at work) telling me he will drop by and take care of the crack and hole in the island (I requested it be fixed on July 23rd) and I ask him if he could find us someone new to work with on the backsplash so we can finish up with the kitchen.  Instead,  he drops off the invoice for the final payment due and he has removed the backsplash from the contract.  He made it seem to my husband that I had decided to go with someone else for the backsplash.   My husband paid him.  I called the owner and told him he was not finished with our kitchen yet and he shouldn't cash that check until everything is finished (we'd already given him a 60% ($15,000) down payment back in May).  He pretended he couldn't hear me on the phone and said "I'm going to lose you...but I won't cash the check until you say so...".  Well, I never get a return call from him to discuss the backsplash and he went and cashed the check on August 8th.  I put a stop payment on the check.
He shows up the following week.  I could have asked for a reduction in price due to the crack in the island, etc. but I didn't.  I gave him a new check.  Not one word of apology for what we had to go through with the backsplash and delays. What was really odd was that he said he was good to us because he didn't ask us for a down payment or something to that effect.  I reminded him that we paid him a 60% down payment 3 weeks before work even commenced on our kitchen.  Weird!! 
I would never recommend Nerstrand Cabinets to anyone.