C & M Restoration

First, the job was to be completed in 3 weeks and prior to the Thanksgiving holiday.  They took one cabinet door and refinished it and sent it back to us for approval of the stain color.  This was not done until the Friday after Thanksgiving when the job should have been completed. After many calls to check on the status with no response they arrived onsite 12/9.  They completed work on 12/11, however, many of the doors and panels had uneven color and white spots underneath the top coat.  They have been back 3 additional times to try and correct the problem with the finish without success so far.  At this point not sure if they know how to remedy the problem.

21May: first contact w/ C&M re: poss kitchen work        
31May: met with C&M at residence we were purchasing for consult (Owner)
6June: confirmed wanted C&M to do the work.  C&M decided 16June would be start date
9June: confirmed July 19 as start date
16June: (date we closed on house) list of hardware sent to C&M
28June: C&M said selection serial #s did not match #s for company they worked with.  Advised us to order them online
30June: Advised C&M that the hardware company would not let us order them online b/c we were not a contractor and re-sent the serial #s (Brushed oil bronze and the ser#)
2July: requested C&M send samples of hardware we requested
8July: C&M advised Outwater (hardware company) had requested C&M order online b/c they didn?t maintain inventory.  This is a company C&M advised they use regularly. C&M asked us again to order online.  However, we advise again that we could not because we weren?t a contractor. C&M stated we should just say we work for C&M to order the hardware.  We sent him the ser# with the addition of ?BOB? at the end of it for ?Brushed Oil Bronze? so his partner company knew the part #.
9-10July: Initial work done: Painted cabinets, installed doors, glass panels and temp install of drawer faces.  Paid in full.
10July: almost immediately after owner's son left one of the door fronts fell off.  Texted Owner this with no response
11July: asked again for hardware to be sent
13July: asked for hardware again and that the glass fell out of two doors and the others were similarly loose
13July: C&M advised hardware had been ordered
14July: C&M advised serial #s for hardware were incorrect.  It appears "Brushed Oil Bronze and the serial# off the company's website was not enough for C&M to change it to serial# plus "BOB" to correctly order the part until we advised them that was the case (and this is a company they work regularly with?).  C&M said it worked this time and it would be 5-7 days and they would overnight them.  We requested they be sent to my wife?s location in LA where she would be for two weeks
16July: since there were repeated delays, we requested C&M to advise when the hardware arrived so they could be sent to my wife in LA for work for two weeks so she could make a decision.  Owner acknowledged, ?no problem?.
21July: C&M advised hardware was received over the weekend and they were sent to us and should get them the next day.  Unfortunately they did not send them to LA but to the house we purchased and not living in yet.  He was advised several times we
needed to do this b/c we were coordinating with the interior painters, floor refinishers, electricians and basement consultants and needed to make this process efficient for scheduling purposes. Again, causing a delay.
24July: Hardware received. Note sent to C&M that one door was a different color than the rest, some drawer covers were falling off and more glass was falling.
25July: followed up with C&M and asked when these issues could be remedied, Owner responded with ?I will call you when I can?.
31July: Advised C&M again that were moving into the house the following Friday (8Aug) and that we needed to order the chosen
hardware and schedule the install.
1Aug: Owner responded with ?Absolutely, I will call and we will set a date for next week).  We also asked he confirm we would be able to fill the old hardware holes in the drawers for the new hardware and he confirmed they would be able to.
3Aug: asked for their email address so we could pass full details of the hardware.  Went unanswered and had not received a phone call to set a date for install at this point.
6Aug: told them we ordered the knobs elsewhere b/c they weren?t responding and requested to set a date and finish the work, repair the issues
8Aug: asked why we hadn?t heard from them as we were moving into our new home this date and into a non-working kitchen.  Asked if they received our email and when they were planning on coming to do the work.
9Aug: Asked the same thing b/c we never got a response.  C&M said ?I will call you Monday so we can set a date and time?. (Day after we moved in and NOTHING had been fixed at this point).
10Aug: C&M advised that they would come on the 11th.
11Aug: work was done by owner's son and co-worker in a hasty manner.  They were advised that the floors were recently refinished and to be careful with the paint thinner and painting.  They also stated they could do nothing about the door color differences. Almost immediately after they left, C&M was contacted that they spilled lacquer thinner on the floor along with paint splatter on the floor, Viking stove and wine refrigerator.  They were asked to re-contact us so we could figure out a way to remedy this situation.
13Aug: Called C&M restoration and advised that we were not pleased with the lack of correspondence especially after telling them that they spilled lacquer thinner and got paint splatter on the floor, Viking stove and wine refrigerator.  Acknowledging that they are probably quite busy and this wasn?t a huge job for them, we told them we were equally busy, paid for their service which was highly rated and not at all pleased with their service, correspondence and required a call back.  To this date, we have heard nothing back from C&M.
 It appears that the owner is bringing his son into the fold of his business.  We cannot differentiate between the father's and son's capabilities in terms of cabinet refinishing but the son does not appear to have the capability that I suspect previous reviews evaluated based on his father's skill.  It also appears, b/c our job was on the smaller side, that the son was in charge of it and has not grasped punctuality, professionalism and the concept of the nature of the survivability of his company being based on a valued service.  We could have done this ourselves if we had the time and for people who aren't really interested in being tattletails, we are very displeased with this company and the service they provided, particularly the lack of correspondence.  We ran all the contractors through our house and for the limited amount of actual work they were required to do, it was the most painful of all of them to deal with and left us completely dissatisfied. 

I had my kitchen cabinets refinished by C & M and now my dated, pickled oak cabinets look fresh and new with a white finish and glaze at a fraction of the cost of replacing them. The job was done quickly and on time. The owners are hands on and on-site at all times and are very accommodating. They will make you samples of finishes on your cabinet doors so you can see the results before you commit. They also give a 5 year warranty. I would recommend this business very highly.

I contacted C & M Restoration after googling cabinet refinishing . I met with the owner Craig and felt very comfortable with him. i actually joined Angie's List to obtain reviews for them. They were not listed, however I did contact one of many references he provided. The reference could not stop raving about their work, and so I decided to book them. All work was done on time, exactly as discussed, and Craig's only goal was to make us happy with our kitchen. We saved so much $ tthan if we had refaced our cabinets or replaced completely. I highly recommend C & M Restoration, all home projects should be this easy!!