Cabinets & Granite Direct

The installation crew was a joke; they lacked professionalism, critical thinking and general installation skills. The counter top went in okay, but comments were made about how they had to shim a bunch because of the cabinets not being level. The cabinets were old, but they were checked for level before the installation was setup and they weren't as off as the crew complained. If it was such a big deal than it should have been addressed during the measurement appointment.
Secondly, they couldn't figure out how to lean the 4ft tall back splash in order to clear a one inch piece of trim above. They were trying to set the bottom of the piece at the counter with the top leaning forward, but when they tried to stand it up and push it against the wall, it would hit the piece of trim. The obvious solution was to lean the top back, go under the short trim piece and then scoot the bottom in, but instead, they cut 2 inches off the top of the back splash. Thus, instead of a clean back splash from counter up to the soffit, there is an unsightly gap.
Lastly, a range hood was to be installed by another contractor. Unfortunately, this decision was made after the granite was installed, but none the less, holes needed to be drilled in the granite back splash to run electrical and secure the range hood to the wall. It was recommended to ask the granite company because they work with the materials regularly. After a few emails explaining the issue, they agreed that they could do it and this is where the biggest mess occurred: I needed one 1? hole, which they were able to drill just fine. I also needed four 1/4? holes used to mount the range hood. These holes needed to be exactly 1/4? for the anchors that were to be used. By the time they were done, I had holes that were between 5/8? and 1/2? making them too large for the anchors. Their answer was run to Home Depot for different anchors, but there are only so many anchors to choose from at HD. Had they brought the correct sized bits and drilled the holes holding the drill level instead of swirling it around in the holes, the size would be correct. One hole they screwed up so bad, they had to take a one inch drill and drill it out, fill with epoxy (which they smeared on the face of the granite), and then re-drilled the 1/4? hole. That epoxy cracked, but is holding the anchor for now. We ended up using three different types of anchors based on the inconsistent holes. I know this wasn?t an easy job to drill holes after the fact on a back splash, but if the installers weren?t capable of doing the job right, then they should have told us so and we would have sought help elsewhere. The point is, they?re suppose to be the granite experts and what we got was a sloppy mess. I did bring this up to the company and my concerns were basically ignored.
Other reviewers have mentioned that the crew didn't speak English; one guy didn't speak English, but would say things the lead guy would interpret, which is not problem except some times I was told that some of the words were the guy swearing (why do you tell the client things like this?). Some times the lead guy would try to be funny and flirt, which was irritating. I guess he thought he was charming the woman of the house, I'm not sure. No one was won over in his efforts.

Well

After completing order and moving forward with refinishing floor, ordering and installing new kitchen cabinets, we were informed that the counter tops we ordered were not available (approximately three weeks). After much haggling, we were able to get an upgraded countertop, though not the same color or style we had originally wanted.  Installers had to come back on four occasions to fix issues.  First was major scratches from on counter top surface from installers.  cabinets and Granite Direct called the stone manufacturer who cited the installers for the damage.  The whole counter had to be recut and replaced, at manufacturers cost.    During removal of damaged counters, installers initially used pry bars damaging the new cabinets.  Our contractor had to supply proper tools and assistance to minimize damage to new counters.  After new counters were installed, we discovered that back splashes had not been glued into place and the counter seem at sink was separated.  The third crew that came was the best of the crews.  They were able to complete the job to our and our contractors satisfaction,  The final visit was les than one year later when the seam at the counter separated again.  We continue to have issues with the seams.  It is very difficult to work with several of the install teams as they speak broken to no English.

Worst installation experience ever.
Main installer didn't speak English and was incredibly rude. Damaged drywall in laundry room. Horrible communication through process (didn't call when they said they would, got lost coming over to house, etc.).
They discounted my bill by a grand total of $62.50 because "these are behavioral issues, not quality of the product issues." Um, what? Your people are just as much a part of what you're selling as the actual granite you installed.
I run a business myself and the level of customer service is atrocious by field employees and upper management?be warned that while the showroom looks nice and the sales reps speak English, this will NOT be the case when they come on location to install your products.

Their price for a 60and quot;bathroom vanity was better than the big box stores. In addition, the product is all wood. I wasn't happy that their were no instructions or even a list of the parts that should be in the box. When I called about that, their response was that they deal internationally .They told me to just search for RTA assembly on www.youtube.com.

Well, there are many companies that have instructional videos for RTA vanities,, but all are different in where the glides are placed, how they operate, whether they have dovetail construction, etc. That was very annoying. especially since even the person I hired to help me put it together had many questions. I finally had to go back to their warehouse and examine floor models.

The vanity looks very impressive in a condo I'm selling. However, any new customers should pressure them to put a video on their website with instructions specific to their products. How hard is that? I think they choose not to so people will pay their employees to assemble the products.

Now that I know how to assemble these, I might buy from them again, but I do want to warn others about what they are getting into.

Installation was a disaster! Three man crew showed up with the lead man very difficult to understand due to accent. I was at work and could not be there for installation but had left some very heavy cardboard for the install crew to use if they had to move the appliances out into the floor area. My wife and housekeeper both noticed the crew using a very thin piece of cloth to roll a very heavy refrigerator and questioned the crew. They said and quot;oh, it will be fineand quot;. I had installed over 1000 square feet of 3/4 hardwood about 2-3 months earlier and was concerned about the floor and had left the heavy cardboard for their use. Unfortunately, since they did not use it, they proceeded to roll the fridge around on the center of the kitchen floor and severely gauged the brand new hardwood. When I got home I called the rep at Cabinet and Granite Direct and sent her several pictures of the damage. After not hearing from her for over two weeks, I sent her an email only to receive a very terse reply that the movement of the appliances was my responsibility. Had they ever told me that, I would have moved them into the center of the floor the night before the install without damaging the floor. I sent her a reply that I had never been informed anything about moving the appliances and have never heard from them again. I definitely would not recommend this company for any work in your home. Any savings I might have realized from using this company will certainly be over shadowed by the cost to repair the hardwood floor. Not only was the install service lousy but the customer service after the fact has been even worse.

Overall we were very pleased. The sales rep we worked with was very friendly and joked around with us as we picked out what we wanted. He took us into their warehouse where slabs were precut and introduced us to the man who would do the cutting. The installers were very nice and prompt as well. They were in and out in the specified time.

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It went well. They are very inexpensive. The cabinets are a bit flimsy and the granite is not the best. But, it came together and looks fine.

I thought everything was great until I used the kitchen and discovered the flaws I mentioned above. This is a classic example of "You get what you pay for".

It went very well. We used the Northfield Road Store located north of the race track. We worked with Ray who has a very good kitchen design background. The company is very low pressure, and was very good at accommodating us. Ray came to our house twice after we visited the store. The person doing the measurement was very professional. The installers were very skilled. One should note they were Asian. We were impressed with their ability to handle the complex under mount of our purchased-elsewhere 4 foot swan stone granite sink. The seams are not visible in the granite. They all appeared to want to provide he best installation rather than the easiest for them. The value was excellent.