Kitchen Encounters

Dave came out to our home and was very professional. He talked about the job and said he would give us an estimate.  It took two weeks to get the estimate that detailed the work to be done and gave an overall estimated price.  While his estimate was the highest of the three estimates we had gotten, Dave's knowledge instilled us with confidence and we decided to go with Kitchen Encounters.
I went to their showroom and Dave worked with me to  choose a quartz product  from a rather  limited selection.  He helped me to choose a tile back splash, again from a very limited selection.  I also needed to choose a new sink and faucet.  He suggested I go to ProSource to choose a decorative tile because they had more samples.  ProSource's wide variety of samples made me rethink my original choices and I asked Dave to show me what the difference in cost would be for a different product.
Dave did send a new estimate that tacked on additional costs which seemed very high. I asked him to itemize the materials so that I could evaluate the differences and make a more informed decision.  For some reason he does not like to itemize his estimates. I  thought he may have made a mistake but when I suggested that to him he took offense. 
We are having the work done by a different provider. We are getting  what we wanted and  the cost is easily $2500 less then his original estimate.  I truly believe that Kitchen Encounters would have done an excellent job,  but I think  they need to understand that their customers are looking for value as well as quality. Dave could have helped me get what I wanted instead he became  impatient with me because I changed my mind. I was really taken aback by this because up until then he was very pleasant and helpful.
The provider I chose  gave me a fully detailed estimate (and I didn't have to ask for it). She helped me choose and showed me the cost implications for all of the materials involved.  The work will be done this week.

unknown

we got a new kitchen ... very pleased with all phases of the project ... all the workers were friendly and excellent craftsmen.

unknown

Original quote nearly $34000. This is still with no new appliances in a small kitchen in our moderately sized three bedroom townhouse.
Requoted at above price with the following changes.
We remove existing cabinets.
We install backsplash and new floor.
Beautiful product if you can afford it. If you have a large kitchen with more than 10 individual cabinets and require all your appliances to be changed be prepared to pay an average of $35 - 45K+

What makes this company outstanding is their customer service and attention to detail.  We have 4 and 6 year old children, a dog and a cat and it was important to keep the household running smoothly. By providing a detailed schedule of installation, and receiving frequent updates on the project we were able to work around the construction. If there was a schedule change or issue, we were notified immediately.
I wanted to respond to the review below about scheduling and design issues. The detailed schedule builds in extra days for contractors to complete the work. On one hand perhaps there is no work being done on a certain day, on the other, if it takes the full 3 days, allows time so that the contractors are not bumping into or working around each other in a small space. For us, it was a blessing to have a break from construction in our home for a day or two! 
As for design issues, custom kitchens are not out of a "box store", and require adjustments here and there.  Often, the contractors do not know what issues might pop up until after demolition. This is par for the course on these projects and what is important here is that Kitchen Encounters works tirelessly to address any issues that might pop up during construction. When an issue arose in our case, Kitchen Encounters was on top of it. Communication is the key and I loved working with Danelle, she and Dave make a great team!
We can't say enough about the Kitchen Encounters experience, our kitchen is gorgeous and this company is A++!

All work was performed in a professional, courteous manner. A detailed quote was provided after doing a thorough assessment.  All work was done on or ahead of schedule. These guys were great to work with and have many references to back up their work

KITCHEN ENCOUNTERS was outstanding from start to finish! The showroom and patient, knowledgable staff made selections FUN---from cabinets to countertop to flooring to backsplash. Even details like paint colors and faucet styles were available right there in one location. The craftsman who came to our house for every phase of the project were extremely professional, neat, personable and respectful of our routines. I received a phone call every morning to make sure we were kept "in the loop" and answer any questions we had. Even though several snowstorms hit the area during this timeframe, our schedule never wavered. The project was finished exactly on time. A thorough cleaning of our whole first floor and celebratory follow-up visit concluded the work. I love my new kitchen and I give KITCHEN ENCOUNTERS the highest marks!!!!

This is by far the worst experience I have had with a contractor. June 11, 2013 our long awaited and highly anticipated kitchen renovation started. The end of September it was finished. From the very beginning scheduling was a major problem. Three days were allowed for the subcontractor that took no more then 1 day each. I found it very frustrating to have 2 out of 3 days with no work being done. When I asked Dave White about this I received a not so nice e-mail back telling me I knew nothing about scheduling. I wish I could say that was the worst of our nightmare. I can't begin to list all the problems so I will just mention a few. Professionalism was very poor from the beginning. I loved it when I found hidden cigarette butts in our cabinets. Hated them taking 20 minute brakes in my bathroom. Our entire kitchen was demolished with only the wall oven, counter top, dishwasher and refrigerator saved for re-install. Apparently during the removal of the wall oven it was damaged. We were never told this. When they went to re-install they tried to "fix" it. The oven did not work. After a week of trying to get it to work we called an appliance store. They are the ones who told us someone had tried to fix it. Dave White never disclosed this information to us. The design of two separate items were flawed. The apron above the sink was about 3" to short. When I asked about getting that fixed I was told by Dave White that is the standard size. I have a custom kitchen! The second big flaw was the microwave/oven that Dave White strongly recommended. Granted it was really nice but where it was placed in our kitchen was way to high making it dangerous and impossible to use without a step stool. Not user friendly. I would think an experienced designer would know about these things. When we went to pick out a new microwave we were told the type we originally had was made to be put in lower. One other thing I do want to mention is overcharge. We did change our sink style/color. The sink we picked out was much less then the sink Dave White picked out. When we needed to adjust the cost they actually charged us $800.00 more! When asked about it they said it was an error. That was not the last time they tried to overcharge us. Beware!
After all of the above Dave White did fix everything but at times I felt like it was pulling teeth. THE KITCHEN I SHOULD LOVE I HATE!

It went pretty well, we had one problem that wasn't resolved as well as we would have liked it to have been.  When they put the sink in they didn't put a bead of caulk under the sink to help seal it.  We didn't know about that until one day the coffee pot ran over and it ran underneath the sink down into the cabinet under the sink.  We had to have them out twice to solve the problem.   They never did take the sink out, they just put a sealant around the sink.