Greentree Kitchen Remodeling

Review: Greentree refaced my kitchen cupboards. A contract was signed in April 2012. The last part of the contract (#13) states: Warranty: Greentree Kitchen Remodeling will warranty against defects in materials and workmanship for a period of 5 years from the date of installation. The contractor was paid IN FULL for the services. During the remodeling the contractor and customer disagreed regarding a handle being drilled incorrectly. The contractor added it to the contract and I (customer) agreed and signed and was paid completely for the service. The cupboards now have "bubbles" in them and I called Greetree today (6/12/13) to see when he could come to repair the bubbles. [redacted] (Greentree owner) told me he would not come and repair his work because I "broke the contract." When I asked how did I break the contract and stated that he was paid in full he stated "Because of the hole you didn't pay me when you should." I disagreed and said I paid you every penny for your work. I explained that the part that needs repaired occurred prior to the hole. He did not care. I then asked "So that means you won't honor my warranty?" He said yes and hung up on me.Desired Settlement: I just want my cupboard fixed. I hired Greentree in good faith and paid [redacted] in full for his work. The workmanship is not holding up. I would like what I paid for corrected. He can fix it or pay for me to have another contractor fix it.* The "Additional Information" page will not allow me to submit it. I have a copy of the contract I would like to submit.

Business

Response:

Dear Revdex.com,

First allow me to aplogize for the slow response to your letter.

Due to the improving economy,my work schedule has become increasingly hectic.The other reason is personal.I recently had and illness and death in my immediate family.

I read Mrs. [redacted]'s complaint carefully and was amazed (but not surp­rised) at the let's call them gross misrepresentations.

The first one I noted is that she paid me in full.She did not.Our contract called for progress payments at completion of certain phases of the proj­ect. She used these occasions to "renegotiate" the original contract to obtain additional work for free or at a substantial discount.If I object­ed,she would use the leverage of the progress payment due(for work already completed)and refuse to pay me until I "agreed".

One of her most specious arguements was that "we talked about this".I did acknowledge the discussion but pointed otft that it was not in the written contract and I had not charged her for it.I also told her I did not find it in my notes or quote sheet. This did not faze her. She would simply re­peat "But we talked about it" until I "agreed".

The final insult to the contract was the misdrilled handle hole.The contr­act called for her to provide the cabinet hardware of her choice and I would perform the installation. At this point, we were at the end of the project and she acknowledged that she was satisfied with everything else but the incorrectly drilled hole.Why was the hole drilled incorrectly? Because the handles that she had provided (made in china in original factory packaging) had not been made uniformly. The attachment posts on a pair of opposing handles were offthe correct centerlines by 3/16" of an inch. In machining tolerances, this is huge.(please see enclosed photos).

When I explained this to her,I told her I could do a decent(but not perfect repair but it would be an additional charge because I had neither manufactured not provided the handles.She refused to pay for this repair telling

me that it was my responsability because I was the contractor. She also re­fused to pay me the remaining balance due of $709.00 until I "agreed".

At this point,I had other projects waiting so the most expedient course was to (once again) "agree" with her point of view.I did write up a final document so there would be no further surprises. The repair of this took an additional 5 hours plus approx. $17.00 in tools.she also told me I should have checked each handle (there were 50) for uniformity.

Review: [redacted], owner and sole employee contracted to reface my kitchen cabinets. After 3 months paint started peeling off. When I called him about the issues he came and took my doors to "have tested". Said he would have the doors back in a couple of weeks, it has been months.Desired Settlement: I want my doors returned and Mr. [redacted] to pay to have the doors stripped and repainted.

Business

Response:

I am writing to you because I find it impossible to have a rational

discussion with your wife Penny in resolving her complaint over the

cabinet finish problem.

In order to acheive a resolution that is satisfactory to all parties

there needs to be a frank discussion of all the facts and issues in

volved in this dispute.

She has assumed a posture that she is 100% right,I am 300% wrong and

that I must do whatever she says immediately,or else..She distaisses any

facts or issues I try to raise no matter how relevent.

One issue is her written statment in her complaint letter that she

only cleaned the cabinet finish with plain water and a soft cloth.

She claimed that the finish just wiped off with water alone and there

fore the finish must be defective and I must re—do the whole project

at my expense or pay to have someone else do it,again,at. my expense.

Because of that assertion cm her part I sent one of her cabinet doors

to a professional coatings testing laboratory at the considerable ex

pense of over $600.00.They tested the finish with a variety of subst~

anae~ including water.They also tested the finish for proper adhesion

to the maple door.The report they prepared was surprising and conclus

ive.They found that the finish was adhering properly to the docr,that

even after a 24 hr.wet contact test that water ~ad no effect on the

finish.What did affect the finish and rather quickly were a variety of

cleaning solutions such as Wirdex and various ammonia solutions.These

substances caused the finish to break down after spray and wipe tests.

Needless to say,these facts change try pcsture in any resoltion of this

dispute.In additior1,there is the expense that I incurred (based on her

assertion) and this becomes another factor in any negotiation.

My suggestion is that you and I either try to work this out between us

or we go to a Proffessional mediator to assist us.! believe that this

would be the least expensive and most likely to achieve a successful

result.

I hope you can see my point of view in that regard and I hope you re

ceive this offer with an open nJnd.Thankyou for your time and attent

ion in this matter.

Re: [redacted] complaint letter.

I asked her to allow me to take 2 sink tase doors sc I could have 1 door

sent to a professional testing laboratory and the other sent to the finish

company.There were 2 reasons for this.Cne,in order to determine a course of

appropiate remedy I need to know ~hat is causing the problem.Two,if the fin

ish is defective I need to have proof to submit a claim to the finish manuf—

acturer

But before I can do that Mrs,[redacted] demanded that I provide temporary

replacment doors to prevent her poodles from getting into the cabinet and to

preserve the look of the kitchen.She further demanded that the “temporary’

doors be the same as the original doors with the appropiate finish.This did

not make sense to me because why would I provide an exact replacment of the

original door if I was going to refinish it?I told her I would provide a

shop made frame & panel finished cabinet door as a temporary door.

When I called her to tell her I was ready to swap out the 2 sets she told me

I could not do now because she was having people over and wanted the kitchen

to look normal during their visit.~ She wtuid call me whet~ she fls ready.

I believe it was at ttis interval that I did not hear from her for 63 days.

When I swapped out the 2 sets I received the following complaints from Mrs.

[redacted].She did not like the look of the temporary door.she did not like the

finish on the temporary door.She was upset that I had drilled 2 holes (for

handles/she had knots) and demanded that I come back to repair the unnecessary

hole on the temporary door.

I now had to find a coatings testings laboratory to test the finish.This prov

ed more difficult than I would have thought but I finally found one.I also

made a nua~ber of phone calls to other finish companies and trade organizations

to try and find out what could have gone wrong.One call was to the finish

manufacturer and the owner asked me if she had used Windex on the finish .1 aske

why and he said “Windex contains BU~ CELLCSOLV and that will attack the

finish”.I spoke to a rep at the ~merican Wood Institute and asked him about

this chemical and he said “It’s like spraying lacquer thinner on a lacquer

finish.”

I shipped a cabinet door to the testing lab ([redacted]) and directed them to

test the finish for a variety of cleaning Droducts and plain tap water.

I also directed them to test the finish for proper adhesion to the substrate,

a solid matle door.Please note,these were brand new when I finished them.

Their report surprised me.They found that the finish was adnering properly,

They tested each reagent for 1 hr,4hr and 24hrs of wet contact with the

finish~ -They also did spray and wipe tests .All the cleaning products damaged

within 1 hr,Tap water had NO EFFECT after 24 hrs.This testing service cost

$600.06.~his did not:include the expense of consultation with my attorney

or time spent on the phone researching the probleth.

When I informed Mr [redacted] of the results,he offered no explanation,said I

was “unprofessional” and demanded the doors back.The delay from that point

was caused by my current work demands and the necessity of repairing the

damage to the finish on one door caused by the testing procedures.I know from

my experience with Mrs.[redacted] that this will be a new issue.: do agree that

the doors are their property and I will return them to them,I will complete

the repairs on the tested door and return the other in the same condition as

received.I will have them hack to them by 10—23—13.

I feel,at this point that I have gonE above and beyond good faith in trying

to address their complaint and have not received good faith in retu;n.After Ui

doors are returned.r considerthe matter closed.

Consumer

Response:

I

apologize for the delay, unfortunately we have been dealing with elderly

parents, and family issues.

I

have enclosed all relevant material at my disposal, but in summary:

In

February on 2012 I contracted [redacted] to reface our kitchen cabinets. We had purchased the house in January and I

told him we would be moving in March 17, and would need the work done before

that date. He assured me it would be

done. I gave him a key so he could work

at his convenience. There were other contractors working, but their jobs were

one to two days long, and mostly in other parts of the house. He was not done until April 7.

A

couple months later we started noticing paint flaking off, and called [redacted]

[redacted] in July, at which time he dropped off touch up paint. There were other issues, such as primer

showing through the paint, not enough coverage in many areas. When the touch up paint did not adhere, and

other areas become worse I called [redacted] and he came with another

gentleman to access the problem.

That

same man would tell me later that the reason for my problem was that [redacted] used eco friendly

products which were not acceptable for a kitchen application. I accidentally

contacted this man when I was looking for a contractor to redo our cabinets,

and he told me he was the one that [redacted] had brought to my home.

Conversations

with [redacted] became impossible after he kept insisting that I had used

something besides water to clean the cabinets.

At no time had I or anyone else used anything but a damp cloth. There were areas which were never cleaned

that were problematic. I wanted a plan

which would be carried out in a timely manner, and because of that [redacted]

insisted I was irrational.

In his

response letter [redacted] says that I had issues with other contractors,

that is true, the difference is, they came and fixed their work and in the end

I was very pleased with the result.

My

kitchen cabinets continue to deteriorate. Other contractors have suggested that the

finish, or the primer was substandard, and/or the prep of the doors inadequate.

Thank

you for your time and interest in this matter.