Kornerstone Kitchens

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to respond to this customer's complaint.

At the time Phil met with our client he was going through treatment for Stage IV cancer, both chemo therapy and radiation. Phil believed he had formed a friendship with our client, she taught young children and his father had a doctorate in music at ***, Phil introduced her to his mother, both Phil and our client enjoyed landscaping as well as many other things. Phil worked with her for quite a while before she paid any money for services. He provided her with design and advise consultations at no charge in an effort to help her when she had a difficult time with other trades, in areas such as landscaping, tubs, flooring, designing wood floors, electric, lighting, plumbing fixtures, appliances, among other things. She signed a retainer on 7/13/16 and then she signed her contract with us on 5/4/17.

Cabinet Issues:

The cabinets were ordered and delivered in two shipments, 6/17/17 and 6/30/17. We had a few backordered items such as shelving and doors, the backordered items did not delay her project or impede the counter top installation. Unfortunately, some of the backordered items were damaged due to shipping, they were replaced within two weeks.

A few field conditions changed in the master bath which created some difficulty for the cabinet installation. At no charge to our client, Phil was able to make a slight change to the design and submit it to Kabinart before shipping. We were able to slightly reduce the size of the cabinet by reducing the area under the sink, changing the doors from one door to two, the drawer sizes remained the same. This was the same look as the guest bath. There was a two-week delay for delivery and installation.

Our client was upset at the change in cabinet stating she bought plastic drawer inserts and now would not be able to use them. The drawers did not change, but I offered to replace the drawer inserts with custom-built wood inserts. She declined my offer. I offered to replace the cabinet, she was concerned there would delay of the job and she would have to purchase additional insurance and would not be able to move in her home. We assured her that was not the case because there was already a cabinet installed, we would just exchange them. She declined our offer.

Electric issues. I received a call from our installer stating our client was screaming at him using a lot of obscenities and demanding that he take down the mirror frames. She said they looked bad (I cannot print her description). She was upset because he put them up when she was not there and was not able to give her opinion on how they were installed. She is a school teacher and would not have been home until after 4 pm. We also recently learned our client believed the electric and mirror placement was our fault from her Houzz complaint. Her builder did not know how to read the plans and wanted to speak with Phil, but Phil was in a meeting and not available. The builder didn't call the office or the installer, he installed the electric without assistance or information. I questioned her explanation, why would someone install the electric if they were unsure of what they were doing? Our installer removed the mirror frames and left the jobsite.

Ceiling damage. The kitchen was designed to have crown moulding around the cabinetry, the hood was a chimney model and did not require the moulding. The ceiling was so uneven that moulding was needed to give the kitchen a completed, smooth look. We gave her a quote for the cost of the moulding and installation since it was not part of the original contract. She contacted our supplier and tried to buy it behind our back. I had to advise her that if she altered the cabinetry, we would not be responsible for it. Kabinart agreed to meet us halfway and pay for half the moulding and we would install it. We wanted to make our client happy and close the job ASAP. Once the moulding was installed, she called us complaining that we had damaged the ceiling and wanted us to pay for it. After many emails and jobsite visits, we learned that the builder had the moulding torn down to work on the electric. We purchased the moulding, installed and reinstalled the moulding for free and did not charge her for our installer's costs and trip charges.

Appliance panels. Our client stated she found we were installing incorrect appliance panels, she did not state that she made changes to the appliances and we were cutting the appliance panels to fit what she purchased at no additional charge.

Hardware. Phil included hardware in his proposal, showed her layouts and photos from other jobsites, and agreed on the hardware. She complained that we did not give her guidance on how the job was run or when we were to order hardware. We produced the email exchanges, the layouts, and photos on hardware selection. She was happy and moved on to how and where we were to install the hardware. We learned recently she complained about the hardware.

Job completion. At the close of the job we "walk" the house with the client and builder to create a "punch list" for all the trades. The punch list includes all the items the client wants done before she pays her final balance. When I attempted to schedule the final appointment advising our client that our installer is leaving for vacation, she would not accept our schedule because I did not attach the agreed upon punch list as part of the scheduling email. The list was already created, but she missed the appointment availability that I warned her about, causing a two-week delay. I asked that her builder be onsite and that she have the payment at the jobsite before we leave. She did not leave the payment as agreed upon, but instead mailed a new list of items that were never discussed. We scheduled another appointment with the same conditions. Everything was completed, but she was upset because the drawers and doors did not align by 1/32" each. She brought in other trades and builders for their opinions, everyone said we did a great job. She paid the final amount due.

At the final inspection, Phil let her know that since the air conditioner was recently turned on (it was supposed to be turned on when the cabinets were installed), the cabinets may settle. If the cabinets settled she was welcome to call him and he would come out to do some door and drawer adjustments. He said in good humor, "Maybe you can have me over for dinner during the holidays." She told him, "I would never have you at my house."

March 9, 2018, our client emailed a request for service to fix a drawer and adjust some doors and drawers. The photo she attached showed the drawer was overstuffed and off the hinges. She said she did not want Phil on the premises. Phil responded on March 9th stating he would come any time she was available. She wrote back stating she did not want Phil on the premises and gave her available time. I responded on March 11, 12 and 13, each time stating that we needed to be onsite to make sure everything was done to her satisfaction and to make sure there were at least two people present to protect ourselves against undue legal threats as she had done previously. I asked her what happened between her and Phil that she did not want him, the owner of the company, at her house; did he hurt her, insult her, break something? She would not answer any of those questions, and continued to re-send her original email.

I concluded that we could not enter her home without her builder and someone from our company to preside over any work done at her home. We would need to inspect the areas of concerns to determine if we needed to order new product or if we could fix the issue at the same time. Our client wanted us to pay someone to do the repairs, possibly create orders and/or install those items. She was abrasive, used profanity toward our vendors, she tried to place blame for everything that happened on the job on Kornerstone Kitchens, threatened to use legal action for no reason since we honored our contract, provided free services and product, provided product that is award-winning, solid wood cabinets with custom paints and stains, and completed our entire contract within a three-month period of time. After everything we had been through with her, I could not take the risk of hiring someone outside of our company to do the work and order product and then take all the responsibility.

Resolution. The representative from Kabinart inspected the jobsite, created a list of items to be replaced or repaired: a few doors, two sets of glides and drawer fronts. We have been in contact with Kabinart and provided the layouts and previous order numbers. Kabinart will get back in touch with us if they need anything further.

I have attached the photos of the completed job for review.

We have been in contact with our cabinet manufacturer, and have provided our client's cabinet layouts, custom quotes, and orders to them. We are following their progress.

As we mentioned in our last response, we completed our job and received payment after we passed two inspections and one additional inspection from an outside source hired by our client.

Kornerstone Kitchens designs, orders, receives and installs cabinetry and provides service for installation and cabinetry warranties. If there are possible warranty issues, we inspect and document the areas of concern and repair what we can in the field. If we cannot repair the issues in the field, we document the issues for the cabinet supplier's for approval. Upon approval we create custom quotes, orders, and confirmations for the replacement cabinetry. The cabinet company notifies us of a ship date and we schedule the installation with our client. Even though the warranty items are not the fault of Kornerstone Kitchens, we pay for the designer, installer, insurance, taxes, and are responsible for anything that happens at the jobsite. If we order the wrong replacement parts, we are responsible for those items. We must be able to inspect the areas of concern and supervise all facets of the inspection, order, delivery and installation process. We were denied the ability to inspect the job three times.

Regarding the new items submitted to us by our representative, there appear to be one drawer box that has a crack at a very odd angle. The drawer box and glides are built to hold 150 pounds; however, it appears the box was pulled off the glides and put back incorrectly. When weight was applied to the drawer box without proper support from the glides, the box cracked.

We noted several doors had joint separation, one door was warped, and several doors and drawers needed adjustment. We had several discussions with our client regarding this issue and advised her at the time the cabinetry was delivered that she did not have the air conditioner turned on, per the terms of our contract, which could result in warping, doors and drawers swelling and contracting, and joint separation. We advised her that we would come to her house during the dry season, if needed, and adjust the doors and drawers for her, but we did not receive a request. We also advised her that it is her responsibility per the terms of the contract to repair and replace damaged cabinets that were warped or had joint separation due to excessive moisture. We believe this may be why our client will not let us inspect the cabinetry.

Another issue mentioned are the dovetail joints. Dovetailed joints do not require pins, yet the cabinet supplier stated they used the pins to provide additional support. The pins do not appear to be broken, the dovetailed joints do not appear to be damaged and the drawer boxes do not appear to be damaged; however, you can see the pin holes. I do not believe the drawers need to be replaced. I have contacted the service representative regarding this issue and am waiting for a response.

We are extremely sorry our client has filed such a strong complaint against us, we strive for 100% satisfaction and excellence during our 30 years in business. We believe we have done everything we can to satisfy our client by providing free services and additional cabinetry and accessories to help move the job along and have reached out to her three times to schedule an inspection with no success. We are following up with the cabinet supplier until the work is complete.