My own kitchen nightmare

[jasperandchar]

I have been eyebawling this kitchen for 4 years, finally hubby and I say it's time.

So October 2011 (last October) I place the order and sign the contract.

The installation date was set for early January (yeah) while everyone else was doing the Christmas countdown I was doing the installation count down. So the cabinets, etc are delivered 1 day before, I notice they are not the proper color, oh crap....so I call the kitchen representative from my store, she comes over, etc.....yes the color is not correct.

So we proceed anyways because I was given $2K discount and could live with the color, don't love it but may learn too.

The countertops arrive just plane jane melamine for the time being as the kids are young and well what I really want is too expensive for the time being. No worries, they arrrive scuffed to heck, it takes 3 deliveries before they arrive somewhat perfect.

The installer was all by himself to install everything....poor guy....I notice after he leaves that one of my drawer panels is scratched to hell, I also notice that the side panel beside my fridge is scratched by a a drag mark....oh my, I call the lady, she comes over in the next 2 days...yada yada, will order replacements, okay.

Replacements arrive, the kitchen is now done, they want their $, I then start going over the kitchen with a fine tooth comb and notice that the cabinets are not level and to make them look level, the installer has decided to shim all the crown moulding on the cabinets.....eyesore....

I took pictures and delivered them to the owner of the store with a well written letter saying that I will gladly pay you the balance owing when the deficiencies are completed, he says I'll speak to my staff, the contractor, the contractor can speak to his installer and I'll get to the bottom of this and if I don't call you on Monday please call me....well it's been
1 1/2 months AND I forgot to mention that I don't have a functioning kitchen sink or dishwasher (being doing dishes in the bathroom), so I figure okay since his contractor personally told me off in front of my kids and promised that he WOULD NOT be back that, okay the store is going to drop this. I've spoken to my lawyer....blah blah, now Thursday this week I get in the mail an invoice for the balance owing....I flip to say the least.....what do you do? The store owner will not return my calls, I have kitchen that is not installed properly and I'm expect to pay the bill, any lawyers out there that can tell me what to do, I live in ON.

My lawyer said to wait until he sues me and then counter-claim but my nerves can't take it?

[c_mcarthur]

hmmmmmm
call mike holmes?
LOl sorry but hey it could work!
That dude LOVES ripping into bad contractors haha

[K8's Fate]

Yup call Holmes on Homes.
I'm so sorry for your nightmare

[jasperandchar]

thanks c_mcarthur & K8's Fate....we were actually thinking about it...he's doing casting calls at the moment

[Tabby40]

That's terrible. Chances are there are probably other customers in the same boat. I hope things work out for you.

[Poirot]

Report them to the Better Business Bureau.

[jasperandchar]

Thank you Tabby40 & Poirot

[PurpleBunny89]

Definitely the better business bureau. Check yellowpages for any advertising, create an account and leave a review for them. Be short and to the point, don't go into a long story, just basically point form. Do the same thing for any google ads they have. Also check homestars.com leave a review there. Basically any review site you can think of.

[hollyquaiscer]

Just a question, I am wondering if your kitchen is not a functioning kitchen and you are doing dishes in the bathroom, why you would wait 6 weeks? When the owner said that if he hadn't called you by the next day, for you to call him, why didn't you call back, especially given the state of your kitchen? I think what has transpired here is not right, but I just don't understand why or how someone with a non functioning kitchen would wait that long. When you go to court over this (assuming it doesnt get settled beforehand) the judge will be wondering the same thing. It seems like the communication broke down that very next day. I agree, the owner, SHOULD have called you back, but with him having to contact his sub, and going on down the line it would have been easier for you to call him. Especially given the state of your home. I am having my kitchen redone as we speak. I live in a condo and had to put my reno on hold for 8 weeks due to being very ill. Still ill, but I have to finish the reno so we are continuing on. My cabinet maker (they are custom cabinets) and I speak every time he is here doing anything. He has made several errors, as to what I had requested, but I do not wait until he was finished his job. I have him correct it as he goes. This way it is easier for him than to wait until the entire job is done and then go over everything with a fine tooth comb and expect him to rip it all out and start over again. He made the end gables for my new fridge to big by 3 inches on both ends, he said it would be fine. I said no, I don't like it. He took them out that day, cut them down and restained them and reinstalled them 3 days later. So far, I am happy with everything, but I am also inspecting everything prior to him leaving each time he is here.

I so wish you were more hands on when your job was being done. When stores sub out there jobs, they really have no control over the workmanship of those subs. The only control you have is to stop the work when you see a problem, call the owner of the store and have him come in at that time. I sure hope that you can get the problem resolved. What are you doing for a kitchen currently and I am wondering could the job be complete if you didn't even have a kitchen sink that was working? You should not have to pay for the job until it is complete.

I wish you the best of luck with your lawsuit, but unfortunately I think the only one that is going to win in this situation is the lawyers.

[theweaves_dad]

Since you have a signed contract, I would not wait for the other party to sue you. I would be suing them first! I see you have a lawyer and all, however you do not even have to get him involved right now. File the claim in small claims court yourself. It is $75 to file the claim. Since it sounds like the contractor is local, you could serve it yourself as well.

The only I see that you may want your lawyer involved with is making sure you name the proper defendant in this. Google "small claims court ontario" and you should find a guide to scc. It talks about naming the right defendant in suits against companies. For example, if it says "Mike's Renovations" on the invoice, probably both you and I would think immediately "That is who I sue". So you file the claim against Mike's Renovation and, hypothetically, the suit gets ignored and you get a default judgement. You go to enforce it, THEN find out that the company is actually registered as "0123456790 Ontario Inc.". You then have a useless judgement as Mike's Renovation owes nothing to you.

So if you do sue, you may (or you can do it yourself, see the guide) want your lawyer to do the work to properly identify WHO you are suing. If the contractor counter sues, well no biggies. See that all the time. But at least the process will be started and then offers to settle can begin etc.

Good luck to you!

[saveadollardiva]

I agree with theweaves_dad, I know you are going by your lawyers advice, but I think you need to make the first move on this. I would call the owner one last time and say "Hey if you do not reslove this I am taking you to court" see if he gets back to you then. If he doesn't get back to you then sue. Also, keep all your contracts, pictures etc as evidence. Everytime you mention the word sue, i find alot of people will then fix the problem. Been there done that

[darlataz]

You have gotten some great advice....So sorry to hear of your troubles.
I have a kitchen reno done Last year by Kents (lumber store here) that is who I signed the contract with and they sub contracted the work out....wwhat a nightmare....custom cupboards arrived...2 different tones of antique...some were broke...some were previously used in a showroom,,,panels scrated...2 days before xmas and they said countertop would by another 3wks....I lost my mind! (sorta) I made them install a countertop until mine came in..It was one thing after another.. lots of phone calls, meeting, pictures sent to them of the horrid job on the crown moulding..

after 6 month it all got resolved and I ended up with a discount....but, they were here throughout the six months fixing things. Good Luck

[jasperandchar]

thank you all for responding, giving advice, all very helpful....when I posted my rant, I left the fact that I did call the owner of the Home Hardware close by on the Monday as requested by him, and have kept calling 2 - 3 times a week and he is not returning my calls. I was home when the installer and I kept mentioning things and he said to take it up with the kitchen rep from the store which I did, they never address these items even on the last day that they came which is slightly over a month ago. With the owners and managers not calling me back, there is nothing I can do, I thought about sending a letter of intent, however, if it comes from me at this point in time I don't believe he will take me seriously. Thanks

[glowworm2k]

Oh dear. I'm in agreement with the other posters to contact the BBB and post reviews wherever/whenever you can. It is important that the company be held accountable.

DH and I redid our kitchen last year by ourselves; it was a big-time headache that lasted weeks (if not months) longer than we thought it would. I feel for ya about not having anything work right.

Good luck!

[nicolthepickle]

Ouch, I have no advice, except for leave a paper trail! Write a letter with your lawyer, hand deliver it, get a signature upon delivery or a witness (your lawyer). That sort of thing.