ComplaintsforLake Worth Custom Cabinetry, Inc.

• Initial Complaint

  03/08/2023

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  We contracted with Lake Worth Custom cabinets in January of 2023 for our kitchen refacing, 2 new upper cabinets and a new island. ****** came out, we picked the cabinet shaker door and drawer style and color. During the installation we noticed several issues, the built in upright painted side next to the fridge and the new cabinet side facing the sink had noticeable blemishes and wrinkles. He said there is nothing they can do we just have to live with it. The fridge built in side panel was kicked out at the bottom 1/2 away from the bottom cabinet. The island was screwed to the floor crooked and didnt line up with the grout lines. The new upper cabinet over the fridge was set way back in away from the the built in side panel. Both new cabinets had 1/2 gaps at the bottom where they meet the wall and tight at the top because they didnt remove the row of old backsplash tile that we were replacing anyway, he said thats how they do it. The new cabinet next to the fridge was mis measured and was sticking out 3/4 past the wall to the living room. They cut and route red the hinges in my garage and covered my $7000 of musical equipment with wood shavings and dust. Now a month later I am having issues with distortion and crackling coming through my speakers. This is why I am now filing this complaint, that was the last straw. I had to go to an appointment at work and my wife met with him to go over the problems with the install. When she mentioned the island being out of square ****** and his installer started laughing at my wife and started speaking in Spanish. After she pointed everything else out to home he told her he will take all the cabinets and door fronts back and give them to someone who appreciates his work. My wife broke out in tears and told him to get out of our house. She called me and I called ******, he started the same disrespectful attitude with me and told me in ********************************************************* the island being out of square. I am a former ********* and super intendant. I had to fix the issues myself, it took me 2 days in between my apts and busy schedule. On the island when I took it apart the tapcons were not down tight to the base, they were sticking up 1 1/2 and 2 of the screws were wood screws. I remove and cut down the kick board they installed that was pushing the built in upright panel next to the fridge to get it tight with the cabinet. I removed both new cabinets so I could take off the old row of tile and get the cabinets tight at the bottom. I had to reconstruct, shim and install new drywall on the wall where the cabinet was sticking out 3/4. He is lucky I only held back $500 from the final payment!!!Please see photos

  

  Business response

  05/12/2023

  In wishing to address each and every accusation by this client, I would first like to express my sorrow at the loss of Mrs. ****** father during the remodeling process.  Since I just suffered such a loss myself, I can empathize.
  
  We were contacted by ********************* in November of 2022.  On November 29th after a home visit to discuss his wishes, we provided him with a proposal with options to either replace or reface his dated kitchen.  To reface means to replace the doors and drawer fronts, and place a new skin or veneer on the existing cabinet boxes.  This is something that is done when your boxes are in good shape and you want to update your doors and drawer fronts for a cosmetic facelift.  Admittedly the ***** kitchen was dated, old, and had some water damage, so he also asked ** to provide him with an option in the reface to do the following in addition to the new doors and drawer fronts:  Modifications other than new drawers will include replacement of the sink base cabinet and the one next to it plus the damaged upper cabinet across from the sink area.
  
  Due to personal considerations,they opted not to have this work done. They opted not to replace their cabinetry.  They opted not to hire another contractor.  They decided to modify the work, going back and forth repeatedly until we were able to cut and paste a proposal that more suited their budget.  There is nothing wrong with making adjustments as long as expectations remain realistic.  At one point, ************** pointed out that I hadnt been very specific about an new upper cabinet over the sink and mentioned to me that, as a salesman of windows he was familiar with contracts and the specificity necessary.  With this in mind, I modified it so that there was **************** about the work to be performed which is always what we want.  We reduced the prices on at least one item that we had quoted for; changing the refrigerator cabinet/panel upgrade from $800.00 extra to only $460.00 extra in the end. 
  
  We had a payment due upon commencement of work in the home, which was paid weeks late because *************** was out of town to due her fathers passing, and apparently ************** didnt have access to funds?  Nothing could be wired or mailed?  We still worked at the job.  We waited to be paid.  We understood and tried to do what was best for our client.
  
  Upon *************** return as we installed the new veneer or skin to the cabinet boxes , she was extremely upset.  She stated that she wanted ** to make everything look even and hide the seams between boxes, and make everything look smooth on the cabinets that were old and damaged and had originally been quoted for replacement.  We had a meeting with her, her husband and their son in which the job was explained, and that these were not new cabinets.  They had hired ** to put a new  veneer on the existing boxes and we had done nothing improper.  Their son agreed, yet even with that we went out of the way to attempt to strip/sand a lot of their existing worn, damaged cabinetry to create a smoother surface in order to make them happy.  This involved a lot of extra labor and time that they were not charged for.  When we installed the new doors and reinstalled the existing drawers with the new drawer fronts, there was more of an issue with the client.  They stated that one of the drawers we installed didnt slide properly. What the client didnt acknowledge was that her existing old drawer had completely fallen apart at our shop and we had built her a new one without charging her for it.  She didnt acknowledge that we werent hired to replace her drawer slides, which were very old only her drawer front.  We were told that a new cabinet that we installed was improper because it was impacted by a tile on their wall which could have or should have been removed according to the client. In his complaint he stated that our company didnt remove the old backsplash tile that we were replacing anyway. Why would we remove their tile?  Why didnt he remove it before we installed the new cabinetry?  We did not install the tile and our contract states that we will install things to the best of our ability in the areas as they are provided.  It doesnt say remove tile.  Repair drywall.  Make the kitchen flush with proper angles.  This was clear in the contract. This is standard.
  
  After we installed their new kitchen island, a complaint was made that it wasnt straight according to the grout lines on the floor.  That it was installed crooked by a quarter of an inch. When the company owner visited the home and was speaking with his workers about this, the client assumed that their Spanish conversation was about her when they laughed about something. My crew doesn't speak English.  They weren't speaking in code to subvert her or insult her.  Im sure that its understandable to acknowledge that people speak about more than one topic at a time.  In fact, the laughter had absolutely nothing to do with *************** or the job.  It was about something completely unrelated.  She threw them out of her home, after all we had done to go above and beyond to accommodate their budget and wishes.  At this point, the owner requested a meeting with ************** in order to resolve the issues amicably.  He did not, in fact say that in fifteen years no one had ever had a complaint or a punchout list, he said that in fifteen years he had never been asked to leave a clients home.  This man is the most soft-spoken and respectful man you could meet, and the accusations are completely unfounded.  There was a small list of punchout items that we could have addressed which isnt unusual with these types of jobs, however in the end the situation with *************** had become so untenable that we were willing to take $500.00 off of the final balance due and walk away and ************* agreed, which is why he paid the balance minus the discount.
  
  Regarding the issue with ************* garage equipment, there was rain and we worked near the garage entrance.  This is a garage that is always open, where dust and lawn debris always has the potential to damage equipment.  At no point did ************** ask ** to not work in the garage or specifically cover something sensitive, and it would have surprised ** considering the usual state of the garage but we would have complied as we always do with client requests. This situation has been very unfortunate, but spend five minutes with the company owner and talk with a very long list of happy clients and you will find that his demeanor and our service is described 180 degrees differently than what is described in this complaint, and you have to understand that some clients can not be made happy.  We wish them the best in the future.

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