Kohler Company
Defective Kohler Sinks

I bought a Kohler sink I believe in August through a local plumbing fixture company here in the Kansas City area. I am putting in a new granite countertop and was getting a new sink and kohler fixtures at the same time. The sink arrived sometime in September in preparation for the granite fabricator to prepare a template for my new countertop. At that time we noticed a chip in the sink. The local plumbing fixture company took back the sink and had Kohler send out a new sink which had to arrive by October 15, which was the day before installation of my new countertop - this gave them well over two weeks to get a new sink here. Kohler apparently sent out a new sink which arrived on the 15th, but this sink had blemishes -resembling the buildup of color pigment - on the surface finish. Kohler was contacted again. They even sent out a regional representative to my house because she was apparently disbelieving that there was trouble with their product (she claimed she never had a problem with their products before - something along the lines of "Kohler doesn't sell seconds"... Isn't it amazing how these company representatives always say they've never had a problem with their product before... It's like they live under a rock, or else they think YOU have.)

Of course the fabricator was called and installation of my countertop was cancelled for the 16th and reset for the 22nd as the Kohler representative promised she would locate a sink, have it inspected prior to shipment, and deliver it to the local plumbing company. The contractor arrived on Friday to finish preparing the area for installation on Monday the 22nd. When the sink arrived, this sink ALSO had similar color blemishes in two of the corners. Kohler wanted me to accept it because the blemishes weren't in a visible area if you stood directly in front of the sink. (However, if you leaned over and looked straight down on the inside corners of one of the bowls, you could easily see the blemishes.) In direct sunlight, which is where the sink sits in my kitchen, the blemishes would be very obvious and bothersome to someone who hopes to have a beautiful countertop and, hopefully, blemish free sink. I was exasperated before this happened but I lost all hope for this company at this point. Of course the representative of Kohler tried to minize the problem but once again after intervention by the local plumbing company they again said they would locate a new sink and deliver it, but of course this would take time since supposedly there are no Kohler sinks of the same color/style they could locate close by. The next delivery was set for the morning of October 26 and it arrived late that week (I was told two sinks were sent). When the first of the sinks finally arrived, it looked worse than any of the previous sinks - it had not only pigment buildup in the corners, but also pits or crevices in the finish! This was by far the worst looking sink of the bunch. I never did see the 5th sink but apparently it was also plagued with the same problem. It is now November 6 and another sink which was supposedly walked through the manufacturing process was scheduled to arrive today and it has not yet arrived. My next installation is scheduled for this Friday but there is no guarantee (of course) that even this date will be met. It will have been 4 full weeks of delays at best, and to date not one word has come from Kohler company despite complaint calls to them and to their regional representative (who by the way is so useless to me). Of course I've been without a sink at all since my countertop was ripped out on the 15th and I've basically had to eat out for every meal every day because I have no use of water in the kitchen nor the use of my dishwasher. This is too much for a person to be expected to take without seeking some sort of satisfaction. I am through dealing with the area Kohler representative. Her attempt at making the situation better consisted of her telling me she has the same sink in her home and giving me a USED bottle of Kohler Cast Iron polish for the sink (I presume she gave me her bottle and kept the new one for herself). I've had verbal apologies from the local plumbing company but they aren't the ones sending out blemished sinks. I've called Kohler to complain but all they've done is start folders on "my case" but even this has been unsatisfactory as they the reps don't even keep accurate records of previous calls (the last one said the folder didn't have that I'd already been through three sinks), she thought I'd just had one sink with a chip. I am not confident that any of my complaints has reached anyone of significance at the corporate level although I was told by the local plumbing company that Kohler has heard my name. All that means to me is that their preferred method of dealing with screwups they've caused is to stonewall. I don't believe they care, and I think their practice is to make it so difficult to complain that the consumer will just walk away in disgust. At one point I was told they hoped I would pick a new color or a new sink style. I'm disgusted, but unwilling to walk away.

Kohler doesn't know the meaning of customer service. I know many will say they've had no problems with this company. I'm sure there are many who get something they like. However, what makes me write this complaint is to let people know how this company reacts when things don't go right. They bury their heads in the sand. If you do have a problem from what I've been able to read from various sites that log complaints Kohler's method is to pretend you don't exist.

Company: Kohler Company
Country: USA
State: Wisconsin
City: Kohler
Address: 444 Highland Dr

  <     >