The house that I purchased approximately 18 months ago was built in the 1920s and was in need of a great deal of repair and remodeling due to neglect. One of the main remodels has been the kitchen. All of the original cabinetry was removed prior to when I officially moved in due to irreparable damage. Since then, I have been in the process of purchasing $4,000 in custom-made kitchen cabinets from Home Depot (store # 0119). Since I am not a skilled contractor and have no experience in kitchen remodels, I went to Home Depot and asked for their assistance. I informed them that I would be purchasing the kitchen cabinetry over a period of time, as I only have a limited income to work with. I also knew that my kitchen is rather small and would require specially ordered cabinets to accommodate the layout. The associate on hand informed me that I would need to have one of their employees measure the dimensions of the kitchen for a fee of $60 (which would be credited towards the purchase of my cabinetry) in order for them to place the custom order. I was clear that someone other than Home Depot would be performing the installation. This is clearly shown in all quotes I have obtained for cabinet designs and layout over the duration of this transaction.
When this entire ordeal began, the Home Depot staff conducted their first on-site measurements and designed a kitchen plan based on those measurements back in August. However, I noticed they did not have my windows in the correct location on the design layout. Because of this, they had to come out a second time to re-evaluate their initial measurements, which were incorrect. I can verify these events as I had a witness at the time both measurements were taken.
The transaction was completed yesterday, on 2/27/08, when I picked up the last of my cabinetry. Today, on 2/28/08, when my contractor arrived to install them, he noticed none of the cabinets came close to fitting in my kitchen properly. The drawers on the end cabinets cannot open because they conflict with the stove (the stove is in the exact same location as in the initial layout of the kitchen, which can also be clearly seen in the layout given to me by Home Depot). The cabinets stretch out past the door frame, and there is no room for a countertop to fit adequately without blocking part of the back door.
My contractor measured the kitchen and compared it to the measurements they had on file, and none of them matched. Of course, their measurements are what the cabinet purchases were based upon. I contacted Home Depot (both locally and corporate headquarters), and they are insisting that none of their measurements are guaranteed unless Home Depot performs the installation and that I am stuck with the cabinets that they purchased for me. No one is even willing to adjust the cabinets to fit my kitchen. The assistant manager I spoke with on 2/28/08 was both rude and unhelpful. He was not at all concerned with my dilemma, and since the store manager is apparently out of town, corporate insists their hands are tied as well.
No one informed me that the measurements were not guaranteed without installation. There is no paperwork that I signed which states this. In fact, I have my receipt for the $60 measurement fee I was charged and there is no disclaimer stating this anywhere to be found. I would never have paid $60 for someone to measure my kitchen for cabinets if there were no guarantees on the accuracy of their measurements. I would have been more than happy to have my contractor take the measurements (for free), but the store employee insisted I pay for the measurements in order to purchase the proper cabinets for my kitchen. However, now none of them fit because the measurements were incorrect, and I feel Home Depot is responsible and should work to remedy the situation.
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