Taurus Cabinetry installed new countertops in our kitchen for a reasonable price. After they finished, I noted that the counter on our central island was not fitted properly. It looked good overall, so I didn't complain because I figured most people wouldn't notice that the stove stuck out past the edge of the countertop 1-2" or so.
Later that night, however, I realized we had a much bigger problem when my wife and I were doing the nightly chores. We were attempting to use the dishwasher, but there was barely any water inside when it was running. Of course, since the dishwasher was working fine before the Taurus installation, it seemed most logical to me to look to them to see what was going on. I gave them the opportunity to correct it.
Taurus sent the same guy back out who worked on the counters, and he made it clear that because he did not do anything inside the dishwasher, it couldn't be their fault. Now, I'm not that stupid. I know that you don't have to open up the dishwasher to cause a problem such as, oh... A crimped line perhaps?
Seeing that the Taurus crew was unwilling to concede any possibility of wrongdoing, I let them leave. At this point we were in phone contact with Jan at their office. She's not exactly the best customer service representative I've had the pleasure of dealing with and her whole argument was that Ramone (the guy who installed the counters) had worked there a long time and wouldn't lie, and "we" wouldn't want to hold him responsible for something "he didn't do." She made several statements that undermined our position such as suggesting the dishwasher was just "really old, " but refused to offer any possible admission that they caused the problem.
I had an appliance repairman out who told me the dishwasher ran fine, that it was calling for water, but that the line was crimped and that a plumber would need to replace the line. This cost me $60 to tell me something I had already figured out on my own, but needed documentation for the possibility of getting Taurus to make the situation right.
At this point, Jan at Taurus began to really get insulting with the implication that we were lying. She didn't say that, of course; she only said that it couldn't have been Ramone who did it because "the dishwasher was mounted to the wall." We attempted to explain repeatedly to her that the dishwasher was fine the morning before they began work and was not fine the evening after they were done, and they were done with the whole job in one day. She just kept telling us that Ramone wouldn't lie and he didn't make much money, so they wouldn't want to hold him responsible.
We then had a plumber over to replace the line, which cost us roughly $194 and took probably 30-40 minutes tops. This was a copper pipe running from the valve under the sink to the main inlet under the dishwasher. It was crimped in two places, and one of the crimps was so bad that the metal pipe buckled and tore open when he removed it. While present, I informed him of what Taurus had told us about the dishwasher being mounted to the wall, and he said that wasn't true. He also said that it was supposed to be mounted to the cabinets, but that it wasn't because the lip where the screws were meant to attach was sticking well out past the front of the cabinets. He added that the dishwasher didn't have to be moved to crimp it, only the line itself needed to be moved.
I spoke with Frank, the owner, who refused to comment other than to claim that the dishwasher was attached to the cabinets and couldn't be moved, and, to-date, has refused to reimburse us the money we are out due to their negligence. Frank is attempting to smooth it over and has told our realtor, who suggested we give them our business, that it wasn't their fault. They are really slick and have pressured the appliance repairman into saying he doesn't know how it could have happened. At this point, I know they will not make it right because their stance from the beginning was to deny and refuse, which was so well practiced I have to wonder how often they've done it.
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