Home Depot
Defective kitchen cabinets took nearly six months to replace

Buying new kitchen cabinets from Home Depot has been the worst experience I have ever had as a consumer. It is normal to expect that once the cabinets are delivered, installation can continue uninterrupted, with possibly the replacement of a defective door due to improper finish at a later date. This was not possible because several cabinets were defective, which required return and replacement more than once.

I paid $10,192.94 for 17 cabinets on 8/31/03, with wall fillers, end panels, doors, toe kicks, moldings, etc. The cabinets were delivered on 9/27/03. I discovered that 8 cabinets, the tall end panel adjacent to the refrigerator, 8 glass panel doors and other miscellaneous components were defective, which required return and replacement. KraftMaid kitchen cabinet quality was terrible.

I contacted Home Depot and KraftMaid by telephone and requested that the order be returned for substandard quality. I was told by KraftMaid, and later Home Depot personnel repeated, that I could not cancel the order because I had drilled 4 screw holes in 2 of the small upper wall cabinets. A KraftMaid representative, Mr. Perry, inspected the shipment and agreed the cabinets and panels needed to be replaced, and I was told new cabinets and panels would be expedited. I would not have to wait the 2 months the original order had taken. Installation was not possible at this time because once I installed a cabinet in a location, it could not be returned.

On 10/17/03 I received a replacement for the upper corner cabinet. For the second time, the corner cabinet was made of particle board and required replacement.

After waiting nearly 2 months (10/23/03), I received the bulk of the second delivery. I again contacted Home Depot and KraftMaid because 4 of the 8 cabinets and the glass doors were again defective, including the upper corner cabinet, the tall panel next to the refrigerator and the pantry unit. I requested compensation from Home Depot for the extended delays in delivery of acceptable materials. Since both ends of the lower island were defective and the upper corner cabinet was defective, I was unable to install enough cabinets to have the granite countertop templated. Mr. Perry again inspected the shipment and agreed the cabinets needed replacement.

On 11/7/03, I finally received enough cabinet boxes to finish the cabinet box installation. I was still missing acceptable doors and the interior lazy susan of the upper corner unit. At this point I had experienced a delivery delay from 9/27/03 to 11/7/03, which in turn had pushed back the granite countertop and sink installation by an equal amount of time. I again spoke to Home Depot personnel about compensation for having no sink and for the added expense of eating out each day through no fault of my own.

I was asked to wait until all parts had been delivered, and then Home Depot and KraftMaid would determine what, if any, compensation I was entitled to. Return and replacement of the cabinets had delayed the sink, stove and dishwasher installation a minimum of 40 days, thereby preventing food preparation in the house.

In late December, Mr. Perry again inspected the components and determined that all 8 glass doors plus 3 other doors required replacement, including the shelf from the microwave unit. Note that most of the doors being replaced had not been installed because of my fear that I would own them.

On 1/9/04 I finally received the parts for the upper corner cabinet lazy susan, and on 2/23/04 I received the 11 doors and the microwave shelf. The total delivery delay to receive all parts, 9/27/03 to 2/23/04, was 128 days, in excess of 4 months. The total time from order to completion was nearly 6 months.

Regarding compensation, Mr. Perry supplied 3 pieces of x trim for the top of the cabinets and 2 pieces of flat scribe molding free of charge, which were used.

I have contacted John Negron and Bill? of Home Depot and Mr. Perry of KraftMaid and have been told they will offer me $600 for my inconvenience. The $600 will be supplied via a credit from KraftMaid to Home Depot and then issued to me in some form. I purchased the cabinets from Home Depot, not KraftMaid, and I believe this amount is insufficient for my damages.

I pointed out that Home Depot had a 10% off sale on identical cabinets near the time I wanted to cancel the order, and that I paid cash for the cabinets even though there was a 0% financing offer at the time of purchase. I have also been a good customer who has spent in excess of $15,000 over the last 6 months at the Home Depot store.

Note that the dates I have used above are taken from the shipping receipts and do not include shipping time. The actual delays were longer in some cases because the cabinets were shipped by truck.

It is interesting that Home Depot personnel take no responsibility for the delays to my kitchen. I will never order any big-ticket item from them again and will try to source my materials elsewhere.

I am currently researching small claims action against Home Depot to get additional compensation. Food for 40 days alone is worth over $2000 to eat out.

Company: Home Depot
Country: USA
State: New Hampshire
City: Nashua
Address: 12 Coliseum Drive
Phone: 6038799666

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