Natwerk Designs

Cabinet builders goofed up. Designer goes to another builder to fix problems. Now they want more money!!?

We order and receive cabinets from Quakermaid about two years ago for a kitchen remodel. We went to a designer to plan and order everything. Instead of going with the designer's contractor we opted to do the remodel ourselves. What the hell, we're young and foolish. There are delays, windows come wrong, some reframing is needed, it's a lot of work, etc. So when we finally get to installing the cabinets we notice a couple of them aren't finished on some exposed sides like they should have been. The crown mouldings we are sent won't fit because they aren't the part numbers that were ordered. The face panels for the built-in appliances are not to spec. Everything written on the invoicing and designs are correct, it's just that Quakermaid made mistakes on a few of the 120 plus items and they have a lifetime warranty on their workmanship. In January we take these issues back to the designer who designed and ordered everything for us. She says that she's had two previous clients with similar issues, Quakermaid's customer service takes way too long, and gives her a hard time. So she sends our stuff to another cabinet maker to fix all the problems we can't live with. No paperwork and no mention is made of this costing us. Now, 4 months later, the pieces are ready and the designer's company says we owe them over $800 for the work. The designer we dealt with either left or was let go within the last month and a half. So now her former partner says we owe them. I say that it was their decision to have the corrections made elsewhere instead of going back to Quakermaid and their lifetime warranty. She says Quakermaid usually only covers mistakes like this if they are caught within the first 6 months. The warranty info I have from Quakermaid says they have a lifetime warranty. We got that warranty info when we received the cabinets. I know someone has to pay for the work done to correct the problems but I don't think it should be me. The designer made the choice not to go back to Quakermaid and no one said we'd be paying for someone elses mistakes. I'm fed up with this whole thing to the point that I'm willing to walk away and let them keep the pieces. I can put a small writing desk where one of the improperly finished pieces should have been and do without the crown moldings. Then I can at least get my counter tops installed and deal with the other mistakes later. A couple friends have suggested small claims court, but I think that'd open a can of worms and I'm burned out on this already. Another has suggested sucking it up, paying the bill and getting this done so we can move on. I haven't gone back to the desingers yet about the warranty info I found after I talked to them. I told them we'd get back to them, not making any promises and I'm tring to keep my cool. They still have our designs for the bathroom and I don't want to have to relive that headache. Like I said, I'm ready to be done with this whole thing. What do you think? A little correction. I did not mention the lifetime warranty wehn I talked to the designers partner since I didn't knwo about it at the time. I simply said it was their choice no to go back to Quakermaid. Since we had already paid everything in full when we first received the cabinets then the first answerer might be right. I know it's a sticky situation. We'll be talking to them face to face tomorrow and WILL be bringing up that they don't have anything authorizing additional charges. But basically they have some of our items that we already paid for. And for us to get them back they want us to pay for the additional work they did to make them usable. Any more advice, whether it's a solution or not, will help give us ideas about how to approach this tomorrow. Thanks.

Public Comments

1. A tough question. The invoice is correct, the materials wrong. Quaker Maids life time warranty is for the performance of the material and not for the correct material. This is common. Who made the mistake, the designer when she made the purchase order to quakermade, or Quakermade when they filled the order? It is normal for any manufacture to require notice within a given time of a error in filling an order. The normal is about 6 months or no longer than 1 year. In court it may depend on who had the cabinets for the 2 years before installing. If it was you, it was your responsibility to check as you picked up the materials. You may have a case in small claims court, but a hard road to prove who made the mistake? Also the company that corrected the mistake may have a claim against you. May be able to put a lien on your house for non payment of labor . Pay the bill to correct the mistake, call it education expense. It will not be the last mistake made in home diy.
2. I'll tell you what I have done in this situation. I have had many things come in incorrectly in the last 30 yrs. Whatever the reason I do not pay for the items until they are actually what i have ordered, or someone tells me they will be no charge to correct the problem in house. Someone cannot charge you for anything unless they have your WRITTEN authorization to do so - period. I would simply tell your supplier that when the molding and other things come in correctly you will pay for them, however you did not authorize any ADDITIONAL CHARGES nor were told there were going to be additional charges for anything. Forget small claims court - just don't pay the bills they send you. If they say they are taking you to small claims court - just tell them I'll see you there and you better have something with my signature showing I authorized you to order something!!!!!!!!!! Lots of places sell those cabinets, just order what you need from another supplier. It could be this particular company you got your cabinets from is behind on their account with Quakermaid or is a slow payer.