Merillat-Masco Builder Cabinet Group Manufactured and Sold Defective Cabinets. No response from Customer Service Nationwide
Merillat Cabinets manufactured my kitchen cabinets in my 2 1/2 year old new construction home.
The cabinets we purchased via the builder were considered an upgrade, meaning they cost us quite a bit extra. As time is passing, multiple and very noticeable irregularities are becoming apparent on the cabinet doors.The wood grain is two or three obviously different colors.
I have had several experts in kitchen cabinet refacing and kitchen remodeling look at the cabinets and tell me they were very poorly manufactured and should not have been sold to anyone. Their opinion was that at some point during the manufacture process the wood was not properly cured.
I attempted to contact Merillat cabinets to explain this. Via their website they do not provide any phone number. The customer is only able to email their requests to the company, and then at the discretion of the company will decide whether or not they will respond to your needs/questions. This to me is very poor customer service.
I'm very unhappy with this company and their product and also their customer service. I will be telling the company who built my home about this experience in the hopes they will take it into consideration when deciding whose cabinetry they are installing in their homes. I will also tell anyone and everyone I know to never purchase this type of cabinetry.
Courtenay xxxxxxxx
Egg Harbor Township, New Jersey
U.S.A.
CLICK here to see why Rip-off Report, as a matter of policy, deleted either a phone number, link or e-mail address from this Report.
5 Updates & Rebuttals
Willy
San Diego,California,
U.S.A.
The plaintiff probably bought the high end cherry cabinets
#6Consumer Comment
Tue, June 16, 2009
Kraftmaid is maximizing their profit by not removing the sapwood from the cherry boards it glues up, just go into any older homedepot and look at the kraftmail cherry cabinets. They have very dark brown Cherry (after time with ultraviolet on it) glued to almost white sapwood. Not super noticable when the cabinets are new, but after a few years near a skylight or window... wow does it look awful. Its the first thing you are taught in woodworking 101 at palomar college.. dont do that unless you want angry customers. I am trying to buy kitchen cabinets and you can't even purchase an upgrade to not get sapwood on the good side. Oh well, they're making money.. till they're not..
-Bill
Contractorict
Wichita,Kansas,
U.S.A.
Can't Please Everybody
#6Consumer Comment
Wed, May 13, 2009
I want you to do me one favor before you continue any further. Go to the lumberyard and pick up several different pieces of stainable grade wood in the species of your cabinetry. Stain each one with the same color of stain, and at the same time.
You should immediatly notice subtle differences in the colors between them. It shouldn't take 2.5 yrs to notice this because that is the nature of wood.
Please stop bad-mouthing a company about a personal problem. Some people do not like the look and variations in stained wood. I would recommend painted cabinets in the future. You can't blame a company for not wanting to send a regional rep. out to explain these types of things to everyone that complains about these trivial things. You either want a kitchen....for free...or you are just bored and want to yell at someone.
Terry
Cortland,Ohio,
U.S.A.
Check the manufacturer
#6Consumer Suggestion
Fri, April 24, 2009
I happen to know that some Merillat cabinets are not manufactured by Merillat at all, but by their sister company, Kraftmaid Cabinetry.
You stated that the cabinets were considered an upgrade. Was this of the "Merillat Masterpiece" product line? If so, Kraftmaid did it. I'm unaware of any other Merillat product lines that Kraftmaid manufactures for them, but Masterpiece is certainly made there.
KraftMaid Cabinetry
P.O. Box 1055
15535 South State Ave.
Middlefield, OH 44062
440/632-5333
Toll free consumer hot line
1-888-562-7744
Do not let them tell you that they do not have information on Merillat Masterpiece orders. It's all processed at Kraftmaid's office, assembled on their lines, and ships from their loading docks.
Courtenay Cicchino
Egg Harbor Township,New Jersey,
U.S.A.
In response
#6Author of original report
Fri, June 27, 2008
Thank you for your input. What I failed to mention in my initial report, was that these 'defects' or severe color variances in the wood were not immediately apparent. If they had been, it would have been addressed during the walk through of the home. However, the color variances became increasingly apparent over time.
I was able to finally file a claim. When the company sent me the information to do that-they also sent along a color brochure showing the color variances that are supposedly a characteristic of the particular wood type which my cabinets are made of. Which was basically telling me my warranty claim would be denied if filed. I still feel the same about this company. I don't feel that my cabinets should look the way the do,and it should be acceptable to the company who manufactured them. I would not recommend this product to anyone.
Nda5150
Atlanta,Georgia,
U.S.A.
I used to see this all the time,
#6UPDATE EX-employee responds
Mon, June 09, 2008
and I don't (and never did) understand one thing:
Why on earth did you not say something on your walkthrough? Why did you wait so long to try and resolve this issue? This kind of situation is what new home warranties were designed for.
I worked for MASCO for several years as a branch manager. Here's my .02, and that's exactly what it's worth...
You're out of warranty, unless NJ has some crazy consumer protection laws that Georgia doesn't have. It is lousy, I know, but that's the way it goes. Contracting is a cutthroat business. MASCO didn't get to be a Fortune 200 company by repairing shoddy installations from three years ago.
I would get calls from customers like you a few times a year. I was ORDERED to ignore them. The prevailing attitude was to let them threaten all they wanted to, because the warranty terms were clear, and it had expired, and that was that. There was nothing I could do.
Call your builder. Ask for your warranty rep's number... if it's a big national builder like Pulte or Beazer, they will have a rep assigned to your neighborhood. If it's a small company, you may have more trouble getting a timely response. Failing that, call the MASCO branch that installed your cabinets. Look them up here:
http://www.masco-csc.com/
MASCO operates regionally. The company is like an Octopus. Go straight to the top. Ask if you are speaking to the regional manager's office. If you aren't, get the number from the person who answers.
I understand that you're upset, but whatever you do, BE NICE. Firm and persistant, but NICE. The best case scenario is going to be a negotaiated, discounted repair job. What's more likely is they will tell you they are sorry, but there's nothing they can do. Act like an angry, uninformed hothead and you will shurely get nowhere, fast. But hey, you'll probably get nowhere anyway, so you may get more personal satisfaction from letting loose on some production manager. :-)