Complaint Review: Kraftmaid - Home Depot - Nationwide

Oh my gosh, I can't believe the debate that is going on here. I have worked in some form of customer service all of my life (not referring to a call center) and have had to find resolution and recovery to some very nasty situations. I am appalled at how the buck is passed so frequently and so easily in this situation. Home Depot passing to the manufacturer (1st mistake) the manufacturer passing to the delivery vendor (2nd mistake). Folks all this fault finding is internal and shouldn't even be a part of the customer experience. If a customer pays money to a retailer and is delivered damaged merchandise, the buck stops with the retailer so far as the customer is concerned. Issues over where and who the fault lies with regard to how the product got damaged should always be handled internally between the retailer, manufacturer and delivery vendor and should not even enter the conversation with the customer. Resolution and recovery from a customer complaint should be handled as quickly and seamlessly as possible. I have had my experiences with Home Depot as well and they do not take ownership and there is no accountability standards and the only people who seen to know how to verbalize an apology is the customer service team. If Home Depot had credibility, which I don't believe they have, they would have relationships with their vendor manufacturers to the extent that if a customer received damaged merchandise, the manufacturer would expedite shipment of replacment. This can only be done if the retailer has a customer first motto. If Home Depot was more concerned about the customer and their credibility they would demand the same from their vendor manufacturers. If the manufacturers could not live up to the level expected by the retailer in order for the retailer to stand behind the product then the retailer would simply stop carrying that particular manufacturers product. However, with all of this said, the retailer (Home Depot) must place more concern on the customer before they can demand the same from their vendors. Apparently Home Depot does not know anything about or care about persistentsy (also known as loyalty and repeat business).

Hi, Carolyn. My name is Melissa and I have been employed at Kraftmaid for nearly 2 years. I am a wiper, and can guarantee that I put my all into my work. Our work is physically demanding, and quality and keeping our production on schedule are two of our top priorities. I am sorry to hear about your cabinets, Carolyn, as I know how extremely expensive they are. As I have had several jobs within Kraftmaid's finishing process, I can honestly tell you that we take great lengths to provide our customers with quality products. I am not a blame-shifter, but I honestly suspect that the damage was done during shipment. Sending out broken cabinets/accessories is not an option, and therefore, inconceivable. I hope your cabinet-issues are resolved as quickly as possible. ..by the way, is that autumn blush? ;)

To Darren - Neenah, Wisconsin The company needs to be held responsible, not the cashier. If a customer has a problem and the first point of contact being the Customer Service Rep. or Cashier does not give a satifactory answer then go to the Manager. The manager should be contacted and not any department heads or assistance managers. If than does not get the answer you want then call, email or write the corporate office expalaining the problem and what to expect to be done to resolve the problem. I'm over 50 years old and I shop where friends refuse to because the had a bad experence. I will not shop at others they will. The bottom line is we each have different experences and judge those companies by how they treat us. I judge a company by how it resolves problems, not because there was a problem. I wish Carolyn all the luck in getting the problem resolved. As a long time Home Depot Customer I have had my share of problems and had to go to the Corporate Office at least once. I'm sure they will take care of her to everyone's saitsfaction.

I agree with you the company should be held responsible, but so should the employee. Which did you think is a great liability for the employee, trying to help the customer resolve the problem or giving the customer false information and blaming them for the damage? Huh let's see! There is no company policy that says that an employee can't help a customer with their problem. However, the employee should be knowledgable of policies and procedures before they open their mouths. I also agree that the employee can't follow-up with every customer, but not every customer is going to have a problem. It may be one out of every thousand customer who has a damage product, but that doesn't make that customer any less than the other customers. Finally, in call center, billing or customer service, which ever you prefer to call it, in some call centers are required to and is within the scope of their employment when they make a sale to a customer. Some call center use what is called "One-Call Resolutions," which means they are to handle all of the customer's problem in one call. If they were being monitored and they pass that call to sales, they will hear about from the monitor. In fact, they are paid incentives for making that sale, and are required to make a certain number of sales per week. There are special services that they cannot handled, but even still they get the customer to the right person who is most quailifed to help the customer. Take the bank for example, at one time it was that the teller was only responsible for depositions and withdrawls. Opening accounts and other banking needs were handled by a bank officer. Now some banks train their tellers to handle opening all banking account including personal loans. They "Cross-Train" they so that they are able to need the customers need faster and sufficiently. All in all that employee is a representative of the company; therefore, liability is their responsibility too. Otherwise, the employer will have to hold their hand to make sure they do everything right. No one was time for that. They hired you to be responsible, so if you can't do your job stay home. Liability is everyone's responsibility.

Lloyd, Don't you think that your point completely illustrates the point of what is wrong? Inane company policies which are instrumatenal in frustrating a customer's attempt to remedy a problem? Not every customer is trying to "rip off" a company. A recipient signs a statement that they received a package and there was no obvious damage to the packaging. Not that there is no damamge to the prodcut within... which could be caused by somone at the factory who dropped it into the box to cover up a mistake on their part? Of course, no person should be asked to sacrafice their job to help the customer... though for it to be that type of "either-or" situation is the fault of the company. Wouldn't you say? I am not sure that the analogy fits this particular situation. It is a valid point within your illustration, but doesn't necessairly fit this case in point. As far as the customer should have to care about is that they went to Home Depot and had their kitchen designed, paid their money to Home Depot and they received something that was broke... Companies can't necessarily relieve themselves of responsibility for things that go wrong.. they are acting as a agent for the factory or sub-contractor. This is one of the reasons you won't find an electonic equipment without a UL certification... because if they sell it and it causes damage, they can be held liable. Sales people, customer service people and cashiers are hired for specific jobs... no one is asking them to be lawyers or to sacrafice their jobs. However, again, I will say that if an employee is put into that situation then it is the fault of the company. Which is exaclty what this report is highlighting. Let's not lose focus that the customer received damaged goods... and I am sure that the customer wouldn't/couldn't care less who fixes it... as long as it is fixed. That is up to the company... We also know that if Home Depot were to get involved and support their customer than things would happen. An individual has little voice to Kraft Maid, but Home Depot's voice would speak volumes. Thanks,

In this world of "Making Everyone Pay" the employee must be careful. It is not possible to follow up on every detail on your own. For example your company sells a DVD Player through their "on line" service and it is received damaged. The customer brings it into your store and you are a clerk and they want an adjustment. You explain that you must go on line and follow that procedure and there is nothing you can do to help. You try on line and you must submit proof of the damage even through you signed it was in good condition. Again you go back to the store for help and again the clerk is not able to help because of company policy. There are people that would say the clerk needs to follow up and help the customer return the DVD even though company police states returns must be done on line from where it was bought. Lets say the clerk does help with the return. That clerk can be in trouble at work for not following company policy because he\she has accepted responsibility and made he\she liable. Now the clerk has a mark on their records and this affects their work promotions and pay. I would like to know where it is written that any employee must put their own job in jeopardy to help a customer just because the customer does not want to follow company policy. If you work in a call center for sales and you answer a call from someone that has a billing problem, do you help? Of course not because you are not authorisedby the company to look at those records. If you work in billing and a call comes in for sales but the company policy is to transfer the person to sales will you follow policy or make the sale and not follow company policy? I think the customer needs to hold the company responsible and not the employees. Everyone should thing about this over the next two weeks and each time a customer asks you for something that you transfer them to someone else would you have been able you help, get your own job done and follow company policy. Now remember this is for all customers, not just one. You accepting responsibility is making you liable and could cost you personally your job and money.

In this world of "Making Everyone Pay" the employee must be careful. It is not possible to follow up on every detail on your own. For example your company sells a DVD Player through their "on line" service and it is received damaged. The customer brings it into your store and you are a clerk and they want an adjustment. You explain that you must go on line and follow that procedure and there is nothing you can do to help. You try on line and you must submit proof of the damage even through you signed it was in good condition. Again you go back to the store for help and again the clerk is not able to help because of company policy. There are people that would say the clerk needs to follow up and help the customer return the DVD even though company police states returns must be done on line from where it was bought. Lets say the clerk does help with the return. That clerk can be in trouble at work for not following company policy because he\she has accepted responsibility and made he\she liable. Now the clerk has a mark on their records and this affects their work promotions and pay. I would like to know where it is written that any employee must put their own job in jeopardy to help a customer just because the customer does not want to follow company policy. If you work in a call center for sales and you answer a call from someone that has a billing problem, do you help? Of course not because you are not authorisedby the company to look at those records. If you work in billing and a call comes in for sales but the company policy is to transfer the person to sales will you follow policy or make the sale and not follow company policy? I think the customer needs to hold the company responsible and not the employees. Everyone should thing about this over the next two weeks and each time a customer asks you for something that you transfer them to someone else would you have been able you help, get your own job done and follow company policy. Now remember this is for all customers, not just one. You accepting responsibility is making you liable and could cost you personally your job and money.

In this world of "Making Everyone Pay" the employee must be careful. It is not possible to follow up on every detail on your own. For example your company sells a DVD Player through their "on line" service and it is received damaged. The customer brings it into your store and you are a clerk and they want an adjustment. You explain that you must go on line and follow that procedure and there is nothing you can do to help. You try on line and you must submit proof of the damage even through you signed it was in good condition. Again you go back to the store for help and again the clerk is not able to help because of company policy. There are people that would say the clerk needs to follow up and help the customer return the DVD even though company police states returns must be done on line from where it was bought. Lets say the clerk does help with the return. That clerk can be in trouble at work for not following company policy because he\she has accepted responsibility and made he\she liable. Now the clerk has a mark on their records and this affects their work promotions and pay. I would like to know where it is written that any employee must put their own job in jeopardy to help a customer just because the customer does not want to follow company policy. If you work in a call center for sales and you answer a call from someone that has a billing problem, do you help? Of course not because you are not authorisedby the company to look at those records. If you work in billing and a call comes in for sales but the company policy is to transfer the person to sales will you follow policy or make the sale and not follow company policy? I think the customer needs to hold the company responsible and not the employees. Everyone should thing about this over the next two weeks and each time a customer asks you for something that you transfer them to someone else would you have been able you help, get your own job done and follow company policy. Now remember this is for all customers, not just one. You accepting responsibility is making you liable and could cost you personally your job and money.

How many people would have a job if there were not customer? How many people go to a store and buy spoiled milk or meat? None of us!! Face it, the world is built on customer service. I can't think of one profession that doesn't involve customers. How much does a customer have to take before they can speak up about it? Is he or she just suppose to let it go? There is an old saying that the "squeaky wheel gets the oil." There are some many scams these day. YES, customers are going to be pushy. Because they work entirely too hard to just throw money away. I agree with those who says it isn't Home Depots fault and I agree with those who says that it isn't Kraftmaid fault. Both companies are to blame. It is a little thing called joint liability. Needless to say, if an employee is willing to pass on false information, obviously that person cares nothing about his or her job. The problem is, some employees think that they don't need the customer, that the customer needs them. That is the wrong attitude to have. No one wants to return or continue to use a company that doesn't know their own field of business. That is why customer use places like Home Depot and Kraftmaid. They know nothing about making cabinet, and depend on what the seller says and does. If I had the ability to make my own cabinets this compliant wouldn't have been online. I would have never walked into Home Depot. A good example of this is a car saleman. In most cases, the buyer trust what the saleman says and the car is sold "as is." The customer doesn't know that the transmission is going to go bad when they drive it off the lot or that the motor is going to catch fire. Even if there is not much more that an employee can do, at least show that customer that you are concerned about their needs. Don't push them off because you're too lazy to get off your butt to find the answer for them. Follow up with the customer, give the customer the number to the manufacture to discuss the problem, ask the manufacuter to call the customer, and try to solve the customer issue. Don't just say there is nothing else I can do. There is always something you can do if you just take the time to do it. And if you think customers are impatience, try working in a call center. Then you will know exactly what kind of customer service representative you are. It isn't always the customer. What really upset me about this entire situation was that both companies implied that I do something to damage cabinet. Anyway, I finally got my cabinet.

This is not about bashing the customer, this is about stopping and thinking before you open your mouth. If you would have read my rebuttal you would have read just that. People jump off the handle so quickly, they are short fused. I know this doesn't represent all consumers but all it takes is one bad apple. I have to ask, because we are now bashing the sales person, have you ever worked in retail, have you ever been on the other side of the counter. I know, you probably have 30 years as an award winning salesman for Kirby Vacuums or Amway. Well Sir, this is 2004. I'm just happy I don't work in the Post Office with these types of customers.

Any help yet Caroline? These people bickering back and forth, I'm sure is not going to help you. Have you heard anything new? I do agree with one thing, if you gave Home Depot your $$ then Home Depot should fix it for YOU. If they won't you should contact a lawyer, they are in the wrong, so they will have to pay the court cost.

I'm over 50 years old and can't remember the last time I dealt with a company that did not have some kind of complaint. I shop Home Depot because they are a one stop place but my neighbor will not because some grass seeds he bought did not work the way he wanted. Home Depot offered to replace the seed but he wanted his money back. This all happened six months after he bought the seeds and he had no receipt. I'm not saying everyone is the same but he did not follow the directions and the Home Depot employee tried to help but my neighbor "knew everything" I would ask the person who started this Home Depot forum to ask themself one question; At your place of work do you receive complaints and do you find many of them invalid. When a customer complains to you and you have done all you can because the problem is being handled by a different department what do you tell the customer. You can only tell them what you have been told. The bottom line is not to take your problems out on the employees but go to the top, a manager or district manager.

I'm over 50 years old and can't remember the last time I dealt with a company that did not have some kind of complaint. I shop Home Depot because they are a one stop place but my neighbor will not because some grass seeds he bought did not work the way he wanted. Home Depot offered to replace the seed but he wanted his money back. This all happened six months after he bought the seeds and he had no receipt. I'm not saying everyone is the same but he did not follow the directions and the Home Depot employee tried to help but my neighbor "knew everything" I would ask the person who started this Home Depot forum to ask themself one question; At your place of work do you receive complaints and do you find many of them invalid. When a customer complains to you and you have done all you can because the problem is being handled by a different department what do you tell the customer. You can only tell them what you have been told. The bottom line is not to take your problems out on the employees but go to the top, a manager or district manager.

I'm over 50 years old and can't remember the last time I dealt with a company that did not have some kind of complaint. I shop Home Depot because they are a one stop place but my neighbor will not because some grass seeds he bought did not work the way he wanted. Home Depot offered to replace the seed but he wanted his money back. This all happened six months after he bought the seeds and he had no receipt. I'm not saying everyone is the same but he did not follow the directions and the Home Depot employee tried to help but my neighbor "knew everything" I would ask the person who started this Home Depot forum to ask themself one question; At your place of work do you receive complaints and do you find many of them invalid. When a customer complains to you and you have done all you can because the problem is being handled by a different department what do you tell the customer. You can only tell them what you have been told. The bottom line is not to take your problems out on the employees but go to the top, a manager or district manager.

It is the customer's fault for dieing after ingesting the elixir bought from a snake oil salesman masquerading as a medical doctor. Push an inferior product with poor service attached, while harboring a hostile attitude toward the buyer is certainly a prescription for a failed career in sales and marketing. Those that are so unfortunate to find themselves enmeshed in DIY project the success of which is dependant upon cooperation from adversarial vendor, speak out here. This particular thread addresses shipping damage, and possibly poor packaging design, neither of which is the fault or responsibility of the customer. Remember, a) there is only one customer, and it is NOT the vendor; and b), the sale to the customer was NOT FOB the manufacturer's dock. The other bad product experiences, quoted in the middle of this thread, have to do with poor product quality. Since when is QC and QA a customer responsibility? The only thing that is heard here recently is the ringing of never the less protected, empty corporate barrels.

It is the customer's fault for dieing after ingesting the elixir bought from a snake oil salesman masquerading as a medical doctor. Push an inferior product with poor service attached, while harboring a hostile attitude toward the buyer is certainly a prescription for a failed career in sales and marketing. Those that are so unfortunate to find themselves enmeshed in DIY project the success of which is dependant upon cooperation from adversarial vendor, speak out here. This particular thread addresses shipping damage, and possibly poor packaging design, neither of which is the fault or responsibility of the customer. Remember, a) there is only one customer, and it is NOT the vendor; and b), the sale to the customer was NOT FOB the manufacturer's dock. The other bad product experiences, quoted in the middle of this thread, have to do with poor product quality. Since when is QC and QA a customer responsibility? The only thing that is heard here recently is the ringing of never the less protected, empty corporate barrels.

It is the customer's fault for dieing after ingesting the elixir bought from a snake oil salesman masquerading as a medical doctor. Push an inferior product with poor service attached, while harboring a hostile attitude toward the buyer is certainly a prescription for a failed career in sales and marketing. Those that are so unfortunate to find themselves enmeshed in DIY project the success of which is dependant upon cooperation from adversarial vendor, speak out here. This particular thread addresses shipping damage, and possibly poor packaging design, neither of which is the fault or responsibility of the customer. Remember, a) there is only one customer, and it is NOT the vendor; and b), the sale to the customer was NOT FOB the manufacturer's dock. The other bad product experiences, quoted in the middle of this thread, have to do with poor product quality. Since when is QC and QA a customer responsibility? The only thing that is heard here recently is the ringing of never the less protected, empty corporate barrels.

It is the customer's fault for dieing after ingesting the elixir bought from a snake oil salesman masquerading as a medical doctor. Push an inferior product with poor service attached, while harboring a hostile attitude toward the buyer is certainly a prescription for a failed career in sales and marketing. Those that are so unfortunate to find themselves enmeshed in DIY project the success of which is dependant upon cooperation from adversarial vendor, speak out here. This particular thread addresses shipping damage, and possibly poor packaging design, neither of which is the fault or responsibility of the customer. Remember, a) there is only one customer, and it is NOT the vendor; and b), the sale to the customer was NOT FOB the manufacturer's dock. The other bad product experiences, quoted in the middle of this thread, have to do with poor product quality. Since when is QC and QA a customer responsibility? The only thing that is heard here recently is the ringing of never the less protected, empty corporate barrels.

Let's begin with the fact that Home Depot is a one stop place to shop for your remodeling needs. We forget the reason why so quickly that we shop at Home Depot. People shop there because they do not like the inconvenience of driving all over town to purchase their remodeling products. So I do incourage the small box theory if you do not mind driving to several locations to do your project. Keep in mind time is money! How much is your time worth? It is not that the employees at Home Depot are not friendly and helpful, it is the consumer is so demanding. Customers complain that they can not get help in Home Depot. The consumer creates this problem. How? by insisting on walking down to say the hardware department to get help in the electrical department because the three employees that work in the electrical department are busy with customers in garden department, because the garden department employees are in the plumbing department, and it goe's on and on, a vicious cycle. It is called patience people! It is a proven fact in your lifetime you will have spent 3 years standing in line, driving in traffic etc.. It is a proven fact and we can not change it. Furthermore a lot of these so called creative people at the small box stores or even some of the large box store employees, started their careers with Home Depot, were trained by Home Depot. Why they left Home Depot? there is probably a dozen reasons, Too fast paced? Money? Personal reasons beyond their control? Let's just be happy that they found another job! So you as a consumer may shop where you want, competition is good for everyone. No matter where you shop you are going to be displeased with your shopping experience sooner or later at those businesses also. Maybe Home Depot as a company should close their doors, lay-off their 245,000+ employees, you think the economy is bad now? I think not, maybe you should give those employees a chance, they are truly trying to help you. Over my course of employment with Home Depot, I have seen employees spit on, punched, I have seen a faucet thrown at a returns cashier, I have seen customers abuse Home Depot employees verbally. Where do these people think they are? They might be able to do that in their homes, but this is my home. Just once I would like to know where some of these people work so I can go and humiliate them at their job. I happen to work at a place now not only do I have to conduct myself in a professional manner on duty, I have to conduct myself that way when I'm not working. I would imagine most employers are this way. If you saw a firefighter or police officer in a bar, in uniform drinking you would not think very highly of them or the departments they represent. There are a lot of customers I do not think very highly of. But I kiss up to them and continue to help them. You're opinion is appreciated but is just that, an opinion, it is not the answer. People just need to relax. I do not know where you can go shop and if they make a mistake not only do you get an apology, you get the product expedited, sometime Free! you are compensated for the delays, etc.. and in most cases it is not the Home Depot's fault. At some point the customer needs to take some of the blame also. The consumer say's thay didn't tell me that! Well you didn't ask! There are some things that will be explained to the customer and some things are left out. That is due in whole part by the customer. For some reason the consumer thinks they are at the drive up window at a fast food business. If you want fast service, you are going to have to live with some of the sacrifices, minimal communication, less informed, errors in the ordering of product, you name it, this list goe's on and on. So before you go and dump $4000.00 to $25,000 on a remodel, take your time, get more informed, allow the designer to do their job, they have been trained to answer all your questions, granted if you give them the chance to. Don't bring your kid's in on saturday morning at 10am when they have a soccer game at 12noon and expect to get in and out. You will get in and out but you will not be satisfied at the results of your remodel. We shouldn't sit here and whine about

I recomend purchasing kraftmaid through a small box store, instead of the big box stores. tiveThe kitchen people are generally more helpful and creative. Prices are competative, but you get more

I recomend purchasing kraftmaid through a small box store, instead of the big box stores. tiveThe kitchen people are generally more helpful and creative. Prices are competative, but you get more

I recomend purchasing kraftmaid through a small box store, instead of the big box stores. tiveThe kitchen people are generally more helpful and creative. Prices are competative, but you get more

I recomend purchasing kraftmaid through a small box store, instead of the big box stores. tiveThe kitchen people are generally more helpful and creative. Prices are competative, but you get more

I have a few things to state about the initial complaint and the responses. I am an ex employee of Home Depot 11 years to be exact. Apparently the consumer was told some incorrect information. First thing Kraftmaid offers a six week lead time. All reorders put on a rapid response you need to allow 3 weeks for delivery. Where the 4 weeks came from I do not know? Kraftmaid has cut their lead time in half for more than likely something they had nothing to do with. But because they are committed to rectifying the issue at hand they are fixing the problem. As far as production of the cabinets they allow a 48 hour window for cancellation of the order. Once the 48 hours has passed they will begin production. Build time and the staining process takes about about 10 days and then there is the ship time from Ohio by train. Then it is cross docked and then shipped out. Unless you have the luxury of having a Train Depot in your front yard this will more than likely set you back another week in shipping. Of course from experience if you would like this shipped next day air, while the cracks and breaks in the sides of your cabinets are quite significant to you, perhaps saw dust in the bottom of a box would be better, I think not! If you have ever read anything about kitchen and bath remodels, you should know there is going to be delays, if we can avoid them, believe me we would. Kitchen and Bath remodels have been known to break up marriages. If you still have that you are a step above many. Good luck in the future!

At least one of you guys now in the loop appears to be a lawyer and should know that resolution isn't going to appear in this forum. Ignoring the querks of each state, there are many aspects to be considered in these situations. The manufacturer will initially hide behind a contractual situation with the retailer and the manufacturer will contend it's the retailers problem to sort out. The retailer based on my experience with Home Depot will say there is nothing they can do because the manufacturer says this or that. The customer is thus left flat with little recourse other than litigation and bad mouthing the manufacturer / retailer. The manufacturer may however be caught with the old maxim (I'll spare the latin)that he who acts through another acts for himself; in effect a master / servant situation whereby the master can't argue he isn't responsible for the actions of his servant / employee. In the relationship of the parties in this case, there is probably a responsibility of the manufacturer as Principal for the actions, or lack of them, of Home Depot, their agent. The manufacurer is or should be bound by the fact that the goods he manufactures, sells and delivers have to be reasonably fit for their intended purpose and / or have to be of merchantable quality. The manufacturer has to be aware of the existance of the ultimate consumer / users and must do all that is reasonable to protect the ultimate customers / users from "harm". The manufacturer is solely responsible for determining the who, what and why of the packing used to ship the goods to the customer. These finished goods are very large and heavy. Based on my experience, the packing they use is not adequate. Similarly, the manufacturer appears to have sole responsibility for selecting the haulage / delivery contractor(s) and thus has a responsibility to ensure that they take the correct precautions to ensure the (inadequately) packed goods are secured / stowed in such a manner that they are not damaged in transit. That they don't follow these obligations is evidenced by situations such as this case. The appalling aspect is that they don't appear to learn or want to learn, that they don't want to deal with disatisfied customers (only happy ones)and they do everything starting with hiding how they can be contacted as well as unfriendly / totally electronic call centers to shield those who should be in the loop from so being. Quality product, customer service and satisfaction in effect are no longer a normal aspect of business. What is a normal aspect is making it so difficult for a customer to get what he thought he was getting, that most customers give up. In effect, it can be said that the customer gets what he pays for - a perceived bargain price and shoddy products / services. But who will turn up a bargain to pay more? Unfortunately that mentality does little more than encourage manufacturers and retailers etc to flourish and persist in bad business practices.

Dear Smart Quote: Home Depot is our customer the end consumer is theirs. It is like buying a car warrenty issues go through the dealer not the manufacturor. It is the Store that pays us not the end consumer. These initial sentences are simply a parrot of my previous comments concerning vendor responsibilities. So, a non-rebuttal, rebuttal, is provided here in part. However, a new issue is raised as to who is the manufacturer's customer. The misguided notion that it is the vendor deserves the further response that follows: There is only one customer. It is for whom the product was designed and to whom the warranty is issued. That is the one that caused the transaction to happen, and provided the funds that in part flowed to the manufacturer. To suggest that it is the vendor, says volumes about the manufacturer's attitude towards its real customers, the end users of its products who paid for them. Regards,

Home Depot is our customer the end consumer is theirs. It is like buying a car warrenty issues go through the dealer not the manufacturor. It is the Store that pays us not the end consumer.

Customer overburdened by vendor tasks. As described here, Home Depot is the vendor (third party), and KraftMaid is the manufacturer with whom a direct buy (by the customer) has NOT been initiated. Under these conditions, it is Home Depot that is responsible for: a) receipt and initial inspection of the product at the job site or vendor facility and b) resolution of damaged and missing product issues prior to delivery to customer premises. When product is delivered (released) to the customer by the vendor, then and only then is the customer become involved with such issues as damaged or missing product. Again these should be addressed to the vendor only for resolution. If the customer is performing these functions in behalf of the vendor, then there is no advantage to buying product through a non-installing third party such as Home Depot. Regards, Geiger

I,ordered Kraftmaid cabinetry in March 2004. The Home Depot I contacted was most helpful and knowledgable. A rep of Kraftmaid called me to confirm my order and to schedule delivery. The cabinets came as promised and delivered carefully and courteously right into my garage as requested. Were the cabinets perfect. No. minor things like a few areas where the finish was not put on completely and a few areas where some finish had not been sanded properly. But, all in all I was satisfied. Especially when I submitted my list of the problems I found. Home Depot took my list and contacted Kraftmaid. In 10 to 14 days the replacement parts were delivered via FedEx or UPS. I considered this great service. The replacement parts were in good condition. Employees of Home Depot and delivery services are no different from employees of other companies. Some people work for their money. Others just put in time, pass the buck and just don't care. Kraftmaid delivered the product they promised and Home Depot did their part to get the cabinets to me. I feel I got my money's worth. Sorry you had this experience.

I have read the exchanges posted to the site. Two years ago I had a problem with Home Depot / Kraftmaid over kitchen cabinets. Basically, instead of wanting "full width" upper level cabinet doors, we wanted half width doors. We spent many thousands of dollars on the purchase and Home Depot did the remodelling design for us. The service was excellent until we were told that two cabinets weren't made in half doors, despite the computer accepting the codes for order processing. There were also damaged units within the otherwise intact looking shipping boxes. I photographed every box as it arrived and as it was opened including close ups of any damage. Home Depot adopted the attitude that Kraftmaid did not make that size cabinet with half doors, so there was nothing they could do. The rep who came along to resolve the dispute and review the damage coupled with defective finishing of the units tried to again impose on us that we had to have full width doors. Ultimately, by a process involving tenacity and internet bloodhound skills, coupled with sufficient patience to overcome on hold "service centers", I found a human being with both a brain and the ability to get things done. It wasn't zip zip, but without too much ado, I got my half doors which they had specially made and all the defective parts were replaced with new ones. In my mind, the skill in becoming a satisfied customer is to get around call centers to real management,know a little about law of contract and what you want. Ultimately, whatever their excuses, if they've taken your money and don't perform, they are in breach of contract and most of the time their arguments are lame duck excuses. It just costs them money to do what you want but ultimately they know that if you take it to court, a judge will rap their nuckles and tell them to make it. Call centers / customer service personnel in most instances, appear to be nothing better than people who have an ability to read screenfulls of text setting out what has to be told to a customer with a given question. They are hog tied to the answers on the screen which are their rules by which they handle the problem. I was taught many years ago that rules are for the guidance of idiots and observance of fools - a very good yardstick to work by! In summary, I was exceedingly frustrated at the time but by patience and perseverance, directly from Kraftmaid without Home Depot's apparent involvement, we got the units we wanted, ultimately in good merchantable condition.

I ordered it through Home Depot, besides I had two employees of Home Depot to see if them could expedite my order. When the two of them told me the same thing, I had every reason to believe them. They had a lot invested in this transaction, too. How long does it take to make a 24 inch vanity with one door. The Home Depot employee was right about the delivery. It did take four weeks to get. Your company did call me to schedule a delivery twice. They delivered the cabinets half way to my house. We had to meet them somewhere to pick the cabinets up both times. Even after we had told them that the kind of truck they were driving could not fit in our neighborhood. If your company knew to replace the cabinet, apparently, they knew that something was wrong. They are not going to replace a cabinet for nothing. When Home Depot called to have that order replaced, Kraftmaid should have called me after talking to them to get the details. That's good customer service. That is what keeps a customer coming back.

I appologize if I seem aggitated on my response. The truth is I receive calls everyday dealing with consumers that are upset because the store has stated something to them. I take pride in the company I work for and have resolved may complaints just like yours. Just a FYI for you, Krafmaid would have been able to replace your cabinet taking only 7-10 days in production then just shipping time from OH to you. Usually our turn around time is between 2-3 weeks at the most. Honestly what happens in most cases is the store fails to put your origional order information on your reorder and your order never gets prioritized. As for the comment on me not even being a CSR there you can beleive whatever you want. Let me put it like this I am doing this for the good of the company that I work for. I am not doing this at work. If you didn't have permission to be replying to these would you leave your name?? We are a decent size CS department and I am the only one with my name in that department so I would likly lose my job! Carolyn if you ever feel that you are wronged by the company please don't hesitate to call customer service we are here to help. You can also write your comments and mail them to our company, we have a group that deals with them and will reply to you. You may also go on Kraftmaid.com and email us and you will get a reply as well. Once again I appologize for the inconvience and if there is ever another time that you order our cabinets please remember your options in case your put in a bad situation again. Sincerely, A dedicated CSR!

I UNDERSTAND THAT YOU WERE TIRED OF WAITING ON HOLD. I AM THE SAME WAY WITH COMPANIES, HOWEVER YOU CANNOT SAY THAT WE SAID SOMETHING TO HOME DEPOT WHEN YOU NEVER SPOKE WITH US! ALSO WE DON'T KNOW THERE IS AN ISSUE IF THE STORE DOESN'T TELL US AND WE DON'T GET YOUR PHONE # ON YOUR ORDERS UNLESS WE DELIVER THEM DIRECT!

I UNDERSTAND THAT YOU WERE TIRED OF WAITING ON HOLD. I AM THE SAME WAY WITH COMPANIES, HOWEVER YOU CANNOT SAY THAT WE SAID SOMETHING TO HOME DEPOT WHEN YOU NEVER SPOKE WITH US! ALSO WE DON'T KNOW THERE IS AN ISSUE IF THE STORE DOESN'T TELL US AND WE DON'T GET YOUR PHONE # ON YOUR ORDERS UNLESS WE DELIVER THEM DIRECT!

I UNDERSTAND THAT YOU WERE TIRED OF WAITING ON HOLD. I AM THE SAME WAY WITH COMPANIES, HOWEVER YOU CANNOT SAY THAT WE SAID SOMETHING TO HOME DEPOT WHEN YOU NEVER SPOKE WITH US! ALSO WE DON'T KNOW THERE IS AN ISSUE IF THE STORE DOESN'T TELL US AND WE DON'T GET YOUR PHONE # ON YOUR ORDERS UNLESS WE DELIVER THEM DIRECT!

I UNDERSTAND THAT YOU WERE TIRED OF WAITING ON HOLD. I AM THE SAME WAY WITH COMPANIES, HOWEVER YOU CANNOT SAY THAT WE SAID SOMETHING TO HOME DEPOT WHEN YOU NEVER SPOKE WITH US! ALSO WE DON'T KNOW THERE IS AN ISSUE IF THE STORE DOESN'T TELL US AND WE DON'T GET YOUR PHONE # ON YOUR ORDERS UNLESS WE DELIVER THEM DIRECT!

Just out of curiosity, do you remember who delivered your cabinet? I really do think you have a chance of filing a report against the carrier. I know you think I might have missed the point, but I am just trying to give you a suggestion on getting your money back. If the carrier damaged your product, they are responsible for it. If you still have the box, check it for visible damage. You wouldn't believe the way people treat boxes. The package I described that was damaged, actually had footprints on it! Someone had actually walked across it and broke parts off of a $30,000 piece of equipment. And they did indeed pay for all damages. I know you are upset with Home Depot, and I agree, it is absolutely rude to ignore a customer complaint. I know that noone wants to take the blame, but you might need to take a different avenue on the issue. Just trying to help.Good luck!

I think that Susan missed the point here. It is not about how the product was damaged. It is about how the two companies took care of the problem. Because as Darren said, no one is going tell if it was their fault. Anyway, I was not concerned about the damage. I understand that thing get damaged. I was not born last night. I was concerned about getting the problem fixed and getting it replaced. It may seem pity to some people, but the money we spent for the cabinet did not grow on a tree. I am sure that if anyone spends that kind of money on a cabinet they would expect the companies to deal with the problem in a timely and professional matter. For example, look at the above rebuttal from the company. Does the tone from the message represent "GOOD" customer service? Does it show that customer satisfaction as their first priority or covering their asses? If this one person represent the customer as a whole, what does that say about the rest of the company? I still say that Kraftmaid should have made an effort to contact me. If they could call me and schedule a delivery, which we still ended up having to pick up everytime, they could have called me to resolve the problem. All I had to go back was what Home Depot told me. I asked her if she could expedite the order, and she said that they could not do it. I stated in the original complaint everything that she told me. In my opinion, either of them tried to resolve the problem. From the time the order was first placed it took exactly two months and one week to get the cabinet. This is ridiculous, but then again, customer satisfaction is their top priority. And to think I gave all of that up to shop with Lowe's.

Carolyn, I have to admit to a perverse pleasure in reading some of these complaints and most especially the people that are there defending the company. I see that NO from Middlefield had responded for the company (with or without sanction). This person claims to be a "dedicated customer service" rep for Kraftmaid. I am starting to doubt that. Oh, the person may work for Kraftmaid, but that might be the only truthful portion of their post. True customer service really happens when something goes wrong... that is where the rubber meets the road. A job title is a noun which is unfortunate when a very becomes a noun. It changes from action to description. Yes, as consumers, we too understand that things happen. However, as a retailer, Home Depot should have immediately become a part of the process to ensure the customer's satisfaction. Kraftmain should have immediately done into action and followed through aggressively. If Home Depot did call Kraftmaid and Kraftmaid did investigate and claim that the cabinet was shipped in good condition, then it looks to me that this is as far as Kraftmaid is willing to go. Period. Would anyone a Kraftmaid actually admit to shipping something that was broke? If I were asked to go down to shipping and ask them if they shipped something that was broke I would feel very very stupid. Duh! If they did, would I really really really expect an honest answer? Or, would I as a shipping person pack it up, hope that it was recieved and accepted as it was, or blame someone else if it came back to me. Please!!! We are customers... not stupid! Lastly, I have to wonder... what exactly does it mean to have a desperate need for the cabinet? How is that rated? On a scale of 1 to 10? Is the service a person is to expect based on a sliding pain scale? Is there a rating matrix where amount of damage is acceptable? Carolyn, "YOU GO GIRL!!!!!!" Good luck and keep up updated! Words are so cheap...

The line of work I am in requires me to use different shipping companies. Occasionally I will receive items that are damaged. Upon delivery, I will thoroughly check the boxes, count them, and look for possible damage to the actual package. One particular box had a side that looked a little smashed in, and when I signed the delivery slip I stated "possible damage" to the box. Sure enough, the expensive piece equipment we had ordered had indeed been damaged. So we filed a claim with the shipping company and received the money for damages "they" caused. My point is the damage may have very well been caused by the deliverer. Always inspect your items before you accept them. It might not be Kraftmaids fault at all.

I tried to contact the company after I talked to Home Depot. I got tried of waiting on the phone for 14 minutes. Kraftmaid could have contacted me just as easy as they say I should have contacted them. If customer satisfaction is important, the company knew that I had a problem with their product and my phone number was given to they when the order was placed, why didn't the company contact me directly to address the problem? Normal when a company know that a customer has a problem they make an effort to contact the person to resolve the problem.

I am a dedicated customer service rep for Kraftmaid and have read most of these complaints. We understand things happen and cabinets get damaged. We will go out of our way to help the situation and push through the cabinets asap. This issue could have been addressed directly to our dept. by calling us not the Home Depot. You are going off of he said she said info. If you are in desperate need for the cabinet all you would need to do is call! We are here for YOU and will assist you in anyway that we can.