Ah the perils of home improvement!
When last we visited the money pit, the front house remodel was bopping along quite nicely. The contractor’s work was going well and looking fabulous and we were on track to be done by March 1. Then – da-da-DUM – we went to Lowe’s for kitchen cabinets, largely out of loyalty to Chuck’s sister who works for Lowe’s (in Michigan, not California, but still). The fellow we worked with was quite nice, and we were very happy with the cabinets we chose – classic, simple white beaded cabinets with flat faced drawers (and all of the wonderful freebies they threw in: free custom silverware drawer, free trashcan for the trashcan cupboard, free hardware) and after all of the magic discounts were applied (I haven’t had an experience that reminded me so much of buying a car since I bought a car!) the price seemed pretty okay too. The Lowe’s kitchen guy told us it would be four weeks to delivery, which was kind of long but not unexpectedly long.
A week goes by and we get a call from KraftMaid, the company that makes the cabinets we bought. They were calling to confirm the order we had placed at Lowe’s. And they told us the delivery time was 8 weeks out. Uh, say what?! This is a rental property, folks, and we’d like to get it rented in the not too distant future. So we called Lowe’s and asked what was up with this new far away delivery date. Oh, says the kitchen guy, the companies get busy and this happens. Really? You knew this and you failed to tell us this when we originally came in because why? Oh yeah, you wanted the sale and figured once we were stuck in the process we wouldn’t back out. Unfortunately he figured right. After thinking the whole thing over, if we had started over again, we would have had to start the clock over which would lose us more time. Our choices were: go with Lowe’s (aka the lying cheating bastards) or go with cabinets from someplace like Cabinets To Go (which will deliver faster but offers few design choices). So here we are, the rest of the house is done but we now have to sit on our hands and wait for March 21 when we really, really hope they deliver the kitchen cabinets.
Moral of the story: no idea. But don’t believe a word Lowe’s kitchen people tell you about delivery dates. Grrrrr…
Meanwhile, pics of the work done so far are here (and I can’t say enough great things about Julio and the work he’s done but given the number of business cards he’s handed out to our neighbors, I think he’s feeling pretty appreciated).
Now, now that’s a bit harsh, I’m not REALLY a lying bastard. I AM amazed that you have an 8 week delay. we do not here in icky old Michigan, It does not help your plight but still. just sayin’ The other thing that may have made your kitchen designer a little less sympathetic to your plight is the 25% pay cut he just took in order to keep his job. Apparently Lowe’s decided that the commissions that we got paid from the cabinet companies, would look A LOT better in their bottom line than ours. In all seriousness, have you tried bitching up the ladder?
No worries – I don’t think you or your fellow designers are the lyin’ cheatin’ bastards. It’s the corporate dweebs who put the pressure on you all to make the sale. but we are resigned to the wait. We DO like the cabinets we picked out.
Patience is a Virtue. Believe me, I am learning the art of patience.
I think the kitchen cabinets will be worth the wait. March 21st will be here before you know it. Hang in there!