Dispute over $$$ with cabinetmaker/designer- Who is right?

12 years ago

OK without getting too wordy or specific:

GF and I hired a design/materials company to design our kitchen and order materials through. The kitchen designer we hired and paid by the hour also was in charge of ordering our materials. She made many, many mistakes and a lot of our materials had to be sent back, or reordered, adding months of delays to our timeline. Most notably, the kitchen cabinets.

We paid 20+k for the cabinets up front and when they showed up, there were a lot of problems. Apron sink not accounted for, wrong heights, wrong configurations, etc. Most of the base cabinets were ok so we agreed that our contractor could modify a few things to make it work, and we could live with some compromises, just to keep the project moving, get our sinks and counters installed, etc. and we'd send back the wall and pantry cabinets to be fixed.

During this process, we were pissed. Someone screwed up and now we are making sacrifices. We asked the designer and cabinet people to do a few small things to (we thought) make up for their mistakes. At no time was it mentioned to us that these things would cost us money out of pocket. (they weren't huge- add a drawer here, cut this cabinet down, replace a few panels).

Cut to time of delivery, and I'm told we owe an additional 3K to the cabinet maker for the modifications and they won't deliver the cabinets until we pay. We "negotiate" them down to 1k and agree just to end the nightmare.

Cabinets get delivered, but the driver doesn't ask for the check. We had agreed in email, under duress, to pay the amount upon delivery, but now that we have our cabinets, are we still obligated to pay?

We NEVER got an estimate or an invoice for any of this work. We paid for our cabinets in full. I strongly feel that we are under no obligation at this point to pay them.You can't just decide that people owe you whatever amount you say and hold their cabinets hostage.

What does GW think?

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Comments (6)

User
12 years ago
You can't "just decide" to upgrade your cabinets based on what you "feel" they owe you. You should have had a signed change order for every mistake that needed to be corrected. You should have had a signed change order agreeing to comp you with the upgrades if that was the agreement. If you assumed that you would be comped, you assumed incorrectly. You ordered the upgraded product, and the manufacturer delivered. You owe them for their product. Your problems were not with them, so why are you trying to penalize them? Your problems were with the KD, so why are you not seeking redress from her? If she does not agree that she was the problem (there are at least two sides to every story) then your next resort would be a lawyer to take her to small claims court. That's irrespective of the money you owe the cabinet company.
yodalin420
Original Author
12 years ago
But the Kitchen Designer was also our materials person. All estimates and invoices have gone through them. What is happening now is that the cabinet maker is trying to get money out of the KD (as they should) and the KD is turning around and trying to charge us for it.
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greg_2010
12 years ago
You agreed in writing (email) to pay a thousand dollars. Nothing else is documented (or even verbally agreed to since you just assumed that the modifications would be free) so I think it's pretty cut and dry that you owe the thousand dollars.
If you want to press them some more over their mistakes and attempt to get some money back, that's your choice. But at this point, you owe the thousand.
deckman22
12 years ago
You owe the 1k to the cabinet makers. Get everything in writing.

These are mistakes that happen when home owners take on projects they know very little or nothing about. A good contractor would not have had these problems & might have saved you $ in the long run.
brickeyee
12 years ago
"We asked the designer and cabinet people to do a few small things to (we thought) make up for their mistakes."

You asked for changes, you received cabinets with changes.

You may have an argument the designer owes the money if they screwed up, but the cabinet manufacturer gets paid no matter what.

You asked, they delivered.
It is your own fault if you failed to ask about cost.

I can call up any number of places and order things.
If I fail to ask about costs and they deliver it is my problem. I have to pay the bill.

There are only a few places I would consider ordering something with no cost discussion (yes, I trust them that much) but they are VERY few.
I have a long working relationship with them,and they know I will pay.
I have a gunsmith I can call and order a new barrel from, and he will ship the barrel with the invoice in the box, knowing I will pay him.
The last barrel was over $600.
All on a call to place an order.

Regretfully not much can be done this way anymore.
snoonyb
12 years ago
"She made many, many mistakes and a lot of our materials had to be sent back, or reordered, adding months of delays to our timeline."

Who referred the designer?
By whom, where and how were these "alleged" mistakes memorialized?
Who selected the cabinet shop?
How many cabinet bids were received?
By not paying them, are you "cutting off your nose to spite your face?"

"We paid 20+k for the cabinets up front"

Another "forest gump"move.
To whom?

"Someone screwed up"

And now you are wondering, after having subordinated your responsibility to others, and paying for it up front, who's at fault, really?

"Now we are making sacrifices."

Well.

"I'm told we owe an additional 3K to the cabinet maker"

By whom and memorialized where?

"We "negotiate" them down to 1k and agree"

Who is them?

Pay the cabinet vendor directly.