Affordable Cabinets and Granite of New Hope

If you are doing a kitchen remodel and considering buying granite from “Affordable Cabinets and Granite at Fabrication Station” it might not be a horrible idea. The name of their company is literal; they are affordable. The product is satisfactory and the measure and install of the granite was relatively painless. However if you are considering buying cabinets from them, please read this first: I started a very simple project of replacing countertops and a small kitchen ISLAND (not full kitchen cabinetry) in May of 2019. After paying a $2000 deposit on June 11, I was told that I could anticipate someone coming to measure my project “by the end of the week”. There were multiple issues with completing each step and establishing a timeline for install, including what appeared to be the salesman’s emails not going through to my email address. Finally, my countertops and island were delivered and installed on August 14. As stated above, I was satisfied with the countertops. But the island was not acceptable. I expressed initial concern to the installer when the cabinets were brought in the door. I was assured that they would be fine once he finished the install; I actually remember him saying, “We’re not done. Let me finish.” Well, mistakenly I did. The “custom painted” cabinetry’s finish was riddled with smudges, drips, scratches, and basic poor paint coverage. Further, the installer attempted to work with the irregularities using a black sharpie (no touch up paint) and paint thinner to buff out the irregularities. Unfortunately these efforts messed up the finish further. I made my concerns clear to Affordable Cabinets and after an exchange, they did the right thing and discounted the cabinet by half. I accepted this option because the granite was already installed and I thought that three months into it, we were nearing the end of this simple project. But we were not done. The trim piece was missing for the perimeter of the island. On 9/6, it arrived and was installed. Unfortunately the size of the trim left the corners of the unfinished cabinetry exposed. It looked terrible. There were several opportunities to avoid this outcome during their process including during the design consultations (bigger trim piece), the painting (proper surface prep), and possibly a Hail Mary with the install? So again, Affordable Cabinets agreed to try to rectify the situation by replacing trim with a taller piece. But wait. Still not done. The trim was replaced with a larger piece on November 8. (I hadn’t heard from them since September and had a bid to have someone else fix the job.) The install was terrible. The miter cut is uneven with pieces of the wood chipped off. I drew this to the installer’s attention. He told me to get some caulk and fix it. (To illustrate the level of professionalism of the installer, I will share that along the way he told me he disliked my granite choice, hated my hardware choice, and implied that my children are poorly behaved! WTH?!) At this point I realized that this project was not going to be completed to my expectations. But at least it was completed. It was about this time that I saw the paint literally chipping off the top of doors and drawers, and that the drawers were no longer hanging straight. I was promptly billed via email on 11/11. I fully admit that due to being distracted by a family emergency, I totally spaced it. My humanity is on full display. My next email arrived January 10 with a promise to file a lien on my house if the balance wasn’t paid in full immediately. Again, WTH? Remember the email fail back in June? It appears that it happened again. But despite having multiple phone contact numbers for me, this guy made ZERO attempt to repair a communication breakdown, assumed I wasn’t going to pay my bill, and decided to threaten a lien. Really? After my PROFOUND patience throughout this entire DEBACLE? Additionally, their plan for me to pay them via credit card was to email my credit card and billing information via unsecured email. One more: WTH?!? Bottom line: My husband works within the small business community. We make every effort to support small, independent, local businesses whenever possible. I so picked the wrong one. If you choose this business for your cabinetry, you can expect communication breakdowns with zero attempt to repair, inefficiency, unprofessionalism, overconfidence, and sub par outcomes. I would have never knowingly signed up for this bush league experience. Think twice.