Well, that sucks. Who knew the colander could cause such a delay? Yes, their website should be able to tell you when something is out of stock, and, yes, the customer service folks should have been more helpful. On the positive side, I also ordered a Krauss sink from expressdecor.com last summer and it came promptly and was in perfect condition. We ordered kind of early so it sat around in its enormous box for several weeks. When it was still outside in our outdoor kitchen, we parked paper plates and cups on it. When we were working on the electrical stuff it had been moved inside and we used that big box as place to put the tools we needed for the job. Eventually it got packed off with the granite guys for preparing the counter tops. I do love that sink, and I'm sure you'll love yours too when this bump in the road is behind you.

"She then tells me that the colander was out of stock and would be arriving today in the warehouse, so the order should ship tomorrow."

But you saved on shipping.

Adding ANYTHING to a critical order (but especially to save a few dollars on shipping) is just asking for trouble.

Always has been.

Thanks Suzannes1-- I know it's just a bump, but when one *thinks they are doing all they can do* and this happens it's especially frustrating. I mean this is even what the FAQ's on their site says:

All in-stock items leave our warehouse within 1-4 business days after the order is placed. Depending on your location, delivery time is between 2-5 business days after it leaves our facilities.

All out of stock items are indicated on the website. If you purchase an out of stock item you will be notified via e-mail or by phone the expected shipping dates for such items.

Not only did my in stock item NOT SHIP, but I did not get an email or call about the expected shipping date for the newly discovered out of stock item.

Breathe Jan Breathe. ;) I will try to focus on the glowing review about your experience and about how much you love your sink!

Have your tried any of the Kraus soap dispensers by chance? I was going to order a couple from Brizo that went with the Talo series, but it gets poor reviews. I saw a couple by Kraus that might work, but they are nearly as expensive as the Brizo's...maybe more...and I can't touchy feely.

I understand Brickeyee. Maybe I should have thought twice about it, but I do it frequently when I order online and never had an issue. I don't know of anytime they held up my order for one thing that wasn't in stock. Even the website states they will ship the in stock item and email an expected ship date of the out of stock item, neither which happened.

Live and Learn.

I did get the Kraus soap dispener and have not had a very good experience. Oh-that reminds me. When I first had a problem with the soap dispenser, I called expressdecor and they were very nice about it. It was too late for them to do anything about it, but they told me it had a lifetime warranty and gave me the Kraus number to call. The Kraus people were great and sent me a new one in just a couple of days. That one too worked for a couple of weeks and then didn't. I haven't done anything further about it. I'm trying to decide whether to get Kraus to send a third or get something else. To make this all the more complicated, my mom, who had been terribly ill for a long time and needed me, died in early Feb. Somehow, whether or not the soap dispenser worked just didn't make it to the top of the list, but I'm getting better.

Bottom line: love, love, love the Kraus sink, super iffy on the soap dispenser.

I know that everyone orders everything online these days from potato chips to their new car and thinks nothing of it. But....if you had such a last minute time sensitive situation, you needed to either bite the bullet and pay for express shipping, or locate a brick and mortar store that had the product. Your timeline should have had you selecting your sink before you selected your granite. It should have been ordered at the same time you ordered your cabinets. Then everything would have been there when you needed it for the granite templaters. Don't forget that you will also need the strainer basket assemblies, and garbage disposal (and cord, they don't come with cords) for your plumber 24 hours post granite install.

Thanks again Suzanne1...I'm so sorry about your Mom.

@Hollysprings.... We are only doing a small update. Keeping our existing cabinets, and getting new countertops, sink, faucet and adding a backsplash.... We went to look at countertop material and happened to find a 5* granite that was marked down to a 1* price to get rid of the last 2 slabs they had. We loved it 100% more than anything in our price range and had to act right away or chance losing it. (There was some other couple eyeballing it after they pulled the slabs out for us to view) We held it and had our fabricator come look to make sure it was all we would need for out job) Once he approved it he had it taken to his shop, and we started getting the other pieces together.

We also have a small budget. We had 2 sinks in mind, one would not work in our corner cabinet, the other was a budget buster. We looked in every local plumbing store but did not find this brand, and the online deal was what worked for our needs & budget. So very many things are ordered online these days, but that doesn't mean one should not expect a level of customer service and support.

Maybe my rant made it sound like the delay was going to be detremental to my whole project, I didn't mean to give that impression. I simply had an expectation that I passed on to the fabricator based on what I thought was due diligence on my part. The company, IMO, dropped the ball and it it's frustrating.

I wanted to 1) vent, and I appreciate the ability to do that. 2) Just let anyone else know that plans on ordering from this company what they may expect if they have a multi-product order.

The company should have informed me so I could make a decision on what works best for me and my situation. I would have at least felt I had some control and would have been aware of the new reality. It was not until I contacted them did I learn of what was going on. My online order status even said my order was being picked and packed for several days which it was not. Then to get a rude service rep on top of it. It's just not right. It seems more and more you have to babysit the world.

Now that a few hours have passed and as far as the big picture goes, It just means my granite install gets delayed. We will all be able to deal with that. I also know what to expect from this storefront and hopefully others will be aware now too.

I've had good internet ordering experiences and bad ones with various sites, so I feel your pain.

I think one thing many people don't understand is that a lot of "stores" that don't have a "store front" actually drop ship merchandise directly from the manufacturer. Sometimes their inventory systems are connected and sometimes they are not. So just because you see it on a web site (or in a catalog) doesn't mean that an item is sitting in their warehouse. Sitting on merchandise is expensive for retailers.

"but I do it frequently when I order online and never had an issue."

Until you run into someone who has something as simple as a mistake in the warehouse inventory at a distribution center.

Have they offered you a discount for your suffering? Consider filing a claim with the Better Business Bureau.

Have they offered you a discount for your suffering? Consider filing a claim with the Better Business Bureau.

Ugh. It's so frustrating to get poor customer service, and usually I get better service online these days than I find in B&M stores. It sounds like they weren't even apologetic about it. I think the lack of caring would bother me more than anything.

I am sorry for your trouble w/ this online vendor.

As for the colander, did you mean the Kraus colander that fits over the sink?
If it wasn't for your post, I wouldn't have thought to look at nor purchase such an expensive colander (I already have several).

So, how do you like the Kraus colander?
What do you use it for?
It seems rather shallow...

I'm getting the Kraus 32" sink, so I'll have plenty of room to leave this colander in my sink for most of my washing/rinsing needs.

Since I don't have a drying rack (I have a 2nd dishwasher for that) and I am getting marble countertop, the less water I have sitting on my countertop, the better. So I love the idea of this colander:

{{gwi:1800487}}

thank you,
Amanda

Oh that is a real pain, sorry. We had several glitches in our orders for our reno, not from expressdecor, but from other suppliers. I think it's part of the process of a kitchen reno. It would be hard to find anyone who's done a kitchen reno in which nothing had a delay, or return, or problem, or mis-order, etc.

In expressdecor's defense, I have ordered twice from them and both orders went great, came fast, packed like it was Ming china or something. I called to ask a question on the faucet we wanted, and the customer service person was great; he actually called to the warehouse while I was on the phone to check that my faucet was available. Another time I called and asked about the finish, and the person who answered put me on hold while she asked her manager just to make sure she was giving me the right info.

I love our Kraus faucet, the best kitchen faucet I have ever used, and the pleasure is even sweeter cause I know how much of a bargain it was. I agree though with Suzannes1 on the matching soap dispenser. We cannot get the dispenser not to wobble, though the dispensing function itself works fine.