I recently ordered my cabinets, and the KD told me they'd arrive by June 1. When she called two weeks later, the date had slipped to June 16. In my case, June 1 was her estimate based on previous orders, June 15 is the date the cabinet maker gave her.

Similar thing happened to me--was told 5/6 delivery, but called today to check. KD told me he "just found out" that they would be delayed a week. These sorts of things are par for the course, especially since my cabinets are custom and do need to be shipped to me.

What does sound concerning is that they expected payment in full up front. I have to say that sounds sketchy. I paid 50% up front for my cabs this time and in every previous remodel I have done. I have always ordered from small-ish cab shops (basically shops that are dealers of several cab brands), though, perhaps things are different with big box or solo cabinet makers.

Any disclaimers about delivery date in your contract? Have you dealt with the KD or KD's company before, or known someone who has? Who's the manufacturer? As I said above, delays of a couple of weeks are not a red flag in and of themselves, but doubletalk when someone has taken the entire payment is concerning. I'm sure I'm more paranoid than the average person but I don't think you're crazy to be a little concerned.

The whole thing is fishy!! I just checked and there is nothing on the contract regarding delays or the estimated delivery date. I do have email trails with my KD mentioning the delivery dates. I am going to be patient for another week or so and we will see where we go from there. I don't know what the law says. I can't believe this is happening to me!!!

What brand of cabinets did you order? Or are they made local? It is not uncommon for lead times to change.

I would ask to have a copy of the factory acknowledgment. There's no reason why they can't do this. I often email my clients factory acknowledgments for their peace of mind.

Must be the month for it. Just found out my cabs will be taking an additional two weeks. Now looking at a June 5th date. However, I only paid half to get them ordered. Hope yours works out well for you.

Krompy - The cabinets are made in NJ. I asked for some type of confirmation and was given a PO number. Does a factory acknowledgment typically include a detailed list of what was ordered?

Just an update - The cabinet guy kept on pushing the date out and when we asked to get us a firm date, he said June 6. He then offered to refund our money because of all the delays. We went to see him at his showroom to collect our money, and he had the nerve to say that the money was going to be coming from the factory. We told him that he was the one who should be refunding the money to us ....anyhoo, one thing led to another and lots of words were exchanged and cops were called (mind you, this was a new experience for us). ....he told the cops that we should expect to get our money by Monday next week.

Anyway, DH called the factory today and they told him that the KD never placed our order!!! Can you believe it? In fact, we were told that he owes them money and that he was on credit hold. They are in the process of sending a collection agency on him....

So, 6 weeks without a kitchen and a $9K loss....that is our story. We have contacted a lawyer who is going to try to help us recoup something. I am not confident that we will get much. Plus, who knows how many people he owes money to.

I wish I paid with a credit card....a big lesson for us!

Shame on him.....Karma is a b*tch!

I am so very sorry - my heart goes out to you! DW and I are rooting for you to get paid back. Keep us posted.

I am so sorry to hear about this. I hope you are able to get things resolved soon. If you were closer to me, I would refer you to my KD. Have had good luck with him. Good guy to work with.

Crap,

I hope your lawyer gets all your money back!

Credit card is fine if the company accepts it. My kitchen place is small and just starting up, so they didn't accept credit cards for my large order (though they did when I ordered a bathroom vanity last month). On the other hand, I only had to put down a fairly small deposit (maybe 15%), and didn't make another major payment until a significant amount of work/product had been delivered.

Do we have a list of do's and don'ts anywhere? Putting down a 100% deposit has got to go to the top of the list!

Thank you everyone for your support.

raehelen, I will start a new thread with a list of do's and don't. I would hate for something like this to happen to anyone else!

ni 2006- is this KD located in NJ or are the cabinets just manufactured in NJ. I live in NJ and just want to make sure I avoid this KD's shop. Thanks!

So sorry to hear about your troubles.

malhgold, the KD is located in MA. Do your research and only pay with a credit card so that you can dispute the charges if anything happens. Always go with your gut feeling...if you have hesitations about your KD, better to go somewhere else...

So sorry to hear about that, ni. I had a bad feeling about it after reading your post several weeks ago. I was the one that told you to ask for the factory acknowledgement and I remember you said that he got really defensive. i just knew it was a bad sign of things to come.

My business lost $22K from a builder last year. It's really upsetting. The builder was a past customer and was a pretty good guy...but his wife became ill and they had to declare bankruptcy. So, it's hard to be that mad....but it's a lot of money for a small shop like mine to absorb. From now on, we're asking builders for deposits too.

Kompy