All the JSI RTA Cabinets I put in had "Made in Vietnam" stickers. This was late 2020. Two doors were warped and two doors of a mismatched chamfer, but Walcraft is great at sending replacements. I have issues with their assembly style, (you have to get your angle bracket screws dead centered with no pre-drill to keep them square) most seemed to be decent quality, but a bit of slop in the tolerances took a bit of extra finagling to assemble a few of the cabinets properly. PS - love the ~1/2" plywood backs, made it easy to put way too many screws into the studs!

I know this is a little late but it may help someone in the future. I work for a cabinet company and our in-house line comes standard with upgraded plywood boxes. See here: http://www.citycabinetcenter.com/lotus-cabinetry.shtml AND they are on the lower scale in price. The drawback is they are 'what you see is what you get' (color & style). So if you shop around you may find some like these or if anyone is in San Diego come visit us! I hope you like your new kitchen! Here is a link that might be useful: City Cabinet Center

Woahhhhhhh! >>I ordered plywood in all wet areas, which didn't happen, soft=close drawers weren't installed, etc. So you've paid a premium for plywood cabs, yet are willing to settle for veneered particle board cabines and all you're worried about is some inconsequential corner detail? In what world is this even remotely ok? If you don't have this stuff ripped out and done as you ordered it, IMHO, you're 1) nuts 2) wasting time and money on a consultant who is right 3) reliquenish any right to complain later when it swells and falls apart, 'cause they're sure not gonna fix it. 4) lets this company get away, probably again, with producing crap and wearing people down and most importantly, you 5) will always, always be disappointed. You'll be saying, "Yes, it's nice but.." for the rest of your life. I'm sure they count on your DH's attitude of "just get this done". It saves them money, time and materials. I wonder if they just plain sent out the wrong cabinets, since you say your ordered plywood. They've got a 50/50 that you'll let it slide. I wouldn't tolerate this for a minute. If your ordered hardwood floors and they put in a laminate, would you just let it slide just to be done with it? ... ? Let them get by with their "oops, my bad. Here's $50. Shut-the-f-up & live with it." Sorry. I'm mad for you and kind if disgusted with this kind of thing these days. What's a couple of weeks to get this right and what you paid for, in the face of junk for the rest of your home ownership? I'd tell my husband to suck it up and count his blessings. Pray that's the worst inconvenience you guys ever face in your lives, because if it is you're very lucky. Don't accept bad quality. It perpetuates this service and unacceptable "ok for now" crazy talk. Remember: You're not being demanding, you're demanding what you paid for. And they haven't delivered.

It is not a rookie question. If a company does a good job with veneer, it can be hard to tell, since the very top is real wood, it is the part beneath that is particle board, or mdf, or ply. As Jim says, look closely at all the edges. If you see a very narrow seam, that suggests veneer over substrate. If you see end grain on the ends of the piece, it is definitely solid wood, though even if you don't see end grain, it can still be solid wood with trim attached. Also check the underside. Often it is not stained so it may look different, but if it is particle board and they did not veneer the underside, that will be pretty obvious.