I am so sorry about your disaster. Just when you think you have it all covered, by going with a one-stop-shop, this kind of thing happens. Best of luck and I know it will all be fine once it is done - it's the in between that's horrendous.

I have to admit that this post had me scared (I just ordered cabinets from Lowe's last week) until I realized this vent is mostly about the installer from Lowe's. We did all our measuring, and we have a local contractor doing the kitchen (and a LOT of us!) Cabinets are scheduled for delivery the first week of December from KraftMaid and we'll keep our fingers crossed.

Good luck with it all!

Nica

I have heard nightmare stories about Lowes installers and yours is another one. It sounds like your kitchen will eventually be perfect though.

Although I always buy my cabinets from Lowes; I direct my own design. It is a great place to buy cabinets; you just have to hire your own installers. The KDs at Lowes are usually just learning so you unfortunately need to check everything to make sure they didn't miss anything. You have to give the actual spec sheet for each appliance to the KD too. I discovered this after I had the wrong oven base ordered because she didn't look at the specs and I didn't look at the cutout dimensions. But it was eventually fixed and everything is fine. Lowes was great about correcting mistakes so I will be ordering bathroom cabinetry from Schuler again in a few weeks.

Smile and hopefully soon it will all be over and you will have a beautiful new kitchen for the holidays!

Delivery dates are controlled by the manufacturer who communicates directly with the customer. Nothing ANY retailer can do to "speed it up". Demo should NEVER occur until you are 100% sure that all parts and pieces of the order are on hand. Sounds like you didn't wait for that to happen and you did the demo yourself instead of hiring the cabinet installers to do it. A difficult job is often made more difficult by the interjection of a "to do" list that the homeowners expect to accomplish before the professionals take over. Demolition is one of those things that has to be timed right. You can't just tear out your cabs as soon as the delivery happehs. You or the installer sto have checked in every piece of that order and be happy with it before scheduling the install, and the demo should be scheduled 2 days before the install date for a non pro to give them enough time.

Plumbing, electrical, trimwork, and other issues are pretty much standard occurences. It's unfortunate, but true. No remodel goes 100% smoothly. If the installer mismeasured the wall space for the design, and it won't work without plumbing modification in real life, then the plumber comes out of his paycheck. Yes, it adds time to the install. Yes, it's an inconvenience. Yes, it would still be something holding it up otherwise. Take deep breaths.

Did you give the specs of all of your appliances to the KD? If you didn't, and they designed with "standard" dimensions, then this is a problem generated by you. Big box KD's often don't "tweak" 2020 when it comes to actual appliance dimensions and use the default. Only when actually given the spec sheets do they think about the issue. Standard proceedure is that the customer furnishes the dimensions of the appliances for the designer. DW's are pretty much all standard (except for Euro ones), and refrigerators are also, but some new fridges are going outside the size box, so it's up to you to make sure the designer has the correct dimensions of your particular model.

Sorry, but a lot of this miscommunication sounds like it was on your end.

Really I have to agree with live wire oak. Things happen. Cabinets always go missing. You always have to tell a KD about your appliance sizes.

I ordered my cabinets from buycabinets and they/we forgot a oven cabinet - not a minor piece. It was on the initial plans but got lost when the cabinets were itemized. It happens. An honest mistake. Doors were missing, pieces were broken - it happens. I think they did a great job handling all of it.

Never demo until cabinets are in hand (and checked for completeness) and never expect there to be no snags/delays. Always provide appliance measurements but I agree with LWO - most refrigerators are standard but you probably have one that is not. Not really the KD's fault.

When you purchase from a big box store, one has to realize there is a lot of DIY involved. If you can't or won't get deeply involved in making certain that all the bases are covered, than go with an independent KD or custom shop that will hold your hand and do the entire job from top to bottom.

Doing a lot of research, i.e. in this and other forums, will give you a great deal of insight into the process, pitfalls and all. We bought almost all our supplies from Lowes: cabinets, appliances, drywall, etc. We found their prices, delivery, and service to be excellent. Yes, we had to ask the right questions, yes we had to do a lot of the actual design work, yes we double checked everything; but in the end we got what we wanted, and it was done correctly and for a good price.

I would not hesitate to use them again.

Uhhhhh... those of you that wait for demo tiull cabinets arrive and have been checked, where do you put these cabs, unbox them, and store them while the homeowner removes the old appliances, cabinetry, counters, soffits, plaster/sheetrock, moves walls, lays new floors, puts up walls , moves plumbing and electrical, re-rocks, paints and then cleans up for the install?????? Your folks must have huge houses in order to store this. Also, this is not faster, all of that prep work can be done while you are waiting for the cabinets to be made or arrive. It's very, very rare that a damaged or incorrect cabinet will hold up an entire install. For example the OP's job could have been installed and when the new fridge box arrived, hoist it up 4-8 screws and......done.

My cabinets are KM from a local plae. The KD had all of the appliance specs months prior to ordering the cabinets. I asked many question regarding the appliance spaces and making sure they would fit with the cabinets the KD speced. It did not seem to help. None of the appliances I purchased are going to fit in the spaces allotted by the KD. Not one.... Luckily, I purchased them from Lowes and Sears. They have been holding them for months. When I explained the situation, both stores were willing to accept returns without any restocking fees. Lowes no longer carried the fridge model I bought, but still accepted the return.
I really am sorry for your situation, but life is too short to become a basket case over a kitchen(at least in my case it is) I have been attempting to resolve all of my kitchen issues since Last July!@(July 2006) Granted, I don't have everything demoed yet, just bits and pieces. The KD firm is just now coming around to see that cabinets that don't fit cannot be installed and the issues are on their end... They have finally offered to order almost all new cabinets for the ones that do not fit.
My issue is now that all of the appliances I purchased were on sale. Replacing them where I need to have a certain size becuse of the reconfigured kitchen, and wanting to get the same quality/type of appliances will cost me approx $4000.00 more than the appliances I originally purchased. Something has got to give. I don't expect the KD to pay the extra for my appliances, but there will have to be some consessions on their part. They will need to repurchase 2 new cabinets in different sizes to accomodate a slight redesign in the space to fit in appliances I can afford to repurchase. $4000.00 is a lot of money for their mistake. I will meet them part of the way.
Please don't let this experience ruin your kitchen. It will be fabulous and much better than what you started out with. In a year, all of this will hopefully be a distant memory. I hope this is the worst thing you have to contend with in your long, wonderful life!

Sorry this happened to you. If it makes you feel better, we had the same thing happen to us. Some of our appliances (both existing and new) didn't fit right even though the KD had all of the specs well in advanced. And we went through a kitchen company that *specializes* in residential kitchens! And we were willing to pay a little extra for the "expertise." Ugh!

Be glad you went through Lowes. Your chances of getting this resolved in your favor (without going to court) are probably pretty good. Although it may take a while.

To get things to fit in our case, we wound up switching to a different type of fridge and they made some sort of adjustment to our existing oven (shaved down the feet?). It was a big deal at the time but we don't really think that much about it now. We are happy to have a functional kitchen! Good luck!

I just have to chime in that we went through Lowe's and have been very pleased that we did. Yes, we've had issues with cabinets coming in that were damaged and though it did not delay the install, it has delayed finishing my kitchen completely. But our installer (sub contracted throught Lowe's) was awesome. He is a custom cabinet builder who does the Lowe's installs on the side and he's been very helpful in re-ordering broken pieces, tweaking things to make them work, helping with things that were originally going to be DIY, and a real pleasure to work with. So when you post a thread titled "Do not buy cabinets from Lowe's", I think that gives people the wrong idea. Any company can have those kinds of problems.

I'm sorry you're going through this and I hope it gets resolved quickly and to your satisfaction.

I had a crummy DW installer through Lowe's. Very prompt, but didn't install it right AND threw away (or never got yu-huh) many parts for applying panels. Lowe's wasn't too bad to deal with.

But. It does sound like one needs to know exactly what they're doing to order cabinets from Lowe's. They shouldn't claim to have full-serve kitchen services although some of the KDs are probably fine. A KD that doesn't insist on specs for all appliances isn't much of a KD. That's like, BASIC!

But even the best KDs will get cabinets wrong. It's part of the job. And they order new ones. True, they can't rush production, and you have to accept the wait, but cabinet reorders is part of the job and nobody should get grouchy over that!

It's not REALLY dflood's fault entirely when the store pretends to have everything covered. But the store certainly ought to have been more accomodating, no matter who made the mistakes (and especially if the mistakes were theirs). They should never get snippy with customers.

I am sorry about your situation but I feel that I have to chime in and say that Lowes cabinets (Shenandoah McKinley collection), customer service, delivery, and replacement of broken cabinet were all fantastic. I would have no problem ordering from them again, our KD was top notch.

We had one problem with a broken upper corner cabinet that came. They sent a new one out in 3 days. It was great.

I installed all the cabinets myself and everything went smooth. The cabinets are of great quality.

Hope everyting works out.

Big box stores aren't always duds. I found a great KD at my local HD who was a great help and very patient when we were designing our bath. He knew a lot of things to do, like putting fillers in certain places, ensuring sufficient wall space to put crown molding, etc., was a great help getting me exactly what I wanted, and was more responsive than several other designers I shopped around at, including Lowe's and a local place.

I went back to him for our kitchen cabinets (should be arriving in about 10 days!), and again was very pleased with the help he provided, but in my obsessive-compulsive fine-tooth combing of the cabinet list, I found a few things he missed. Like he had each of the fillers ordered to a custom size, and I said why not just a couple long ones and we'll cut to size, saving a couple hundred $$. And he had a 36" cabinet over our 36" fridge, but you need some space to slide it in, so we had to add fillers, and adjust another cabinet to make it smaller.

So my advice is always review everything in detail just to make sure it makes sense. One benefit of HD is that they'll take back special order cabinets within 90 days, so if you or they screw up it doesn't cost anything (but time) to fix. That's a huge benefit, and helps a lot with the peace of mind.

We're installing ourselves, so we've begun demo. The bathroom cabinets were right on time, so we're betting that the kitchen ones will be as well. Can't wait!

God it sucks when your expectations are high and the realization is a disappointment! I really sympathize with how lousy it feels.

Wanna feel better? Our cabinets are custom made by a high-end guy AKA "the cabinet jerk" and we've been going through the same stuff for 6 or 7 months now. So, aggravation is just part of this process but at least you saved a whole hell of a lot of money and I won't be able to say that. ;>

I have to say that my experience with Lowes has also been the opposite of the original poster and I posted about it in another thread. My cabinets came on time, the order was complete except for two cabinets missing matching wood end skins and an endpanel that my KD and I put in that got missed by both of us on the final order. That was fixed as promptly as the cabinet company could produce the required pieces. The only other issue is that the microwave won't fit into the custom shelf we built for it because the cabinet frame overlaps the opening too much. But the installer is excellent and said he can fix without a problem. I guess I never thought that everything would go perfectly, so I was prepared for some bumps along the way. Something always comes up. The installer will be here tomorrow to complete the light rail and the issues mentioned above. Assuming that the finishing work is done as meticulously as the install was (my plumber even commented on how the quality of the work and he is TOUGH), I could not be any happier.

I am sorry that your experience has been so different, and that your store steps up to the plate to solve your issues for you.

Best,

Mike

I appreciate the support and well wishing! I was really mad yesterday borderline meltdown as a coworker had to give me a couple of her Xanax to calm me down! Lol...

My biggest problem with this whole mess is the fact that they claim to be a one stop east no worries kind of deal. That has proven so far to from the truth. I really wished that I had ordered from one of the online sources. I would probably not be in this situation as this is the only thing I have not done myself. Everything else has come out perfect! Including my amazing burnished "clay plastered" walls.

What bothered me about the first delay is that the installers rescheduled the entire install due to one small cabinet that went over the range. I understand that they probably didn't want to come to my home twice. I guess my fault there was not complaining to Lowe's at that point... The rest of the issues are completely unacceptable to me! Especially the KD not owning up to her mistakes.

I do stand behind my title of this post. I wished I had done more research on the mistakes the big box stores make! I guess the fact that we didn't spend $20,000+ on cabinets for our small galley kitchen is still a good thing!

Oh yeah almost forgot to tell you guys the my kitchen is very small and simple! Galley kitchen in townhouse that is only about 14 yrs old. I really had no fear of semicustom cabinets from Lowe's...

Feeling better today...

I also had a good experience with Lowe's. I didn't pay much attention to their hype about taking care of everything. I triple checked all the measurements after the order was printed. The installer came out and measured before installing too. I would have considered it my fault if my fridge didn't fit because I measured it myself after the plans were made.

The key for me was the KD. I talked to probably 5 people before I found one who obviously had a brain and experience. I made friends with the KD, and she made sure I got the best installer they have.

We had a few problems, mostly with the cabinet supplier, but nothing that was any different from what almost everyone else here has. I'd go back to Lowe's again - if the same KD is there.

Oh yeah another thing she never asked me about was my sink!!! I never thought to tell her!!! EEEEK! Could that be a problem??? its a pretty standard sink from galaxy, not sure which model. I'm going to go dig it out right now and check. I think my sink base is 36"???

If you already have your sink and didn't check to see if it would fit your cabinet, that's your fault. That's a pretty basic thing there and you should have given your sink specs to your KD. Don't blame Lowe's.

On the other hand, a KD that doesn't even think a sink is part of a kitchen has no business calling themself a KD.

A 36" base will probably be fine. You COULD have gone crazy with a jumbo sink, but most people wouldn't. If you have a smaller sink, you might have a few inches slightly less useful as they'll be under the sink cabinet, but it's not the worse thing.

I do agree that the main issue is that they made you think they were covering everything, and they just don't. There's no sign saying "Warning: must know all basics of kitchen design before using our services because we may or may not have competent people".

Should you have known this stuff ahead of time? Not necessarily if you were hiring who you THOUGHT you were hiring.

It'll work out, but it may take a while. Don't make enemies with the Xanax dealer just yet! :)

If you continue having difficulty meeting minds with the regional manager and believe it's on her/his end, remember the phrase, "Who can I speak with who is authorized to resolve this problem to our mutual satisfaction?"

Or some variant thereof.

One of my mother's mottoes is to never accept "no" from someone who is not authorized to say "yes."

Good luck, Cate

Once again thanks for the support! fori the Xanax comment had me on the floor laughing...

I don't understand how any of this can be my fault since they pretend to be this one stop kitchen place. I've been in the service/sales industry for years. Service writer/manager at a couple of auto dealers. So I know how to put an estimate together! I'm sure when you take your car in for repairs you don't know the specifics or the depth of most repairs. All you know is, your whatever is not doing what your whatever is supposed to. That is my job to let you know what is required and what is going to cost before the repairs are even made. Also even what to expect if there is anything to expect (break in of new brakes etc...). If something goes wrong it is entirely my fault or my shops fault not yours. If there is a delay there is always some sort of freebie or discount, unless I'm working for a Nazi!

I didn't expect this as a result. They promise smooth and simple. My only fault is that I didn't complain when they pushed the first install date back due to the shipping issue. If I had insisted on partial install I would have discovered the plumbing/drawer stack problems sooner. I'm over it at this point. Whatever will be will be...

This has been a great learning experience! I now know what to expect when you remodel. ITS NEVER SIMPLE!!! Next summer is bathrooms.

I hope the granite install goes better... I bet they sold my beautiful slab! LOL

Once again thanks for the support! fori the Xanax comment had me on the floor laughing...

I don't understand how any of this can be my fault since they pretend to be this one stop kitchen place. I've been in the service/sales industry for years. Service writer/manager at a couple of auto dealers. So I know how to put an estimate together! I'm sure when you take your car in for repairs you don't know the specifics or the depth of most repairs. All you know is, your whatever is not doing what your whatever is supposed to. That is my job to let you know what is required and what is going to cost before the repairs are even made. Also even what to expect if there is anything to expect (break in of new brakes etc...). If something goes wrong it is entirely my fault or my shops fault not yours. If there is a delay there is always some sort of freebie or discount, unless I'm working for a Nazi!

I didn't expect this as a result. They promise smooth and simple. My only fault is that I didn't complain when they pushed the first install date back due to the shipping issue. If I had insisted on partial install I would have discovered the plumbing/drawer stack problems sooner. I'm over it at this point. Whatever will be will be...

This has been a great learning experience! I now know what to expect when you remodel. ITS NEVER SIMPLE!!! Next summer is bathrooms.

I hope the granite install goes better... I bet they sold my beautiful slab! LOL

Oh yeah, what is this talk of standard dimensions for refrigerators? From what I've seen with the fridge it can be all over the place. So yeah it was her responsibility to ask for specs. Especially since we had a talk about our appliances at one point. She wanted me to get a part time job selling theirs!

More mistakes! The installers came to finish up the island that they were not able to initially install. I made the appropriate plumbing repairs. After the cabinet went in they realized the back panels for island were incorrect. So another order was put in. Not too frustrated at this point as I am now able to get my granite templates done and I'm already waiting for my other replacement that goes over the fridge.

After they left I noticed that the hole they cut into the sink base for the plumbing is huge! My cat could jump under the sink base and have a litter of kittens!!! I could lose my cleansing products in this black hole! Dramatics aside the hole is like 12"x10" when in reality it could have been 6"x4". Then I noticed the hole they cut into the back of my cabinet over the range, I think they used a chisel. Very jagged and splintered. Two of the doors don't close properly as they are not adjusted properly and hit the trim at the top of the cabinets. The giant hole is the main gripe as that is completely unacceptable. The manager offered to have the sink base replaced. Not gonna happen as I am getting the template done on 12/3. What should I do/ask for? Money back on the install??? The manager is coming over to view tomorrow morning.

On a better note, we went to the local appliance store as we changed our minds on the dishwasher. Our salesman let us know about a rebate on Jennair appliances and offered to void or current ticket and rebill so that we could get a 500 rebate! We had no idea about the rebate and we had paid for the appliances way back in April!

The giant hole is the main gripe as that is completely unacceptable. The manager offered to have the sink base replaced. Not gonna happen as I am getting the template done on 12/3. What should I do/ask for? Money back on the install???

I would want the cabinet replaced; and I would talk w/ the granite folks, etc., about how to make that happen without delaying the granite install (shouldn't affect the templating--just might affect the install). If you can get the new cabinet ordered NOW, it might be delivered inbetween templating and install.

If it turns out that you can't swap out the cabinet without screwing up the granite install, then I would want the cabinet installer to cut a new piece of wood (in the proper wood finish) to use to line the inside of the cabinet so that it LOOKS as if the hole is the right size, and so the cut edge is smooth.

Are you also getting your granite through Lowes? If so, maybe the manager can help recoordinate the granite templating/install (if need be) while he deals with getting the cabinet issues resolved. (For what its worth, I would want a new cabinet).

I think it is good that the manager recognizes that there is a problem, is coming out to look at it and is already willing to do a replacement. That says a lot about his willingness to work with you. Believe me, not all places are like that!

Also, congrats on your dw deal. Sounds pretty sweet :)

I like the idea of a peice of wood to line the bottom of the cabinet. I'm really not feeling good about anymore install work from the cabinet guys. I will probably resolve the hole myself. At this point I just want some money back. I have lost all faith in these guys!

Heck no am I getting my granite from Lowe's!!! If I was it would be canceled at this point. I'm getting from a local shop/yard. MMMMM!!! Verde Fire!!! can't wait!!! I will post picks when this mess is over!

You guys will love my walls! The clay plaster finish came out much better then I could have ever imagined!

We ordered Diamond cabinets from Lowes in April. My husband is a DIY guy and did all the demo and installation himself. We had all the specs for our new appliances with us when ordering and had no problems at all. With that said my mom had a countertop bought and installed from Home Depot- it was a nightmare and my husband ended up fixing their botched job. I think Home Depot and Lowe's are good if you can DIY- if not go to a Kitchen place that will offer help with design and install to hold your hand through it all.

hi I just bougth $5000 worth of cabenits from Lowes and am now sceard.
I feel good about the sizing, color so forth but what have they forgotten to twell me. Does the toe kicks come with Diamond brand. do I need fillers. all sizes seem to fit good right now. Small Kitchen. and what about their no payment till 1/09. Do I trust that they say all will be on this financing even the counter tops I buy after the 12/2/07 dead line. They assure me it will. I will doulbe check out the installer before they start and all the pieces. I will not tear out old till that is done. any hidden cost I do not know about. $5000 is my limit here but ok with cost of counter tops and install, but what culd be missing..

any help would be great thans..

R

I have a LOT of retail management experience and I would have to say that Lowe's -- and any other specialty shop -- will have good employees/customer experiences and perhaps some not-so-good. The most important thing to consider is the longevity/strength/reputation of the company. The stronger the company, the more likely you are to have everything either done correctly the first time or resolved properly and to your satisfaction. A big company like Lowe's will have the financial resources to take care of your problem through to the end. IMHO, if you work with the manager (and treat them respectfully) you will likely end up satisfied in the end. Smaller and/or independent shops have less overall money to play with and may cut you off before you have total resolution. Again, just my honest (and experienced) opinion.

Having said that, it is true that you may deal with a less experienced KD at the larger places from time to time -- but isn't that also true of small shops? Everybody has to start their career somewhere. Again... just my opinion. However, I will say that just because you have a poor experience at one Lowe's, doesn't mean everyone else will too. They have how many stores?

I think one explanation for the difference in experience is the difference in expectations. I went in thinking that the person I worked with was a cabinet salesperson, not a KD. I had decided to act as my own general contractor. I don't remember them representing themselves as a KD or GC. I had lowe (ha) expectations, and they exceeded my expectations by quite a margin.

I got those low expectations by trying out several salespeople there. Some were appalling.

Re: "This is the biggest one for me. Accountability. Our KD proceeded to claim that it is our fault we never told her about our new fridge. Even though we had many conversations about how expensive our new dishwasher purchase has turned out to be! Yes thats right, she knew from the first moment we started on this that we had all new appliances! "

Did the Lowes KD come to your house & take measurements? Was the old refrigerator there & that is what they based the plans on?

I'm not sure how several discussions regarding a new dishwasher ends up communicating to the KD that you also are getting a new refrigerator.

Did you supply the mechanical dimensions of the refrigerator to the KD or at least the model number & tell them they would have to get the dimensions from that?

I agree with "janwad" Often times those that have problems with the big box stores come in thinking that they are dealing with custom shops and will get all the hand holding necessary. Lowes and HD are primarily aimed at DIYers. Never have I felt Lowes to be, as "dflood75" claimed, "one stop...no worries." What they do have is a depth of inventory. One stop shopping means you don't have to go to five different suppliers to get what you need to complete a project, not "We do it all."

In fact it is just the opposite: Lowe's pitch is "Let's build something TOGETHER!" HD says, "YOU can DO IT, WE can HELP!" When you realize this, purchasing from a big box store can work well.

I'm sorry you're having this problem - so frustrating. The KD at Lowes makes all the difference in the world. We had an outstanding KD who not only stayed on top of our order, but selected the installer (Lowes has a list of installers and KDs often rotate, but ours knew which were best and stuck with those). Hopefully your problems will be ironed out soon. We had an excellent experience with Lowes - I wish you did too.

Let me address a few things as I forget how forums can be...

First, the reference to the new dishwasher ='s all new appliances statement. That is sort of an inside joke between me and my partner on how this whole kitchen remodel got started. We initially went to buy a new dishwasher which turned into all new appliances which in turn became new counters, etc... haha very funny... We shared this silly story with the kd at lowe's. So she was aware of the new appliances. No she did not come the house to measure. I don't think they can leave the store. The installers did the measuring.

To the statement of do it yourself with Lowe's bla bla. When the person who sells you cabinets calls themselves a "kitchen designer" what else should I expect??? I didn't want to be held to her bosom and coddled! All I wanted was professionalism and if mistakes are made, accountability! Yes I'm sure we will get some money back, but I would rather have enjoyed my cabinet purchase rather then have a discount.

The latest is they want to replace the sink base and they want to coordinate with the granite people. Yes thats right I found out the company I bought the granite from is one of their installers!!! At this point I am terrified!

Sorry about the sarcasm but I am sick of defending myself on this forum... I just want my experience to be known. If had read something like this I probably would have been more savy about my cabinet purchase. I got one custom quote and about fainted. Should have looked around more or ordered online. Thought sometimes you can't go wrong with corporate outfits. Figured they do this so much and have been, for a while... I really didn't find any major nightmare stories concerning cabinets and lowe's on this forum. Oh yeah, lately I have heard from quite a few locals about install nightmares from Lowe's in Albuquerque. Maybe its a local thing, as people in this state tend to be less customer service driven and sometimes actually very incompetent, Born and raised so I can say that! lol Oh well...

For those of you with kind words and well wishing, thank you!

Will post with next update or with pics when it is done!

Take a deep breath and realize that your cabinet install only began 20 days ago! A lot has happened during that time, and you sound a bit overwhelmed by it all.

Try to relax and give Lowe's a chance to get your job done right. Let that manager earn his paycheck.

Think positive thoughts. Take a trip to Starbucks.

Yeah but its a total of 9 cabinets!!! its a small galley kitchen. LOL Starbucks I do not need! I need tranqualizers not stimulants...

Gee... 20 days to install 9 cabinets? I had 3 times that installed by Lowes and it took a total of 3 days. And they went in perfectly.

Get a a massage then. You'll be fine.

I made my own cabinets out of used pieces and salvage lumber and installed them myself. Of course, the kitchen took 9 months to complete...

Here is a link that might be useful: Kitchen Video

Dflood, I can only say I share your misery tonight! As we speak, I'm dousing myself with wine and plan to drown my jitters in a warm tub!
We've purchased $13,000 worth of cabinets from Lowe's, ordered on Oct. 23. We did the demo with most of the work done by a son-in-law (a builder). He also put in our new floor. Our cabinets came last week, and the install mgr. (a very jovial fellow who didn't notice a thing) and the installer came out to inspect.
Two uppers and two lowers came in at 21" wide instead of 18". They flank a 36" "hutch" with glass uppers. The 36" is std. depth (24") and the sides are 21" depth. Only problem is, now they are also 21" wide! The KD ordered them this size, so rather than try to wait another 3-4 wks., we make it work along our back wall. Tighter than we wanted, but will be OK.
Today was the first day of install. We're moving the fridge into the next-door pantry, and have purchased a 21" pantry tower that's 90" tall to replace it (goes where the fridge was.) They ordered 3/4" by 6" wood filler to frame the pantry, to make the fridge look built-in.
Only problem is, the filler is 4" too short on the sides, and none was ordered to go along the top. In addition, no scribes came, and the installer is blaming the Kd and vice-versa. I'm in the middle, and madder than a wet hornet. The installer wanted to try to "rig" it with skin to make it work, but I said no way. We're spending all this money, we'll do it right, even if I have to wait a few more weeks to have it finished. Of course, we can't start on the crown mould until the scribes are here.
But to start off my morning, I got a call at 8 AM from our appliance dealer to say that they couldn't deliver them today - they'd ordered the wrong range. If I still wanted that model, it would be an additional $400 and another 2 weeks!
Now, we ordered and paid for these on Oct. 28, went in several times to make sure everything was "on", and called a week ago to set up delivery. At that time, I re-checked the order and even said, "This is the dual-fuel range, right?" Oh yes, everything was waiting in the warehouse.

Well, after getting nowhere with them, I ran out to several places and finally found one who had my range (Fridgidaire SS dual-fuel Pro Series) in stock, so I cancelled my entire order with the first company and ordered everything all over again from this place. Getting everything but the fridge, as we bought that several years ago. They're being delivered tomorrow (supposedly).
Templating for the granite is scheduled for Friday, so I'm holding the installer to the fire to at least get the bases correct. Of course, today after installation of most of the cabs, I noticed that my pull-out pots and pans cab is 1/2" overlay, and all of the others are full overlay. So tomorrow, I'll have to point this out (like I'm sure he didn't notice!) and they'll have to re-order new doors.
To finish my day, I looked at the sink base and thought, geez, this is small. It's a 33". I had it measured for a 36", but the installer changed it when he came out, said a 36" on the angled wall wouldn't work. I didn't realize this even happened! Anyway, my Ticor undermount sink now looks way too huge to ever fit here. I measured both, and they're the exact SAME size (from rim to rim of the sink and inside-inside of the cab.). I pointed this out to the installer, and he said he'd cut out the support bars that run front to back. OK, but it's still exactly the same measurements inside-inside.
I called the granite fabricator, and was told they'd have to cut out some of the top of each side. They felt fairly confident it would work.
Needless to say, I'm sure I won't sleep again tonight, or tomorrow night, or the next......
I have to say I've been lurking on this wonderful site for weeks now, just gathering advice, but I REALLY needed to vent tonight to some sympathetic ears. I keep telling myself, this will be over soon and you won't remember it. Sort of like childbirth. Right!

DO NOT PURCHASE CABINETS FROM LOWES. I have been going through the same nightmare. We purchased Kraftmaid kitchen cabinets from Lowes in early May 2021, as of July 13, 2022, my kitchen is still a mess. Caninets are chipped and warped, have puncture marks on almost every door. Lyon Twp, MI Lowes does not respond to calls, emails or texts. It’s unbelievable how awful their management treats customers. After a year of no response from store, i contacted the Metro Detroit District Area Manager Ross Robinson on Linkedin. He sent Angela, a useless Lowes District Rep. What a waste of time, she is unresponsive, disrespectful, and has done nothing. She told me that I didn’t order top of the line so this is what you get. I told her I wanted all of the damaged pieces replaced, she said ” They will be the same as the ones you should keep these. Almost daily I try to contact Lowes with no response. Today, I am contacting an attorney. I will never shop in Lowes again!

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@pattyannkennedy - Contact Kraftmaid directly. If there is a problem with the quality of the cabinets they should address it.

Agree......Do NOT order cabinets through Lowe's First cabinet damaged, 8 wks later say they are delivering replacement NOT on truck. 6 wks later, well let's see 6 months!! Delivery company does not return calls, very unprofessional.