What discount would you ask for if...

15 years ago

My friend had her custom cabinets installed recently, made by a local cabinetmaker. They are beautiful but unfortunately they have the wrong style door front. They are similar but not the same as the ones she ordered.

Because she has a number of cabinet end runs that have these same panels (including the island) she cannot just replace the doors. If she replaced the doors only they would not match the end panels. To replace both the doors and the panels, including the island, basically means taking out the cabinets and getting all new. She would then have to live without a kitchen for at least another 6 weeks.

She didn't love the door style but felt she could live with them initially until she began to look for cabinet hardware for them. The doors have a thick/wide applied moulding on them that is very, very close to the edge of the door. Because of this there is almost no room for a pull or handle. Even if the pull or handle is narrow enough to fit it has to have a very large projection in order to be grasped after the moulding. The handle can't go inside the moulding either as the moulding is so wide the handle would have to be almost in the middle of the door. Apparently she has found one acceptable pull that is very expensive but if she keeps the cabinets the cabinet company said they would pay for the hardware.

To get to the original question, if she keeps the cabinets and the cabinet company pays for the hardware what reasonable concession/discount she should ask for from the cab co.? The cabinet company has accepted responsibility for delivering the wrong door style but only offered to provide new cabinets or keep the old and we'll pay for the hardware. What do you think?

Comments (8)

raehelen
15 years ago
I think the offer by the cabinet company is reasonable.

Mistakes happen, there could have been a six week delay in getting the original cabinets anyway (trust me, I've been waiting longer than that for just one custom made cupboard and 8 doors/drawer fronts!)

All she needs to decide is, do I want my original doors... or do I really like this new style with these handles? Perhaps, if there was something else that hadn't been included, like crown molding- baseboards, drawer cutlery inserts, etc- she could ask for that. (I mean, the company is already either paying for new cupboards or new hardware)
kateskouros
15 years ago
why would she have to live without a kitchen for six weeks? she already has cabs... wouldn't they just make new and then rip out the others? hope it all works out.
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I guess possibly the best way for you to make your decision is what is best for you personally. This is obviously one of those topics that causes people to have strong opinions one way or the other. It is definite that it is your property and it should not have been done. On the same token, it could be on your dry-wall, built-ins that you happened to not even see, or the back of a tile. I'm not making light of this, but I suspect this happens more than "we" are aware. I would also feel that it was meant as a blessing & not look into studying the words too much. I would ask yourself, is this going to bother me in the future. Is having it permanently covered up still going to cause me discontentment, hostility or anger. Are you going to feel some sort of bad karma having it there? If so, then have someone come in and have it removed. I would also advise to be very careful if you "tell-on" the person who did the writing on your cabinets. Please be aware that he may get fired and lose his and his families source of income. What he did was wrong, but I would not be able to sleep at night knowing he lost his job (probably over doing something he felt was a blessing). I would rather see the FU writers get canned once. So, if you decide you can not live with it there, please move forward. If you just want him to know that others (in the future) might not be as "tolerant or nice about his writings." Is it possible you could just contact him & give him the warning, rather than have him possibly get fired. This will nonetheless give you a story to talk about for many years. I wish you the best with your build and hope you enjoy your new home.
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live_wire_oak
15 years ago
No amount of discount is worth living with cabinets she doesn't like. Either she likes the current door style or she doesn't. If she doesn't, then have them remake the cabinets in the style she wants. (She's very lucky that the firm is stepping up to the plate and offering that. There are a lot of firms going out of business right now or with margins so tight they wouldn't even offer that.) If she does like the door style that was a "mistake", then the firm offering to buy the pulls and maybe throwing in a couple of roll out trays or other organizers should be enough.
chicagockd
15 years ago
If you decide to keep the cabinets, you should ask for a 50% discount and the cost of the new hardware. The 50% you pay will cover the company's cost of materials and labor. While this might seem unfair to the manufacturer, it still will be a cost savings to them becasue they will not have to remake the cabinets.

If it were my kitchen or a kitchen for one of my clients, all the cabinets would be remade.

Since money does not grow on trees in my neighborhood, I can only assume that you saved for this project and you should get what you paid for. I think you will regret your decision to keep the cabinets no matter how cheap they are.

The company's offer to replace them is the right thing for them to do. That's a good thing. Even though you will wait for new cabinets, you will be able to reccommend this company for owning up to their error.

Good luck
mindstorm
15 years ago
If your neighbour decides to keep the cabinets, she should pay for them. I do think that the cost of the hardware is sufficient penance for the cabinetmaker to have to put up with. That said, different door styles are often different prices. I would think that she ought to be charged for whichever is the cheaper of the two doorstyles between the one she ordered and the one she got.
Personally, I don't like the persian bazaar style of wringing businesses to the point of hurt when things go awry, as the previous poster mentions. If you don't like the product, return it; if you can live with it, don't do so by stealing just because you know that the contractor will tolerate something of a loss of revenue to avoid the hassle of dealing with the returned product. We are asking for ethics from the business men and women, it is only fair that clients operate the same set of ethical conduct.

Finally, she would, IMO, be well within her right to return the cabinets and try to get the ones she contracted for.
lissa711
Original Author
15 years ago
OK...Thanks for the feedback. The consensus seems to be no discount if keep the wrong style (but let cabinet co. pay for hardware) or get the new cabinets also with no discount.
ccoombs1
15 years ago
If she does not like the door style, she needs to get new ones, and perhaps free hardware to compensate her for the added delay. If she chooses to keep the wrong ones, she should get the free hardware and maybe a 15% or 20% discount. Or some other freebies...roll-outs, organizers, etc. She should not be required to just live with them and pay full price as mindstorm suggests. This was NOT her mistake and it is terribly unfair to expect her to just accept what they gave her at full price! Keeping them means she makes compromises. Sending them back also means she makes compromises. Either way, SHE is the looser and should receive some compensation from the company responsible for the mistake.
sailormann
15 years ago
I think mindstorm put it nicely.

The cabinet company is behaving honourably - a rare thing in any business these days. It would behoove your friend to behave in kind.

If enough people remembered how to do this the world could be a much more pleasant place.

What discount would you ask for if...

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raehelen

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What discount would you ask for if...

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raehelen

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