Let’s say you’re successful in getting a refund and cancelling the order. Then what? You’re going to place a new order with a different company?

In my opinion 3 weeks for built cabinets was unrealistic from jump street. Too short of lead time even for ready made. What about counter tops?

"2. states estimated delivery 10/8"

Emphasis on "estimated"

"3. fine print says delivery date is not guaranteed."

Add Covid-19 which has delayed everything and you are completely SOL.

@Sammy - If this company is going to ruin Christmas then yes, I'll go somewhere else. But that's not my first choice - I just want them to deliver in time to finish for Christmas

@millworkman - agreed, I didn't pay attention to 3 weeks, as we didn't need them 3 weeks from the order. But now it's 13 weeks? For 6 cabinets? Come on.

From what I know cabinets are typically longer than that, especially built cabinets. In my area 14 to 16 weeks was not uncommon, pre-Covid of course. One cabinet, 6 or 20 really doe not matter most often. Order files and production schedules is what it is about.

Resign yourself right now that you won’t have these cabinets by Christmas. You could push for a refund but I wouldn’t count on it. And even if you DID get a refund, I don’t think there’s any way to get cabinets from anyone else by Christmas.

And your Christmas isn’t in jeopardy. You can go ahead and have Christmas even if you are cabinet-less.

My fault of course, but if they had told me on 9/13 that cabinets would take 13 weeks, I would have looked elsewhere

Most kitchen manufacturers turn around time is 3-4 weeks. If this is a cabinet shop custom kitchen could be 6-8 weeks depends on the shop.

If he measured on 9/13 and returned on 11/4 to verify everything and scheduled delivery is 12/15, you not getting this done before the holidays and I doubt you have any legal rights to get your deposit back and cancel the order unless there is "time of the essence" clause in the contract, but most likely it's not if they include a clause like 3. fine print says the delivery date is not guaranteed. 4. deposit is not refundable.

Your best bet is to get the kitchen delivered and start to install after the holidays, in the meantime get everything painted and ready, etc, not to mention if you push and they start to rush the job, you might end up with bigger headaches, so it's not worthed in the long run.

Are these cabinets local custom? Or a factory cabinet? I've been a cabinet dealer for almost 40 years for several manufactured lines (ie Medallion, KraftMaid, Shiloh...etc). Lead time for most factory built, both builder grade and semi-custom is 4-6 weeks (sometimes up to 8)....with 6 weeks being most typical. The only cabinets you can get quicker is cabinets in stock and those have very limited in SKUs and sometimes not the best quality.

If these are factory cabinets, keep in mind that lead times are NOT from the moment you give them a check. It's not even from the date they measure. It's after they measure and submit a clean, perfect order. Any changes to the order after the acknowledgment is sent, can delay with each change. So if you give a check...and they get all the dimensions and layout perfected within a week and submit the order, the factory might call with questions, the designer might realize an error and make a change....all that delays the final production date. Holidays will add another delay.

Hope this makes sense to you and anyone else out there ready to order. Remember the lead time isn't from the day you give the deposit check. There are other potential things that can delay your true production date.

In your case, I think the miscommunication happened because your order didn't go in to production until the final measurements could be taken. If they took final dimensions this past week, then a mid-December date sounds about right, especially with the thanksgiving delay.

In retrospect, you should have told them to start the other cabinets...place two orders.

Good luck with everything...life isn't perfect. Laugh about it...order out food, grill out...set up a temporary kitchen. Firing them and starting over will only add to your stress level. Accept it is what it is. Christmas isn't ruined....it'll just be different.

Derek:

You're not in a position of strength here. They're gonna get there when they're gonna get there and there isn't much you can do about it. They know this and you do too. Making a fuss and kicking legal threats around isn't doing any good for anyone.

I agree with GN Builders..just let it go till after Christmas, less pressure..

First, I believe your legal rights are practically zero. They will likely respond that if you wanted the cabinets sooner, you should have had the wall built sooner. I know that doesn't seem fair especially if they knew of the delay when they started, but it is very hard to hold contractors to a timeline unless there were no contingencies when the contract was signed.

Next, you don't build cabinets in phases if you can help it. Cabinets take up a lot of space. No one has room for finished cabinets in their shop and when they get completed early the chance of them being damaged is exponentially higher.

In my opinion you are better off offering the carrot than the stick. Explain your situation and ask about your options. You may be surprised.

Good luck

I suspect that if a partial order (i.e., everything but the bookshelf and that one cabinet) had been put into the queue on 9/13 and delivered “on time” (10/8), with the remainder delivered by 12/15, you’d be upset because of color-matching issues. Or you’d complain about having to schedule and pay for two installs—not only of the cabinets, but the countertop, backsplash, plumbing and whatever else was dependent on the cabinets being installed.

One year we had 50 people attend a Christmas party and we didn’t have any counters! (They were way overdue). Yes, I was stressed, but we managed and had a great time. Didn’t ruin the holiday spirit at all.

The last actual measurement was on 11/4- 3 days ago. You don't start tracking time from when you first signed up, you start tracking time from when you know the order was put in. 3-4 or 6-8 weeks or whatever from when the order gets put in.

Since the last measurement was just a few days ago, the estimated time of first half of December for delivery sounds about right.

If you were to try canceling or demanding refunds at this point- you don't got a legal leg and also it would likely take you weeks to get through all that before starting all over again with someone else.

How long after the cabinet installation do you have your countertop action going on? It is already ordered and ready to go? Is there a lead time on that?

Just take a deep breath and plan now around the possible construction during the holiday. Don't ruin the holiday for yourself with this.

We ordered our cabinets in may and they weren’t delivered until the first week of September. Everyone is very backed up on orders due to COVID. The shop you ordered from is probably still trying to get out the orders made months ago.

The good news is you have plenty of time to plan your Christmas around a lack of kitchen cabinets. Also, you are unlikely to have a large crowd due to Covid. So it will be easier. Remember that flexibility is the mark of a resilient person. Teach the kids resilience through this project.

Remodels can be frustrating. But don’t cut off your nose to spite your face here! Since lead times are traditionally 4-8 weeks, before Covid, and kitchen projects take 8-16 weeks, even if the order had been placed on the day that you wrote the check, none of suppliers or contractors that I’ve worked with would guarantee everything to be installed by Christmas. Patience and a sense of humor will get you through this!

Christmas isn’t about the space in which you spend your family time. 🙂 It’s just about that family time. We do ours in a Chinese restaurant located midway between us. Don’t know about this year though. 😕 Covid has impacted us personally.

Christmas 2020 is going to be a challenge, new cabinets or not.
Your new kitchen will be ready to host Christmas 2021 - let's hope we can put the crazy politics and the pandemic behind us and be ready to celebrate by then.

Things don't always go as planned-- even when there's not a world-wide pandemic to throw things off course. Christmas with a not-ready-for-prime time kitchen might just turn out to be one of your family's most cherished memories.

Why, the thought of a turkey cooked in a portable propane-fired fryer, microwaved mashed potatoes, green beans lovingly simmered on a hot plate, canned cranberry sauce and a bottle of Christmas cheer chilled in the Yeti makes me hungry just thinking about it. Hope yours is a great one---despite the obstacles.

I guess the thing that most surprises me about this thread is that people are actually thinking about Christmas as usual this year. For our family, there will be only individual nuclear family Christmases without any extended family get togethers at all. And, with Covid raging and expanding the way it is, I wouldn't be surprised if more people come to the same conclusion our family has.

And, to the OP, I suspect that in your memories years from now, the Covid Christmas without a kitchen may be among the most memorable (and not necessarily in a negative way).

I did a Thanksgiving turkey in a roaster on the grill once during a remodel. In Detroit. You got this.

The contract states :estimated time”," delivery date not guaranteed”, “deposit no refundable”. Clearly stated in a contract you signed, you will just have to wait it out. The company has not failed you.

When I was in college, we had a huge ice storm the week before Christmas and didn't get power back until 12/26, so we had to get creative with everything, since my parents didn't yet have a generator. Guess what one of my most treasured and remembered Christmases is?

And yes, your entitlement is showing.

Always plan on everything taking longer than you expect. Always. In normal times. Even if you got cabinets tomorrow, I would be surprised to get everything else done by Christmas. But after multiple remodels in multiple houses ... expect the worst and you'll be happily surprised.

I’m sorry to hear your cabinets are delayed. In my area, it is what it is. Kitchen cabinet manufacturers and other small businesses are struggling to catch up from the mandatory lockdown/shut down and operating with a reduced work force. I wouldn’t be surprised if your cabinet maker refunded your deposit if you wanted to cancel the order.

Please think through your alternatives before contacting them. Is it possible to find another cabinet maker to take your order and for the same price? Lumber pricees have gone up in my area and it’s more expensive than it was 3-6 months ago.

Is it possible to select your counters now and schedule your templating and installation date the week before Dec?

I renovated my parents’ kitchen while they were on vacation for a week; the KD/Contractor were aware of my timelines when I placed my order. My counters was templated the same evening my cabinets were installed, the counters and sink were installed a couple days later, and the blacksplash installed the next day. The KD/contractor schedule all of their trades to meet my deadline.