# Cabinet maker screwed up cabinet stain badly... denies wrongdoing



## Nuieve (Jan 3, 2013)

Please look at the pictures.  To me the sample is brown  and is of the color I wanted for my kitchen. The actual cabinet color is  pretty much black or charred wood. It looks black in anything but bright light.
I brought a door to them last  week. The customer service guy looked at it and admitted difference in  shades. They took it for lab analysis, said would get in touch soon.      
Today (after being ignored for over a week and a few calls that  just went nowhere) I went there in person, and they told me to my face  that this is "an acceptable color variation"... I told them, not it's  not a variation of a color, it's a completely different color, but they  kept singing the "it looks alright" song. I asked to speak with their  supervisor, and they told me the boss of the company looked at it and  was one of the people to say there was absolutely nothing wrong with my  stain. 



The wood species in the picture is identical to my cabinets. The showroom had a finished sample of a door that is perfectly identical to my sample (but not the actual cabinets). Manufactured by Huntwood.



What can I do? Lawsuit? Any suggestions?


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## nealtw (Jan 4, 2013)

I can see the difference, but if these guys don't stand behind their work and you have already paid them, you may as well learn to like it. You might try talking the BBB if they are a member.


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## oldognewtrick (Jan 4, 2013)

The big question is, did you already pay for the installation? If so, why? NEVER pay in full untill the installation is complete and you are satisfied. If you don't like the color, I wouldn't let it go.


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## inspectorD (Jan 4, 2013)

Write them a registered letter. And include the fact that your lawyer will also be getting a copy, and will follow up if needed. This is just enough to get a response. Also mention that you will be notifying angieslist and any other local entities that would be interested. In business, if you become a big enough of a pain in the neck, but keep it civil, you usually get a response because they want you to go away.
If you can convince them that it works in their best interest to make you happier, you may get results.


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## Nuieve (Jan 4, 2013)

Yes, I paid in full because they said it was required. I never thought I'd run into such a problem with a big (and I thought reputable) company like Huntwood. There were some other issues with my cabinets (very poor stain work/blotchiness), but that's not really my main concern now.

I will try to talk with the business owner today, and if they keep brushing me off, then I'll have to escalate it, no way I'm letting this go. I put so much effort into desiging/remodeling my apartment, I can't leave this eyesore in the middle of it. 

Registered letter will probably be my next step...

I haven't dealt with angieslist, what other ways of getting attention would you suggest? Writing reviews on google? I've never done anything like that before... I appreciate your answers.


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## inspectorD (Jan 4, 2013)

There are plenty of web based sites that help you get your point out, and remember it's there forever. I would keep it simple, civil and try to let them know that niether of you want to take the litigious route.


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## BridgeMan (Jan 8, 2013)

You learned a very important lesson from this experience--that being, NEVER pay the entire bill up front.  You should have walked the minute they told you their policy, as it implies you are not the first customer that wasn't satisfied with the finished results.  Their solution for "correcting" the problem long ago was just requiring all money up front from everyone (and be totally content to let the finished product fall into the "it is what it is" category).

You can either let this ruin your life and eat you up, or just chalk it up to a lesson learned and get on with living.  You won't win the legal battle if you go that route, but lawyers on both sides are hoping you do.  Your legal fees alone for a prolonged battle would easily be enough to buy you several entirely new sets of cabinets.  A "nasty-gram" on Angie's List may do some good for (and warn) future customers, but does little for you and your situation.


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## Wuzzat? (Jan 8, 2013)

You can go on a law forum, like expertlaw, and ask them.  If your state allows one-party taping, get their denials on tape or in writing.  Don't even bother your state's attorney general with this.

But, be careful in any case
http://www.citizen.org/litigation/forms/cases/getlinkforcase.cfm?cID=794

BTW, there is brightness, saturation and hue (color).  This looks like a problem in saturation but I am red-green blind.
IIRC, black, white and gray are not really colors but brown, red, orange, yellow, green, blue and violet are.

If they can't bleach it I guess they owe you repair/replacement.


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## rooflink (Jan 10, 2013)

nealtw said:


> I can see the difference, but if these guys don't stand behind their work and you have already paid them, you may as well learn to like it. You might try talking the BBB if they are a member.


 
Neal nailed it on the head. You can also hit up the local Internet sites like Yelp and Google and smack them with a few one star reviews. Kind of a pay-it-forward approach.


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## Nuieve (Jan 11, 2013)

Ok, happy to report all is good. Huntwood will replace my kitchen, I got an option to upgrade to thermofoil/frameless for a good price, I have to pay my contractor for uninstallation/re-installation of cabinets, but I can live with that, at this point I just want to move on with my project, so I'm happy how it all turned out. Took some time and quite a few visits/calls, but they did the right thing for me, and I'm thankful for that.


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## nealtw (Jan 11, 2013)

That turned out better than I expected it would, good for you and good for them. Good luck with the rest of your project.


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## inspectorD (Jan 11, 2013)

I'm glad cooler heads prevailed. 
Post a picture of your new kitchen for us, as you go forward.


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## Wuzzat? (Jan 12, 2013)

Nuieve said:


> Ok, happy to report all is good. Huntwood will replace my kitchen, I got an option to upgrade to thermofoil/frameless for a good price, I have to pay my contractor for uninstallation/re-installation of cabinets, but I can live with that, at this point I just want to move on with my project, so I'm happy how it all turned out. Took some time and quite a few visits/calls, but they did the right thing for me, and I'm thankful for that.


If it hadn't I guess your legal grounds would have been for "material breach of contract", see "Cause of Action."


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## rooflink (Jan 13, 2013)

Glad they responded before you went full nuke


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## Wuzzat? (Jan 13, 2013)

rooflink said:


> Glad they responded before you went full nuke


When I was a 'guest' of the USAF, we had a little spat.  
I skipped the legal angle and threatened to take out a full page ad in each of the two local newspapers detailing how they were wasting taxpayer's money. That must have been the Nuclear Option because the manipulative and slippery major I was talking to got pretty mad pretty fast.
I had no idea what that would have cost me, but the major didn't know either, so it worked.

Turns out fraud, waste, abuse, incompetence, negligence and theft are eternal but I didn't know that at the time, either.


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