Lowes Store Kitchen Design and Installation Disaster by Lowes Professional Installation ripoff Charlotte North Carolina

Call any Lowes Store and you will hear a taped message regarding the professional installation for many of the products they sell. Beware! We have a kitchen disaster in our home.

We purchased Kitchenaid appliances (refrigerator, gas cooktop, double oven, warming drawer at the same time as visiting the Kraftmaid Kitchen Design Center in the Lowes Store. The Lowes employee set up a time to come to our home to measure our space. Then the employee designed the cabinets to fit into our kitchen space with the appliances that were purchased.

The funds were paid for appliances, cabinets, demolition and installation (approximately $25,000). Cabinet shipment caused delay because some cabinets arrived mismatched, broken or delayed in shipment. This caused delay in the installation. The installation was begun, then stopped, then more problems with match of the materials. Then, the refrigerator didn't fit into the opening created in the cabinetry and the doors and drawers would not open. Then the double oven and warming drawer did not fit and had to be retrofit. Finally, six months later, the kitchen is finally in and does not pass code. The Kraftmaid kitchen cabinets above the cooktop are too close and a building code violation.

We have a general Contractor, Andrew Roby, Inc., who did not get a building permit and inspections, Lowes and their cabinet installer whose design was done by an employee irregardless of buildingand code and installation specifications required by Kitchenaid the appliances Lowes sold with the kitchen design.

Lowes position was to send a project manager out to the home and then to turn the problem over to their Specialty Risk Services Division. Who then sent a letter stating it was all the installers fault. Too bad for the consumer. Lowes then wants us to go after the installer, who is a man hired by Lowes to install their products under Lowes specifications designed on Lowes computers in their stores for Your Home! The Installer says it's not my fault. I followed the design as I am required to do by Lowes. I am not to deviate from their design.

Then Lowes /Specialty Risk Services says that the General Contractor signed off on your design so it is not our problem. But, the NC State building code states differently.

Whether Lowes vs. Home Depot for better service? I don't know. But Lowes and their cabinet design and install are a mess for the consumer. And to add insult to injury, the cabinets are poorly made and the warranty is usually worthless after install because the installer methods voids the warranty in many cases.

Unprofessional, poor quality, high price for what you get and on top of that a FIRE HAZARD created by Lowes, Your Home Improvement Specialists with professional installation for many of the products they sell. We cannot sell our home with the code violations. We need to spend more money to order more cabinetry from Lowes and have it fixed. What a consumer ripoff!

In our opinion, Lowes Stores owned by General Electric only cares about one thing, their profits. NOT the improving of YOUR home. Buyer Beware!

Oh and the General Contractor, Andrew Roby, Inc. spends $20,000 in Lowes Stores per MONTH. Lowes certainly does not want to lose his business. The consumer like us who most likely only renovates one kitchen in years or a lifetime is small potatoes. They could care less. Watch out! It's one thing to go to Lowes to buy a hammer, drill, plants or appliance. It's quite another to purchase installation from them. You're on your own and let me tell you it's been a long, long battle trying to get them to fix their mistake.

My recommendation would be for cities and counties to require Lowes / Home Depot to obtain building permits and follow code guidelines for all work they sell. Then you would be protected. Lowes should also be required to hire professionals with credentials and degrees in kitchen and bath design to do all design and installation work. Then too they should be forced to follow the guidelines and repair at their cost all work that does not pass code.

Bonnie
charlotte, North Carolina
U.S.A.

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