KraftMaid Cabinets ripoff POOR QUALITY CONTROL TERRIBLE CUSTOMER SERVICE Middlefield Ohio

I was recently laid off by Kraftmaid in a tidal wave of job losses in the company. Not for performance, attendance, or policy violations, but for lack of seniority. I don't fault the company for having to lay off its workers -- it's a dog-eat-dog world out there.

I realize I'm digging up an old post, but Jessica really struck a nerve with me. I worked on the assembly lines where the cabinets are constructed. Jessica stated that the toekicks/kickplates, whatever you wish to call them, are not just attached with staples, but hotmelted as well. Big deal. In the above unfortunate customer's post, he noted that the kitchen was made of particle board, which means that both sides of the toekick are laminated, although only one side needs to be. The inside end of the toekick is then hotmelted and fastened with TWO, not THREE, 1" staples to the rough edge of the cabinet on each side -- bare particle board. Anyone with non-factory woodworking experience can tell you that when you attach two pieces of particle board together with hotmelt, especially with one side laminated, you are not adding any strength to the construction. You are temporarily holding the pieces in place so that they can be more permanently attached with fasteners. I'd put money on the concept that the hotmelt's bond is broken by the time it reaches the customer, with all the jostling around that occurs from production to delivery.

The staples are a joke, as well. If you really want those kickplates to stay, you dowel, biscuit, or screw them in. Seeing as how it's all 1/2" particle board, however, and you're attaching them to another piece of 1/2" particle board at the EDGES, screws are out. Biscuits are out. Dowels, wood glue, and staples could work, but would require additional job processes and R&D dollars -- something that Kraftmaid has no interest in, as it's not a free solution to a costly problem. Trust me on this -- I know this attitude all too well.

Kraftmaid's biggest flaw is that they are constantly striving to get something for nothing. When a major quality issue is identified, their solution is to assemble a meeting with Quality Assurance (another tragic joke) and other members of the manufacturing team. The problem is assessed and ideas are kicked around. Only the most senior members of management in the room have any weight thrown behind their ideas, which invariably involve ramping up individual responsibilites for the employees while expecting the product to be completed in the exact same amount of time as before the "solution" was implemented. This results in forcing the employees to take shortcuts to avoid going over the labor hours for the day, followed by a reprimand by a supervisor for making a quality error. If an employee elects not to take shortcuts by showing any semblence of pride in his or her work, the employee is then reprimanded for taking too much time to complete work on the cabinet. It's the classic problem inherent in assembly line production. Kraftmaid has yet to jump that hurdle.

Design improvements are extremely rare, unless we're talking about aesthetically appealing changes, such as finishes and door styles. Construction-wise, Kraftmaid absolutely misses the mark. While Quality Assurance is heavily funded at the moment, and auditors are around every corner inspecting each product, no attention seems to be paid to the flaws in the entire process of manufacture or to the "Band-Aids" that are applied to serious design issues present in these cabinets.

Another thing about the hotmelt. I hope you're sitting down. The face frames are laid down on a clamp or table. There are dadoes in the stiles of the face frame to accept the end panels and floors, ceilings, I-beams, etc. Hotmelt is applied inside the dado grooves and the panels are installed. The ends and floors are then shot on with 9/16" fasteners at a 45-degree angle. No wood glue, no real wood bonding of any sort. The hotmelt cools and the fasteners keep the frame attached to the carcass. In theory. Give those cabinets about five years or so and see how well the face frames stay attached. Maybe you'll get lucky.

I'm not saying that the cabinets are complete garbage, but I am saying that I would never in my wildest dreams pay full price for a Kraftmaid kitchen. The quality in design just isn't there, and they never showed me anything to disprove the notion.

To Jessica, if you ever read this: Sure, it wasn't fun working all those extra hours when the housing market was booming, but with all the layoffs and shortened weeks that we experienced, I sure hope for your sake that Kraftmaid can adapt. I'm one of the lucky ones who had a backup plan, but I know many of you guys don't. Either speak up with some solutions for the company or brace yourself. It's gonna be a bumpy ride.

THIS GUY BRAGS ABOUT THE HOURS HE HAS TO WORK AND THE AMOUNT OF ADDITIONAL WORKFORCE THAT KRAFTMAID IS HIRING. THE SOLE REASON THAT MANY MANY PEOPLE HAVE HAD ISSUES WITH THE QUALITY OF THESE CABINETS MOST LIKELY ISNT THAT THEY ARE BAD CABINETS IT IS THEY DONT HAVE THE PROPER STAFFING TRAINED AND IN PLACE TO ACCOMODATE THE WORK LOAD THEY HAVE. THEY CUT CORNERS AND SACRIFICE QUALITY TO GET THEM OUT THE DOOR AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE WHICK IN MY CASE WASNT VERY QUICK.

THIS COMPANY NEEDS TO BE MORE CUSTOMER FOCUSED AND LESS FOCUSED ON THE VOLUME THEY PUMP OUT. YOU CAN WORK 7 DAYS A WEEK 24 HOURS A DAY AND BE HIRING A MILLION NEW EMPLOYEES BUT IF THOSE EMPLOYEES CAN'T KEEP UP AND CUT CORNERS AND SACRIFICE QUALITY THE END RESULT IS WHAT YOU HAVE READ IN THE NUMEROUS POSTS.

My response is to Jessica in Ohio, the Kraftmaid Employee. I own your cabinets also and am about to post my sad story, including pictures. You cabinets ARE manufactured as poorly as your spelling. Kraftmaid has no Customer Service to speak of and that coupled with Home Depot, it's a losing proposition.
Instead of listending to your Customers, you blame shipping, etc. A Customer who has just spent thousands on your cabinets want to hear about shipping damage. Learn to listen before you jump down our throats.

Hi,

I have worked for Kraftmaid Cabinetry for 4 years.
Any time a cabinet ends up at a customers home 9 times out of 10 it was damaged in the shipping process. In one part of the annonymus persons letter they state that the toe kick or "kick boards" were just put on with a couple of staples.
The toe kick is first put on with hot melt (similar to a basic hot glue, but it gets heated much hotter, 390 degrees, and is much stronger) on the top and both sides, then is followed by 3 staples to each side of the toe kick. As to the damaged finish edges, it is nearly impossible to damage the finish, unless you take a piece of sandpaper to the finish, it can't be damaged. We use a 14 step finishing process to ensure that the finish can stand up to anything. And we are constantly updating our packaging process to prevent damages, oh and by the way, if a cabinet is damaged in shipping, we send out a new cabinet within a week. We have inspectors (that have to take three week training classes in order to be qualified to inspect) at the end of each assembly line. If quality is such a problem I would like to ask the annonymus writer why I have had to work three out of four Saturdays a month(oh that includes the rest of the work week, monday thru friday) for the last two months to keep up with our sales. On top of that we have worked every other saturday of each month for the last two years! Oh and we are also hiring 900 more employees and expanding all three of our plants to keep up with our business. So obviously our quality must be incredible! Go ahead and spread your vicious oppinion of our quality, just keep in mind for every negative statement you make there are three thousand positive statements! Thanks for your time and may God shine His favor on you and bless you!!