Binns Kitchen & Bath Design

About 6 years ago, we bought a house in midtown Toronto where there was already a brand-new, beautiful, and beautifully functional, Binns kitchen installed. It was certainly one of the big selling features for us. Recently, we had a little problem with the piston in one of the bifold cupboard doors. We were perfectly willing to pay for a replacement but I wasn't all that hopeful that Binns would be helpful, given the time lapse and the fact that we were not their original client. Call me cynical but experience has often shown that companies and their follow-up customer service policies can be pretty limp, especially when there's no real money in the pot. Lo and behold, Patrick Farrell, Project Manager for Binns, was right on the ball. Not only did he track down the piston, he delivered it to our door. There was no fee for the piston or the courier service. It's such a simple problem that we assured Patrick we could install it ourselves, otherwise I'm sure he'd have arranged that for us too. What a great company and what a great employee!

Over time, we have used Binns for 3 Kitchen and Bath projects. They are truly experts in their field. We found their project crew extremely reliable and meticulous. They do not compromise on quality. We were most impressed with how detail oriented they were. Even months after the projects were completed, they took the time to ensure all was well and we were satisfied. With their ability to ensure customer satisfaction, we can confidently recommend Binns.

intial sales pitch is misleading - please make sure you due you full due diligence before paying the deposit to this company. after deposit was paid service was poor.

- design work was not professional - designs were rushed and flawed . the designer was not ready for meetings. showed little concern for wasting clients time

- job was quoted well over budget we intially provided before the deposit was made (and well over what other reputable companies provided after)

would not recommend - please do your homework before paying a deposit with this company

I am not new to renovations and have had several large projects undertaken at my home and cottage. On the whole it has always been a very positive experience until I was involved with Binns in Pickering. We wanted to expand our ensuite master bathroom into a bathroom/dressing room, complete with a large shower, cabinets for clothes and toiletries, heated floor, etc. We were working with one of their newer designers who was under the supervision of a member of the Binns family. It was a disaster. The plans were drawn up, with a budget and we signed off. From then on it was a very unpleastant experience. Significant changes were made at the direction of the designer that were not even discussed with us never mind approved by us. A wall was moved 10" which would have resulted in a lost of 20" of hanging space for clothes. The cabinets were too short and had to be raised with a false bottom to allow for suits and shirts to be hung properly. The vessel sink was too high and had to be lowered. If we hadn't done a daily inspection and caught the problems quickly, we would not have had anything anywhere near what we had planned for. Binns did eventually fix the problems but only after we did battled with them. When we wrote to the president of the company we did not even receive a response. Most renovations do not occur without some wrinkle along the way, but these problems where fundamental to the project. How a company responds to a problem often reflects their integrity and your view of the overall experience. Needless to say, how Binns responded to the problems along the way was beyond dismal.

Went to take a look at the store to get some ideas and pricing to renovate my kitchen found the staff to be extremely informative and the prices were very reasonable. They make you feel that any idea is possible and they are willing to work through your thoughts and ideas to make it a reality....at a price anyone can afford.

I wanted to get my dream counter top and Binns delivered this to me, I am so pleased with the time that was put in for such a small job. I would recommened this company to anyone.

Last summer, we were referred to Binns for a bathroom renovation. We initially met with a designer in our home. We felt confident that he understood our budget for this endeavour. He assured us that he could design a bathroom that could fit within our budget. After a number of meetings, we felt confident that the designer understood and agreed that our design needs could be met within our budget. So, we paid a ‘Design Fee’ (retainer) of $2,500.00, based on ‘birds-eye’ concept designs and his verbal quote.

Over the next month, we met with him a number of times to make design decisions with us always asking about costs to stay within the budget. The following month, we met with him and discussed the quote, but we were very surprised to find that we were looking at a quote of $55,000 to $60,000. He informed us that because of choices we made in materials, fixtures, etc. that costs had escalated, which we could not understand as we had been so mindful of keeping costs down (despite considering a more expensive fixture line). We then made significant adjustments to some of the designs we had previously chosen. We left disappointed that things were changing.

In October, the designer presented the final quote to us. What we received was a one-page ‘Project Quotation’ which was almost $7,000.00 over budget (even after taking off a custom wardrobe). Moreover, another quote, which included pricing for alternate fixtures, turned out to be almost $10,000.00 over budget. We were not impressed, stating that we could not understand why the quotes were so far above budget (even considering the alternate fixtures).

We were quite frustrated. We explained that regardless of a change in the fixtures, the costs for this project had continued to escalate, and it appeared that little consideration on the designer's part was given to our budget. We stated that we were concerned that he had misled us about the projected costs for this project. We also stated that we would have expected him to offer us suggestions and design ideas that would keep us within out budget. He said that he would not be doing his job if he didn’t present us with all the options. We disagreed. We informed him that we had decisions to make and that we would be in touch. Not surprisingly, we did not hear from him again.

Although we appreciated the time the designer spent with us, we felt that the final quotes did not reflect the price or design aspects we had discussed at our first meeting. The designer had told us that he could complete our renovations within our budget. In reality, had we known that the designer was going to present a quote to us approximately $20,000. over budget, we would not have paid the design fee. The biggest frustration of all is that the designer has denied telling us that he could complete the renovation for $40,000.00 at our first meeting. He stated that “sometimes clients hear what they want to hear” and they think things are said. This was incredibly insulting to us as there was another person in the room who heard what he said when we first met to discuss the project.

Our frustration lay on various levels. First, we do not understand how a company can give an estimate that is obviously so far from a final quote and consider this to be an acceptable way to conduct business. Furthermore, the high cost of the design fee certainly puts pressure on clients to continue with the process, despite having reservations as it is difficult to walk away from $2,500.00, which we ultimately did. To walk away was a painful experience, and we felt that the true lack of transparency of the process and being told that we were mistaken about the costs by being told that “sometimes clients hear what they want to hear” was unprofessional on the designer’s part. That was the breaking point for us! We did not appreciate being accused of being untruthful and him denying what he did, in fact, say.

As per our request, one of the owners did contact us. However, after a lengthy conversation, he was not 'satisfied' that our recount of the events was accurate. He sided with the designer (a relative of his), the designer's version of the events, and he believed that they had done their job for the design fee. When asked about why his company did not provide more comprehensive quotes to clients before they pay the design fee, he stated that they chose not to do so because of the time involved in preparing a quote that might not lead to a purchase. He also made no effort to seek any sort of reconciliation (we requested at least half of the $2,500.00 back).

We informed him that this type of customer service needed to be shared with other potential clients – to warn them of Binns’ business practices. He said that he had no problem with that, as long as it was the truth, which it is!

We had a kitchen installed by Binns 15 years ago. The result was great. The installer was very tidy. Every day when he was finished he would put things away. His workmanship was very good.

Very responsive to our needs. Know how people use kitchens and gave good recommendations. Worked well with the other trades. Good follow-up. We ordered a kitchen made in Germany and they handled the long-distance issues well. Some parts were missing but Binns ensured quick delivery from Germany.