Refurbishing Kitchen Cupboards
The sales representative (Al Barnes) of TMC provided us with a quote for re-furbishing our kitchen cupboards. Initially, arrangements were made for TMC to pick up the doors and drawers on the same day. Al assured us that since we were not changing the colour of our cabinets; that the frames of the cupboards, kick-plates and pantry door could be done at our house by TMC. Al also explained that the procedure for re-furbishing the doors and drawers would be: 1) dipping doors and drawers in a solution tank to remove the old finish; 2) hydration of the wood (???); and 3) exact colour match as determined by their lab. As far as we could determine none of the three embellishments occurred. The cupboard drawers and doors were sanded, stained, varnished and/or lacquered. When we called to see if the work to be done at our house could be moved up to facilitate our granite-top supplier the situation suddenly got worse. We were now told that TMC does not do any refurbishing work in people’s homes. After some discussion, it was decided that TMC would come and take out the frames and have them refurbished in their shop. The two people they sent had no idea on how to take out the frames. They acknowledged that they basically just picked up and made deliveries. They spent approximately one hour spinning screws, removing the microwave and left with just the pantry door. As a result we took down the frames and made arrangements to have everything put in the garage for the next pick-up. Additionally, we were told that we would receive a quote for extending the one cabinet by 3” within the next few days. Al’s guesstimate was that it would cost approximately $200-$300. Obviously, this was a huge mistake on our part by not getting a complete quote initially. When Tino of TMC called us to discuss the cost of this project, he informed us that he is from the “old school” and that the work has to be done properly. At this point Tino advises us that the job will cost an additional $1,780.00. He now has the cupboards, we have paid 50% ($2410.00) of the cost we originally agreed to ($4,820.00) and we are getting the impression that the cupboards are being held ransom. After much discussion we settled on an additional $1,500.00. When the work at TMC was completed and ready for delivery we were instructed by Natasha that we must provide a certified cheque before anything can come off the truck. We found this to be unusual and somewhat bizarre, however, we proceeded to get a certified cheque. The cabinet which was extended by 3” was a patch-work effort and did not match the colour of the other cabinets and thereby rejected. This was not what we expected from Tino and his “old school” approach to doing a job properly. They finally added a complete sheet of veneer along both sides of the cabinet to finish it off. The remaining cupboards were very dirty inside from the sanding dust thus leaving one to wonder about TMC’s professionalism or “old school” approach. We must compliment Natasha Audet, the service representative, who was extremely skillful at putting a positive spin on TMC’s short-comings that would put most politicians to shame. Over the years we have been involved in several renovating projects but we have never encountered such questionable practices as this. This exercise has certainly brought home the concept of “BUYER BEWARE” Diane & Terry
- Approximate cost of services:
- $6,320.00
- Company Response
From Natasha Audet:
In my opinion, the recent Homestars complaint put forth by Mr. & Mrs. Roseheart is most certainly unjustified. I will say that though there may have been minor bumps along the road to a more than satisfactory finish, the expectation put on TMC Restoration, was perhaps, exceedingly high. Not only did TMC provide the Roseheart’s with above standard work It was completed in a quarter of the usual allotted time frame for thousands less than our regular retail pricing even after we negotiated a price on additional services that were not included in the contract and we were asked by the client to provide a quote for.
This job was personally overseen by myself (including over 20 hrs of my personal time) and I feel that I should take the time to address some of the concerns put forth.
Specifically within the complaint the Rosehearts specify “Al also explained that the procedure for re-furbishing the doors and drawers would be: 1) dipping doors and drawers in a solution tank to remove the old finish; 2) hydration of the wood (???); and 3) exact colour match as determined by their lab. As far as we could determine none of the three embellishments occurred.” I will start by saying that no we did not dip the doors and drawers in a solution tank for stripping purposes instead we exceeded expectations and hand stripped the aforementioned pieces to ensure that there was no inadvertent damage to the pieces. We also take the time to repair any minor damage as part of our regular work and our professional finishers have been custom mixing stains for color matches for years.
Their concerns about our drivers trying to uninstall their frames (after they agreed to have us do a full strip and refinishing as opposed to the initial touch up on the contract) are reasonable. However, the determination to not remove them themselves was also in the best interest of the client. We were misinformed about the complexity of the removal and counteracted this on delivery by having their pieces reinstalled by our two head cabinet makers as well as myself. This alone took an entire day and one second trip by a cabinet maker to do a minor installation of 2 pieces that we noticed needed correction and we corrected without hesitation.
In the end it boils down to customer expectation as opposed to what is possible when you are working with 20+ yr old particle core cabinets. We offer a contracted service for a contracted price unlike many other businesses we will actually take the time to go through all pieces thoroughly when they arrive at our shop and inform the client for their benefit and ours as to what is possible, we clarify expectation as paperwork can sometimes be misleading (it is just the nature of the beast,) we offer any solutions to any issues we may foresee occurring that our outside of the realm of the scope of contracted work for a price. It is up to the client if they would like to agree to have this work completed. We also offer them the option to say no do what is written we will accept that.
In hindsight, TMC’s mistake was taking on an overly ambitious project with unrealistic client expectations. Unfortunately, in this situation we failed to identify that until mid way through the process. We've learned to become more selective with the jobs we select and now only begin work where we are fully confident we can match or exceed the clients expectation.
