Suite without the kitchen- on back order++++ Advice wanted

[koop]

I had a tenant move out on July 17 (hoarder), I knew that the suite needed a new kitchen, the cabinets were so bad (ugly) that anyone with self respect wouldn't want to live there. I procrastinated and only ordered them on June 26 (the only cabinet sales person in the store had pushed our appointment back for a sick day). I was told that some items in the package would need to be ordered in and that takes 3-5 weeks, so July 25ish, then they got backordered to August 9th, but I had procrastinated so I was felt I deserved that. In that time we have ripped out the old cabinets, repainted, put in new flooring, and windows. But on August 9th I called to see where our cabinets were, they didn't know, I called again on the Wednesday, they didn't know, but if they weren't in on the Thursday they would look for them, I called on Friday, the plant where the cabinets were made was on a summer break, so they didn't know where they were.



Today I called again, they contacted the manufacturer, they were only sent out YESTERDAY (August 15) and I was told that they SHOULD be here August 29. I explained that I have been ready for them for over a week now, I have been telling everyone who has looked at the suite that it should be ready August 15, NOW I don't even know if I want to say it will be ready for September 1st. I have asked for compensation for the losses that I am suffering, but the most they were offering was $500, my rent is $950. I did suggest they take the losses to the manufacturer, and get me more.



Any advice on what to do? I have talked to the store manager at this Home Depot, should I take this higher?

I would go elsewhere to find cabinets but I don't think there is any quicker option. And how do I find renters? It doesn't seem to matter if the rest of the suite looks good, having only a picture of a kitchen doesn't seem to do much for people.



This makes me really angry, the way this is being handled. The manager made is sound like its my fault for having an expectation on when these cabinet should be here, how does anyone doing a project get anything done if you can't expect the parts to come together on time?



Through this all I have done very well on keeping my temper, but I certainly am being tested, if respect is earned then I deserve some already, they are getting it on credit.

 

[FrontDoorInvestments]

I'm not sure where you are located, but in Calgary, I went through a company called Action Cabinets. They do custom cabinets and pre-made cabinets. They are made in warehouse and it allowed me to pick them up pretty much right away. I went with their available stock choices (maple). I believe a specialized order was a weeks wait.



There should be some local cabinet makers that could have something ready immediately - even IKEA. At this point, I would check around, then if I could find something, I would cancel my order. Even losing the deposit may be worth it in relation to losing more rent. However, I would challenge it in face of their "late delivery date".



If you aren't satisfied with the store manager, go to the Regional Mgr,
and then work your way up. If they have given you a delivery date than
the expectation was set by them. And yes, there should be an expectation
that when you purchase something you will get it in a reasonable amount
of time. It seems the delivery is now double what they forecast and
their customer service is definitely lacking.



I have 2 of my rentals for Sept 30th and I've had no problems getting renters in. This includes the last couple of years when it was considered "tougher" to rent and I charge the higher end of rent for my areas. Why not take more pictures than just of the kitchen? Show the other rooms and the outside - give them a feel for the whole place.



Not to be an instigator, but could some of the extra frustration be because you also procrastinated and now you are realizing the cost of that? I know when I put something off I get mad and take it out on the things around me and then I have to step back and ask myself would I be THIS angry if I hadn't procrastinated? I think it is awesome that you are getting the outside opinion to help temper this!



Good luck resolving your situation. I would love to hear the follow up of what you do.

 

[koop]

I'm in Manitoba, so Ikea isn't an option, I went with HD because they were very cheap ($1900). I'm thinking at this point it will be two more weeks for this to come in, so I don't think anyone can get me cabinets sooner.

While I'm ready to wear my big boy pants concerning the issue of putting off ordering the cabinets, I did order them 10days after the tenant legally had to give notice( that time includes giving the dimensions to confirming the order), and this is a 10 week wait for something that "should be in in 3-5 weeks", at this point I don't think I'm blaming myself and certainly am not taking it out on anyone or anything inappropriately.

 

[koop]

The order was mostly all ready for pick-up on August 27th, so I picked it up and did as quick of an install as I could, so it is about as good as I can get it for now with some pieces missing (toe kick, two drawers). Homedepot was only able to give me $500 off the cost of the kitchen, that wasn't enough for me so I asked them to push this a bit farther with the manufacture, they gave me an extra $250 off for a total of $750, this is only a $2000 kitchen so that really is substantial. I still don't have a tenant for this suite but now it is much easier to show the place.