Gilmans Kitchens and Baths

Thank you for your review! We are so happy you were pleased with our service!

Dear Caitlin,
I would like to apologize for your negative experience with Gilmans Kitchens and Baths. I definitely value client feedback and want all of our clients to be happy with their completed spaces. I do want to state that I, myself, am a little confused about the dissatisfaction you are expressing.

I will be the first to admit that we did make an error with one appliance and that some of your smaller parts came in damaged and needed to be reordered. As much as we try our best to make everything perfect for our clients, sometimes cabinet parts get damaged in transit, or a faulty part may accidentally pass QA, or, as you mentioned, an error could be made from a designer.

As a company, we pride ourselves on being honest and hold ourselves accountable for any errors we may make. You mentioned that we had a total of 9 re-orders, (that consisted of two panels, toe kick, a base panel and cabinets). I do want to point out that we never withheld or denied you the option to re-order these parts and pieces. Again, we correct our mistakes when we make them. I also want to point out that the toe kick was not our error, (as your floors were uneven) but we replaced that at no cost to you.

Your review also mentioned that we never bothered to check dimensions of your appliances and that our solution was to buy new appliances. I would like to clarify that we did make an error on your microwave specs, but on no other appliances. Most microwaves that go into a wall cabinet with an open shelf are smaller microwaves that are no deeper than 12”-15”. The microwave used was a countertop microwave that was 20” deep”. Once the mistake was realized, and you expressed your dissatisfaction, we offered some solutions to solve the problem.

1.We offered to purchase a brand new microwave, at no cost to you. One that would fit within the shelf.

2.We offered to order new wall cabinets that were deeper so that the appliance could fit. We pointed out that most designs don’t use wall cabinets any deeper than 15” because it is hard to place items and work on your countertops. With 20” deep wall cabinets, clients risk bumping their heads on the cabinets and will have the cabinets about 4”-5” away from their face.

In situations like this, we offer our clients different solutions because there is never just one way to solve a design challenge/error. We understood and valued that you were under time constraints, and the first proposed solution would help keep your project going. As we provide custom cabinetry, we explain to all our clients that all cabinets and parts are made-to-order and take 3-4 weeks to be made and delivered. As our manufacturers are located out of state, sometimes delivery may take an additional week.

It was mentioned that you reached out to me several times and that I had never responded. Although you included me in some group emails, I only received one email addressed to me. As I was out of town, I instructed your designer to reach out to you, for the sake of efficiency, to get the issues solved and to keep things moving. I would also like to point out that I never received any threat from you in regards to the California State Licensing Board. You had mentioned that your architect stated that we may be liable as your contractor, but we were and are not your contractor. I would also like to add that we were already working on solutions for you before you sent me that email. We value our clients, and would never wait to be threatened before trying to solve or correct any errors.

I understand that you did ask the Manufacturer for a 15% refund off your total order and stated that if that demand was not met, that you would post a negative review on all social media platforms, which you have done. It was explained to you by the designer at the beginning of the process that for custom cabinetry, companies do not offer refunds or exchanges, as everything is made-to-order, in fact it is stated on your contract proposal that you signed. It was also explained that if any errors occurred, that solutions would be offered or cabinetry replaced. All of which we have done.

At this point in time, your kitchen remodel is complete and we have replaced all parts that needed to be replaced, as well, as provided labor (at no cost to you) to reinstall some parts. We did make some mistakes, but we stayed accountable and corrected our mistakes, which I apologize for. It would be my hope that you would be able to reevaluate the service and quality you have received from Gilmans and our Manufacturer. We have good feedback from a majority of our clients and our ultimate goal is to make all of our clients happy.

Sincerely,

Larry Lowenthal