Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:01/18/2023

  Type:Sales and Advertising Issues
  Status:

  UnresolvedMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  I hired A1 Furniture Restoration to restore my kitchen cabinets in early March 2022. The originally quoted price was changed and added on to through the process. I was never provided the promised drawings. The process was full of false assurances, confusing communication, and changing information. When I finally saw a "finished" product, it was unacceptable. I voiced my concerns and was told that the issues would be fixed and would not be a problem on the rest of the project. I requested repeatedly to see the finished product before installation but was not allowed to. After several installation appointments that were cancelled and rescheduled by A-1, some of the cabinets were finally installed (without drawers or doors) on 10/29/2022. We could see immediately that the cabinets were very poorly made. I contacted A-1 right away and was asked to send a list of issues. I asked for a refund of the $8,500 I had paid. They never addressed the issues and responded with hostility and unreasonable demands. They have refused to come get the cabinets and will not let me bring the cabinets to them. They have never come to view the cabinets to see the problems. They have also never addressed the actual cabinet quality. Since then, they have failed to respond or have responded uncooperatively. This situation has been financially difficult, since we have had to order cabinets from someone else, as well as emotionally and physically difficult. We have 6 children and have not had a kitchen for 10 months. It has been very stressful. I was very willing to come to an agreement with A-1, but every effort was denied. Not only did they fail to deliver the product as promised, but I am also without my original cabinets as a result. I would like my money refunded. If refunded, I would not need to request my original cabinets back.Additional photos and video are available.

  Business Response

  Date: 01/31/2023

  To whom it may concern, 
  
  I am the General Manager at A1 Furniture Restoration. The owner of A1 Furniture Restoration has put me in charge of responding to claim #*********
  
  The following is a timeline with an explanation of the events and what action we have been taking to resolve this issue:
  
  Beginning of February of 2022 we were asked by Mrs. ****** to come to her home and give her an estimate on custom built-in wall shelves and bookcases. 3D concepts were provided along an estimate, samples of different wood and color stains. Mrs. ****** then informed us they would hold off on those projects and wished to focus on refurbishing and reshaping their kitchen cabinets to fit their new kitchen layout. 
  
  End of February 2022 demolition and uninstall of their original cabinets was done to assess the total cost of the project. 
  
  March 23, 2022 We realized the refurbishing and reshaping of her original cabinets would be out of Mrs. ******** budget. We therefore, offered to build new cabinets at no additional cost. 
  
  On March 30, 2022 Mrs. ****** informed us they lost their contractor and the project will now be on hold until further notice. 
  
  On April 25, 2022 we presented them with three different estimates. 
  
  On April 27, 2022 Mrs. ****** approved one of those estimates and gave us a deposit. We moved forward to begin construction of the frames of the cabinets while we waited for the green light from Mrs. ******* Mr. ****** was now included in the project and was cc'd in all email correspondence.
  
  On July 18, 2022 we received a voice message from Mrs. ****** stating that the project will continue to be on hold for another 3-5 weeks. 
  
  Early to mid August 2022, Correspondence was now with Mr. ******* Knowing the only thing holding up the project was the missing drywall in the kitchen, we provided Mr. ****** with an independent contractor to finish the work.
  
  Mid to late August 2022 project was green lit again by Mr. ******* 
  
  Early September 2022 we delivered a custom built micro tall kitchen pantry to the client's home. They expressed their dislikes about the quality and hoped to add skins to the inside of the pantry. We took the pantry back to make the appropriate adjustments and add skins to the inside of the pantry and other cabinets.
  
  On September 20, 2022 we presented Mr.& Mrs. ****** with a final estimate adding the additional cost for the skins.
  
  Between September 21-September 29 there was a burglary at our workshop where a lot of material was stolen including a majority of the clients' cabinet doors. We had to hold off on the installation due to the reordering of the stolen doors. We clearly expressed to Mr. ****** that we would absorb the cost of the new doors.
  
  September 30, 2022 Mr. ****** expressed his current dissatisfaction with the project and about the new price quoted on September 20, 2022. 
  
  October 2 & 4, 2022 We responded with what actions we would take to address his dissatisfaction to assure a smoother project, offered free additions to the project and a clear explanation of the new price. We also offered to refund him his deposit, minus certain expenses, should he want it. 
  
  October 6, 2022 Mr. ****** approved the new price quoted on September 20, 2022 and gave us the go ahead to continue with the project.
  
  Between October *****, 2022 We negotiated a price for additional work, a kitchen island, requested by Mr. *******
  
  October 23, 2022 Mr. ****** approved the price on the additional work. We began construction on the kitchen island.
  
  October 28, 2022 We delivered the upper and lower cabinets. Mr. ****** reviewed the cabinets before installation and was asked by the owner if there were any problems. Mr. ****** gave verbal confirmation there were no problems. Mr. ****** then proceeded to authorize where to drill openings on the cabinets to give room for wall outlets. Our contracted specialists then began work and installed the upper and lower cabinets. We were scheduled to come back the following week to install doors, drawers, and prep all cabinets to ready them for the final presentation to ************************************* 30, 2022 Mr. ****** canceled the entire project and requested a full refund of his entire deposit. We then canceled the remainder of the installation process and requested a list of reasons why they chose to cancel.
  
  November 1, 2022 Since we did not hear from Mr. ****** we presented him with three options. One of those options included him returning all cabinets to us repaired to our specifications for reselling in order for Mr. ****** to receive a full refund of his deposit.
  
  November 2, 2022 Mr. ****** countered with his version of how to get his deposit refunded.
  
  November 10, 2022 We reaffirmed our original offer from November 1st on how he could get a full deposit back and asked him to respond in a timely manner.
  
  December 29, 2022 Mr. ****** finally reached out to us to ask how much of a refund could he get should he deliver the cabinets without the repairs.
  
  January 17, 2022 We informed Mr. ****** that we were currently working on getting a buyer for the cabinets that are in his possession so we can get him a fair amount of his refund. We also asked him to patiently wait until January 20, 2022 for an answer.
  
  January 18, 2022 Mr. ****** filed a complaint with The Better Business Bureau.
  
  January 20, 2022 We informed Mr. ****** we found a buyer for the cabinets that are in his possession and that we would get back to him with numbers the following day.
  
  January 21, 2022 We received a letter from The Better Business Bureau stating Mr. ******** complaint filed against us.
  
  January 24, 2022 We informed Mr. ****** we will focus our attention on addressing the complaint and that he will have to wait until January 28, 2022 for a definitive answer from us.
  
  January 28, 2022 We informed Mr. ****** that we have decided to give him a refund and that on January 31, 2022 we would send him terms and conditions for the refund and a specific dollar amount we would refund him.
  
  Thank you,
  
  General Manager
  A1 Furniture Restoration
  

  
  

  Business Response

  Date: 01/31/2023

  Here is are some  amendment to the January dates after December 29, 2022:
  
  January 17, 2023 We informed Mr. ****** that we were currently working on getting a buyer for the cabinets that are in his possession so we can get him a fair amount of his refund. We also asked him to patiently wait until January 20, 2023 for an answer.
   
  January 18, 2023 Mr. ****** filed a complaint with The Better Business Bureau.
   
  January 20, 2023 We informed Mr. ****** we found a buyer for the cabinets that are in his possession and that we would get back to him with numbers the following day.
   
  January 21, 2023 We received a letter from The Better Business Bureau stating Mr. ******'s complaint filed against us.
   
  January 24, 2023 We informed Mr. ****** we will focus our attention on addressing the complaint and that he will have to wait until January 28, 2023 for a definitive answer from us.
   
  January 28, 2023 We informed Mr. ****** that we have decided to give him a refund and that on January 31, 2023 we would send him terms and conditions for the refund and a specific dollar amount we would refund him.
  Thank you. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 02/07/2023

   
  Complaint: 18829048
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  The issue at hand is that A-1 Furniture Restoration agreed to provide us with high quality cabinets, and instead provided us with cabinetry that was incorrectly made, uneven, not square, not level, contained many flaws, and had drips and other stain issues.  When we contacted the business to ask for a refund, they asked for a detailed list of the issues, which we provided.  They never asked or attempted to come to our home to view or resolve the issues.  Their response, and all subsequent communication has been uncooperative,and strong handed.  They have not attempted to resolve this issue in a satisfactory way, instead they keep threatening us with going to court and trying to coerce us into agreements that would benefit only them.  Recently we had reached an agreement, and they changed their terms at the last minute.  They even sent us a lengthy and ****** wordy legal document saying that we had to sign it or else we would not receive any money back.  The document would have taken away any rights or options that we should have. 

  
  Throughout the process of our business with A-1 Furniture Restoration,communication was difficult, and confusing.  We specifically asked for pricing whenever there were changes and were assured repeatedly dont worry about the cost, we just want you to have beautiful cabinets.  When the cost was raised in September, we asked questions regarding the breakdown of the new costs and were met with a tantrum by the business owner.  The general manager was able to smooth over the situation and we agreed to a new cost.  In early September a finished cabinet was delivered to our house, and the condition was very unsatisfactory.  We expressed our concerns to the general manager, and he acknowledged that the cabinet finish was rushed and was not the quality we had been promised.  They took the cabinet back to refinish it.  After that we asked to view the cabinets multiple times and were denied each time.  Mr. ****** was finally allowed to see some,but not all, of the cabinets, in an unfinished state.  We still were never shown drawers or doors.  After this the business scheduled and postponed installation five or six times, causing us to constantly shift our familys schedule and plans.  One of these instances was on September 27, 2022, when Mrs. ****** received a text message that the business owner was on his way to the home with the cabinets and would be there in 20 minutes.  Mr.****** was out of town, and no delivery had been scheduled.  Mr. ****** contacted the business owner and let him know that delivery was ok, but installation would have to be scheduled for when Mr. ****** was home.  The business owner then, according to his eventual reply, turned around, went back to the shop, unloaded the cabinets and put them in storage, all in a ten-minute time span, and all while ignoring the text messages and phone calls from Mr.****** during that same time span.  We,as clients, did our best to be accommodating and reasonable during the entire process.

  
  When the cabinets were finally installed on October 29, 2022 (a day that was very inconvenient for us as we were hosting a large event at another property, but we made it work because the business had rescheduled installation so many times and we were worried about how much longer we would be without a kitchen), we were not given the opportunity to inspect the cabinets, nor did either of us give any confirmation, verbal or otherwise, that there were no issues.  This is contrary to the general managers assertion otherwise in his complaint response.  After the partial installation (the rest of the cabinets were never delivered or installed, and neither were the drawers,doors, or trim for the cabinets that were installed), was done for the day, we were finally able to review the cabinets.  Mrs. ****** was in tears.  The wonderful quality that we had been assured of throughout the process was not present.  We had several people look the cabinets over, including a representative from *****************, an experienced amateur woodworker, and a former *********.  All expressed dismay over the poor construction and craftsmanship.  We contacted the business the evening of the partial installation asking for a refund and removal of the cabinets.  By this point we had no confidence left that this business could provide us with what they had promised.  This is when they asked for a list of issues, which we provided.  They emailed us saying that they would no longer invest more time,resources and money on this project.  Subsequent emails continued in this attitude.

  
  Because of the general managers behavior toward us, we were afraid to remove and transport the cabinets without a representative of the company present to ensure that we caused no damage.  This meant that our kitchen was held hostage for three months, over the holiday season.  We could not use the cabinets,nor could we remove them, so we had to work in tight space around them.  This caused additional hardship to our family. 

  
  After several emails back and forth, we reached out to the general manager on December 29, 2022, January 7, 2023, and January 16, 2023, and received an email back on January 17, 2023.  In this email the general manager stated Should you bring the cabinets to the shop without prior approval we offer you nothing in return.  The general manager continued to refuse to allow us to return the cabinets to the business.  He also asked for our patience in this email, however, we had given as much patience as we were able, and needed a resolution so we could move forward on completing our kitchen.  It was at this point that we filed a complaint with the Better Business Bureau.

  
  After filing our Better Business Bureau complaint, the general manager contacted us and told us that he could not work on resolving our issue because he now had to work on replying to the compliant.  He had not informed us of any effort to resolve our issue in the three months before this.  On January 31, 2023, they made us an offer that they stated was non-negotiable and gave us 24 hours to accept.  Tiring of dealing with the general managers ultimatums, and tight deadlines, and wanting a resolution and to move on, we agreed to removing and returning the cabinets in exchange for a refund of $5,000.  $2,500 was to be refunded at the time of return (agreed on to be February 4, 2023), and $2,500 to be mailed by certified check on March 25, 2023, minus an undetermined amount for repairs to the cabinets.  We would like to believe that the general manager intended to be honest and fair in that assessment, although we were not happy with leaving this piece of the agreement so open. On February 3, 2023, the general manager sent us the above mentioned legal document, insisting that we sign it or not receive payment.  This was not part of the agreement.  The general manager also notified us that he would be out of state when the scheduled return of the cabinets was to take place, and that he would mail a certified check on February 7, 2023.  This was also not part of the agreement. 

  
  The cabinets were returned on February 4, 2023, and the general manager was notified and sent a picture.  We have not received any refund, or any further communication.  We would like to receive a refund of $5,000 out of the $8,500 that we paid to A-1 Furniture Restoration.  We believe this is fair.  We are disappointed that our trust in a local small business was so misplaced.

  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  ***********************