Kitchen Nightmare

October 12, 2006


We knew were were taking a chance when we decided to renovate the kitchen on a home we bought without seeing in person while living halfway around the world, but being optimists/fools we decided to take the plunge. Well, turns out we were very foolish and our friends were right....we were crazy to do it this way. When we signed the contract with a kitchen designer, she assured us the project could be completed before we even arrived in Jacksonville back in August...well here we are in the middle of October living in a house with a totally gutted kitchen. Once I can find the photo thing I will upload images so imagine this...a room without any cabinets, counters, kitchen sink, appliances....nothing but live electrical wires all over the place and a hole in the middle of the floor. Not a great place for kids especially Camille who is crawling and cruising all over the place

When we arrived in August the kitchen designer told us the cabinets had been ordered but were delayed and would arrive in two weeks. And then suddenly we could not get in touch with her. She would not return phone calls and she left messages telling us she had all sorts of strange medical issues...hospitlized one week for pneunomia, another week she was in traction, followed by a stroke. We went to her office last week and met another irate client who has also been having "issues"....for over a year with this designer and her incomplete kitchen! After threatening to call a lawyer, we finally had some phone contact with her and it turns out she never ordered our cabinets and instead used our money to try to save herself from bankruptcy. She apologized profusely and swore that the cabinets would arrive on October 9th. When I told her I had spoken with the cabinet company and knew they weren't made she changed the date to Oct.14th. I am not holding my breath at this point. The company says the end of October and at this point we are just praying they show up. This has really been a nightmare and we've learned some hard lessons. Never thought I would miss a kitchen as much as I do...as my dad told Adam "she's not very domestic"...but a kitchen sink, dishwasher, and oven are suddenly very appealing to me!
Jessica said...

Oh my word! You already told me, but I still can't get over it. I was a big baby about not having a fridge for a week when we first got here. What are you guys doing about meals? Talk about not feeling settled! I'm not very domestic either, but a kitchen is one of those basic necessaties I think. Keep us updated!

Love from all in Oak Harbor (where the speed limit is 25mph--like driving in Okinawa with a fraction of the cars).

Ann said...

I am so sorry about your kitchen. I hate dishonesty. It so sucks. I hate that this has been one of your first experiences in Jax. I hope you guys are able to get this all straigtened out.

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