Message Thread:
Customer Mistake
4/23/15
We built a high end kitchen, face frame, flush inset doors. Shaker style, painted with Conversion Varnish, incl installation ($50k, thank you). The sink is a Rohl apron front sink. During the planning stage I showed photos of 2 counter top installation methods to the homeowner. He made his selection, I noted the drawing, and built the cabinet accordingly. He had the counter installed differently than agreed upon, and they raised the sink leaving a 1" gap under the sink, which he wants me to fix. Very intelligent guy trying to run his own job, but lacking experience he made the project unpredictable, and stressful. I fully expect a fight over the cost. What to do?
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4/23/15 #2: Customer Mistake ...
Why would you want to fight with a customer over anything? I would go fix it and chalk up the expense to the yellow page advertising you don't buy.
For what it is worth a really great solution here would be to use a piece of natural finish lumber like cherry or oak. Maybe match the hardwood flooring or any other color accent in the space. This would look better and be far more viable than trying to fix & blend conversion varnish.
4/23/15 #3: Customer Mistake ...
Maybe a strip of the stone top material would look good also.
Paul R
4/23/15 #4: Customer Mistake ...
You could also harvest some good information out of this project if you took the additional step of documenting this countertop as a thing that needs to be considered.
Your customer probably objected to how thick the transition was from top of 3cm counter to top of farmhouse sink. The countertop guy offered the rabbet detail as a solution.
If you were to photograph this approach and contrast that with a more standard solution when you are meeting with your customer you can minimize this type of problem in the future. You could also use it as part of a dialog about cabinet budgets in general before you submit your bid.
4/23/15 #5: Customer Mistake ...
I'll say again that I showed photos of 2 different installations, full counter thickness around the sink, and just the slab thickness around the sink. He made his choice, and I noted his choice on the drawing. He is arrogant, won't admit a mistake, and puts it on me. So if I fix it no charge, it's like accepting guilt. And why run from a fight anyway? This fix will cost me $1,000. in lost productivity. I will say that I did post the question, so obviously I'm spinning it in my mind.
4/23/15 #6: Customer Mistake ...
Is pretty clear you handled this correctly in the front end. We're pretty thorough ourselves but all the time run into situations where the customer isn't fully cognizant of the ramifications of their choices. Look at all the times you communicate something in your shop but the message never quite gets through.
In these cases we conclude that we need to do a better job of communication. The customers only do this once or twice in their life whereas we're faced with these kinds of issues on a daily basis. We make mistakes in our shop all the time so is not reasonable to expect that customer should hit 100%.
4/23/15 #7: Customer Mistake ...
What is he asking you to do? Replace the entire sink base? Remove the base and replace the rail and reinstall? In either case, he pays. If it's just a filler under the sink to be applied onsite it should be a quick cheap fix unless he lives a long distance away.
There are a million unexpected problems that can arise and the cabinetmaker can't put preventive measures in place for all of them or absorb all of them.
4/23/15 #8: Customer Mistake ...
How old is the Kitchen? It looks like the rail joints are broke and the doors don`t fit right.
Maybe it`s just the camera.
4/23/15 #9: Customer Mistake ...
KISS….make a filler and stick it in the gap. Even better…..make an overlay filler that sticks out as a shallow ledge. It will look like additional support for the sink and fit right in. As Sam mentioned you already have cracking there anyway, not to mention the d/w panel looks like it's seam is showing in a bad way as well. Trying to hit the client for a $1000 fix on something that has other issues anyway seems a bit unethical to me. Granted it's their fault and should pay, just not that kid of money for that kind of fix.
Even if you replace the whole cabinet it should be discounted for the above mentioned issues.
my 2 cents…good luck,
JeffD
4/23/15 #10: Customer Mistake ...
Cut out the rail, put in a wider one with pocket screws from the back. Half hour in the shop, hour at the house. Not worth the fight.
4/23/15 #11: Customer Mistake ...
Tim has this right, pick your fights this ain't one of em.
4/23/15 #12: Customer Mistake ...
I would see if the countertop guys have enough material left to make a filler. Personally, I would like that look - it could easily have been designed that way.
4/24/15 #13: Customer Mistake ...
Tell him to pound.sand your not.fixing his mistake unless he pays for it............
And he'll tell everyone that looks at his beautiful new kitchen what a jerk the contractor was and to not waste your time calling him for any future business needs.....
Or suck it up and make him feel like its a big.deal but tell him you'll take care of it for free but you want.a.great 5 star review on Yelp and your company Facebook page. Happy customers are literally worth millions of dollars in repeat and referral business and we bend over backwards to keep them happy so they will tell their friends how great we are.
4/24/15 #14: Customer Mistake ...
Website: RodriguezCabinets.com
I'm with Derrek and Tim, in the 20+ years i've been doing this,i have yet to tell a customer ,arrogant or not, it was their fault when it clearly was.you know that sign we see here and there that reads "if we do a good job tell others,if we don't tell us",well, that's almost always the exact opposite.
4/25/15 #15: Customer Mistake ...
add a filler and move on...
4/30/15 #16: Customer Mistake ...
I'd float him the a couple or three options with the one you want being free and each successive one being more costly. Along with that I'd tactfully weave in there that this is an issue that was clearly covered and pat him on the back with something like "hey, give yourself a break, you don't do thus every day and if this is the worst recovery you've got to make your doing pretty well".
Filler, stone filler, new cab. Filler free, new cab at full cost.
I see the crack at the dishwasher but the other response about rails and doors I just dont see. the slight misalignment where the doors meet in the sink base is likely imperceptible in real life. Anyone who has ever taken a photo of their work knows that photos are unbelievably harsh as compared to the real world.
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