11/15/2021
This post is not about Cameron Design, but rather a WARNING about doing business with HOME DEPOT. Purchasing branded items is not an issue, but having Home Depot CONTRACT to do work for you is a terrible idea.
Last April, my ex-wife, Wiveka, walked into the Home Depot store on Lexington Avenue in Manhattan, for the purpose of renovating her small NY kitchen. She selected a countertop material from the samples shown, and arranged for "Project Designer" Joseph Ciabotte to come to her apartment for a design visit on April 15.
Ciabotte arrives an hour late, and the Black Quartz sample that she had selected "isn't available at the Lexington Ave. store". Reluctantly, Wiveka selected an alternative. The next surprise was that Ciabotte/Home Depot insisted that the $18,000 job be paid IN FULL UPFRONT. (One should NEVER pay for construction upfront - a deposit, progress payments, and withholding 10% for a couple of weeks after a project is finished to be sure everything was done as promised, is standard operating procedure DESPITE HOME DEPOT'S BU****IT).
On April 26, Sr. Design Consultant Chuck Yancura comes to measure the job. My ex is told that the work would begin on 6/7 and would require about 6 weeks (because of Covid). She was instructed to have all cabinets emptied.
On 6/7, the Installation Department Coordinator, Jacqueline, (914-347-6900), calls to say "We shipped all of your countertop material to the wrong customer. We'll get back to you on 6/11 TO RESCHEDULE. In the meantime, all cabinets are empty and the kitchen is chaos. June 11 comes and goes - NO CALL. (Jacqueline is taking classes for promotion, and largely unavailable to manage this project. AMAZING HOW LITTLE SENSE OF RESPONSIBILITY ONE NEEDS TO GET PROMOTED AT HOME DEPOT).
6/14 - Installers come to start cabinets.
6/15 - Installers finish cabinets, but kitchen is in complete disarray waiting for countertops. NO WATER, NO SINK.
6/16 - Countertop installation scheduled. NO SHOW. Multiple UNRETURNED calls to Home Depot and to Jacqueline. Days later, installation rescheduled for 6/23.
6/23 - Countertop installation begun, but not finished.
7/9 - Countertops FINISHED, more than 2 weeks after being started!
Backsplashes cut the SAME THICKNESS AS COUNTERTOPS. TOO THICK TO REINSTALL SWITCHPLATES/OUTLET COVERS.
Wiveka in Europe until mid-August. On return, she calls Yancura: "I know what happened. The backsplashes were cut too thick. This has happened before. Maybe I can fix this myself. I'll get back to you." NO CALL BACK.
A week later, Wiveka calls Yancura again. "Has nobody called you? I'll look into this and get back to you." NO CALL BACK
Yet another week goes by, and she calls Yancura AGAIN. "I'll get back to you." AGAIN NO CALL BACK.
On 11/8, I called Chuck Yancura, (646-388-0228), who is clearly an unreliable, unresponsive nonentity, and NOW he says "Its not my job. I'll get Jason Timm, the new Installation Mgr. involved." As of 11/14 - NO CALL.
EIGHT MONTHS IN AND THE JOB IS NOT FINISHED. For any of you contemplating a kitchen or bathroom renovation, you've got to be an idiot to hire HOME DEPOT and their undependable subscontractors.
