ABR BUILDERS INC

I purchased the door at Home Depot and ABR builders are the contractors they hire for their installations. I was a bit worried since the door being replaced was the original exterior door to a home built in 1958. I had no reason to worry. The contractor arrived on time and completed the door installation as scheduled. Everything went perfect. The new back door is absolutely beautiful.

It was a horrible experience. First they were due between 12-2 on Friday and they showed up at 4:00. They said they could put both doors in that night. I expressed concern that it was late on a Friday night and we could reschedule, but they assured me they could do both doors. I had other concerns about a new tile floor that had been put in around the back door. We had left tiles out in front of this door so that the door could be installed without damaging the tiles. I also had a new porch with a solid tongue and groove floor. I asked that they be careful of this and I had lain cardboard around the door so they would not damage the porch floor with their tools or the new door. They ended up breaking a tile that was to the side of the door. They also dropped a nail gun outside of the cardboard I had lain down and gouged the porch floor. In addition they brought the wrong size trim to go around the door. At this point I was so upset that I would not let them install the front door. I also went further by calling and canceling the installation of the front door. I now have to deal with getting people out to fix their damage and filing a claim with insurance to recover cost. I will never use this company again.

As the door installers for a home improvement store in the Charlotte area, I guess that this company feels like they have enough customers, and need not be responsive to each customer's needs. Their head installer came out and estimated the job. We had to wait three weeks for an installer to arrive in order to perform the work, but when he saw the job before him he told me that if he did the work, it would "look like *expletive*." Needless to say, he did not do the work. We had to wait another 2 weeks for the head installer to return and perform the work.

In the contract it says that the professional will be responsible for obtaining permits. It also says this on the Step 2 of the kitchen installation process information provided by the home supply store and signed by me on 3/8/2008. At no point was I informed that I had to obtain permits by the home supply store or the contractor. In addition, from my subsequent research, I am not required to obtain a permit for simple cabinet replacement. I am not changing the electrical or the plumbing or footprint of the kitchen. The company has had ample time to obtain permits. It is not my responsibility as the customer to obtain permits. I was not informed of any changes in this item on the contract. I do not even know how to go about obtaining a permit. The contractor has not lived up to this portion of the agreement. This has delayed my project. The contractor did not communicate this problem to me in a timely manner. I had to call to get this information. The contractor and the home supply store are playing the blame game and no one is taking responsibility. I really don t care who was supposed to tell me about the permit issue. The fact of the matter is I was not informed. I am not complaining about the cost or about the need for a permit. I am complaining that I was not informed. This has delayed the project unnecessarily. This is just unprofessional. Neither the home supply store, nor the contractor has taken steps to resolve the issue. In fact, I am having trouble getting the supply store management to return my calls. The contractor wanted to do the whole project and wanted me to pay exorbitant prices for the service. I was able to have parts of the project done by other contractors with the supply store at a better price. I have also gotten better service from other contractors. If the contractor was unwilling to install new cabinets only they should have said that at the beginning. I would have gone with another place for the cabinet install. I feel that the contractor is trying to trap the consumer with hidden costs. They have not been transparent in this process. At this point I fear that this contractor is not acting in good faith and will find other reasons not to complete my install, more reasons to delay it, or not do a good job. I cannot be positive about my experience with this contractor or the supply store s handling of the matter. I no longer trust the contractor to communicate with me in a timely manner, or to perform the work without some other problem and/or delay. I would like another contractor to install my cabinets. If the home supply store does not have another contractor, then I will contact the cabinet maker and ask for a list of approved installers in this area. If the supply store cannot allow me to pay for this under the 3/8/2008 agreement, then I request that they refund the portion of the costs for cabinet installation. I have now been without a kitchen since 3/31/08.

Blake installed the door and he did an excellent job. He was timely and took time to complete a quality installation. Will definitely use their services in the future.

The worker was on time and very professional. Doors look great. He cleaned up and swept before he left.

I went to Home Depot and they contracted with ABR to install my kitchen cabinets. I spoke with a Leigh in their office and only spoke with her because Home Depot called them to finally call me. Leigh scheduled the installation the first part of September. I called back 3-4 days prior to the date in September to confirm they were coming between 8:30-10:30 and Leigh said that wasn't an appointment that one guy took vacation and they couldn't do it then. Then when I called Home Depot, the Associate Manager and Andre argued back and forth, and it ended up that Leigh called me to set up another installation date, which was the end of September, two days prior to me moving into the home on September 27, 2006. These cabinets were delivered on 8/10/06, and ABR and Home Depot couldn't get the scheduling right so I ended up hiring another contractor who did them in 2 days and prior to my move-in date. They did a great job and it only cost $1,600.

They were prompt and courteous. They did a measurement and then did the installation two weeks later. Everything was very thorough and they double checked their work. I don't have any air coming into my room now, so the installation was great. It looks great-there are no gaps, squeaks, or anything.

THEY PROMPT, ON TIME, PROFESSIONAL. GREAT SUB CONTRACTOR FOR HOME DEPOT. THE TRIM WAS NOT THE BEST AND I CONFRONTED HOME DEPOT ABOUT IT. THEY ALSO REPLACED TRIM IN TIMELY MANNER WITHOUT COST. THE OWNER WAS PERSONABLE AND MAKES ALL HAPPY.

THEY WERE POLITE, DID A GREAT JOB OF CLEANING UP AFTER THEMSELVES. THEY WERE RESPONSIVE ABOUT RETURNING TO FINISH UP AFTER COUNTERTOPS WERE INSTALLED AND IN TALKING TO ANGELO, I FOUND A GREAT FINISH CARPENTER FOR SOME EXTRA DETAIL WORK.