RBS Kitchen Design Center LLC

Mark (the business owner) and his team lack total professionalism and communication etiquette with my husband and I on our kitchen project. Our questions and concerns became unimportant, a hassle and were constantly ignored. Mark and his team made several mistakes that caused a 2 month delay in what they call in their words a “small kitchen project”. To name a few, first they accused my husband I for repeatedly changing our cabinetry from the most expensive ones to a cheaper end one. This is incorrect, we always wanted the Koch express cabinetry from the first day I stepped into their show room, but it was Kelly, the designer, who entered in the wrong cabinet name that perhaps caused Mark to assume this of us. Second, they measured one of our walls wrong, what was supposed to be 103-104 inches in width, Mark and Kelly measured it 100 inches in width. This ultimately caused a huge delay in our project when they noticed that the cabinets they originally ordered did not aligned to the actual width of our wall. Third, prior to signing the contract, I had asked Kelly if the Koch Express cabinets came with soft closing, she said it does and my husband confirmed it only to find out she had taken back what she had originally told us. When Mark made the mistake of ordering the new cabinets with soft closing, instead of both apologizing to my husband and I of their mistakes, we get this atrocious and startling email from Mark! (His email to us can be read below). Fourth, his subcontractors did not handle our cabinetry with care and had damaged/nicked one of the cabinets and they also failed to clean up after themselves, just having a total disregard to safety measures! We have a toddler and an infant who gets into everything; they could’ve gotten themselves hurt from all the debris and nails left behind by them. Fifth, his granite guy Hugo, picked a defected piece to install thinking that we would be “ok” with it. Mark was able to have Hugo come back and replace that defected section; however, Mark failed to communicate what day and time Hugo would come to install the new piece, making us have to shuffle our days and jobs around to work around his schedule. And, this wasn’t just one time we had to do this, we had to constantly accommodate to their schedule. These issues are just a few to name, and with all these issues caused on their part, not ONCE did they apologized to my husband and I. Overall, I would not recommend RBS Kitchen Design center for your remodeling needs. Mistakes happen, and no project big or small is ever easy, but because of our “small kitchen project” we were belittled and treated just that, “small and insignificant” to them. We chose them out of their top competitors because we thought they valued customer trusts and loyalty. Apparently, we were fooled. Mark’s email to us: From: "Mark Barnhill" Date: May 23, 2017 9:18 AM Subject: Re: Quote Here is the bottom line for you to. You guys came in here several times, designs changed from more expensive cabinets to less expensive ones. The cabinets that you both settled on were Koch Express. That is what you got and paid for. When I re ordered the 2 replacement cabinets I did not look at what was 1st ordered. I made the mistake of ordeing these new replacement with soft close. Period. Too many cooks with too many opinions. If you want soft close you will need to upgrade and we will order what you want. I will not be taking advantage of again. You got what you paid for. Today we will complete the trim installation and install your microwave oven over the stove. We will pick up any of the cabinet debris and remove that from your property. If the granite is cut to size we will install that also. If the granite needs to be trimed I can have Hugo cut it either on Wednesday or Saturday. Enough with your insults and bickering for items that you have not paid for. You folks can switch your minds at will. I will be looking for payment in full upon this completion. If I have problems with receiv]i]ng our final balance, I suggest you re-read the contract that you have signed. Mark Barnhill

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Went into store and talked at length with both the man and woman about having our kitchen and bath countertops and floors done, and the potential restructuring in the kitchen. They were very friendly and seemed interested in doing the job. I Scheduled an appointment for him to come and view the two rooms and prepare an estimate. He arrived on time on October 7th. We have an older home and he explained that the partial wall removal would probably not be a possibility, which was fine with us. He then proceeded to measure the kitchen countertops, and was ready to leave. I then reminded him that we want the floor replaced with tile also. He hemmed and hawed a lot about the floors being uneven in these old houses, etc. etc. He did not seem interested in the job. I then also had to remind him that I wanted the bathroom counter/vanity replaced, and new tile on the floor also. It is a small room, and again he did not seem interested, said he would have to call his tile guy. He indicated he would send us an estimate. We have since not heard back from him at all. I got the feeling he felt he was too good for a job like ours. Would not consider them again.

Our main bathroom was updated by RBS. We were impressed with the showroom of many styles and products from which to select. Our designer was friendly and amendable to all our requests and had several suggestions her own. But what impressed us the most was how rapidly the problems that arose were corrected ? for example: · When the plumber drilled through a water pipe causing a leakage on our lower level and damage to the ceiling tiles ? RBS replaced the ceiling at no cost · When the new vanity cabinet arrived with the wrong style of drawers and door facings, replacements were ordered immediately ? and we hardly minded the delay · When the two medicine cabinets arrived and we discovered the wall insert was 2/3 the size of the existing wall holes the workmen patch the difference the same day · The faucets we selected were the ones that were delivered and they were installed quickly and efficiently. It was too bad that once they were installed, we were unable to open the medicine cabinet doors because the faucets were too tall. · The replacement faucets with the shorter height work okay ? we are getting used to having to turn the handles to the right to avoid the clicking as the medicine cabinet doors hit the top of the faucet handle · The designer selected a tile black splash that we really liked ? but she failed to mention it came with a top molding that was not to our liking. We discovered this when the tile arrived and was being installed. Fortunately, again, the workman were able to modify the tile design to our satisfaction. · The wall painter that was selected by the designer was a nice young man. He removed the old wall paper quickly which probably accounted for the rough texture and uneven surface that was the result. While assuring us he would use plaster patching to smooth the walls prior to painting, such was not the case. When we telephoned him at his place of business he would give us dates which were no-shows or the calls went unanswered. May be he will answer in small claims court. The total project which included a new ceramic tile floor but excluded a new toilet and bathtub/shower unit cost about $5900 for the for the 45 square foot area. Not included was the generous 3% discount for something ? maybe it was pain and suffering. But whatever we paid the bill just to end the pain once and for all.

The experience was disappointing at best. The contractors were from out of town and very hard to communicate with. They left large holes in both walls when removing the back splash. We had to hire another contractor (at our expense - $320) before they would install the new back splash. The new graphite in the kitchen was cut too deep and needed to be removed and re-cut. Again, at an additional expense to us. Lastly, the new granite in the power room was not sealed. We found working with RBS owner, Mark Barnhill, very difficult. Basically, we paid for the job in full only to get him and his company out of our lives.