Express Kitchens: New London — Attraction in New London

BUYER BEWARE

Would have loved to leave a better review and wish I we had a better experience. My wife and I recently invested in updating our kitchen through Express Kitchen with high expectations of the quality of wood they use in their cabinet construction as advertised on the website and by in store representatives, (New London location). Many of the doors had dents dings and substantial warping upon arrival, thought all was good and being resolved properly until we started receiving replacement.

We started to notice that some replacement parts were missing or the replacement parts also had dings marks and worst of all cracks (from poor quality wood and poor quality control in the factory that assembles the cabinets) we sent in some photos of a replacement false front drawer with a crack all the way through to the front face and this was the response!

Quote: “The most recent photos you shared are well within our acceptable tolerances. The hairline crack you see below does not affect the structural integrity of the cabinet. You will find these in any wood cabinet. Wood expands and contracts with humidity and temperature creating small cracks in the wood as the wood adjusts. This is something you can expect in any wood cabinet. As for the mark on the false front, this too does not jeopardize the integrity of the cabinet.”

I agree it does not affect the structural integrity but it does affect the visual appearance and is not something I can trust to withhold the test of time and stay looking good, our 60 year old dated cabinet were also plywood construction and did not have nearly as much warping and cracking we experienced in the first month of having these new cabinets.

Express kitchens needs to tighten up what they consider “Acceptable tolerances”…. So buyer beware your are your own quality control and inspection…

Lastly our whole transaction felt very rushed and they do not let you know that you only have a week to submit warranties for shipping blemishes until you receive cabinets. If I had known this before hand I would’ve asked for them to deliver cabinets a week or two later when we are more ready to set them all in. I also know a few people that have gone in after us and sales representatives seem to tell everyone that there will be a price increase in a week or two, making people feel as if they have to make up their mind in a rushed manner and pull the trigger...

From the showroom my kitchen designer and salesman was Michael Sullivan. Very professional very helpful had some great solutions to achieve what we had envisioned for our new construction home. Upon delivery everything was moved off the truck cautiously and with care. But it wasn’t until I started on boxing everything and deciphering what everything was that I had an issue. A bunch of items that I have purchased we are nowhere to be found.. and other items that I had not purchased that I found multiple of… searching for matched SKU codes through a disorganized eight page invoice to ensure I wasn’t gypped any further. Many cabinet we’re cracked or had quite a bit of tear out, or improperly fastened. First thing I thought was these guys at the factory need to sober up joking thinking it was just one. Unfortunately every one had an issue that needed some sort of massaging. I wish there was also a little foresight that an over range microwave would need a 15 inch cabinet depth and not a 12. My bad there for not catching that critical detail and trusting someone else to do that for me. Fit of decorative end panels is poor don’t waste your money for an upper cabinet with a 35 inch door a decorative side panel is a half inch too short in height. Already just absolutely disgusted with the product. These are the type of cabinets that are perfect for a model or your rental that you really don’t care about. They are cheap and look good for the price but they are not up to my standards. Great place for countertop prices however We will see when templating and install comes if it was all...

Overall it was a fantastic experience using Express Kitchens. I originally started the process with 3 companies (Lowes, Express Kitchens and Wren Kitchens). Wren was extremely pushy and we eliminated them immediately due to aggressive salesman. Lowes was fantastic to deal with, but very new designer and then Express Kitchens came back with their design and it was spectacular and the designer is very very experienced. The showroom having the exact kitchen cabinets we were looking for was also very helpful. For price, Lowes and Express Kitchens were very comparable. The cabinets from Express Kitchens were very well built and the installation went very well as well as the granite installation. I would recommend doing both from Express Kitchens because the scheduling is much easier and their people were great to deal with. The only area I thought could have been done better was the measurement. The original measurement missed having the cabinets too close to the door and covering 2 outlets. Thankfully I caught this and the designer helped redesign that piece. Even when the installer did his final check they missed the fact that the vent location for range vent would have to be moved and another outlet was in the way. I would only suggest they check all outlets, switches and vent fans to make sure there are no issues or point them out so we have time to determine best course to take. This would be the only area though, from design to purchasing to customer service to installation of cabinets to installation of granite counters it was a...