The Home Depot Design Center — Attraction in San Diego

This process started September 22, 2018 when we visited the kitchen and bath design center, picked and purchased all new appliances for our kitchen. You design a kitchen around the appliances as we wanted to change the layout of the kitchen. The assigned kitchen designer could not fit us into her schedule due to conflicts in scheduling so on November 2, 2018 we visited the design center and told them our issue with the current kitchen designer and was able to meet with a different kitchen designer. After a couple weeks of reviews and updates on the layouts, we finally ordered cabinets.

My wife and I reviewed the new kitchen plans for a couple weeks and we had a concern with the layout of the appliances and wanted to change (swap) the location of the refrigerator and the wall oven to eliminate a choke point in the kitchen. Due to this change a wall cabinet and counter cabinet needed to be ordered to keep the stovetop location the same. All originally ordered cabinets were delivered 27 December 2018. They were all placed in the garage for storing. The cabinets ordered after swapping the refrigerator and wall oven arrived mid February 2019. We had a difficult time visualizing the new kitchen as a complete rendering was not provided due to software glitches with the kitchen designer computer.

The contractor provided by the Home Depot commenced demolition of the kitchen March 6, 2019 after 1-2 weeks of site survey and measurements to verify the plans.

There were numerous problems since the project started. Below are a few of them.

Counter top incorrect size after two measurements. Increased size of island due to sqft used instead of length and width (paid extra to enlarge island counter).

Deep freezer in the garage was unplugged (use of outlet for power tools) and not plugged back in at the end of the day. Left unplugged for a week and not noticed due to being away for the week. All items completely defrosted and lost.

Bar sink cabinets extend further than the existing side wall. Measurements were taken 2 times by Home Depot and contractor prior to demolition.

Electrical outlet placed over bar sink (corrected)

Bar sink plumbing place incorrectly (corrected)

Cabinets hung too low on bar sink cabinet wall. (Corrected and re hung higher per plans)

Two door pulls missing. Ordered correct amount thu Home Depot online and inventoried when arrived however was told missing when hanging the handles. (Corrected)

Butler pantry wall painted incorrect color (corrected and repainted).

Counter depth refrigerator came with no front panels. Ordered all appliances 9-22-2018. Ordered cabinets 11-2-2018. Cabinet maker does not make wood panels for refrigerators. Stainless steel not ordered until mid/late Jun. As of 5 August still no front panels.

Counter depth refrigerator does not fit I under the cabinets. Complete install of refrigerator cannot be completed until front panels arrive and cabinets altered so refrigerator can slide under. Side panel originally ordered was warped so two other panels were ordered and arrived mid June 2019.

We have 4 countertop slabs. Butler pantry, bar top, stove top and island. Bar top slab was replaced twice due to defects. Stovetop slab was replaced 3 times. Island slab was ordered the wrong color by Home Depot but corrected before it was installed.

Crown molding, kick plates at the base of cabinets, floating shelves and various miscellaneous items still not completed.

We were told 6-8 weeks for our kitchen remodel. Over 10 months since ordering appliances. 8 months since ordering cabinets. Store manager(Anthony) was helpful in the beginning when we had problems to resolve but now he has twice just told the project manager to handle the issues after my wife has called and texted him of ongoing problems. Paid a lot for this kitchen remodel with a Home Depot Project Loan and some additional funds and we still dont have a completed kitchen. Regret going thru this process and will update this review once the kitchen remodel...

Only thing good about the design center is the ability to see a number of products in display that the HD stores don’t have. I purchase new Hacker kitchen cabinets back in mid December and was somewhat pressured to order right then since this company is German and will take 12 weeks to receive. If I waited, I was told we would lose 2 weeks over the holidays, so ordering right away was the best way to ensure I’d get my cabinets in 12 weeks. After the holidays, there were a couple iterations of my design that took 2 + weeks to communicated with a hacker in a Germany and get back to me. In Mid February, we completed my design (should have taken one meeting, but everything had to be set to Hacker Germany for review), I was then told that my 12 week lead time started, so now it’s an 18 week process to receive my kitchen cabinets. As the actual delivery date got closer, the delivery date was pushed to April 30th. I was also informed that the Hacker line of cabinets have installation requirements that are different than normal cabinets and that I really needed to use their “trained” installers. I received a quote of $7500 for installation, which is 3-4 times what it should cost. I have a cabinet installer that I use on my investment properties who’s awesome, with 20+ years of experience and quoted $2k. I originally signed up with the HD installer but couldn’t sleep knowing I was getting ripped off, so I cancelled and currently using my installer. April 30th comes and the cabinets aren’t there. After calling and raising a stink, they made a special delivery 3 days later (on a Friday). I had my cabinet installer come over the weekend To install them and then realized that I’m 8 complete cabinets short. I called my HD rep and informed her of the issue and provided all the cabinet part numbers that weren’t there. It took until Wednesday of the following week, after several calls, promised return calls with an update, before someone from HD came out and looked at what was delivered and what was missing. They confirmed what I told them and said they’ll have their distribution company search their warehouse for them and that they’d call me back. No call Wednesday afternoon or Thursday. I called several times and finally got a call back Friday stating that their distribution center received another container Fromm Germany and that they’re emptying it as we spoke and that they’d call me with an update. No call from anyone all Friday and when I followed up late in the afternoon, they said that they couldn’t reach anyone in the distribution center for an update. I was told that they were going to discuss this with the design center manager first thing Saturday morning and call me. No contact from anyone at HD and I’ve reached out 2 times with no response. There’s no sense of urgency from anyone who works at the design center. I’ve asked for the manager’s contact info so I could call him and discuss my issue and have been promised that they’ll send it to me, but I’ve never received it. I was going to wait until my unbelievably horrific experience was over to post my review, but have had enough lip service and no action that I felt it necessary to post this now. Anyone thinking about using HD’s design center for custom cabinets or other products, DON’T. I’m going into my 22nd week since I ordered my cabinets without a kitchen. I’ll update this post when it warrants another post... either I finally got the balance of my cabinets or I’m still getting jerked around. Sorry for the long rant, but hopeful it prevents anyone else from going through this nightmare. 5/21/19 update: received a response from HDDC asking me to contact them so a manager can call me. Hello... I’ve been asking for management to get involved for months now and haven’t received any calls. Regarding my order, after 10 days of “researching”, they confirmed that my cabinets weren’t made, so they submitted a rush order to have them made and ship on Friday 5/17. 10/2019 - After several more issues, my kitchen is...

I struggle with how exactly to rate the HDDC. I will start by saying I am in the middle of a top to bottom home renovation, including 2.5 bathrooms and a kitchen. At first impression, the showroom is fun and impressive. It is great to see so many mid- to high-end options in cabinets, and some that are only available at Home Depot. It is a great place to get inspiration. I will say the tile, floor, and appliance options are disappointingly limited for a big showroom, though.

My first major concern with HDDC is how it is positioned compared to your every day Home Depot and what that means for the average remodeler. For example, in my 2 full baths, I wanted solid surface on my countertops and shower walls. I was buying Thomasville vanity cabinets through HDDC, so my local HD store pointed me to HDDC to order the solid surface. HDDC was unable to help me with that material (they could only do quartz or granite) and pointed back to the HD store. This happened to me for a few things where the two entities, all part of the same company, didn’t know who was supposed to do what. And it was odd to me that HDDC couldn’t deal with a solid surface order.

Conversely, I did intend to do quite a bit myself (well, actually I am lucky to have family doing the work for me!). The only reason I went to HDDC in the first place was that I could only get the cabinets I desired through HDDC. But when I went to order my bathroom vanities, I was told by the designer I was assigned to that I was required to have HDDC measurements so she could create a design before ordering...even though there was nothing difficult or unusual about the cabinets I needed, and I neither wanted nor needed design or measurement help. This is where a bright spot appears - Bonnie, one of the managers, stepped in to help with Marvin, who both got me exactly what I needed immediately. They each deserve 5 stars for their help! And by the way, the cabinets turned out beautifully.

So at the end, I don’t know what HDDC is supposed to be. Is it full-service? Is it supposed to help you do it yourself, but better? It is not at all clear to me, and it seems unclear to both HDDC and HD. Frankly, it seems odd that a big design center can’t help its clients with any design element or finish type, even if it is something typically offered through the local HD store. I would point to Pirch as an example, where they show the fancy high-end stuff in the showroom, but will help you buy anything you want at any price point. Hopefully this is just an issue of being a new concept, and HDDC and HD will figure it out without leaving their potential customers behind or underserved.

I do plan to go back for my kitchen, as HDDC is the only place I can get the kitchen cabinets I want. But I honestly don’t know what to expect...