The Kitchen Annex in Westwood, MA Closed now

Reviews about The Kitchen Annex

• ★ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

  May 13, 2019, by Brian I
  Introduction: One of the worst experiences that I’ve ever had with a contractor. At first Pete (the owner) comes out to the site and provides an estimate but solely relied on me to give any type of vision for the project. Regardless, Pete several weeks later provided me with an Estimate and Visual rendering of the project which was my sole reason for hiring him. The detailed line items and visual rendering really gave me confidence that we were on the same page. Budgeting: The original estimate was for $46,000 and at the end of the day it was about $17,000 over the estimate. In most construction projects there were hiccups and sometime the client wants improved or higher end pieces. Both of which were true but there was about $7,500- $10,000 worth of excuses and issues that arose. Sub-Contractors: The real reason that compelled me to spend time I don’t have writing this review is not because I dislike Pete, I actually think he’s a really nice guy, very nice intact! The good intention is there but his company seems under staffed, over extended, and lacking in several areas that are CRITICAL in having a successful construction company. One of the BIGGEST ISSUES is the sub-contractors that he sends to the jobs. It seems like he a rolodex that he refers to and just sends whoever is local and available. From the customer perspective it seems that he never takes the time to explain specifics to the Subs and in return they do the job incorrectly, need to spend more time/money etc. In the year time that we’ve been undergoing this horrible experience Pete has very few times actually gone to the site. In fact I don’t think he’s been since the summer. Just this week for example sub-contractors came twice at 6:30am and today at 7am with no notice. The whole situation is just very much unorganized. Billing: The last thing I want to mention is the billing, record keeping is 100% mandatory if you hire him. Pete is truly unorganized and I had to act as an accountant when he told me money was due. There were instances where I had paid and he tried charging me again and I had to provide credit card invoices and receipts from my email, from him that bills were paid. It’s interesting, one day you’ll get an invoice from Kitchen Annex and one day from Compass Solutions, with no rhyme or reason why. After all the contract I signed was with Kitchen Annex. Communication: The number of times that Pete has not returned my calls within the last year would be at least 40. Just this week alone, I texted him three days in a row which no response. Pete calls when it’s convenient for him. Fortunately for me I wake up at 5AM but the number of times he’s called at 6AM or 6:15 has been about 10 and then if I want to get back to him about something later on he doesn’t answer. Surprisingly, if you call his cell phone his voicemail greeting says he will be out of the country and have limited access to voicemail. In this greeting he mentions a date of mid-march, 2017 when he should return. Talk about unorganized, almost a year later and still has the wrong greeting. Today: It December 7, 2017 and my kitchen is still not complete. Multiple cabinets were ordered incorrectly, an example the dishwasher was measured incorrectly by Pete but once install he refused to replace it. I had to badger him to reach out to the manufacture to see if they’d replace it. Similarly enough his carpenter damaged my cabinet refrigerator panel ($1,700) and after 3 months he replaced it yesterday but upon doing so put it on backwards. Conclusion: There are still issues that haven’t been addressed but after a while you just have to give up. The expression goes, “Pick your battles” and that’s exactly what I had to do. Not to mention a general feeling of being ripped off. If you have a lot of money to blow and don’t have a time line you should definitely hire Pete.