Kitchen Classics

We purchased kitchen cabinets from Kitchen Classics in 2007. We’ve been having issues with the finish flaking off on some of the doors. After contacting the manufacturer and having the cabinets examined, they declared the flaking issue «normal wear and tear», and would not do any «warranty repair.»
We contacted Jill at Kitchen Classics. Jill worked with the manufacturer and the issue was resolved to our COMPLETE SATISFACTION! All of the problem doors were replaced at no cost to us.
For Jill, and Kitchen Classics, it’s satisfying to know that they stand by their customers so many years after the sale.

In spite of so-​so reviews of Kitchen Classics, my wife & I decided to go with them after talking to Jill several times & talking with other cabinet companies in the East Bay. She was extremely friendly, helpful & knowledgeable & listened to what we wanted. She made several design suggestions that really addressed our small kitchen needs. When we encountered the inevitable delivery problems & technical glitches she persevered & worked to resolve them. We now have a before & after kitchen that belongs in a magazine.

Husband and I are in the process of a modest kitchen remodel of an apartment that doesn’t need a top of the line kitchen (counters and cabinets only, no appliances). We went here hoping to get an idea of their prices to compare to other companies. I wish I had caught the name of the woman working here; she wasn’t helpful at all. In fact, she didn’t listen to anything we tried to tell her about what we were looking for. She heard our budget and told us we were «in the wrong place» –before she even heard the size of the kitchen (it’s small) or the materials we wanted! Not everyone needs to, or even should, spend 10% of their home value (her advice) on cabinets and countertops. What a waste of our time and I’m happy to spend our money elsewhere.

If you don’t have the time or patience to read this entire post of why you should go ANYWHERE other than Kitchen Classics, here are the headlines:
WORST customer service.
WORST follow through.
WORST experience of any vendor, retailer, and business ever.
Run, don’t walk, RUN away from Kitchen Classics as fast as you can.
Here are the top 5 absolutely awful parts of our experience with this company:
1. Poor project management: Once we purchased our entirely new kitchen from Kitchen Classics, their delivery of customer care went from excellent to almost non-​existent. Granted, the sales rep became very ill, but in any legitimate company, his projects would have been handed to another sales person to ensure that nothing slipped through the cracks. This was not our experience. We were told that Kitchen Classics would manage all aspects of our project, which is why we went with them instead of a big box store. In actuality, we would go days, sometimes over a week without hearing from their staff despite deadlines and installation requirements. We were told they would be in constant contact with us and all the subcontractors — but often there was NO communication happening. We were told that they would come do a quality control check of our kitchen once it was completed… That never happened either. And there were certainly quality control issues that needed addressing.
2. Terrible estimation of project timeline. We were assured multiple times that the time we would be without a functioning kitchen would be 2 weeks. After twelve weeks the project was still not complete.
3. Mistakes, mistakes, mistakes: Not the least of which was the Kitchen Classics salesman ordering the wrong flooring which was installed into our new kitchen. Not only did Kitchen Classics barely acknowledge the mistake, nor did they offer compensation for such a significant error, but we had to FIGHT their joke of a customer service employee for the difference in cost of the installed flooring from the one we actually wanted. Every time we brought up this mistake to the customer service rep, he told us he «didn’t know anything about that.» It was like a game of hot potato and he would always pass the potato, shirking any responsibility. Other mistakes included mismeasuring our walls and having to reorder parts and miscalculating the number of door handles and tiles needed. They do this every day, we do this once in a lifetime — you’d think they’d have better standards and quality control.
4. WORST customer service: Absolutely awful customer service. Unbelievably terrible customer service. Their customer service staff person has no business having that title, let alone his job. A few weeks into our project, we called and left a message for the owner of the company to tell him how disappointed we were with the service thus far. Rather than calling us back, the «customer service» staff person called and told us we «were punted downhill to him to handle it.» Working with the customer service staff person started out okay but he too quickly fell into the poor communication vortex. He would not call or email us back. At one point during a phone conversation I asked him if I could forward him an email from the sales rep about the comps he promised us, to which he said yes and GAVE me his email address. When I received no email in response, I forwarded the email again. After still no response, I called him and he told me «yeah, I don’t do email.» After a frustrating conversation, we made a plan for him to call me on a particular date. Not only did I not hear from him that day, or the next, but when I called to follow up, I was told «he doesn’t have a voicemail box.» No email, no voicemail. Must be 1985.
5. Lack of accountability: When we went to the store to settle our bill, we showed the customer service rep the email from the sales rep letting us know of a comp we would receive from the store because of our troubles. The customer service rep refused to give us the comp we were promised by his colleague. We asked him to call the owner of the company so we could talk to him. He refused. So, I emailed the owner of the company to try to set up a time to either talk on the phone or come in to the store to tell him about our terrible experience with the company. It has been over two weeks and I’ve yet to receive a response from the owner.
Do yourself a favor — DO NOT use Kitchen Classics for your project. Stay away and warn your friends. No one should have to go through this experience, unless you’re an absolute glutton for punishment!

Here’s another review that says, «Leslie is the best!» She was so wonderful to work with. Although I knew she had other clients, she always made me feel like I had 100% of her attention. I had never remodeled anything before and she was so patient and had the perfect balance of sharing her knowledge while allowing us to express our desires for the project. My kitchen was complete the spring of ’13 and I am loving my kitchen. Thanks Leslie!

Leslie at Kitchen Classics in Pleasant Hill is a talented kitchen designer. She was creative, knowledgeable, and easy to work with. We felt that she gave us good guidance, and was very responsive to questions and changes. We highly recommend her.

Doing a remodel is always hard work, and finding the right place to do it with even harder. This was a great place, and they helped me manage the entire project start to finish. There were a few problems here and there but nothing out of the ordinary or in the control of kitchen classics. Cambria ran out of my material for my counter top color of choice and found out after I had already put a deposit down for a counter top. Kitchen classics did everything they could to rectify the problem, and ended up going with a granite that was near identical in color. Kitchen classics paid the price increase difference between the quartz to granite, just to get the project done for me. Like any thing theres always going to be problems, but the followup from this business is what made bad news into something a lot better.

Don’t let a few bad experiences fool you .A local family owned business. Give them a chance and you wont be sorry.

I’ve had a very positive experience working with Katherine from Kitchen Classics. My wife and I started out working with the cabinet designers at Home Depot (big mistake) and just before ordering, decided to get a second opinion.
I was so happy to have found Kitchen Classics. They have a large show room and really know their stuff.
Katherine talked to me and my wife for a bit and seemed to understand what we were trying to create — then she got to work. She developed one kitchen island design based on our original design from Home Depot. But since the design from Home Depot had some glaring errors — Katherine made some simple recomendations and cleaned it up for us.
She then created a second design of her own — that was really, really cool.
I liked that she had listened to us, gotten a feel for our needs and then took the lead in the design. I dont know what standard cabinet sizes are, or what sink sizes are. And she had an eye for details that was nice as well.
To top it off, she gave me her personal cell# and we’ve correspended via text and cell at nights and weekends when I had questions, or to schedule delivery, etc. She obviously cares about taking care of customers, even post-​sale.
We ended up going back and ordering more cabinets than originally anticipated and the second design and purchase went smooth. We made it clear each time that we were on a budget and she was able to get us very nice cabinets and kitchen island within our price range.
Very happy overall.

I am ALL about customer service first & foremost! I don’t spend my money anywhere that doesn’t appreciate the value of decent customer service. This place has the worst customer service I have ever encountered. The sales people are just plain nasty & rude! You can feel the fakeness & the discontent of their lives as soon as they approach you. With that being said please Unilocalers, find a business that appreciates your hard earned money and has a staff of genuine people who have personalities not comparible to Oscar the Grouch.

We had a great experience with Kitchen Classics. Our designer, Bill created a design which nobody else had suggested.
The design gave us all the extra cabinet space we needed and looks wonderful. The cabinets, Dynasty are gorgeous, and the wood hood makes the room. He also did our counter tops and had everything installed. I would highly recommend them to anyone doing a remodel !!

AVOID KITCHEN CLASSICS and KATHERINE.
Aside from the many errors Katherine made with my cabinetry order, which were numerous, I have never been treated so shabbily.
When I brought errors to her attention I was met with hostility, distain and an utter lack of willingness to in any way address the problems she had created. I had to identify the problems, I had to solve the problems and I had to pay for the solutions.
The majority of my calls were not returned. (Maybe one in five calls.) I was not allowed to speak to Katherine by the employees answering the phones and I was not allowed to address my concerns to anyone other than Katherine. The whole situation was bizarre and spoke to a company quite familiar with shielding its sales staff from irate customers.
Katherine made so many errors it is tedious to list them. A few of the errors could easily be corrected but the majority required a lot of effort and money to solve. And still others could not be fixed and are just things I’m going to have to live with.
As a result of the many errors Katherine made with my order, a process that should have taken, at the most, 6 weeks (we actually scheduled 3 weeks for the project) took closer to 5 months. And at the end of this very difficult time, I’m left with cabinets I would not have purchased had Katherine been accurate with her portrayal of them.
Timeline: Signed early June, Received cabinets mid August, Original completion date mid September, Actual completion date due to cabinetry issues mid January.
Katherine is incompetent and she is ignorant about the products she sales and the industry she works in. In the end, I am left with a kitchen I’m unhappy with and memories of a horrible period in my life and the lives of my loved ones who were made to go through the whole process with me.
My husband and I spent 5 years saving the money for this renovation. What a shame.
I am not someone who enjoys sharing negative information but when I was deciding on the vendor I would use for my kitchen remodel I was unable to find any feedback about Kitchen Classics on Unilocal,the BBB or Diamond Cert. I share this information so that others in my position have a sense of what to expect if they opt to work with Kitchen Classics.
Remodeling is supposed to be stressful and inconvenient but my experiences with Katherine were entirely unnecessary and inexcusable.

Have to give the lowest rating, not so much for the cabinets but for insisting we use their recommended contractor for installation. Doug Adams Construction is yet to finish our cabinet installation 10 months after the start of the project. May be ok to consider buying cabinets but do not use their contractor for installation. It will be a nightmare.
Specifically, the cabinets were installed and nearly complete by November 2009. Eight months later we’re still waiting for the last drawer pull and some cabinet facing (trim) to be installed. Probably a 2 hour job at most. Many calls not returned and promised appointments that never take place.