1 reviews | Active since Nov 2017
Can it get worse?
<p>To me it is the cupboard equivalent of a backyard mechanic, just worse. He uses his client’s backyards to conduct his unprofessional activities. Using doctor in your name but you fix everything with band-aid? I asked for a quote and stressed that it is not urgent, inform me when you want to start. He says 7 August and it will take 3 days. I ordered to rebuild of some cupboards, and also ordered 4 new cupboards. On the first day ‘the team’ arrives at 11:00, removes some old cupboards, and leaves 4 hours later. Then I get informed that the next day he has to go for a medical and can only start work late. But he decided the dates of delivering my order! So, the following day again only 4 hours work. I asked him during quoting which cutting and edging service he uses. Then, big surprise, he starts building carcasses in my backyard, using badly chipping circular saws and edging by hand, no edging service gets used. Unheard of when professional cutting and edging is readily available. And he uses damaged *****s coloured boards to build my cupboards which I ordered as new. I think he does not have the ability to measure and order board cut to size, so he has to measure panel by panel and cut on site to fit. So now on 8 august he has done the equivalent of 1 day’s work (8hours), but demands full settlement of the whole order! His totally one sided, which according to him is industry norm terms, is full payment one the second day of installation. (It is not in line with the kitchen builders association recommendations) But Mr. Herbst, you haven’t installed a single cupboard yet! I transfer a substantial amount and keep some cash in reserve to hand over the next day when he completes the work. I also send him an email explaining so much, but he only checks that there is no transfer notification of the full amount, not his e-mail, and now he ignores my communication and refuses to come and complete his contract. By the Friday he discovers his mistake, and then rushes in on the next Monday, again late, and now tries to do 2 days’ work in one day. And then of course caution and care takes a nosedive and many errors creep in: He builds the one top cupboard a different height to the others, forgot to write down the shelve height I requested for one cupboard, drill two holes for one-hole handles, does not adjust the doors to fit, does not edge exposed cleats, tries to make a breakfast nook the same height as work surfaces to save one cut on the tops, forgets to cut the nook corner at an angle, cuts the kickboards the wrong size, forgot the strut under the breakfast nook, hangs a door on a brace held with one ***** which then swings out of position, does not clean a single speck of dirt he generates, etc., etc. I have photos if anyone wants to see. At least he agrees to correct his mistakes, says it will take two days to get ready. After two days I start phoning, his ‘main’ number, his ‘sales’ number, send messages to his personal and business e-mail, I get totally ignored. Eventually the next week he sends an email, how can expect him to answer calls when he is on a hunting trip? I called your supposed to be business number Sir! No alternate number to call for a business claiming to have 3 branches? I think it just him and wife operating from home. Anyway now he says the corrected cupboard and redone doors will be ready by the end of the week, no more the 2 days he said, and he will come and finish the job on which is by now the third week of a 3-day contract. In the meantime, I have to live like a camper in my home kitchen for 3 weeks. Then he sends some if his workers, they will come out at 1 o’clock, as they are busy elsewhere. Now another rush job to finish all the leftover work in 4 hours and end up doing patch up work again. The cupboard that was the wrong size now had the right size doors but the rest of the cupboard is not the same size as the doors. Again, all is not corrected, all their waste left lying on my floor in in my yard, and continuous reminders get totally ignored. A month later I get an e-mail, he was away for a while (again). When did you tell me your business is closed while I am waiting for completion of my contract? Then he asks me to tell him what is wrong. Do you not even check the work you take money for Mr. Herbst, or as I suspect, you simply do not care once you got your money. Anyway I sent him a reply e-mail of what I want repaired. 6 weeks later and I have not heard from him again. He says he does not do rubble removal, he says in his quote. Fair enough if he does not remove my old cupboards. But apparently that means to him he does not have to clean up his mess when doing his backyard attempts at running his business. Dripped glue gets left, edging trim-off, unused *****s (27), saw dust, all waste from the workings simply gets left on the kitchen floor. In the backyard all the saw dust, cut-offs, empty glue and sealer containers and all debris from his working simply gets left where it falls, not even swept or gathered in a heap. Look on his website, it says “Removal, prepping, installing and thoroughly cleaning up of debris”! Bad workmanship: Not edging all water sensitive exposed chipboard, especially in a kitchen. Hand edging in situ. Cutting melamine board with hand machine tools with badly chipped edges. Not nailing backing board Masonite to support shelves. Not having a trimmer to edge work tops. Cutting tops and cupboards narrower, leaving exposed tile gaps from removed old units and tops. Suspending a door on a brace held by one *****. Leaving mouse size gaps between the kickboard and bottom of a cupboard. Drawers that are 150mm narrower than their faces. Install a shelf out of level. Not wiping off residue glue. Using damaged off cuts to build cupboards ordered as new. Not covering exposed *****s with ***** caps.</p>