Northwest Home Gallery

Complaint: [redacted] Before I respond to the list of alternative facts supplied by the business, I advise the owner and the designer to consider the following longstanding mantra: "The customer is always right." Imagine you just spent more than $40,at a storeYou would expect the customer service experience to be top notch, and even memorably positiveYou certainly would not want to blamed for a litany of mistakes on the part of that businessThat's what happened to my wife and I when we went to create our dream kitchen at Northwest Home Gallery (NWHG) We could have taken the strong recommendation of our contractor and worked with [redacted] Instead we took the recommendation of our architect and went with NWHGOur first visit was a huge red flagThe only person working there promised that the owner would reduce their margin if we chose to work with themWe promptly went to Home DepotBut we kept our options open and when NWHG hired an accredited interior designer we decided to support the local businessThe designer, who co-authored the rebuttal to my initial Revdex.com complaint, always seemed overwhelmedIt was a constant effort to check her work, which often had some detail wrong in the email correspondenceMy wife and I started to ask each other, “Do you think she got all that?” Coincidentally, my mother is and Interior Designer, so I know what this profession entailsThe two most important qualities are being detail-oriented and having excellent communication skillsThe NWHG designer is sorely lacking in both areas The beautiful Kohler sink, which became the monetary basis for this complaint, was just the last in a list of screw-upsThe most egregious was that the designer offered us the option to do glazing, but had no samples on hand in our styleShe did not take us to the computer and show us the example on the Kemper websiteThat would have taken her all of five minutes, and saved a lot of tears, but she didn’t think to botherThe sample we did see was nothing like the finished productShe ordered a dozen pieces of beadboard at great expense to us, and we’re using almost none of it because it looks sootyI asked her and a Kemper rep to come out to our home to see the glazing, and I was going to give the designer the chance to stand with her customers and demand a better quality product from KemperInstead, she stood by her rep and blamed me for not looking online to find a better sampleThis actually happenedBoth Kemper and NWHG are taking a hardline approach and frankly, with a new baby at home, we have better things to spend our energy on right now The final blow was when we attempted to install the oven and discovered the designer had ordered the wrong cabinet, so it didn’t fitThey billed us in advance for installation but made no attempt to fulfill that part of the contract, so I had my electrician on hand for the installThe designer said all she could do was order a new cabinet and it would take six weeksShe admitted the mistake but would not apologize and then had the audacity to blame me, the customer, for making too many alterations to the designMy mother, an industry professional for forty years, thought that was the height of incompetence On several subsequent occasions, which were documented in the complaint, I attempted to contact NWHG to follow up on these issuesIn their rebuttal, they make a point that I left only one voicemailHow many unreturned voicemails am I required to leave? After the business with the oven cabinet I have not been able to get an answer to my call during business hoursThey may be too busy to answer the phone, but I suspect they are choosing to ignore me out of sheer unprofessionalism As for the sink, the designer claims that I did not have time to look at it when I “passed by.” To the contrary, I asked to open it but she resisted, suggesting I should wait until it was deliveredShe was too busy unloading a truck, which apparently limits NWHG ability to help customers during business hours, as there was no one else at the storeWhen we discovered the sink had a defect, NWHG said it would take four weeks to get a new oneWe needed it by the next week to get the countertop templating done, so I found one on [redacted] and had it primed 2-day, and it was cheaperAfter multiple calls to the owner and ultimately filing this claim I was able to get a refund for the price of the sink plus tax, but they would not refund the credit card charge, which is ridiculousHe said something about having no control over that because we received a discountThat sounds like **I also wanted a refund on the part of the installation we paid for but did not receive – for the sink and the cooktopThe owner told me to my face he would “look into it.” That was two weeks ago and I have not heard back If you want a top-quality customer service experience with professional designers and craftsmen, avoid Northwest Home GalleryPay the extra 10% and go with [redacted] in Sequim.Sincerely, [redacted] ***

Mr*** paid $for the sink, plus tax, for a total of $ The sink was delivered to us on October 19th, from our supplier and Mr*** was notified via emial that the sink was in Mr*** came in on October 20th to look at the sink, unexpected, and I was in our warehouse
unloading a truck of cabinets Mr*** came into the showroom and had to call our business number from his cell phone because he could not find me When he called, I answered the phone, but my phone did not work in the warehouse so I came running back into the showroom to find Mr*** on his cellphone. Mr*** said he was passing by and would like to look at his sink, I asked him if he could give me a few minutes because the cabinet boxes were in front of the sink box. I showed him where it was, but Mr*** did not have the time for me to do this and left as he was just passing through I specifically remember this because my co-worker was at training and I was accepting a delivery of another job at the time
Then, after we delivered the sink, in the original packaging which showed no signs of defect, Mr*** had it installed After he had it installed, he noticed a defect, that was clearly visible before install Mr*** did not pay Northwest Home Gallery to install the sink or the cabinets Mr***’s project was delayed multiple times, due to unassociated issues, over a week timeframe His delays and rescheduling of the installer twice resulted in the unavailability of the installer for a third reschedule He notified us the week of November 30th that he wanted the install to start the following Monday, which was December 5th When I explained that the contractor could not do the install that following Monday, Mr*** decided to install the job himself The $delivery and install fee is clearly for the install and delivery of the appliances he purchased, not for the sink, as shown on the attached invoice which was emailed to Mr*** Mr*** also has documentation, our original proposal, showing that our install did not include any plumbing or electrical. He was serving as his own general contractor for his job, therefore, he was to get the plumbing and electrical done before any cabinets were installed.
In regard to his refund, as with most retailers, check reimbursement can take up to weeks Mr*** has already notified us that he has received the check The check is for the $plus tax as we have no control over manufacture defects or credit card company processing fees
We feel that we treated Mr*** fair and addressed his issues in a very timely manner. We initiated the replacement from Kohler and allowed Mr*** to return the defective sink to us with a full refund of the sink purchase price because Mr*** would not wait the week lead time from the manufacture to receive the replacement We picked the sink up, in the original packaging, and returned it to our supplier. We have received (1) voicemail message from Mr*** since this started and one email Most retailers will not take back an item that has a manufacture defect and in this case, due to the circumstances, we did our best to make Mr*** happy by going to Kohler ourselves to get him a replacement and then offering to refund him the purchase price so he could go elsewhere and get the item more quickly.
Regards,
Robert W***s | Owner
Vera P*** | Designer

Complaint: [redacted]
Before I respond to the list of alternative facts supplied by the business, I advise the owner and the designer to consider the following longstanding mantra: "The customer is always right." Imagine you just spent more than $40,000 at a store. You would expect the customer service experience to be top notch, and even memorably positive. You certainly would not want to blamed for a litany of mistakes on the part of that business. That's what happened to my wife and I when we went to create our dream kitchen at Northwest Home Gallery (NWHG).
We could have taken the strong recommendation of our contractor and worked with [redacted]. Instead we took the recommendation of our architect and went with NWHG. Our first visit was a huge red flag. The only person working there promised that the owner would reduce their margin if we chose to work with them. We promptly went to Home Depot. But we kept our options open and when NWHG hired an accredited interior designer we decided to support the local business. The designer, who co-authored the rebuttal to my initial Revdex.com complaint, always seemed overwhelmed. It was a constant effort to check her work, which often had some detail wrong in the email correspondence. My wife and I started to ask each other, “Do you think she got all that?” Coincidentally, my mother is and Interior Designer, so I know what this profession entails. The two most important qualities are being detail-oriented and having excellent communication skills. The NWHG designer is sorely lacking in both areas.
The beautiful Kohler sink, which became the monetary basis for this complaint, was just the last in a list of screw-ups. The most egregious was that the designer offered us the option to do glazing, but had no samples on hand in our style. She did not take us to the computer and show us the example on the Kemper website. That would have taken her all of five minutes, and saved a lot of tears, but she didn’t think to bother. The sample we did see was nothing like the finished product. She ordered a dozen pieces of beadboard at great expense to us, and we’re using almost none of it because it looks sooty. I asked her and a Kemper rep to come out to our home to see the glazing, and I was going to give the designer the chance to stand with her customers and demand a better quality product from Kemper. Instead, she stood by her rep and blamed me for not looking online to find a better sample. This actually happened. Both Kemper and NWHG are taking a hardline approach and frankly, with a new baby at home, we have better things to spend our energy on right now.
The final blow was when we attempted to install the oven and discovered the designer had ordered the wrong cabinet, so it didn’t fit. They billed us in advance for installation but made no attempt to fulfill that part of the contract, so I had my electrician on hand for the install. The designer said all she could do was order a new cabinet and it would take six weeks. She admitted the mistake but would not apologize and then had the audacity to blame me, the customer, for making too many alterations to the design. My mother, an industry professional for forty years, thought that was the height of incompetence.
On several subsequent occasions, which were documented in the complaint, I attempted to contact NWHG to follow up on these issues. In their rebuttal, they make a point that I left only one voicemail. How many unreturned voicemails am I required to leave? After the business with the oven cabinet I have not been able to get an answer to my call during business hours. They may be too busy to answer the phone, but I suspect they are choosing to ignore me out of sheer unprofessionalism.
As for the sink, the designer claims that I did not have time to look at it when I “passed by.” To the contrary, I asked to open it but she resisted, suggesting I should wait until it was delivered. She was too busy unloading a truck, which apparently limits NWHG ability to help customers during normal business hours, as there was no one else at the store. When we discovered the sink had a defect, NWHG said it would take four weeks to get a new one. We needed it by the next week to get the countertop templating done, so I found one on [redacted] and had it primed 2-day, and it was cheaper. After multiple calls to the owner and ultimately filing this claim I was able to get a refund for the price of the sink plus tax, but they would not refund the credit card charge, which is ridiculous. He said something about having no control over that because we received a discount. That sounds like **. I also wanted a refund on the part of the installation we paid for but did not receive – for the sink and the cooktop. The owner told me to my face he would “look into it.” That was two weeks ago and I have not heard back.
If you want a top-quality customer service experience with professional designers and craftsmen, avoid Northwest Home Gallery. Pay the extra 10% and go with [redacted] in Sequim.Sincerely,[redacted]