Earth Friendly Contracting

If I could give this business, zero stars, I would.
- Shoddy, sloppy work. We had a flood and hired them to simply fix a leaking pipe and replace cabinets to exactly match the rest of kitchen cabinets that were not damaged. We told him name of cabinet maker who made/installed existing cabinets. After months of delay, six weeks ago, they showed up and installed the wrong cabinets, which did not fit, and then tried to make them fit by sawing them down (which they admitted after the fact). These cabinets are far inferior to the cabinets we asked them to replace; so now, we have two different sets of cabinets in our kitchen - the high quality cabinets that were not damaged in the flood, and the particle board, veneer, barely tacked together cabinets they installed. The sizes were not measured and ordered correctly, so now we cannot open our cabinets/drawers if we choose to install the handles/pulls that are already on all the prior existing cabinets! The new cabinets stick out 1 1/2 inches farther than the old cabinets (noticeable to naked eye). Moreover, they are installed at a slant (not level). They forgot to order the bottom (kickplate) that goes under cabinets to the floor, so there's a gaping hole.

The business owner did not even tell us about the problems until after installation. He "caught" me leaving to go get kids from school, sprang the bad news on me, then disappeared while I was getting kids and before I could return home to inspect work and realize how awful it was.

At first, the owner of this business said he was very sorry for poor installation of the inferior, cheap looking cabinets. After first trying to tell us that cabinetmakers no longer use dovetailing and real wood to make cabinets, and trying to convince us that there was enough insurance money to tear out the rest of our beautiful, high end cabinets and replace them with the awful cabinets made with particle board, veneer, and short nails that he had erroneously installed so that everything would match, he finally agreed to contact the company that made the original cabinets and order the correct cabinets, as we originally hired him to do. (This company owner wasn't mistaken, and he clearly told the insurance company he would replace with same cabinets, accepted the money, and then tried to do lesser quality, cheaper work.)

The owner said he'd make it right at his own expense, but then he vanished, leaving us, the homeowners, with incomplete work that is totally wrong (product and installation). We haven't had kitchen counter tops since June, despite promises that the work would be complete by August when our FOUR CHILDREN returned to school. Six weeks after promising to replace incorrect cabinetry (that was LONG DELAYED), he admitted that nothing had been done - not even the ordering of replacements/correct products. He claimed that he wasn't sure we gave him correct information, but he made no effort to contact the company, contact us to clarify, or do anything at all. The rest of our home's restoration can't be completed until this step is finished, so the main part of our house is torn up and only partially usable. It's now the holidays. He has also tried to claim that I approved the wrong cabinets before installation, and that he wasn't present when they were installed. Not true, and easily disproved.

The plumber (sub-contractor) has repeatedly called, harassing us for payment for the work the plumber did 3+ months ago (supposed to be paid by business owner/contractor, who received money to pay plumber from insurance company). This business owner convinced the plumber to go along with a tripled estimate so that the insurance company would pay it, but when the insurance company only pre-approved a lower amount, the business owner had the work done and then refused to pay it until the plumber "cuts his bill" to the lower, actual amount it should have cost, in light of the failed attempt to get a higher payment than warranted. How do I know this? This is what the business owner told us! It's also consistent with what the plumber told us. This act is certainly consistent with taking insurance money to install cabinetry that matches our existing high end cabinets, but then switching them with poor quality, cheap cabinets. It also exposes us to problems he created, so we parted ways with Earth Friendly.

We fired this company, and are in the process of hiring the very reputable, reliable company who put in our original cabinets. Of course, we will also have to get someone to do the countertops, too, and finish the other shoddy work. At least the plumber did a good job, so we don't have to redo his work. We hired another painter to redo the sorry paint job - "holidays" and some areas left unpainted. No refund to date or accounting of our insurance money. We may lose money changing contractors, but there is no hope this company won't continue to mistreat us and take our money without earning it.