Embedded Files
05 July 2012
Menards® Guest Services
5101 Menard Drive
Eau Claire, WI 54703
Dear Menards:
This letter is to ask for consideration regarding a botched kitchen cabinet order:
1. A $1,288.72 refund or store credit.
(The difference between what we should have paid and what we actually paid.)
2. A rebate (#1402) for the additional cabinet and the vanity top
The events of this order are laid out below in chronological order:
December 16, 2011
I visited Briana Peterson at the Menards in Sioux City, IA to get a bid on kitchen cabinets. We discussed replacing the doors on the upper cabinets with a color other than that of the boxes but decided the cost would be prohibitive, so we decided to stay with all one color. I took the final measurements home to Wayne, NE (approximately 50 miles from the Sioux City, IA location) to verify the layout in our house. The original bid shows a free sink base offer that was not included in the purchase. I have attached a copy of the original bid.
December 17, 2011
I revisited the store to place the order – Briana was not on duty. I took the original bid with me to show what we had accomplished the day prior and to make the needed changes. I verified with the gentleman working that day to see if there was a cost effective way to mix natural color doors with sorrel boxes. We determined there was not, so I place the order for what I thought would be all one color cabinets with doors. I have attached a copy of the Special Order Contract and Receipt.
January 2, 2012
Because our plans were to sail from the port of Los Angeles on January 18th for 94 days, I sent and e-mail to find out when to expect delivery of the cabinets. My wife’s sabbatical replacement (Amy) would be renting our house during our absence so I needed to install the kitchen as soon as possible.
January 3, 2012
I received the following response to my inquiry.
Mr. Brown,
Your order is in production. Due to be out to the store the week of 01/16. Because it is already in production I am unable to speed it up any more then it already is.
Thank you for choosing Schrock!
Stephen, Preston and Eric
Schrock Customer Service
Because we would be leaving Nebraska before I was able to take possession of and install the cabinets, I arranged for a friend (our neighbor and my wife’s colleague Ron) to collect the cabinets and hired someone to install them.
January 18, 2012
After spending several days installing new exterior doors, interior light fixtures and making other changes to our house in Omaha (rented to friends of ours); we departed for Los Angeles, CA and boarded the ship. Our itinerary can be found by clicking on “World Cruise (2012)” at www.johnofarch.com.
January 24, 2012
We learned that doors for the upper cabinets had not been included in the original order and we would now need to place a separate order for cabinet doors.
January 25, 2012
I called Menards and spoke to Jeff Whitehead. We discussed the problem and determined that he would order doors for us at the original sale price. I asked if the price of the doors added on to the price originally paid for the cabinets would be the same as if we had received the order as originally intended. He assured me that we would not be paying more than the original bid. He quoted me $1,072.17 less $107.22 to match the sale price we received on the original order, bringing the before tax order to $964.92. Because we were away from home (we were in Maui at the time, sailing that afternoon to Australia), I did not have access to all of the paperwork from the original order. During the ordering of the doors, I was asked what color the doors should be. At that point we discussed our conversations during the order process and I asked if we could order natural color doors at no additional cost. I was told that at this point it didn’t matter what color doors we ordered, the cost would be the same. My notes for this conversation are on the front page of the Original Bid. [While compiling the paperwork for these orders, I see that manual calculations were made on the Special Order Contract for the doors that do not match the attached receipt.] These items have been attached.
February 3, 2012
An e-mail was sent indicating the arrival of the doors.
Guest Name: BROWN-WALL DOORS, JOHN Order Number: SCTY30250557
Date/Time Activity Location
Jan 25, 2012 6:47:42 PM Order Purchased SIOUX CITY, IA
Jan 26, 2012 5:25:18 AM On Order
Feb 3, 2012 11:25:06 AM Received in full at store SIOUX CITY, IA
Feb 6, 2012 7:56:24 PM Picked up in full by guest SIOUX CITY, IA
February 20, 2012
Part of an e-mail from our neighbor Ron:
Just got off the phone with Menards. The nice guy said he remembered John and talking to him. According to him, John wanted the contrasting color since there was no price difference between it and the darker color (the blonde wood of the doors does kind of match the blonde color of the bamboo floor, so I could see John doing it).
The other question is the hinges. He thought the hinges for all of the doors might all have been packed in one of the boxes. I would package the hinges needed with each door, but I'm not a major distributor of kitchen cabinets. Maybe there is some reason for doing it the other way.
We'll cut open the packaging on the other doors and see if we find a cache of hinges in one of them; otherwise I guess we'll be ordering hinges from Menard's. If there is more than one hinge style that will work with these cabinet doors, be sure to have John let me know which style to order (assuming we don't find them packed in one of the boxes in your living room).
February 22, 2012
An excerpt of Ron’s e-mail:
Whew!!! Both Amy and I were wondering what was going on, and concerned that you'd come home and say "what the heck???" Although after talking to Menards the guy said he remembered talking to John and that's the way it's supposed to be.
Just to be clear--the lower cabinets are all the darker color (bases AND doors); it's only the upper cabinet doors that "match" the floor and are the lighter color. If the lower cabinets are also supposed to be blonde doors, we have a whole new issue.
Amy and I celebrated Fat Tuesday by cutting open all the packaging around the upper doors. Do WE know how to have a good time, or what? No hinges anywhere to be found (the guy at Menards thought they might have all been put in the same box). I'll call them at some point --it probably will be Friday.
Good to know the hinges should have been included. If Menards tries to charge for them I'll raise a little Cain and have fun doing it.
Don't worry about trying to call Menards from there. We'll handle it at this end. You two just relax and have fun.
My wife’s reply:
Yes, the doors are supposed to be a different color. If you do not find the hinges, Menards should give them to us for no additional charge. They should have been included.
Please message us and let us know if you found them. Do we need to make a long-distance phone call tomorrow? I am SO SORRY about all this trouble. [sigh]
February 24, 2016
Following is a partial email from our neighbor Ron, who ran back and forth between Wayne, NE & Sioux City, IA while we were out of the country:
Hi! I got Menards called and your hinges had already been ordered. I asked when they should arrive and they said March 21. With any luck your cabinets should be installed by the time you get back.
Order Look-up from the Menards website:
Guest Name: BROWN- HINGES, JOHN Order Number: SCTY30251972
Date/Time Activity Location
Feb 22, 2012 11:07:15 AM Order Purchased SIOUX CITY, IA
Feb 22, 2012 3:59:47 PM On Order
Mar 2, 2012 11:39:44 AM Received in full at store SIOUX CITY, IA
Mar 24, 2012 2:17:32 PM Picked up in full by guest SIOUX CITY, IA
February 26, 2012
Following is a portion of another e-mail from our neighbor Ron:
Yes the cabinets were installed. It was during the initial installation that the installer alerted Amy to the fact that there were no doors on the upper cabinets and she told me. Amy has plenty of storage space. She just can't hide anything in the upper cabinets because the doors for them are all stacked and leaning against one wall of the living room. [Evil grin.]
I don't know about Menards, but I would agree with the sentiment that you should send a letter. Who sends out cabinets without doors, and doors without hinges?
March 26, 2012
We went down to Omaha yesterday and spent some time with Katy & the boys. Before we left we gave Menard's a call to see if the hinges were in and they were! We went up to Sioux City and drove to Omaha via I-29.
The young man helping us at Menards remembered talking to John and is the one who ordered 11 pairs of hinges. While we were there he opened the box and guess what?--11 hinges! (Not 11 pairs of hinges.) As we stood there he emailed the company requesting another 16 (I think) hinges be shipped directly to your address (I had mentioned something to him about some of the taller doors being pre-drilled for 3 hinges, so he added a few). I almost felt sorry for him, because this, at least, was not his fault and he's doing his best to try to make it right.
We have your first 11 hinges here at the house. When the others arrive, it will be time to call what's-his-name to finish the installation.
March 27, 2012
An e-mail portion from our neighbor Ron:
I saw the order Menards sent in--it was for 11 PAIRS of hinges. (Of course this was the hinge order, not the original order for the cabinet doors. If you mean it's Menards' fault the hinges weren't ordered with the cabinet doors in the first place, then you could be right.) If it's NOT at least partially the cabinet company's fault, why didn't they at least question why there was an order for an odd number of hinges? They thought you were installing 2 1/2 doors? I don't see how the cabinet company doesn't bear at least some of the blame, but then what do I know? I'm just the guy who schleps things to this funky looking house down the block.
Of course, now that I think about it, it takes at least 4 hinges for each pair of doors. I wonder if that means we'll still end up with half the hinges we need . . . no, I'm pretty sure there were just 11 doors to be installed, not 11 cabinets, each of which would require two doors each.
I have attached the “Gate Pass Copy – Special Order” for the hinges. I cannot find payment for the hinges and therefore assume they were not charged to us.
April 21, 2012
We disembarked at the port of Los Angeles. We we’re unable to take move back into the house until the end of the semester, so we spent some time with friends and family in California and then again in Utah before returning to Nebraska. We stayed in Omaha while waiting for our house to be vacated.
May 19, 2012
We visited the Menards in Council Bluffs, Iowa and ordered cabinets for our laundry room, along with another cabinet for the kitchen and a vanity top for the yet to be completed master bathroom. We told our tale to Ken E. in Council Bluffs and told him that we were still short two hinges to complete the set. He said he could solve that problem, ordered two hinges and had them sent directly to the house. I have included the paperwork from this order.
Shortly after returning to Wayne, NE, I received a call from my parents informing me that they were both going into surgery in a few days. (Mom to have a hip replaced and Dad to have an Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma removed from his neck.) I spent the next month in Southern Utah caring for my parents during the beginning of their convalescence.
After finally getting back into the house, I installed the kitchen cabinet doors to find that one of the doors was too narrow for the cabinet and that an additional 12 × 42 door had been included in the order.
June 25, 2012
We visited the Sioux City location to try to work out this mess. Briana was there and was aware of the situation. We presented the paperwork and asked what they could do to solve the problem. Briana ordered the new door for us and called for a Manager to assist with the price discrepancy. We were able to speak with Brad, to whom we repeated our tale. After asking questions, answered by us and Briana, Brad took copies of our paperwork, said he would talk with the General Manager and get back to us. I asked how he felt about the possibility of a resolution to this problem but received no real answer. After a few minutes of trying to get a feel for things and receiving discouraging responses I informed him that the sale of another $2,000.00 order was in jeopardy here.
June 26, 2012.
Brad called me early in the afternoon to inform me that no consideration would be made for our experience. I questioned him repeatedly as to why, and countered his attempts to explain but soon found that no resolution was possible. Again I advised him that this decision would result in the loss of the above mentioned sale, and that I would not let it end here. He simply replied that he could not help.
June 28, 2012
We returned to the Menards in Council Bluffs, IA and got a refund on the laundry room cabinets totaling $1,942.55 + tax. I feel bad to Ken E. for returning a sale with which he so competently and informatively completed. After leaving the return desk, we went back to “cabinets” and spoke with Ken to update him on our situation and ask for his advice. He located Mike Eynon, the Cabinets and Appliances Department Manager, to hear our story and offer suggestions. Mike suggested that we complete an Installed Guest Complaint Form and assisted with its proper completion. My wife and I were surprised that no one in Sioux City had suggested a way to further air our grievances, and that it was the very helpful and competent guys (Ken & Mike) in Council Bluffs that pointed us in the right direction.
All of this explanation has been to ask for two things in consideration regarding this botched kitchen cabinet order:
1. A $1,288.72 refund or store credit. Please see the attached spreadsheet.
(The difference between what we should have paid and what we actually paid.)
2. A rebate (#1402) for the additional cabinet and the vanity top. Form attached.
Should you have any questions or need additional information, please feel free to contact me.
Sincerely,
John
Select Attachments:
MENARDS RESPONSE:
CONTINUING CORRESPONDENCE:
06 August 2012
Mr. Brian Krysl, General Manager
Menards – Sioux City
5900 Gordon Drive
Sioux City, IA 51106
Mr. Krysl:
On 10 July, 2012, Cathy Drinkwine from the Menard, Inc. Guest Services Department in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, sent a letter in response to a complaint about my kitchen cabinets. Cathy’s letter said: “I have forwarded a copy of your letter to Brian Krysl … with the request that he thoroughly review it. Please feel free to contact Brian if you have further questions.” If you need a copy of the original complaint letter, it can be obtained by clicking on:
“Menard, Inc. PROBLEM” at www.johnofarch.com
On July 26, 2012, we stopped in at your store to see if the 24” door for our kitchen was in. It was, but was the wrong door. I spoke with the cabinet department today and was informed that the door will not be here for another two weeks. (That will put delivery at eight months after the original cabinet order.)
Cathy’s letter said: “We have been informed that you received the cabinets as they were ordered.” Wow, what a slap in the face! Yes, we received the cabinets as you ordered, but not what was requested by me, the customer. Because there was an error on your part in ordering something different than was requested, it seems that you and your corporate Guest Services Department are attempting to sweep the entire problem under the carpet. As a farther insult, the letter was concluded by saying: “We value your business and appreciate your understanding in this matter.” In other words, you’re getting nothing from us so just shut-up!
I took two photos of my kitchen this morning. Do you think I have what I wanted? Is there anything you are willing to do to correct this problem?
John
c: Arlene Krueger – Geust Services Department, Eau Claire, WI
14 August 2012
Arlene Krueger, Manager – Guest Services Department
Menard, Inc.
5101 Menard Drive
Eau Claire, WI 54703-9625
Ms. Krueger:
Mr. Brian Krysl, General Manager- Menards – Sioux City, called me on Monday, August 13, 2012 to reconfirm that the final cabinet door had arrived, and to respond to my latest letter. He informed me that there was nothing he could do for me at the store level – any consideration regarding my kitchen cabinet order would have to come from you at the Guest Services Department. We also discussed the return of an additional door that was charged to me but was not part of my kitchen.
It seems that the buck has been passed back to you. I would like compensation for the amount I overpaid and for the discounts promised but never received when I ordered my kitchen cabinets. If you need a copy of the original request and complaint letter, it can be obtained by clicking on:
“Menard, Inc. PROBLEM” at www.johnofarch.com
While most of the supporting documentation is not yet posted online, if you need a copy of any information regarding this problem, I would be happy to provide it.
During our recent conversation, Mr. Krysl made two comments that implied he did not “thoroughly review” the information forwarded to him by your office. He thought that my letter indicated I was in the country in March, 2012 and wondered why my requests have come so long after the initial order, and he was not aware that when you ordered my doors, an unnecessary door was included and was charged to my credit card.
I would like to revisit your claim that I “received the cabinets as they were ordered”. While it is true that as of Monday, August 13, 2012, I finally have the cabinets that you ordered (it took eight months and multiple attempts to get us this far), I did not receive the cabinets I chose and I did not receive the considerations that I was promised and have documented. Any attempt to respond to my requests by resting on: “you received the cabinets as they were ordered”, shows that the information that I have provided you was not examined, not considered or simply disregarded.
I would like compensation for the amount I overpaid and for the discounts promised but never received when I ordered my kitchen cabinets.
John
c: Mr. Brian Krysl, General Manager – Menards – Sioux City
Brian: If there are any incorrect statements or false implications regarding our recent phone conversation, please let me know (via the address listed).
[Personal Note: When I was at the Menards return desk in Sioux City to get a refund on the additional door, the gal there gave me a store credit based on the invoice where the price of the door was discounted as promised over the phone when we ordered them from Hawaii. I asked her to redo the credit based on the price paid and again showed here the store receipt. Upon examining the receipt, she saw where the discount was never applied, and turned around to tell the gal that had entered the initial sale that she had made an error on this sale. At no time was any offer made to correct the rest of the sale, just the one door.]
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