skip to main content
Photos
Photos
Advice
Stories From Houzz
Houzz Discussions
Houzz TV
Sign In
Houzz Logo Print
Explore Discussions
Design Dilemma
joeamejka

Kitchen Cabinets - Fabuwood, Hanssem or Aristokraft

joeamejka
7 years ago
Remodeling my kitchen. I was considering installing Fabuwood cabinets, which are higher end Chinese cabinets. I was set on going with Fabuwood. A friend who is a contractor suggested Hanssem instead (for $5000 more). They are American cabinets, but the reviews did not seem great. Another buddy suggested Aristokraft (also $5000 more than Fabuwood). Aristokraft had the worst reviews. Anyone have experience with one of these brands?? Or some advice on a middle range American cabinet company?

Thank you,

Joe

Comments (7)

  • PRO
    WW Love Your Home
    7 years ago

    Where are you located?

  • PRO
    Patricia Colwell Consulting
    7 years ago

    High end Chinese no such thing and the warranty is always garbage because they really don’t care once you get them.

  • PRO
    WW Love Your Home
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    Fabuwood is based in New Jersey the warranty is below ...

    https://www.fabuwood.com/warranty

  • felizlady
    7 years ago
    Remember the poison-material laminate floors from China? Actual poison/pesticide found when tested. It's not worth the risk, even to save $5000. Sorry. The "wood" would be in your home with your family, maybe making them sick.
  • felizlady
    7 years ago
    Looking at your layout.....you don't have enough upper cabinets unless you intend to put your dishes in the pantry. The corner glass-door cabinet is only good for salad bowls, if they even fit. It's hard to reach into the far corner.
    Before committing on this plan, look at all the stuff you have now and figure out where it will all fit.
  • PRO
    KR Kitchen Remodeling, LLC
    7 years ago

    Are you sold on this design??? None of the cabinets your considering are cabinets I would recommend - before you commit I think you need to re-evaluate the layout - are you open to a discussion?

  • PRO
    WC Design Center
    7 years ago
    last modified: 7 years ago

    Buyer Beware: After initially loving Fabuwood's Cabinets and recommending and selling them to many of our Clients, we have had a string of horrible experiences with Fabuwood and their "Distributor," Major Lines. We received 3 kitchen orders in a row that had unacceptable cabinetry and customer service. The cabinets came in chipped, doors cracked, drawer fronts assembled onto the drawer boxes crookedly, non-soft-close glides and non-matching glides from different manufacturers, cabinet boxes assembled unlevelly (which would have made the countertops unlevel), boxes assembled with only the bare minimum of staples, when glue was used on some boxes it seeped out of the seems, a custom modified oven cabinet which was completely broken and fell apart in the delivery truck not once, but twice -- there's much more but too much to list in one review. Even more disappointing than this is that Fabuwood has refused to service these problems for over 9 months now! Their customer service has been non-existent. They've left all of these problems in the hands of who they say is their "California Distributor" who they claim is responsible for dealing with it. We are a professional Kitchen and Bath Company and Dealer. We value our Clients and take our responsibility to provide them with excellent products and services very seriously. We were told by our Vendor Rep (who we believed was hired by Fabuwood) that we were purchasing direct from Fabuwood and that Major Lines was the California warehouse hired by Fabuwood (who is based in New Jersey) to receive and assemble their cabinets since Fabuwood's sales pitch is that they sell fully assembled (and customizable) cabinets. Now Fabuwood is saying that this random warehouse is actually responsible for all of the servicing and they want nothing to do with resolving the problems. We would never have chosen to work with an unvetted warehouse. We vetted Fabuwood and their Rep before carrying their line of cabinets and samples in our showroom and selling them to our valued Clients. Major Lines has ignored most of our calls and texts, sent out shoddy repair people who ruined the cabinets further when they did respond, and delayed their repairs over and over, turning a 2 month kitchen project into a 10 month project, and generally making the problems worse for our Clients. They never did complete the repairs on any of the 3 projects. We've even been sent a fake "Representative" (ostensibly to help fix the problems) and who claimed to work for Fabuwood but did not. This man was then fired by Major Lines after we reported the problems to Fabuwood and Fabuwood has told us the man had worked for them at one point but they fired him and sent him to work for Major Lines who sent him to us. The whole scenario has been a circus! This has been bad for us as a business to have to deal with, but even worse is that our Clients, the homeowners, have had to suffer as it is their kitchens that have been turned upside down, their home that was without a usable kitchen for months while Fabuwood delayed, their fears that they would not receive satisfactory cabinets for which they had paid for! Ultimately, as a professional Kitchen and Bath company with a responsibility to provide our Clients with the beautiful kitchen they expected, we were left to use our own laborers, finishers, installers, and custom manufacturers to finally repair these kitchens for our Clients and provide them with the quality of kitchen cabinets and stain they were expecting. We spent thousands of dollars (and months of time) in repairing Fabuwood's horrible cabinetry. Since then, we've spent months trying to get Fabuwood (and Major Lines) to respond to our concerns. At the very least, even if Fabuwood contends they are not the responsible party (which is not true), Fabuwood should still be holding their "California Distributor" up to a certain level of standard for assembly and customer service. They have not. As the parent company, they have not elicited any help for us from their "Distributor" and they continue to work with and ship to a "Distributor" who clearly has no concern for the quality of cabinetry that leaves their warehouse nor the Dealers they are supposed to be servicing. We've exhausted all forms of communication to resolve these issues and have been left with litigation as our only recourse. To anyone thinking of purchasing from Fabuwood or their "Distributors" (the only way you can purchase from Fabuwood in California), please take our story into account. (some pictures attached).

Sponsored
More Discussions
How to position a TV in this living / dining room?
0
Hi, how to plain for the kitchen
1
Singapore
Tailor my experience with cookies

Houzz uses cookies and similar technologies to personalise my experience, serve me relevant content, and improve Houzz products and services. By clicking ‘Accept’ I agree to this, as further described in the Houzz Cookie Policy. I can reject non-essential cookies by clicking ‘Manage Preferences’.