Alka Kitchens Ltd

I was not very impressed with Alka Kitchens. We used them several years ago to make cabinets for our two upstairs bathrooms; two linen towers and a vanity, and a large vanity for the kids' bathroom.

First of all, we went there to take a look at their showroom. Now this is several years ago and they were painting their door, but it was on a Saturday they were not closed yet--it was during business hours. They did not put a "wet paint" sign on the door! So I pushed open the door and got paint on the arm of my expensive ski jacket. No one said sorry, and no one said they would pay for the cleaning bill; it was oil paint and NEVER came off. I don't know why we did not go elsewhere at that point, as it should have told me something about their service and attitude, but we stayed. They were the cheapest and our renovation costs were spiralling higher and higher, so we stuck with them because they were very reasonable. We chose white MDF thermofoil cabinets, nothing fancy. They came to the house to measure, made the cabinets, and then came back to install them. The cabinets were OK, but the crown molding's mitred corners did not fit properly (was a big gap!) and one of the doors was damaged, and the other door would not stay closed--the magnetic piece was not meeting the other magnet to hold it closed (it was a corner cabinet and an odd shape). I called several times and they said they would send someone. They never did. I gave up calling, and we just fixed the problems to the best of our ability ourselves. We were young and inexperienced; our first renovation. If it were me now, several years and 3 renovations later, I would handle it differently. Don't tell me I damaged the door (that's what they told me); it arrived that way!!!

Be careful if you are hiring this company to make cabinets for you; make sure the work is completed properly! It's the little details, the cosmetic stuff, mostly......but it matters!