Home Depot turns Arizona family's dream kitchen into 6-month remodel nightmare - AZCentral

Robert Anglen Arizona Republic

Updated 11:16 AM EDT Aug 23, 2019

Filomena Parra carries a covered pot of beans past the wreckage of her kitchen and out the back door. Outside, under the shade of an awning, she places the pot onto a makeshift burner that's more hot plate than stove.

When the meal is over, she takes the dishes to the garage, where her boyfriend has rigged a plastic sink. It's August, and temps are spiking at 115 degrees. The trapped heat inside feels even hotter as she washes and rinses.

This is how dinnertime goes for the Tempe mother. It's her new normal since paying Home Depot $17,000 six months ago for a kitchen remodel that was never finished.

Parra's kitchen has been unusable since February. She has no sink. There's no room for a stove. No counters. Cabinets are misaligned and poorly measured. Others are missing altogether. Doors are unattached. Veneers are loose. Crown molding isn't flush with the ceiling. Boxes of building material are haphazardly stacked where installers left them.

The mess and the money are not Parra's primary concerns. Her 25-year-old daughter, Alejandra, who is blind and autistic, has been confined to back bedrooms since work began. The unfinished construction poses a trip-fall-and-cut obstacle course that Alejandra can't navigate without supervision.

Parra, 49, has lived in her Svob Park neighborhood since 1999. She works cleaning apartments and recently paid off her home loan after 20 years of payments. Although she immigrated from Mexico in 1987 and is a U.S. citizen, she still struggles with English, particularly grammar.  

She said Home Depot is exploiting her because of her background and the perception that she is poor and doesn't speak proper English. She said company officials have brushed off her complaints and put off repairs — again and again.  

"I say you no understand, you no understand because you don't care," Parra said, fighting against tears. "Because you don't cook outside. That's me, not you. You no wash dishes in the garage. That's me. You no care. You don't have daughter who's blind. That's me, and that's not your problem."

Home Depot officials on Wednesday took full responsibility for the situation and apologized.

"We are extremely sorry for this, and it is not representative of the work we do," said Margaret Smith, senior manager of corporate communication. "We will make every effort to resolve this for the Parra family."

Smith said miscommunication at the store and vendor delays led to the problems, adding, "We are very sorry for that."

She denied any discrimination, saying Home Depot is an international company with 120 stores in Mexico. She said a large segment of its customer base is Hispanic. 

"We would never treat anyone differently because of their background," Smith said.

She trusted Home Depot to 'do it right'

Parra said she saved for almost four years to be able to pay for the remodel. 

Sitting next to her boyfriend, Jesus Baeza, on the couch in her family room, she said she chose Home Depot because she trusted the company and believed they would stand behind its work.

Baeza, who is a plumber, said he encouraged Parra to go with Home Depot rather than an independent contractor, saying "she wanted to do it right."

In October, Parra went to the store on Baseline Road near Priest Drive and consulted with a design consultant. She picked out maple cabinets, countertops and moldings in a contemporary style that complimented the clean white lines of her home.

Receipts show Parra paid about $12,000 upfront for the work, including an extra fee for measurements. Home Depot gave them the option of supplying their own measurements, but Parra and Baeza said they wanted to make sure it was done professionally.

Installation was scheduled for February through a company called RF Installation, which is headquartered in Texas with subcontractors throughout the country. When RFI arrived, workers quickly discovered some of the cabinets were the wrong size.

The cabinets above the refrigerator did not fit; a cutout for the trash can was too small. Parra said installers told her Home Depot had messed up the measurements. Parra said when she called Home Depot, the designer balked at the reorder.

"The lady told me,  'No, because that's too much money,' and Home Depot would not pay," she said. "And I say that's not my fault, that's your fault. I paid for Home Depot for installing everything."

Ultimately, the cabinets were reordered.

Weeks of delay, shoddy work

When RFI returned in April, new problems followed. 

Parra said the cabinets over the range hung so low there was only a 9-inch clearance from the stovetop to the vent. A whole section of cabinets was missing.

Parra said RFI appeared to be cutting corners: The crown molding wasn't flush to the ceiling; the installer told her she should lower her ceiling. There were scratches in the wood; the installer told her the microwave would cover it up. The back of a cabinet was broken out; the installer told her it would make it easier to get to the pipes for the sink.

RFI installer supervisor Victor Viney did not return calls seeking comment.

RFI is owned by a private equity firm and on its website boasts revenues of $70 million and a network of 1,500 contractors operating in 40 states. The company advertises a "passion for customer service" and the "highest levels of integrity."

Without cabinets, counters could not be installed, the sink couldn't be fitted and the stove couldn't be moved into place. And Parra said that's how installers left her for almost two months.

In June, she said RFI delivered the missing cabinets and scheduled a new time for installation. But workers didn't show that day. They told her Home Depot hadn't provided a purchase order for the work.

So she scheduled a new time. Another no show.

"The people come and install, they don't come on time," Parra said. "They don't care."

Demand for $17K refund

Parra said she'd had enough. She didn't waste any more time calling. Instead, she and her daughter drove directly to the Home Depot in Tempe, where Parra got another surprise.

She said the designer told her she couldn't complete orders for new cabinets or the counter because Parra hadn't returned the mismatched cabinets, which already had been installed. Parra said she couldn't take the cabinets off the wall, but Home Depot was welcome to come get them.

The designer told her she would have to talk to a supervisor.

"I say, 'You know what? I want to cancel everything and I want my money back,'" Parra said. "The guy told me, 'I no can do it.'"

Over Parra's protests about the subpar work, the supervisor told her the kitchen was almost complete and they would work with her to get it done. 

Parra said no sooner had she returned home from Home Depot when Viney at RFI called and told her he would finish the work that afternoon. She said Viney appeared ready to make patchwork repairs to cover up deficiencies.

"I not pay for that one," she said. "I pay for the beautiful kitchen. I pay too much money."

Baeza said Viney attempted to backfill gaps with pieces of wood and told them they would have to live with unaligned cabinets. 

"He said Home Depot was paying too much money for this kitchen," Parra said. "Huh. I'm working too much and Home Depot is rich, not me. I'm working, I clean apartments."

Community activist: 'Absolutely shameful'

Grace Stuckey said she is appalled by Home Depot's treatment of Parra, calling it outrageous and "absolutely shameful."

Stuckey, a community activist in Phoenix's Sunnyslope neighborhood, said she initially believed Home Depot would quickly address Parra's problems. It didn't happen.

"it's been nearly seven months," she said. "Give them back their money, give them compensation ... You could have put in three complete kitchens in this time."

Stuckey is close friends with Parra's sister, and she likes to adopt causes. She helps people when they get stymied by government agencies or businesses. 

After hearing about Parra's plight, Stuckey visited her home. She was incensed, particularly about Alejandra, who has to eat meals in her bedroom and can't move safely past the hallway without assistance. 

Stuckey confronted store managers directly in June. She said meetings went nowhere. Managers claimed they couldn't make any decision without corporate approval. 

She met Viney and a Home Depot district manager at Para's home July 1. Stuckey said they insisted on completing the work and made vague promises of restitution. But when Parra pointed out the damaged cabinets needed to be replaced before work continued, the companies' representatives were noncommittal. 

Stuckey said neither Viney nor the Home Depot supervisor was willing to go into the backyard to see the cooking area or into the garage. Neither would address the demand for a refund.

"Nothing was resolved besides, 'Well, we'll get back in touch with you,'" Stuckey said.

Stuckey left the meeting determined to get help. She contacted lawyers and reached out to The Arizona Republic's Call For Action team.

"That any company would put a family through what they (the Parras) have been through ... is outrageous," Stuckey said. "Home Depot is not taking care of customers. They've had more than enough time. We're having record summer heat and (the Parras) are barbecuing outside. I think the family is being held hostage."

Call For Action gets involved

Call for Action works with Arizona residents to solve problems with businesses and government agencies.

The Republic laid out the details of the Parra case in an Aug. 14 email to Home Depot. Officials responded within hours.

Smith, the company's spokeswoman, said Home Depot was aware of the claims and was committed to helping the Parras.

Although store officials and other managers have been active in the case for months, her office only learned about the situation after being contacted by the newspaper.  

Call for Action's efforts were followed by a legal demand from Phoenix lawyer Curtis Ensign, who took up Parra's case pro bono. He is seeking a full refund plus restitution for expenses Parra has incurred, including the cost of her meals. 

"We're still working on it with lawyers," Smith said. "We are hoping to resolve this as quickly as possible."

Parra and Baeza said they aren't sure what to expect.

"It got to the point where nobody was helping us," he said.

Dipping his head, Baeza said it's his fault Parra hired Home Depot in the first place, He said he convinced her it was the best way to go.

"I just can't believe this," he said. "They are just such a big, international company. I don't understand why they are doing this."

Got a problem? We can help

Have you been scammed? Do you have a complaint against a business or government agency? If you live in Arizona, Call for Action and The Arizona Republic/azcentral.com can investigate. 

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Fill out this online form, text HereToHelpAZ to 51555, or call 602-444-2255 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Tuesday through Friday to talk to a Call for Action volunteer.

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Robert Anglen investigates consumer issues for The Republic. If you're the victim of fraud, waste or abuse, reach him at robert.anglen@arizonarepublic.com or 602-444-8694. Follow him on Twitter @robertanglen

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2019-08-23 14:15:00Z
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