California Closets

Absolutely horrible service. Called California Closets castlefield location as my brother is looking to have all closets done, an office created and an entertainment unit. They sent out a supposed designer. She could not take the lead on the project, her designs were horrible and could not give my brother what he wants which is very simple. Very disappointed as I recommended them to my brother. She asked my brother if he could take out the old shelving himself. My brother was appalled since he is having all his closets remodelled and this comment was ludicrous as he does not have a limit on his budget. Maybe she would like him to get a saw and cut the wood for the new shelving himself as well. Going elsewhere

POOR INSTALL - SECOND THIRD INSTALL NEEDED. And no one is responding to emails. Good luck getting anything fixed after they install. My entire drawer fell out, tracks and everything. It was clearly Installed incorrectly and now they are not responding to emails. Dont use them!

My wife and I had always wanted to get a custom closet made, and decided to go with a well known company California Closets (which is actually Canadian owned FYI). We received top quality service and the design consultant RP was able to answer all of our questions.

Definitely go to their showroom a few times to get a sense of the colours and options that are available. First in-home consultation occurred Dec 21, 2019 and the installation occurred Feb 20, 2020. The in -home consultation is where they take exact measurements and start to design the closet and this takes at least 1 hour.
The final designing and consultation process took the longest several weeks as the design consultant was very busy in January. Deposit of 50% to order materials, 50% balance upon completion of work.

Pros
Final product exactly matched the planned 3D blueprints.
Completed within our specified budget with no unexpected costs.
Site was clean after installation.
Study construction and limited lifetime warranty.

Cons
Will need to take at least 1 day off work or work from home as installation takes at least 6 hours and they don't install evenings or weekends.

California Closest does not include or offer removal or preparation of the closet. So we decided to complete this work ourselves which is time consuming removing closet racks, patching holes and then painting. Took at least 6 hours.

Communication was a bit tedious, as the Designer RP was on vacation over the Christmas holidays and they don't provide coverage by another designer. It took about 40 emails back and forth to ask about different options and colours. Every small change required a new 3D design to be made and this changed the budget as different materials and options cost different amounts. I wanted to speak to the designer on the phone but because of the time difference of where she was on vacation and our work schedules we had to rely on email.

Installer was not aware or did not have the parts to complete installation on the first installation appointment. I didn't notice until the installer had already left. The valet pins and scarf hook were missing, so we had to schedule a 2nd installation date which was frustrating when these were listed on the blueprint design.

See the before and after photos.

Paid $5K

We were looking for a storage company to design a difficult space we had for a reach-in closet. I contacted California Closets and 2 other competitors who are also highly rated on HomeStars. The two competitors to California Closets both drew out a sketch of what my closet would look like on a pad of paper and were very hesitant to offer any more information to me about their product unless I signed on board with them. Then there was California Closets. Polina our rep was very professional and never pushy. She had an architectural background (which helped!) and sent us several options via CAD. Very professionally done. She was very transparent about the finishes and materials they were going to use. When I saw samples from the competitors I saw that the finishes were not of comparable quality and the laminate was thinner (hence why their price was lower). We even had a chance to go to their showroom (which I highly recommend) to see the end product and she spent an additional 2 hours with us going over various options. At no point did I feel any sales pressure and she was very patient with us. The only negative I would say with the company (and I brought this up with Polina) is they should have an expiry date on their proposals. She contacted us a few days prior to our showroom visit that there was a price increase which I found unnerving. In the end, we worked out a better price and a discounted rate which we were happy with. The installer she booked for us was very professional and even adjusted our hanging rods at the last minute. They cleaned up their entire workspace and were very friendly. I would definitely recommend California Closets and will be back for more services in the future.

We hired California Closets to design our custom closets, including a walk-in closet, office closet, wardrobe, medicine cabinets, and a built-in bookcase. They did an absolutely amazing job. Their designer was fantastic. He spent a ton of time working on the design with us, and the final result was breathtaking. Based on our experience, we highly recommend California Closets.

I had a pleasant experience from start to finish. I met with Crystal who took precise measurements and gave me the awesome design. On the day of installation, Hayden showed up on time. He worked nonstop and was done in less than 2 hours. Both individuals were very polite, courteous and professional. Definitely recommend California closets.

Thank you so much for helping my family with the closet. Polina, you went out of your way to help me design my new closet and I will continue to use you as well, as the productions offered by your company.

High quality finish and work and excellent service

We hired this company after having been left stranded by another design firm. Derek was very professional and transparent. He scheduled an evening visit to look at the place and then we came to the showroom to go over the design. While he wasn't able to give us a total breakdown of costs for design/labor etc, he was able to manipulate the design to come under budget. The billing and installation process was pretty seamless. I liked that they accept major credit card and committed to timelines. We are very happy with the end result. The design work was really well done and Derek helped us use higher end finished to maximize the look. He also designed cabinetry that is high end and functional. The only reason it is not 10 stars was for some minor issues with their installation process. You really need to be present for it. If not, then there may be errors made that take some time to fix.

I got 3 quotes for a his & hers walk in closet. I expected NOT to go with California Closets, and just pick a mid-range quote.. I was however surprised how CLOSE Califorina Closets was to the mid range quote. So with only a few hundred dollars (maybe $500 at most) separating California Closets from the next guy, we just opted to pay for the company that wouldn't feel like "settling".. We were impressed with the finish quality in our closets. The custom hardware purpose made for CC, and not sold by Richeleau (to Home Depot or smaller cabinet builders). The hardware is really impressive, good robust fit, and clean. No Cost Engineering evident in the manufacturing quality of the hardware. The MDF panels are very smooth, and the veneer seams are undetectable to touch.

We were so impressed with the pricing and quality for our closets, we decided a few months later to get CC to quote our custom in-built entertainment unit. This was a slightly less positive experience due to the lead time and delays involved. The start time was delayed due to a backlog with CC's supplier, CC was professional enough to disclose this upfront, and held to the forecast delayed start. When the install was done, we got a less experienced installer due to the more experienced ones busy with the new CC showroom. This guy took 3 trips to complete the work, from missing a particular tool, to a panel that was cut short (not his fault). Despite all this the end product was amazing, catalog worthy. I collaborated with the designer and installer so the in-built TV unit could withstand my TV on an extendible cantilever arm. They even wanted a photo for their showcase (though I think they like to flatter customers like that) but I declined the request..

I will recommend people not let the nice showroom and nice finishes intimidate them from getting a quote from California Closets. If you are for above average, they are worth a look. If all you want is cheap, and not a refined product, then there are other businesses to serve you.

We selected California Closets to build cabinetry around fireplace in our living room. Knowing that the company had a well-established reputation and having liked their selection of wood finishes, we thought they would be the right fit for our project. Little did we know that they have very poor project management skills or employee training or both.

To tell our long story short, it took around four months from the time we had our first meeting with California Closets designer to the scheduld delivery date. We met up three weeks prior to delivery with our California Closets designer to pay our down payment and it was confirmed that our design was approved and everything is set to go. A day prior to delivery, we got an email first from the designer saying that they needed to talk to us about a problem with our design. After playing a phone tag for a while and not really understanding what was going on, we ended up getting a phone call from the president of a company in the evening. He apologized and let us know that their wood systems are not meant to hold the fireplaces. He mentioned something about the communication to their employees may not have been clear, etc, etc. Needless to say we were extremely disappointed that we waisted so much time and effort and were back to square one four months after we started working on our project. We will never work with California Closets again and hope that you will consider our story when making your contactors selection.