Is Costco's Cabinet Refacing Service Too Good To Be True? Here's What Reviews Say

Costco is widely recognized for its competitive prices. In addition to its warehouses, it also offers an increasingly wide range of services to its members. Among these is kitchen cabinet refacing, which has the advantage of delivering a new look without breaking the bank. Given their reputation, you would expect budget-friendly pricing, but money isn't everything. To find out whether Costco's cabinet refacing service is too good to be true, we checked out what reviews had to say.

What we found wasn't entirely encouraging. Although some people were pleased with the work, and installation contractors were complimented on their skill and professionalism, a significant portion were not happy. Sales representatives were frequently criticized as pushy, quotes were higher than expected, and aftercare was poor. More than one person called the service a "scam." While any large company will attract criticism occasionally, we did not expect this level of negative feeling towards Costco.

In fact, although Costco offers the service, the administration, management, and installation are carried out by Reborn Cabinets of Anaheim, California, a company with 2.7 stars on Yelp and 1,100 reviews on the site. So to a large extent, it's not Costco you would be dealing with. That appears to be where many problems stem from. Indeed, one reviewer rather scathingly said, "Let's just say that I am surprised that Costco has an arrangement to let Reborn representatives attempt to sell their inferior services." There are also issues with customer expectations. To find answers, we needed to dig deeper.

One of the hidden downsides to refacing kitchen cabinetry is that it's only a cosmetic overhaul. Door and drawer fronts are renewed, a new veneer is put on the front of the carcasses, and new handles are normally added. However, the underlying structure is not changed, so if the carcasses have started to sag, new doors and drawers could be crooked. As one reviewer said, "If your layout isn't great and the cabinet boxes and shelves aren't great it's not a solution ... It's fine for a mild refresh of a 20y kitchen. If your kitchen is 30+ it's putting lipstick on a pig."

It's not helped by Reborn's own marketing. On their website, they call it: "...a budget-friendly service designed to provide homeowners like you with beautiful, updated cabinetry..." Strictly speaking, the cabinetry isn't being updated at all, just the fascias. To be fair, further down the page they suggest that replacement might be better in some situations, but it's confusing at best.

Then, there are the variations in quotes. A common question is whether it's cheaper to reface or replace, with the former being up to 50% less in many cases. A number of reviewers didn't find that to be true. One commented, "Their prices are absurdly high. They quoted us something like 20k+ for new doors (made of MDF; plywood would have cost even more) and applying veneers to the rest of the frames."

Costco offers several incentives for their refacing service, including new crown moulding and soft-close drawer mechanisms at no extra cost. Whether it would be cheaper to go direct to Reborn Cabinets is difficult to tell because each job is quoted individually. However, given what some reviewers have said, you might not be inclined to do either. Too often people say things like, "There are far better and more reasonably priced companies out there. I do not recommend Reborn to anyone."

Nevertheless, refacing remains one of the important changes so your kitchen doesn't look dated, and there are plenty of alternatives. Several reviewers found local cabinet refacing businesses that offered competitive pricing. There are also a couple of franchise chains working across the country, so it shouldn't be hard to find cabinet refacing in your area.

In the final analysis, it's only fair to say that Costco and Reborn have some satisfied customers for their cabinet refacing service, leaving comments like, "Best quality and nice service! Job was done on schedule, very professional workers." There are always flaws and areas that need to be improved, and we hope the company will attend to the issues that reviewers have raised. Our recommendation, as for any service of this kind, is to get at least three quotes. Study them in detail, and make sure you get answers to any questions that arise. Only then will you really know whether the service is too good to be true or not.