AyA Kitchen Studio Niagara

Sometimes we question our choices; however, not the case with AyA Niagara. I am giving this company an A+ for its design of my dark walnut floating bathroom vanity. It is stunningly beautiful. Thank you AyA Niagara for providing the perfect look for my ensuite. And, thank you Chris for your professional and courteous service throughout this process.

After a long wait, we finally chose AYA Kitchen Studio to put in our much desired kitchen island. Let me tell you… We dealt with Chris Putman, who is the manager of the studio. My wife and I had great experience with working with Chris and his services. The whole process of choosing the design layout to samples and lots of changes or adjustments right to the installation, Chris was always helpful and accommodating. Now here’s the only reason why AYA kitchen studio is not getting a 5 Star review. When kitchen cabinets were delivered we noticed ( my wife) that the colour we chose was wrong. We chose a black maple finish and they delivered a dark brown finish. Well that just made the whole wonderful experience go to waste. We were very disappointed and upset as this now put us in a situation we didn’t expect. No fault of Chris, we came up with a solution to re- stain them to the black colour we wanted. It would have been an extra cost of $1600 but with no provided sample to go by. So what do you do? Well first of all, we should not have been liable for the extra cost to get the colour choice we originally chose. Secondly, no sample to go on made our decision easy. No way we were chancing that considering we already had a wrong colour installed. So I asked Chris if I could speak with his boss. His name was Gary( not sure how he spells it). Let me tell you, what a disappointment he was to deal with. Considering this was probably not only the first time this has happened to a customer. He was not very pleasant and he just wanted the remaining balance paid. Thank goodness we didn’t pay that. Mr Gary, never once even said yes we made a mistake in the colour and offered no solution. Just wanted to be paid. Now that’s just amazing customer service isn’t it. Don’t take the ownership of your mistake but still want the client to pay. Well long story short, we paid them half the remaining balance which we should have not had to but we are nice people. Now we have an island that’s nice but just not what we truly we wanted due to the wrong colour. Again no 5 stars. Chris Putman….5stars fantastic and a pleasure to deal with Mr Gary….. awful, arrogant and not very customer caring. So much for putting your customers first!!! Be grateful we even paid you the half you received Mr Gary, because we have a conscience and are nice people and didn’t want Chris to be responsible for your company’s failure. Terrible service on your part Mr Gary!!! Would I still recommend AYA, Yes but just make sure to deal with Chris Putman.

I wouldn’t recommend this place. Scheduled a 9:30am meeting for a set of kitchen cabinets. We showed up at the Niagara Falls location and no one was there, I called Chris and he said he thought it’s 1pm. What? NO. That’s not how you do business. Wasted everyone’s time. Reply to your response: like I said I called a week ago for an 9:30am appointment. Showed up but Chris was no where to be found. Learn to do business properly.

"I couldn't be happier with my new kitchen cabinets installed by Chris from Aya Kitchen Studios Niagara! The quality is outstanding, and they provide ample storage space for all my cooking essentials. The soft-close hinges are a fantastic touch, preventing slamming and adding a touch of luxury. Overall, these cabinets have truly elevated the look and functionality of my kitchen!"

If I had more money, I would rip out all the Aya cabinets and go to IKEA. The process of picking cabinets from Aya was positive as we had our designer assist us. We were told the product was similar to IKEA cabinets and since IKEA products were unavailable until 2023, we went with Aya. Although their cabinets seem sturdier than IKEA’s, we have many issues with our installation and the cabinets. First, if you are looking for cabinets that waste a ton of cabinet space, then Aya is your best option. (See photos). There is at least 5” of wasted space behind every pull out drawer. Apparently you can ask for deeper drawers, but we were never given the option. We had no idea that the pull outs were going to be so shallow waste. The pull out drawer mechanism wastes another inch on each side. (See photo) Secondly, we were unaware that our cabinets did not come with trim. When I called to ask for trim, they told me that laundry cabinets did not typically come with trim. So they said they would come and put trim up. They came and installed the trim one day when I was at work and the piece of trim that they chose must have been a castaway, leftover piece of laminate board because it has all kinds of nicks, dents and scratches. I complained about the trim, and they came in puttied spots and painted over the dents. I didn’t care how much the trim cost and I wish they had installed it and charged me, because I look at the trim and feel disappointment EVERY time I do laundry. Next, within two months of installation, the cabinet got wet and we didn’t see the water and the cabinet is now damaged.(See photo) Lastly, they installed the handles before speaking to me and the handle that is underneath the sink is installedp directly in the middle of the cabinet. The cabinet is not a pull out or laundry chute so the handle should be on the side that it opens, not in the middle. To get Aya kitchens to rectify the trim problem, there was a lot of frustrating discussion and the resolution is less than favourable. After speaking with my designer, their company has also chosen not to refer any clients to Aya and I’m very disappointed that I was the Guinea pig. Buyer beware!