Oxford Ironmongery

Looks traditional from the outside and so I expected a gentleman of senior years, with knowledge, depth and wisdom behind him.

Instead, my colleague and I found a young lad who hadn't a clue. There was another gentleman in the room behind and on the phone. He came forward, asked what we wanted? We said an internal door handle + the mechanism. He grabbed one from a shelf, threw it across the central table, which we managed to catch before it fell of the end. We didn't like the type, so he did the same again. We felt talked down to, treated with contempt as though we were doing him the favour. Completely arrogant, unhelpful, discourteous and simply rude. We were stuck and so purchased the door handle for which he charged us just over £50. Will never go back.

We had been looking to change our front door for a while and obtained quotations from a number of sources, including some national companies. When a person on our street told us about Oxford Ironmongery being a local supplier, we were immediately interested and went to have a look. They have very nice and good quality supplies of doors and furnishing and, although a bit pricey, we decided they had what we wanted. They don't however fit any of their doors, but they recommend a single carpenter that they assure will do a good job. This is where things go wrong.
The carpenter, Adam Witney, is pleasant and will come to take measurements to give you a quotation. He is very prompt with his replies and leaves a good impression. And here is the end of the positives.
His work was amateurish at best, incompetent at worst. Our front door was fitted in a very approximate way and had to be rectified a couple of times because the alignment of the keeps was wrong and the door would not close and open properly. This is an expensive solid oak door with oak frame and German security lock and there were no reasons for the job to be so incompetently carried out. We are now left with a door that has an obvious draft and cannot be fixed without some professional intervention that risks further damage. While carrying out remedial work, Adam and his associate Alan, damaged most of the screw heads around the lock strip and the keeps, making any further work much harder. To add insult to injury, we were quoted for a decorator to paint the exterior of the door, but we liked the colour of the door so much that we decided to leave it with just a varnish. Adam said that the cost was going to be the same, so we agreed for that option instead. Instead of a professional varnishing job, Adam and his associate carried out the job themselves, missing out entire areas and failing to apply a second coat to the internal side if the door. They did come to rectify, but the job is clearly NOT well done.
In all this, Oxford Ironmongery took the stance that Adam said he did a good job (who appraises their own job?) and would not carry out any remedial work unless we paid for it and that's what they would go with. When we refused they said that we could find a carpenter ourselves and ask them to carry out the repairs and, if reasonable, they would pay for it.
This is a clear example of a company that splits the work between independent contractors and therefore is able to take no responsibility for the finished product. We have no way of enforcing any warranties/guarantees because Adam Witney is refusing to admit his work was badly carried out and Oxford Ironmongery refs to take responsibility for it. If you are planning to use them, make sure you have a trustworthy carpenter yourself. Do not go down the Adam Witney's route.
I haven't even mentioned the damage he did to my parquet flooring and the shabby job on my internal doors... not worth my time... And by the way, the 5* rating was given by an Oxford Ironmongery employee.

Oxford Ironmongery have supplied suited locks and associated ironmongery for all our refurbished Units over the past 4 years. Always found to be very helpful and have provided a personal delivery service in emergencies.Very knowledgeable staff.

Oxford Ironmongery have provided our business with a very professional and reliable service for a number of years - having recently placed an order for numerous products I was pleased with their continued support throughout including invoicing, delivery updates, etc. I would not hesitate to recommend Oxford Ironmongery to our customers as they are able to source a large range of quality products and provide an excellent service with a smile

Found exactly the door handles I was looking for that weren't available in any of the big stores that would be usual first place to look.

I have used Oxford Ironmongery for purchases a few years apart and have always been happy with the service. My latest purchase was May 2019. Good range of high quality products from natural bronze to leather and everything inbetween. Our orders have always been well managed, communication has been good. This is not a DIY store where you can pick up things on the spot; it's good quality, and sometimes made to order depending on your measurements.

I am a construction manager of some experience and have utilised the services of Oxford Ironmongery for over ten years. Their level of knowledge, ability and professionalism is second to none and I will not hesitate to pick up the phone if I am ever in need. They have provided services for one-off items as well as full projects.

Had amazing help and support with a replacement door handle. Highly recommend this friendly and knowledgeable shop; will definitely use again.