Kitchen Doors & Worktops

We hired this company last summer to refit our kitchen. It was not a straightforward doors-off/doors-on job. The oven needed moving and there was some filling in work required. The firm seemed professional and the quote was reasonable - not too dear but not too cheap to be suspicious. We were given a lead time of approx six weeks. The fitters arrived on 3 September and, 4 months later, we are still waiting for the kitchen to be finished. There were many issues and Google does not allow me all the characters I need to be able to explain them all. Here are the highlights.

1. The office staff continually act like the fitters are not employed by them. And technically-speaking, they are not because the fitters are paid separately by client and so their contract could be considered to be with the client rather than with the company. But the company books and sends out the fitter, and the client gets who they get. Now you may wonder why this is an issue? If everything goes well, then it won't be. But! if anything goes wrong with the refit, it is immediately blamed on the fitters who are 'nothing to do with us'. The client is stuck in the middle with a half-finished kitchen for 4 months and counting.
2. We found the surveyor to be less than competent . We were not told about electrical issues resulting from upgrading our hob. We were not told that we should have a wider hood to accommodate the wider hob. There is dispute over whether it was the surveyor or the fitters responsible for the whole 'plans don't make sense' shenanigans and I am not getting into that particular row. All I'm saying is that the fitters seem to be competent...
3. That being said, the fitters are kitchen fitters. They are not plumbers (we were told that they would be able to fit new radiators - they did so but it was clearly not their area of expertise and we later had a plumber refit them). Nor are they electricians (we had an electrician in to redo their electrics). The company will tell you that they can do these things and indeed they can - but to a DIY standard rather than a professional standard. However, the kitchen fitting was very competently done, as was the plastering .
4. Parts were missing - some of them were absolutely crucial to the job.
5. The sales guy just let us order what we wanted on the basis of how it looked instead of actually advising us.
6. Once you have paid up in full, you go to the back of the queue for completing the job. The company prioritises clients who are yet to give them money - so if anything goes wrong, be prepared for a very long wait.
7. The office staff do not listen. I explained to Karen that the oven did not fit into the gap the fitters had left for it so it couldn't be installed. I explained it again a week later when I called to chase her. And then the surveyor called me to tell me how to work the sodding oven because he was told to call me 'because it didn't work'. All of these conversations ended with the sentence 'It sounds like you need the fitters back'. The surveyor came out to see what the problem was but didn't take any notes. In fact, I don't think anybody at this company listens or takes notes so you will find yourself repeating yourself a lot. They might appear to understand the problem, but they are actually just working out what they can do/say to cover their own arse. It's frustrating.

Summary
If you are going for a straight in and out job, then I am sure you will be fine, as long as the surveyor takes accurate measurements, and the manufacturer follows them properly. But if you are looking for anything more complicated, then look elsewhere. It's a shame because the product is really nice (well, apart from the flimsy Prima cooker hood and even flimsier sink). I will update this review with photos once the kitchen is finished. So if there are no photos, you'll know we are still waiting for the fitters to come back and finish the job!

Had kitchen doors and worktops replaced.

Positives :

Kitchen looks really nice now.
Materials are of high quality.

Negatives :

Some supply issues.
Job took weeks to complete due to these issues when I was told a couple of days.
Incorrect information being given by salesman.

I have paid a lot of money for a service that was not without stress.

I have asked for a part refund as compensation for the fact I paid a lot for a package service to ease a busy lifestyle but instead ended up with a partially completed kitchen for weeks and a lot of stress... I still await this refund or any answer about this.

Also I have been asking for an itemised invoice for over a month but as of yet they have not provided one.

I would not use this company again. Although I am finally satisfied with the result, and Karen and the surveyor Tony are lovely people... It is not a value for money service considering what I was put through. You can get this cper elsewhere.

Failed to turn up for initial sales appointment - allegedly the salesman hadn't put the appointment in his diary!!

Excellent rapport
Brent was professional and an expert at his job