B&Q Kitchen

NMSE12

Hello all!
Firstly let me just share this is my first ever post on MSE! i have been a watcher for a few yrs and normally can find the answer to any question!

Anyway, this weekend we are hoping to order our new kitchen, we have had several quotes from independents and bigger firms all the big DIY shops and a few internet based shops.

We think we are going to go with b&q and i was looking for anyone with previous experiance buying ktchens with them or know of what we should expect quality and customer service wise...
Any information help guidance etc will be gratefuly apreciated!

ic

Don't go with their fitters, seek out an independent and get them to quote you fitting. Just get B&Q to deliver the kitchen to you. Obviously complicates matters a little, but the stores massively over-inflate the cost of fitting a kitchen. Keep a close eye on what they add on the list - query anything you're not sure about.

westy23

I know two people who have used b&q fitters and both had tremendous problems and extremely bad fitting and finish. try elsewhere for fitters.

Mcfi5dhc

I agree with ic and westy23 - don't use their incompetent fools that they call fitters.

If you still go with B&Q, when it is delivered, check everything. If it takes 2 hours, take 2 hours. Check every piece is there, that it isn't broken and that it is brand new. It is unbelievable how B&Q keeps going with their shoddy service, but somehow they do.

By the way, mine was a bathroom disaster with them, not kitchen, but same principles apply.

Customer service wise, if it breaks within 45 days, they won't be too awkward. After that, you're stuffed.

Good luck

Meepster

B&Q:

Quality - poor

Service - even poorer

NMSE12

Oh dear!!!!
Feel really disheartened now but better now than in 2mnths time after handing over my money and awaiting delivery!!

Where would you recomend in the same priceband?????

B&Q quoted just under 3k for complete kitchen, including intergrated microwave/dishwasher, cooker hood, sink and tap think there is 14 cabinets altogether in the cooke and Lewis High Gloss black with the Aubergine accent on 2 of the units!

Any help grately apreciated!!

husband will be fitting it with my dad, both fitted my last kitchen which was from MFI.

Mcfi5dhc

nattprice wrote: »

Oh dear!!!!
Feel really disheartened now but better now than in 2mnths time after handing over my money and awaiting delivery!!

Where would you recomend in the same priceband?????

I can't recommend anyone, because I haven't used anyone recently to fit a kitchen. As well as asking on here, find out from friends & neighbours what good/bad experiences they have had.

I always find Wickes to be far superior to B&Q (and cheaper!) but that is for normal DIY stuff. As I said I haven't bought a kitchen from them. Ikea have always been good for us, though I have seen other negative comments from other people.

Butterscotch-

I know of two success stories with B&Q kitchens, only ever read about disasters online. I guess it just depends.

NMSE12

Do you know if its the quality of the actual cubboards doors or just bad customer service?

Mcfi5dhc

My experience is that half the time when you buy something there, it is something that has been returned by a customer for any number of reasons, which they then sell on as new.

My bathroom was the disaster, the toilet kept leaking (the cistern leaked into the pan) - I had new inards, multiple fitters come out and tweak it, they point blank refused to refund it (I only wanted a refund on the toilet, not the whole bathroom).

In the end, I ripped it out, cleaned it throughly and took it to B&Q Chester where I put it on the floor and sat on it til I got a refund. Later that day I bought one from a local plumbing shop, its never gone wrong in the years I've had it, and it was cheaper than B&Q

Unless its a battery or a lightbulb, I rarely buy anything from them now, and certainly nothing from their own range (except power tools, which strangely are fantastic)

So to answer your question, the quality of goods is rubbish, and the customer service is non-existant.

AdamJK_2

Hi,

I'm also new to the forum but have been reading for years!

We recently bought and installed a B&Q Black Gloss IT range kitchen bought from B&Q in Leeds.
The overall finished product looks good and is solid. We assembled and installed the kitchen ourselves and found that the units were not the best to put together, lax instructions and missing components in boxes - I've done four kitchens prior to this from various other suppliers and not had these issues.

With B&Q though the orders are taken in store and paid for in store but then delivered centrally from a hub. Should you have any issues with the items you would think that a quick call to the store would resolve the problem but that is not the case. You will be told to call the central hub as it's nothing to do with us. Very poor service if you ask me.

We also bought our Hotpoint Oven & Hob with B&Q. The oven failed after only 3 months of light use, B&Q just didn't want to know at all, consistantly refering us to Hotpoint for a 'warranty repair'. It was only after continual harrassment of the store manager that they finally agreed to replace the oven with new - more to get rid of us than because the oven was faulty (I didn't want a repair as once one thing goes on the oven more problems usually follow outside the warranty period - after all I paid for a working oven, not one to lie broken for two weeks while they got an engineer to come out).

I would advise comet for appliances - whenever we've had any issues Comet seem to be on the ball with their customer service.

I think you really can't beat visiting your local timber merchant, most do offer full kitchen ranges, some even assemble the units for you and they usually work out cheaper than the DIY stores. We will be using our local merchant in the future.

Either way I hope all goes well!