Howdens why don't they JUST give you a price??

Meepster

phill99 wrote: »

What I am saying is that it is perverse that the OP doesn't question Magnets fitting charges when everyone in the trade knows that the fitters don't see any where near that amount of money, but doen't think it is acceptable that a small indpendent fitter should make a margin on the cost of the products.

You are assuming that the cut that Magnet take is purely profit that they put into the bank every week, and I can assure you it isn't. Some of that "profit" is paid to the fitter for any remedial visits. Some of it is paid to the fitter when he completes the 12 month installation check and some of it is paid into the Trustmark "pot". The actual cut that Magnet takes is rather smaller than you imagine...

Leif

The OP has a point. The fitter is claiming to charge £800, but in reality he might be taking a large cut from the kitchen, which may well be substantially more than £800. It could even be several thousand pounds. So in a sense the fitter is being dishonest, or at least disingenuous. The OP should find out how much the fitter will charge for labour and kitchen, and compare that price to other kitchens including B&Q. Or since the fitter is saying he will charge £800, the OP should simply say "Fine, and you will bring me along when we buy the kitchen so I can see that the price I pay includes no mark up." The fitter might then say go away, increase his fee, or agree.

This is not uncommon. A builder quoted me for a bathroom, with furniture from Coomers. The price quoted for the furniture was retail, but he buys trade.

adamg

YAWN!
Howdens and Magnet trade can not give retail customers the price being a trade only outlet they pay less rates. If they start giving out prices they will lose this privellage, Note Matalan do exactly the same you must be a member to shop there, Marko you must be an account holder, need I go on.......

adamg

Meepster you clearly work for Magnet so what ever you say is going to be biased. But I agree with Phil out of a fit approx 40-50% will go to the fitter but I appreciate they take charges straight out for waste dispossal, gas certification etc

liam8282

doris44 wrote: »

Last week I found a kitchen fitter who said he would fit a kitchen (small about 11 units) for £800 I wanted Cooke and Lewis units from B&Q but he said NO better idea would be Howdens. SO he arranged the guy from Howdens to come..

This could turn out to be a HUGE RIP OFF as I have found out they don't tell ME how much it is but tell the fitter WHO can then add a nice little profit and still look as though he is doing the Job for 800!! no thank you I would rather know HOW much it is going to cost BEFORE fitting please -- NO WONDER they don't like you going to B&Q!!

Simple answer, you were happy to pay the £800 for fitting a kitchen, so that seems an irrelevant point.

Your grumble is about the cost of the kitchen from Howdens.

Ask the fitter for the invoice for the kitchen, then make up your mind if you want the B&Q or Howdens kitchen.

There is no rip off. As far as I can make out, you haven't even asked the fitter for the price of the howdens kitchen yet, he may actually be saving you money.

As has been said already, the fitter is Howdens customer, not you, so you are going through the fitter to get a kitchen at trade prices.

kr15snw

Howdens don't have a set price though.

Theres a base price and then each person gets a different % of discount depending on how much they use Howdens.

For example hubby has just set up an account with them and was given a rough price for a kitchen we liked (about £1500) but his friend (who has fitted about 30 Howdens kitchens in the past 18 months) was told the same kitchen would be about £900!

This is because he has a much greater discount!

So Howdens won't tell you, but you could ask your fitter for a break down?

andy208833

doris44 wrote: »

If I go Anywhere else they tell me the price of units plus fitting. IF Howdens told me the price of their units -- they must have a price , then I would know whether or not the fitter was ripping me off or not. The way they do it I might have EXACTLY the same kitchen as next door but pay more for it because the fitter has added his cut in. I might therefore get two quotes from fitters for fitting for 800 but find that one adds on an 12% and another an extra 5% SO it is IMPOSSIBLE to know how much they cost.

Howdens do not deal with the public direct only trade so i can not buy retail as someone suggested.

Notice that Magnet charge 1500 + for fitting but at least they tell you the price.

The fitter will tell you the price plus fitting its not difficult. Do you want B&Q to tell you the trade price and the mark up? No. The price will include some mark up for the privelige of using his trade account.

The howdens units will be much cheaper but the electricals not. I would suggest you get the electricals yourself (based on the sizes of the units to be fitted).

The fitter has to earn a living too and the units will still be cheaper than B&Q, wickes etc but much better quality

Alan_M_2

PERCEPTION.

That's the problem here, and this is part of the reason every time you sit in front of the evening news another retailer bites the dust.

I'm all for a free market economy, but to stay in business a company is required to make a profit.

A profit is not ripping people off, it is business. Sadly many of the UK seem to have lost sight of this fact.

Costs have never been as high as they are now to operate a business, margins have never been as low as they are now. It's why so many people are packing up - it's not worth the bother any longer.

Or to put it another way - I'f I'm going to sell goods at cost price and make nothing, Id rather be on the golf course going bust that busting my balls doing someone else a favour at my own expense.

FOXY1

So if you went to get a quote from B&Q for a supplied kitchen do you think they would tell you what it cost them. The difference between B&Q and Howdens is the units at Howdens are prebuilt, this saves the fitter about 1/2 > 1 hr of fitting time per unit 8 units could take up to a day to fit, at £150 per day that could soon add up. This is a fixed price, so when the fitter uses your plans to purchase? if the fitter comes across a problem such at them not fitting, would you pay for the planners mistake....no thought not. At Howdens you are almost guaranteed to get a extra part or unit off the shelf, at DIY stores you can expect to wait up to 30 days, so would you pay the fitter for the lost time on waiting for goods? The fitter is going to take all this off your hands so his cut will pay for his time ordering, collecting etc, surely this is fair? Howdens deal with the trade so they dont have amatuers wasting thier time and are talking to people who know what they need. Us trades people go to Howdens to avoid such people who come in just to purchase one handle they forgot. If you that worried the fitter might make too much money why dont you pay the fitter a day rate then take the week off to fetch all the goods and be on standby for when B&Q have shorted parts or chipped units etc, be prepared to pay him a full day even if he has to go home early due to waiting for goods to be ordered. Alternatively let him do his job, watch cowboy builders, then once he has done the job pay him for the work he deserves.

Meepster

adamg wrote: »

Meepster you clearly work for Magnet so what ever you say is going to be biased. But I agree with Phil out of a fit approx 40-50% will go to the fitter but I appreciate they take charges straight out for waste dispossal, gas certification etc

Yes, I do work for Magnet and I have stated this in numerous posts. However, just because I work for a company, it doesn't mean I am biased towards them. If you bother to check my other posts on kitchen threads, you will see that I help people using to things:

1) my experience (I've been a designer for a LONG time, but worked for Magnet less than two years)

2) the facts (ok, occasionally I get my facts wrong and when I do, I hold my hand up and so say)

But in this case both Phill99, and now you, are wrong. Infact I'd go as far as to say COMPLETELY wrong, mainly due to the FACT I'm sat here looking at the Installer Payment Structure and I can see it in black and white (with the occasional bits of red and blue and a small amount of green)

As I have stated previously, I'm not in a position to reveal exact figures, but I can confirm that the fitter gets more than the 50% mentioned.

Now if you would like to prove me wrong, by all means do so. Until then, I would appreciate it if you could stop making derogatory comments about me, questioning my bias towards Magnet or ANY other company and recognise I am here to offer help and advice to the people who need it. NOT to try and justify myself to people who don't agree with what I say.

End of.