Wickes - kitchen not measured correctly - who's side is the law on?

dimicek

Hi
I hope someone can help. Apologies for the long post.

One month ago I ordered a kitchen from Wickes however it was over £1000 cheaper to have my own (known) carpenter to fit it. A wickes kitchen salesman came to measure and draw out the kitchen plan and worked around the kitchen we had chosen. The usual pressure was put on us to use their fitters but it was just too expensive.

From the off we realised that some of the units were incorrectly sized and where dummy drawer liners should have been they had sent fully lined drawers instead.
Further problems arose with incorrect opening 'magic corner' wire works unit and a door fascia for an extractor fan unit which came minus the actual unit to fit the fascia to.
Wickes at first remedied certain scenarios however the hinges to the extractor fan unit are still missing as they say the extractor fan does not match the unit or the door ordered which I had requested even though they knew the unit would not work??
Further problems surfaced with tongue & groove panelling not being supplied to the sink unit side panels as the original Wickes designer told me he later realised the tongue & groove option came from a different kitchen range although failed to make me aware.
The worst scenario came when it became evident that the kitchen had been miss-measured by 170mm resulting in the cupboards either side of the extractor fan unit not sitting either side as an intergrated kitchen and 'end decor panels' were not ordered so the kitchen is a mismatch of the cream coloured kitchen and white support panels.

My fitter has done his very best to work with what he had and covered the 170mm gap by fitting a panel to 'bridge' a unit to fix to the last unit along the wall (a door fascia for the boiler which is too short.)

The Wickes store manager has been curt and unresponsive telling me that the fault lies with my fitter and I should have arranged a Wickes fitter to fit the kitchen and these problems would have been spotted by them and rectified. He is unwilling to help with the problem of the "wrong extractor fan being supplied with the wrong unit and fascia" and tells me the hinges (to allow the door to open upwards) cannot be ordered seperately). In my eyes the fault lies squarely with the original Wickes salesman who came round to measure the kitchen. A meeting was held (without my knowledge) between the store manager & the original salesman and the result is that my fitter has been blamed without their accepting the fact that the kitchen was miss measured and incorrect units being sent. One month later I am still no nearer resolving this issue. Wickes say they are part of the Furniture Ombudsman only in fitting kitchens but not purchasing of.
Can anyone advise where/what I can do to force Wickes to sort the problems out?? The area manager is away for 3 weeks and his substitute is....the store manager I am trying to deal with.

Any advise would be really appreciated.

Thank you.

cddc

Which store is this? Surprised at that attitude from a Wickes store! Mistakes are sometimes quite easily made when planning kitchens but that sounds like a catalogue of errors.
Call customer services, number on website, or get in touch with either the Regional controller for the relevant region or K&B director Justin Moss at Harrow. They really should sort you out one way or another.

Would add that any fitter worth his salt should have picked up some, especially the measuring error, though not all, of these issues up prior to starting the fit, so he is not completely blameless either. Did he not check the measurements prior to starting the fit?
Did the store provide you with an annotated plan with the dimensions the plan was based on?

dimicek

Hi, cddc
Thank you for the reply. It is the store in Catford, SE London. Yes, the fitter did pick up on the immediates (incorrect draw fronts, tongue & groove & end decor panels missing, wire works opening the opposite way, extractor fan delivered with door fascia but no unit etc) and just as quickly as I was trying to deal wit these issues in the store, other problems cropped up. When going through the issues in the store with the designer I never received an apology and was reminded that these issues would have been picked up if I had paid the extra to use a Wickes fitter.

The mis measurement was noticed on the penultimate unit being fitted along the wall line. The correct integrated extractor and adjoining door to unit would have resolved this. If the problem was to be rectified by Wickes they know they would have to remove the line of units and start again and my guess the cost and the fact that I used my own fitter has resulted in the store manager's decision and total zero customer service.
What does the K&B stand for when you mention "K&B director" Justin Moss at Harrow?
Does the fact the kitchen was measured incorrectly and therefore does not depict as per their plans hold weight with sale of goods act?

dimicek

...forgot to mention that the annotated plan with the dimensions the plan was based on was not issued as the designer stated there were issues with his printer (he only works 2-3 days a week at Wickes) and what he did print off was so small it could hardly be read.
Full A4 colour picture prints were given to me however (no measurements)

MaggieBaking

We had similar niggles (but we went through Howdens not Wickes). The fitter and suppliers helped sort out additional bits and fixes (incidentally our corner unit also had problems!). Your fitter should not have put the cupboards up without decor ends and bodged it in my opinion.

The extractor fan needs fixing, I don't quite understand the issue but tell Wickes that their objective was to supply a fully functioning kitchen and they have failed as you can't use the extractor and you expect it to be rectified.

A good fitter will is the one to implement the designs and fittings and should identify shortfalls like decor ends. When our kitchen was being fitted ours noticed the designer (not Wickes) left us a very large gap for the fridge and we could squeeze in some additional half size cupboards etc which we ordered.

Leif

Do you have any letters recording the visit by the salesman to take measurements etc? It could be that you entered into a contract to measure the kitchen and supply appropriate furniture. If so then you would surely have a case against them. And it might be the very fact that the salesman visited and effectively surveyed the kitchen implies that you entered into a contract to supply appropriate furniture. However ...

I would follow the advice from cddc, and assume the manager you are dealing with is a dork, and with luck the senior bod will sort things out. Keep calm, be polite, escalate the issue, and touch wood it will work ... Just make sure you explain clearly in writing what happened, and that your fitter picked up the issues.

dimicek

Leif,

Thank you. The very fact that I have been noting but reasonable, patient etc to try and work with them, has probably worked against me in that nothing seems to be happening with any great urgency.

As cddc is off line, would you happen to know what the "K&B" director stands for? I am trying to find out how to get hold of a phone number for the place he suggested in Harrow...

...still keeping calm.

cddc

K&B for Kitchens and Bathrooms! Wickes HQ is in Harrow. You have a case for the wrong extractor being supplied but your problems have been multiplied by the fitter putting the units in before checking that everything was correct.

Hopefully they go some way to sorting you out but as I said earlier the fitter is far from blameless. Had he checked beforehand, it would have been much easier to resolve. Think the manager is being a bit of a git though.

Many kitchen fits do not run smoothly and designers are far from perfect but an eagle eyed fitter can stop a lot of problems from escalating. The designer should have supplied you with a floor plan with both the dimensions and an annotated one with the unit names on. Am not sure a plan is covered by the sale of goods act though, as it not actually goods is it!

Good luck with getting it resolved, I am sure that if you manage to write or email the right people, they will sort you out, if you go about it in the right way. Having been on Watchdog earlier in the year they are keen to avoid a repeat

Aquatronixjenny

You have my sympathy... my sister ordered a kitchen from Wickes and booked their fitter. The measurements were wrong, they sent the wrong doors, the fitter split the wood on the doors by using a drill to fit the screws, the extractor didn't work, and worst of all - the fitter lied about being gas safe registered and fitted the gas hob for them!

My Dad finished the kitchen off in the end, and after lots of letter back and forth my sister was awarded compensation for the amount she had to spend to get the kitchen operational (paying a gas safe engineer etc)

They are awful, the kitchens are lovely but the customer service is dreadful. Don't let them fob you off.

phill99

I think it will depends on the Terms and Conditions.

Playing devils advocate, if I was Wickes I would have a clause along the lines of " No guarantee is accepted for the accuracy of measurements and customers are required to ensure all dimensions, measurements etc are accurate".

This would mean that the onus is on you to measure and douible check that the dimensions used by the designer were correct and that the units fitted accordibgly.

However, I have no idea if this is true as I am only summising.

cddc

Phil you are right, a disclaimer like that will be in T&C somewhere.
Does not mean that the service received has been anywhere like good enough though. Should get resolved if the OP gets through to the right people.