Anyone bought a kitchen over the Internet

holengarth

Its the sort of thing I would never have considered doing as its a lot of money but I found a Pronorm kitchen locally and cant afford it. I did what we all do these days and found Arena Kitchens who sell Pronorm on line.
The quote is too much less to be honest or is it. ?? Kitchen units locally £11500 on line £6500. I used the local design and got a quote which seems to cover it all. The drawbacks are I need to pay it all 2 weeks before I get it and the delivery is direct from Germany.
I need to save the money but want someone to tell me that they have done it and all was well. I am only saving money if I get what I ordered. ??

Steve_the_fitter

Get a sample door but it will be the same

CKdesigner

Hi Holengarth

Firstly welcome to the forum.

Your first instinct I also feel is correct. There is too great a difference in price for Arena I feel to have priced the kitchen 'like for like'. The only way to get a direct comparison would be to have the full set of plans, floor and wall elevations and the full list of units required.

When you went to your local guy did you give them a budget to work to? You see probably if you didn't they included lots of nice features to give you a nicely specified kitchen. Where as the internet company has nothing much to offer you other than a cheap price.

My advice to you would be to talk to your local company, be honest with them about what you have done, after all its their design and advice you have gained and forwarded on.

Good luck

CK

ryder72

I second that. the price difference is too large to be 'like for like'.

We recently had a client who tried to get a 'like for like' kitchen priced for a design we provided. They got a price £3500 cheaper. On closer examination, it was missing all the detail and features we had provided and client requested and our price to compare to 'theirs' was actually about £1200 lesser.

Steve_the_fitter

If you gave them the plans and they priced it up to then it will be the same kitchen. Even if its missing a magic corner etc that does not equate to the £5k difference

CKdesigner

Steve_the_fitter wrote: »

If you gave them the plans and they priced it up to then it will be the same kitchen. Even if its missing a magic corner etc that does not equate to the £5k difference

Hi Steve

No actually when pricing a German kitchen the list of units with ideally the product codes is more important than the plan. But no designer would release this list without either a design fee or a deposit as this is really the key to the design for accurate pricing.

CK

Steve_the_fitter

Hi Ck, can you explain this a little more as I dont understand. If for example there is a 600 unit on the plans how can it be different? The person buying of the internet is obviously going to know if its a high line or drawer line as they will know if it has any internal works in it which they would mention to the internet company.
Cheers
Steve

CKdesigner wrote: »

Hi Steve

No actually when pricing a German kitchen the list of units with ideally the product codes is more important than the plan. But no designer would release this list without either a design fee or a deposit as this is really the key to the design for accurate pricing.

CK

CKdesigner

No problem Steve.

The item listing would show all the technical detail. As an example we do Schueller and the sort of things a floor plan wouldn't show would be:

Which carcass height.
What hinge and drawer box options.
Whether there are drawer mats
Which visible carcass sides specified, plain laminate, gloss laminate, lacquered or veneered.
What plinth finish, as above plus stainless steel.
Whether there is cornice and light pelmet, again which style and material.
Modifications to sizes of doors, for example on oven tall units.

This is just a short list of things I can quickly think of. With a typical German kitchen there is loads more choice than a typical English one.

CK

Steve_the_fitter

imo anyone who deals with kitchens can work out most of the above by looking at the plans and a couple of simple questions to the customer.

ps my uk supplier does all of the above

CKdesigner

Steve_the_fitter wrote: »

imo anyone who deals with kitchens can work out most of the above by looking at the plans and a couple of simple questions to the customer.

ps my uk supplier does all of the above

You are right, but half the time you may ask the customer these simple questions and they don't actually know the answer so really back to my original point to get a 'like for like' comparison you need the list in black and white to know what the exact specification is.

I am sure your UK supplier can do all these things, they are really just simple details that make the kitchen a proper one (in my opinion) but unfortunately so many UK kitchen manufacturers don't. Actually Steve I seem to remember asking you a while ago, after a similar conversation who your UK supplier is but you never replied. PM me with the details if you like.

CK