John Lewis Fitted kitchens

Treasurehunter_2

Hi

John Lewis have quoted for installation of our new kitchen but the quote is more than we expected. They don't have their own installation team, they use a panel of their preferred installers. Has anyone had a John Lewis kitchen installed? Does anyone know of any installers on their panel?

katejo

Treasurehunter wrote: »

Hi

John Lewis have quoted for installation of our new kitchen but the quote is more than we expected. They don't have their own installation team, they use a panel of their preferred installers. Has anyone had a John Lewis kitchen installed? Does anyone know of any installers on their panel?

I don't know which installers they use but I was in their store recently while choosing my new kitchen and got chatting to one of their team. He mentioned that they were looking for new tradesmen/fitters for their team. I mentioned this to my fitter who said that JL paid the fitters peanuts for the work.

A colleague of mine has just had a JL kitchen fitted by them. She is very happy with the finished product but it took much longer to do than mine did. Apparently most of the work was done by just 1 man whereas my fitter was supervising a team.

Leif

katejo wrote: »

A colleague of mine has just had a JL kitchen fitted by them. She is very happy with the finished product but it took much longer to do than mine did. Apparently most of the work was done by just 1 man whereas my fitter was supervising a team.

My (non JL) kitchen was fitted by one chap in one week, and he did an excellent job, so I don't think you need a team. But, if they are flat pack carcasses, then one man would take longer as you indicate.

I recently had to take down a cabinet so as to fill holes and decorate the wall, and I was surprised how easy it is to put up a cabinet. The door just slots on, with a few screws to adjust, and the cabinet just hangs, with a few screws to adjust.

Ionkontrol

Their kitchens are made by Mereway and Alno and a few others. Buy elsewhere and get it fitted yourself, you will save a fortune.

madget_2

Ionkontrol wrote: »

Their kitchens are made by Mereway and Alno and a few others. Buy elsewhere and get it fitted yourself, you will save a fortune.

I agree with this. Or, if you'd rather have someone else do all the arrangements, a company called Wentworth fit Mereway Kitchens. Our local branch did our kitchen and made a super job.

keystone

Fitting kitchens is not rocket science but a good installer can make a cheap one look a million dollars and a bad one can make an expensive one look pants. You get what you pay for. Inevitably all these big cos that see a market in kitchens squeeze the installer on prices until the pips squeek whilst creaming off a large percentage for themselves. So the installation guys are not incentivised or motivated to do a good job. The advice to go elsewhere and find your own (good) installer is very applicable. You may have to pay a bit more on the installation than you might like but you will save on the kitchen price and it will be worth it.

Cheers

cddc

keystone wrote: »

Fitting kitchens is not rocket science but a good installer can make a cheap one look a million dollars and a bad one can make an expensive one look pants. You get what you pay for. Inevitably all these big cos that see a market in kitchens squeeze the installer on prices until the pips squeek whilst creaming off a large percentage for themselves. So the installation guys are not incentivised or motivated to do a good job. The advice to go elsewhere and find your own (good) installer is very applicable. You may have to pay a bit more on the installation than you might like but you will save on the kitchen price and it will be worth it.

Cheers

Partly true that....not all fitters working for large co's are poorly paid and unmotivated. You do pay more for a company backed fit, but by how much can vary wildly depending on the company.

Moomum

We were quoted a huge amount for a gloss alno kitchen, got the same one from intoto at a much better price. We used our own fitter though.

Leif

keystone wrote: »

Fitting kitchens is not rocket science but a good installer can make a cheap one look a million dollars and a bad one can make an expensive one look pants.

I'm not doubting you, but what is it that is better, or worse?

keystone

cddc wrote: »

Partly true that....not all fitters working for large co's are poorly paid and unmotivated. You do pay more for a company backed fit, but by how much can vary wildly depending on the company.

Sorry - should have qualified my statement. I was meaning the companies leveraging a marketing "brand" into areas where they have no expertise except to be able scrutinise the bottom line. The likes of Tescos, Next etc. who really should stick to what they know about.

Cheers

keystone

Leif wrote: »

I'm not doubting you, but what is it that is better, or worse?

I'm clearly being thick tonight as I've read this question three times now and still don't understand it.

Cheers