Stoneham kitchen pricing

mymedi

Hi everyone,
I know, it's a bit strange to be asking about Stoneham in a moneysavings forum, but here goes... ;-)
We are doing a major refurbishment of our house and have decided to look at a Stoneham's kitchen - my wife fell in love with them after looking through their brochure. However, after doing my research on the web on their styles and typical prices I have a strong feeling that the supplier we're talking to has seriously inflated prices for their product. I'm basing this on comparable kitchens (style/size) that I've found costs for.
I would presume that most kitchen manufacturers would have a "typical" price guide based either on a per-unit or per-meter basis? Or something similar to that to enable their agents to price their product correctly. Is there any way to find out this about Stoneham? For example, how much would a typical/average solid wood single 60cm cabinet unit be priced at?
Thanks very much for any help.
Michael

CKdesigner

Hi mymedi

Firstly, welcome to the forum.

You are entering the world of kitchens which is fairly daunting thing and can be full of unknowns! Hopefully this will give you some pointers.

As you will already know Stoneham kitchens are beautifully made kitchens from a workshop in Kent. They are in the middle to top of the market. Don't worry about this being a money saving forum, this means having the things you want at the best value, it doesn't mean just have cheap!

From your post I understand you would have had this Stoneham dealer design the space for you in the style of kitchen you want from the Stoneham range, and then they have given you a quotation for the whole kitchen, hopefully they would have broken down the costs in the quotation a bit for you, so you would know how much the cabinetry element of the kitchen would be and the worktop, fitting and appliances, all to give you a big total at the bottom!

Obviously you are concerned that maybe this total is a little high and that you want value for your money. I assume the design of the room this designer has shown you you like, but you have only been shown or given a few pictures. From this position if I were you I would speak to the designer, be honest with your concerns and explain that you would like to get another one or two other quotations for the supply and installation of this kitchen. And in order to get 'like for like' quotations you would like to use the design they have done for you, obviously you understand that they have put quite a bit of time and creativity in designing this space for you so you would like to pay them for this design so that you can own it to then give to a couple of other kitchen suppliers for these alternative prices.

Please let me know how you get on and any other advice you need then please let me know.

Good luck

CK

mymedi

Hi,
Thank you for the kind words and for your suggestions.
To clarify our situation. We're not completely new at this - we've done kitchens before just not with this brand and not this supplier... Also, I've already done what you suggest in terms of getting another quote. The design is quite simple - I can draw it out myself, don't need to purchase it from the supplier. So, I had another company that deals with Stoneham do a quote which is almost like-for-like and the difference is about 2.5 times (!) - that's ex installation, appliances, counter tops, etc. Just for the cabinets & furniture ex VAT... I do intend to call our supplier on this, but would like to get more data points for reference. Which is why I'm wondering if anyone actually knows any pricing points for Stoneham. Perhaps any forum members with Stoneham kitchens would be willing to have a look and calculate a rough "per unit" price?
Thanks again!
Michael

CKdesigner

Hi mymedi

There is another thread on here about pricing for individual kitchen units which is of a similar vain. Now, we operate in the same market as Stoneham being mid to top end of kitchens, we would give a customer the price of a single unit but its the norm for kitchen specialists not to give this information as standard. To be fair I have really never been asked for the price of one unt. This isn't in an attempt to mislead or anything, its just that there are so many variables to consider that its just a bit impractical. Also kitchens at this end of the market are designed and sold and ordered as a complete kitchen whereas at the lower end of the market kitchens are sold on a more basic unit by unit basis.

Getting back to your situation - So you have gone to 2 Stoneham dealers and ignoring fitting costs, appliances and worktop. The cost of the cabinetry for the same design, the same door and handle combination, the same carcase, the same drawer boxes the same everything as far as you can tell. There is a 2 & 1/2 times price difference! That's mad, there must be some detail missing or someone has made a big mistake.

Ignoring costs, who would you want to do the job? Who do you feel more confident with? If its designer 'A' give them the much cheaper quote, all the information you have and ask them to explain it. If this situation ever happened to me I would like the opportunity to investigate it. There must be a reason.

CK

mymedi

I couldn't agree more with you - it's mad! But that's where we are...

The problem with just going with the cheaper quote is that these guys are too far - they would only be able to supply, but not fit the kitchen. I would prefer to go with our local supplier, but their pricing is highly suspect which got me investigating in the first place. We initially noticed that they wanted for some appliances more than the RRP price... And it's a really big and respectable company which makes this all the more strange.

I will investigate and ask them about this, and post here if there is a coherent explanation. For example, I didn't specify the carcases, so it's plausible that they could've used different ones. Although why anyone would use a solid wood carcase is beyond me... :j

CKdesigner

Umm... Appliances with inflated prices is suspect, because it can only make the customer suspicious, because you think if they are over pricing these then are they over pricing the rest of the kitchen.

Send me a pm with the appliance models and prices for more of an independent view if you want to.

CK

ryder72

As CK says check the detail.

Check that you are comparing like-for like ranges. Stoneham do their kitchen both with and without in-frame and the inframe is significantly more expensive (not 2.5 times though).

I also know that there is a lot of internal detail that can bump up the price.

All things being equal, they should really be in the same ballpark. There really is no such thing as RRP in the appliance world any longer, but most reputable retailers will be competitive on appliances bearing in mind that they provide advise on appliances that are most suitable for you and also take complete responsibility for it from delivery through to commissioning them. A small premium for this might be reasonable.

loveprada

Mymedi, believe it or not, I have come across 2 kitchen fitters recently who have installed Stoneham kitchens in the past. One lives in Harrow and one lives in Cambridgeshire. If you are interested in contacting one or both please let me know via pm and I'll give you their details. They might be able to supply the kitchens too.

mymedi

loveprada, thank you for the offer. but we're in Scotland and thus dealing with someone local is preferable.

Update: we've gone with the original supplier after a twisted and convoluted negotiation. As such, I'll not name them, but just say that they are probably the largest kitchen supplier in Scotland, especially the mid-to-high end ones.
What we ended up doing is throwing out all appliances, etc from the quote and applying all the existing and then a lot of extra negotiated discount to the kitchen units alone. Which worked out to be about right - about what they should've cost without any discounts in the first place... Strange business practice. The total discount reached somewhere around 40% off the original quote for the units... And this is after they originally said that they are doing a 6% promotion on Stoneham...

And with regard to the unit price I was looking for here originally - from various sources it looks like for Stoneham it should be in the range of 450-650 pounds including VAT per a 500-600mm base unit - in case anyone will be looking for this down the road...

CKdesigner

Well done, although its a shame you had to so much negotiation. But I am sure you will get a good job from them, which is the most important thing overall.

CK

mymedi

Thanks. I would hope, but that remains to be seen. So far the experience has been underwhelming...