Howdens is turning into Hells Kitchen, do we deserve compensation?

Milee_S

We recently ordered a kitchen from Howdens and since the beginning, have been having problems with the delivery, designs and overall quality of service. (details below) Has anyone else had similar issues, and if so, are we right in demanding some money back from them for all the trouble we had to go through? Bear in mind we paid for this kitchen, in full and upfront, and have had nothing but poor service and monumental f-ups such as Howdens delivering the entire kitchen in the wrong colour.

Details below for anyone interested..

- After making us pick a delivery date, which was sooner than we wanted, all the items then did not arrive and with no courtesy call to explain why or when they would. I appreciate that they may not have had them in stock but that being the case why make us pick an earlier date? Because of this our builders turned up on the delivery date they gave us only to find that they could not start.

- the extra items did not arrive until I called them. They were then miraculously sent that very date. This brings into question how long I would have had to wait had I not have called?

-When these items did arrive it became clear that the housing unit for the oven and hob had been missed. Once again I had to call their office to have this delivered.
-Once we started unpacking the shell of kitchen we discovered that the boiler cover was too short by half meaning that this will also have to be replaced.
- During the fitting we noticed that their designer had cut off an entire corner section of the kitchen, dramatically reducing the available space in an already small kitchen. It took two builders to notice this error and they quickly came up with a simple solution of adding an extra cabinet with a smaller door. this is something I had hoped a professional kitchen designer and company should have suggested in the first place.

- Despite all of this we still had not complained until we began putting on the doors to the kitchen only to discover that the entire thing was in the wrong colour! Howdens then informed us that this was a mistake by their designer when ordering. EVen though all the endered photos, drawing clearly state CREAM, they sent us everything in white.


- On top of the delays in pieces arriving, the kitchen being the wrong colour, and the inevitable time that it will take to dismantle and refit the kitchen this has meant that the building company we contracted to do the job will now require extra payments for the extra days worked. This is not even taking into account the delays which the above problems have caused us so far.

During this time myself and my family have been put through a lot of unnecessary trouble and stress. My builders have informed me that this project could have been finished last week had everything been done correctly. Now this project is looking to be two weeks overdue.

During all this, we have had nowhere to cook, store food, wash our clothes or dishes or relax. Ours isn't a large house and therefore our entire ground floor has remained a building site for an extra half a month. This has also put us under extra financial strain as we do not have a working home.

Do you guys think it is right that we demand some monetary compensation for all this trouble and stress?Not that I have high hopes from Howdens, but it is so unfair that all they said to us was "Sorry this happened to you, we will send you the right colour kitchen" and close the case! Surely as a customer we deserve more?

phill99

Did you a tually contract with Howdens? They are a trade only supplier and end users normally have to buy via an account holder (such as a builder).

Milee_S

Yes our builders do have a contract with them, and after complaining regarding all of the above, Howdens are insisting that they speak to the builder and not us. Fair enough as they are trade only, but as the payment for the kitchen was made through us via debit card to Howdens directly, we feel that they need to answer to us as well. Do you reckon our stand is fair?

cddc

The problem is that you are not the customer, your builder is.
It may have been your card but it is his name on the paperwork therefore he is legally the customer not you. So your rights are precisely zero.....

This is the main issue with buying your kitchen this way via a trade outlet via your builders account. You may possibly be getting a good deal, but although you have paid for the goods and you are the end user, you are not the customer.

Howdens will probably give him some money off his next order as compensation. All they are interested in is his repeat business, they could not care less about you.

There is nothing wrong with Howdens product as long as you pay the right price. Just don't expect to get any service as an end user though.

Milee_S

Thanks ccdc for your excellent reply. Although what you have outlined it the bitter truth, I guess we have to accept this situation and move on. Our builder has been really understanding about this situation though, and luckily has not charged us extra for the additional delay caused by Howdens delivering the wrong kitchen.

Unfortunately, as you have said, there is not much more we can do here..

Doozergirl

Your builder has to fit this kitchen. What part did they play in this?

Experience tells me that I have an exact product list from Howdens which should be checked against what arrives. If anything is missing or incorrect, a quick call into Howdens will see it sorted before we're halfway through fitting. It's an essential pre-check.

Sometimes things go wrong, but someone also has to take responsibility for checking delivery against order on site. If you've paid no one to do it then it falls to you.

99/100 Howdens get the order right, but the great thing about them is that if it isn't, it's not a huge problem and there isn't lots of waiting around. If this was all checked on delivery, there wouldn't have been delays and several phonecalls. It should have been one conversation on delivery day.

I think this was made far worse on site than it should have been. You don't know any better and your builder doesn't appear clever enough to check the packaging or design for you.

I wouldn't be aiming compensation because as trade buying from a trade supplier I understand where I need to fulfill certain functions.

When you buy trade as a consumer, you cut out cost but take on risk and hope that, on balance, it works out favourably.

Should have been a simple fix, sorted quickly. Ylur builder can blame himself for not checking packaging as well!! Might have saved himself some time.

adamg

Doozergirl wrote: »

Ylur builder can blame himself for not checking packaging as well!! Might have saved himself some time.

but the packaging would have been correct. If Howdens sold the wrong colour and wrong units, the delivery paperwork would still be correct for anyone checking it off.

Doozergirl

adamg wrote: »

but the packaging would have been correct. If Howdens sold the wrong colour and wrong units, the delivery paperwork would still be correct for anyone checking it off.

But it wouldn't match the itemised quote.

Gastines3

The get out of checking items on delivery is easier said than done. Quite often you can order a specific size cabinet+doors/drawers/handles etc and end up with ten or more cartons of various sizes. Not that easy when a pallet of boxes arrives on site for a complete kitchen ,shrink wrapped with a driver waiting for a signature.
When dealing with a major supplier of kitchens ,I used to request that my order was delivered only if all required items where in stock,occasionally finding one vital piece missing and out of stock for 2-4 weeks. Great for the supplier as I had to pay with order but not so good for me as I got paid when the job was completed.

Doozergirl

I didn't say it had to be checked when the driver is there. It's easy to get Howdens to come back for a subsequent delivery.

It's a trade stockist. Check your itemised list when you get the quote. Check your quote against delivery note and items received.

If you want someone to bear full responsibilty for those checks and want compensation when it goes wrong, then you need to have paid someone to do it. The reason for delay rather than simple inconvenience of a phonecall was an inefficient builder not checking they had correct tools. His consequence - having to come back.

DirectDebacle

Howdens agreed to supply specified goods on a certain date and received full payment in advance.

They failed to fulfil their contract. If the builder or the OP have suffered loss (as a result of Howdens breaching their contract) they are entitled to seek compensation from Howdens for any such loss.

It is entirely up to the OP how far he wishes to take this and has up to 6 years to make a court claim. Therefore no need to rush into making a decision.