Kitchen supply & fit service payment

j3nman

I'm looking for a company to design, supply and fully project manage the fitting of a new kitchen including units, appliances, wall tiles & flooring and clearing away old units. This was the service I was provided with for my bathroom which was done about 4 years ago.
The company I had selected on local recomendation wants payment for the units on deliver then payment for fitting on completion.I am not comfortable paying for units before I know they are all there, right size etc. and I'm not going to know that for certain until they are fitted.
Do other kitchen companies who supply and fit expect payment before all the work is completed satisfactorily? If I do pay for units on delivery what is the best method of payment to provide maximum protection if there are any issues when they proceed with fitting?
Thanks

Xeorix

j3nman wrote: »

I'm looking for a company to design, supply and fully project manage the fitting of a new kitchen including units, appliances, wall tiles & flooring and clearing away old units. This was the service I was provided with for my bathroom which was done about 4 years ago.
The company I had selected on local recomendation wants payment for the units on deliver then payment for fitting on completion.I am not comfortable paying for units before I know they are all there, right size etc. and I'm not going to know that for certain until they are fitted.
Do other kitchen companies who supply and fit expect payment before all the work is completed satisfactorily? If I do pay for units on delivery what is the best method of payment to provide maximum protection if there are any issues when they proceed with fitting?
Thanks

Where about's are you based, and what kitchen have you gone for?

We had ours through a kitchen fitter, who did it on a supply only basis for us. The problem you will find with independents is that they will need to order the kitchen from their distributors, and their distributors might want payment per order, rather than a monthly invoice.

In this situation, your kitchen fitter most likely cannot afford a hit of say £7k, so will ask for you to pay for the units, and then pay for labour upon completion of the work

cddc

Most do, one way or another. It is certainly not unusual. Kitchens are different to bathrooms generally as in the money is in the product, not the labour.

With bathrooms, very often the cost of the product would only be a quarter or less of the cost of the job, the bulk being labour. They can often take longer to do than a kitchen. With kitchens the product is very often two thirds to three quarters or even more of the total job cost. Hence the supplier would want paying for it earlier than completion.

Whilst understanding your point of view, your supplier is not asking for anything out of the ordinary.

Sometimes a local tradesman with a Howdens, Magnet Trade or Benchmarx account may accept it all or the bulk on completion as they will be on 30 day terms at least with the supplier, but in most cases even then they would want the goods paid for.

Another way of doing this whereby you do not have to pay the bulk until completion would be to use a DIY chain and their fitting service, and take out a finance package. As you cannot have finance on what you have not had yet, you get approved at time of order, pay a deposit, but the finance does not start until the job has been completed and you have signed a satisfaction note.

Usually, at this point, you can pay off the finance with no penalty, before it starts, or as soon as you receive your "welcome pack" from the finance company but before the date of your first payment. You have a kitchen you are happy with, and apart from a deposit (usually around 10%) you have not paid anything more until the job is completed to your satisfaction.

Doozergirl

There has to be some element of trust.

You have an itemised list of what you're ordering and that is what you've paid for. What is delivered to you obviously needs to be there or thereabouts or you won't pay it.

Seriously, if you think you can't trust them to be up or down a couple of items (the correct delivery of which is ultimately the responsibility of their supplier) then why are you inviting them in at all?

They are providing their labour for free to you until the kitchen is finished. They're actually asking very little of you at all except to pay for what you receive.

Swings and roundabouts. This one goes far more in your favour than theirs.

SuzieSue

Most companies who have these payment terms will let you put part of the payment on a credit card and pay the rest by debit card or bank transfer. This way you will get Section 75 protection. I personally wouldn't pay a large amount upfront unless I could pay some by credit card.