Best value flat-pack kitchens

MountainMan101

My only experience of flat-pack is building my parents kitchen from MFI flat-pack in 1996 and my bedroom stuff from ikea last year. The ikea was quite well made (and had no missing bits) but MFI (and others) may have come a long way in 10 years too.

So my question is, out of all the flat-pack providers, which offer the best value for money in terms of build quality and durability. Also, do the ikea kitchens have any serious issues when combining with non ikea parts - for instance their beds are in metric so they don't take a normal mattress - and if you buy their mattress you're stuck with their bed linen (for fitted sheets).

Thanks,
Philip

crank_girl

I can't answer your second question but I can certainly affirm the quality of Ikea flat-pack kitchens. Several friends have had them fitted/fitted kitchen themselves and have been thoroughly pleased with the result. We will be replacing our kitchen next year and IKEA will be our first port of call.

navig8r

MountainMan101 wrote: »

My only experience of flat-pack is building my parents kitchen from MFI flat-pack in 1996 and my bedroom stuff from ikea last year. The ikea was quite well made (and had no missing bits) but MFI (and others) may have come a long way in 10 years too.

So my question is, out of all the flat-pack providers, which offer the best value for money in terms of build quality and durability. Also, do the ikea kitchens have any serious issues when combining with non ikea parts - for instance their beds are in metric so they don't take a normal mattress - and if you buy their mattress you're stuck with their bed linen (for fitted sheets).

Thanks,
Philip

Some of the kitchen unit doors are different sizes to other makes which tend to be of a more standard size.ie the full height floor unit doors are 3/4" shorter.

dave

Dave

SUESMITH_2

had an ikea kitchen for years - still solid i would recommend one to anybody, it worked out cheaper than wickes, mfi and b and q. our mfi one fell to bits within 2 years

HugoSP

Ikea products a great - shame about their customer service.

I find some of their staff in Bristol seem to make a career in providing really crap customer service - it seems to be what gets them through the day. It's a shame it reflects on the others who do the best they can with the dire management that saps their very happiness.

Recently I had an issue with an item I just bought and was told I would hve to phone or write in. Knowing what a lottery that usually is I refused to leave the store without first speaking to their customer services manager. The problem was resolved only with her intevention. It seems the supervisors I spoke to couldn't be bothered to referr it to the CS manager and thougt fobbing me off was easier.

If you get stuff from Ikea and need customer service - be firm and above all tenacious. Dig your heels in and be stubborn but try and avoid being rude. It seems that good manners and being nice and accomodating may cost you - that is not a statement I would make about any other large retailer.

Canucklehead

Good afternoon: Another vote for Ikea...we have now installed 6 Ikea kitchens over the last 4 years. We have used the Croydon and Lakeside stores and had no problem with customer service...in fact they have been pleasant and helpful...must be a London thing;)

HTH

Canucklehead

HugoSP

Canucklehead wrote: »

...in fact they have been pleasant and helpful...must be a London thing;)

HTH

Canucklehead

Must be a London thing as you say.

The Bristol experience we had recently was mixed. One chap in the self service warehouse was really helpful when my wife had copied down a picking location incorrectly. We had to wait to be served down there but he finished what he was doing and immediately went to a computer terminal and identified the correct location. We had been waiting behind a woman who seemed to have all the problems in the world and the only other server was patiently plodding through them.

On the other extreme, on the same day, we had to go to their offsite warehouse in the middle of a neigbouring industrial estate to get one of the items we needed. To do this we had to drive out of the rear of the carpark, report to a chap sitting in a hut who would ask his colleagues to open a gate around the corner. We went to said gate and waited.....and waited, in the rain. I had to go back on foot to the chap in the hut around the corner who asked for the gate to be opened again, and it was.

When we got there and handed over the ticket we were presented with a damaged box containing our purchase and a blatent "can't be bothered to look for a good one" attitude. His excuse was that they only had 2 in stock, I knew they had more as we had checked before we arrived. Both came in damaged boxes, and you could plainly see that he just couldn't be bothered to pull his finger out. I was not happy about paying full price for a damaged item so I either wanted a good one or a discount. They eventually offered 15%.