Kitchen - any thoughts on Symphony or Sheraton via Buildbase?

warby68

OK thanks

Yes, he loved the 2.5 hours he spent in our kitchen having brews and chatting with a bit of tape measure wielding but less keen to actually finish a design and price it up once back in his office.

We do have 'contacts' higher up the Buildbase food chain but wanted to keep them in reserve for a final 'assault' on the price if we need it, not to chivvy someone along in their actual job or indeed to get that person in bother when we want to deal with them.

Kitchenbloke_Leeds

As much as I disagree with a lot of the arguments put forward in this forum regarding all “carcasses” being the same and Grass being better than Blum etc etc
You could do so much better than trolling round the multiples…
I’m a designer and retailer of German & Dutch fitted kitchens and as undeniably biased as I am I’d suggest you should visit a couple of independent retailers who not only want your business (there is a big difference between wanting your business and wanting your money) and put your cards on the table. Tell them your absolute must have’s, give them an indication of what, in an ideal world, you’d like to include. Tell them realistically and honestly how much you are happy to spend and ask them to design a solution…….. give the professionals a chance, other than a little bit of time what do you have to lose ?
At the end of the day you will, no doubt, end up with a better product a better design and a better service. You might even find somebody that is actually interested..
Time and time again I see Mr & Mrs who have gone through this journey, talking to the multiples who lie through their teeth ( be honest, are you daft enough to believe that these companies are prepared to sell you £50,000 worth of anything for a mere £25k because they like the look of you or even that the extra 10 % off that they will give this weekend only is really there only because you were able to stand on one leg and whistle the national anthem from your backside ) offer an inferior product that is designed to be replaced in five or six years time ( if it wasn’t they’d be out of business in no time as they need a self replenishing market) little or no customer satisfaction and a design service that often couldn’t really design their way out of a staff canteen door.
Give the little guy a chance to impress you….. you might just get a pleasant surprise.
I for one, and I know a lot of my colleagues in independent land work the same way, would, if you told me you had a £15000 ceiling, design you 3 options. £13, 15 & maybe 18000 if it was at all possible whilst following you remit. If we in small business, treat our client base like the multiples do we’d have been driving a bus years ago.
We want the same as you, a workable practical long lasting solution that ticks as many of your boxes as possible whilst remaining affordable…. It’s how we eat.

warby68

Thanks so much for that Kitchenbloke

I do understand and my preference is always local and independent where possible for trades. We will be using a local firm for flooring and it was so simple - whatever we looked at he gave us an immediate cost per sqm fitted, knew all the local house types and was happy to drive up with a van load of decent size samples when we're ready. That's what I like even if its £1 a metre more or something.

Our situation is complicated by husband's business contacts where we can have some 'free' construction work and fitting for us plus some lucrative work for the business if we go this route.

We will still walk if not comfortable with the end price and independents will be the next step but unfortunately we are desperately time poor so starting again does have an impact. I also have a kitchen with oven, hob and dishwasher not working now and a few cupboards off their hinges!

So I'm out of my comfort zone which is a local recommended business and dealing with people who want to know how much is the maximum they can squeeze from me and how little they can get away with giving me for that.

You must be telepathic on my preferred budget - you're not NW based are you ? LOL.

Kitchenbloke_Leeds

Ha ha ha..... time poor. We are all that it seems these days, I've taken to wearing a watch on each wrist, just to give me a little more time.

Sadly ( although my comments weren't designed to drag you in here) , we are in Leeds.

It is a journey, buying a kitchen. Finding something you like and want, style wise, finding somebody you can work with and trust then making it all fit within the money box... I always say, it's rather like dating... you have to kiss a lot of frogs.

Good luck with it, it should be a pleasure not a chore..........I hope it all works out

warby68

Kitchenbloke_Leeds wrote: »

Ha ha ha..... time poor. We are all that it seems these days, I've taken to wearing a watch on each wrist, just to give me a little more time.

Sadly ( although my comments weren't designed to drag you in here) , we are in Leeds.

It is a journey, buying a kitchen. Finding something you like and want, style wise, finding somebody you can work with and trust then making it all fit within the money box... I always say, it's rather like dating... you have to kiss a lot of frogs.

Good luck with it, it should be a pleasure not a chore..........I hope it all works out

I know you weren't

I'm finding it sadly unpleasurable. I think I was meant to be a bit more Lady Muck where I just say what I want, someone does it for me and the budget is merely a side issue Sadly no chance in this lifetime.

Bank Holiday Monday's job is to dig out the designs so far and make a plan of attack for next week. I think my strategy will be to say that £x is now the maximum budget, these are our cost savings/concessions, if you can find the rest we'll have a deal and sign up by the end of the week and hope it works.

Furts

warby68 wrote: »

I know you weren't

I'm finding it sadly unpleasurable. I think I was meant to be a bit more Lady Muck where I just say what I want, someone does it for me and the budget is merely a side issue Sadly no chance in this lifetime.

Bank Holiday Monday's job is to dig out the designs so far and make a plan of attack for next week. I think my strategy will be to say that £x is now the maximum budget, these are our cost savings/concessions, if you can find the rest we'll have a deal and sign up by the end of the week and hope it works.

Your circumstances are different to the norm, with complications regarding free work and future business. Hence it is not possible to give firm guidance. In principle any builders merchant wants a kitchen order so one has to ask what is the reason for the reluctance here. Lack of profit? Lack of commitment? Not adopting a firm business like approach?...who knows so over to you.

Being proactive have you opened an account? Have you dangled a carrot regarding future business to BuildBase? Or are you being viewed as a retail purchaser deemed to have more money than sense?

Tactics and strategy are up to you, but I have lost the plot on what manufacturer you are going after. If Symphony did you define the range and product, or are you with a particular Sheraton product? Any vagueness on your part will be picked up at a builders merchant, and here one should be acting like a trade purchaser.

I commented earlier on pricing from B&Q but you dismissed this. This suggests to me you are not understanding how business works. This might lead you to an independent retailer, but bear in mind there are some who do not know their specialism. Some even claim that rival cheaper kitchens might only last five or six years when any reasonable kitchen will do twenty plus years.

warby68

Thanks Furts ( I think)

Not sure why you've lost the plot. The quote was for Sheraton but we now prefer Symphony - the rep doesn't know yet as he went on holiday after giving the draft design/quote so we have been in limbo for 2 weeks. This hasn't changed since my initial post.

I didn't dismiss B&Q but do feel I've done that exercise with a cheapish online supplier instead. Its knowing who Symphony/Sheraton benchmark against and I suspect it isn't B&Q.

Please don't tell my husband or my boss I don't understand business - I've worked in 2 for nearly 30 years and have managed to bluff my way so far

My main issues are a lack of time to trawl round endless alternatives and how far I can push Buildbase down based on other's experience/who they benchmark against which unfortunately doesn't seem to be ready knowledge. If possible we don't want to pull our favours in for this project but can do if need be.