Magnet sales

Gazza222

As a former employee of Magnet, I can tell you that their sales last for two months. So this one will end in February, the offers like free appliances etc, will however end on specific dates.
The typical magnet designer is pressured by managers to get deposits from potential customers before the end of January, so then by taking the deposit, they can class that as a sale and it all goes on the months sales figures.
But, if you pay your deposit and then cancel, you will then come up against every excuse in the book to get it back. A cancelled kitchen means altering sales figures to a lesser figure and then they will have to explain to higher managers why the figures are down, so chances are, you won't see your deposit returned until well after the sales period ends, or, if they can replace your cancelled sale with a new like for like sale with a new customer.
As for quality, they're nothing special, the showroom kitchen and trade kitchen carcasses are all the same, a big majority of the door fronts are the same, just named differently, its jus a few select doors that are different.
The branch I worked at had fitters that would fit magnet kitchens, but recommended Howdens to people as they thought Howdens were the better kitchen to fit, and these guys fit every day of the year, so go figure.
My advice, find an independent kitchen supplier that can supply with a better quality kitchen a a price that works best for you, and likelyhood is, will be better designed, because they will listen to you.

glasgowdan

I've said it before...get a joiner that's experienced at kitchens and can work with an order from DIY kitchens. You said there aren't any good tradespeople near you...well find one a bit further away.

Furts

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Well - I've got through a kitchen design from Magnet now.

Errrrm...I'm not convinced these kitchen designers are very good at their job somehow.

I had made it clear that I would be using a length of extra worksurface as a breakfast bar (but with a bit of the space underneath it having extra cupboard space there). Cue for finding it's been designed differently to the obvious way/my way and it would be literally impossible to sit at the small bit left available to sit at. Duh!:wall:.

Add in a comment about another alteration to the room he had in mind - that wouldn't have worked:wall:

I'm beginning to realise why so many kitchens in this country have boilers and/or pipes on show - a lot of it is probably down to the "kitchen designers" employed by these firms.

I don't think I'm being unreasonable to think:
- It's the customers job to decide what range of units they want/what worksurface/what colour/etc
- Then the "kitchen designers" job to work out how to do it all so that no "workings" of the kitchen show/it's got maximum "time and motion" efficiency built in to the planning/it all actually works.

Your expectations are somewhat high. A "kitchen designer" is not a professsion, nor a trade, nor an artisan. It is a nothing job, that is on a par with a double glazing sales person. If you go top end kitchens then studios and all sorts of bumpf and spin enter the equation, but that is not where you are. The reality is the average consumer can plan their kitchen to a reasonable standard by measuring the room with a pocket tape. Then drawing this and the shapes they require on a piece of graph paper.


I have only ever come across one kitchen sales person, or designer, or surveyor who is competent. Do not knock the trade outlets for this person was at a Magnet Trade branch. To add a little anecdotal back up - my local Tradepoint had a switched on guy working on the tills. Some days he was designing kitchens for retail customers - he had no experience or training in this, but this did not matter because retail customers were deemed easy prey. With trade customers he remained behind the till!

onomatopoeia99

Furts wrote: »

The reality is the average consumer can plan their kitchen to a reasonable standard by measuring the room with a pocket tape. Then drawing this and the shapes they require on a piece of graph paper.

Exactly how I designed mine, and I have no creative talent at all. It's not rocket science to place some boxes in a room in a vaguely sensible fashion.

Rain_Shadow

Furts wrote: »

The reality is the average consumer can plan their kitchen to a reasonable standard by measuring the room with a pocket tape. Then drawing this and the shapes they require on a piece of graph paper.

This is what I did too and I only had a plan of the extension it was going into.

I used an independent kitchen company.

The owner effectively took my design and translated it into a CAD drawing that enabled units to be ordered.

moneyistooshorttomention

Yep...I've now been out and bought some graph paper.

Having only done a kitchen once before - and that was many years ago and consisted of telling my father which range of units I'd chosen at MFI and he then worked it out and fitted it - then I guess I thought the title "kitchen designer" meant the person would actually be a kitchen designer. Got that one wrong then.....:cool::rotfl::(:eek:

Having come to the conclusion that Mr Magnet knows no better than I do - though it's his job - then I might as well get my rule out and see what I can figure out myself:(

Admit to being a bit shocked that they apparently know no more than I do...:cool::shocked:. Got it now - they are called kitchen designers - but they aren't actually. Lesson learnt:(

At least I'm not the only one. I had one of my local friends (also recently moved) telling me that they (her and hubbie) hadnt realised this either and been surprised to find they had to work out their kitchen themselves. She did tell me that the second lesson I needed to know was that the fitter/s might then try and fit things their way - rather than the way we've decided on - so I've got to be aware that I might have decided things logically open one way and have to check they arent putting them to open the other way. Second lesson also absorbed = I might have to stand my ground about what I decide.

Doozergirl

Erm, arguably a fitter knows exactly what they're doing and sometimes it is a good idea to have a bit of a swap around if things feel better once the units arrive. They will have a sense for it.

But yes, you should discuss and talk about which way units will open etc. and draw it on your plan. That's communication. and gonthrough it with your fitter before you order the kitchen. There will be things you don't think of.

I'm not sure that taking the approach on site that nobody knows better than you is a good one. I don't do that and I do it for a living! The best things are built by a happy team.

moneyistooshorttomention

Well - I wish I'd learnt to stand my ground sooner - rather than thinking "That doesnt look right - can it be?" about various things done in my house so far.

Followed by doing research after the event - and finding out that I was perfectly correct - and it hadnt been done correctly.:mad::(:mad:. I'm stuck with a pretty bad mistake made by a fitter in the bathroom and I'm going to make very sure the same doesnt happen with my kitchen.

It's pretty priceless when a friend tells you that a so-called "kitchen designer" gave them a kitchen design that featured their washing machine one side of the kitchen and the tumbledryer the other side of the kitchen. Duh! Errrrm...obviously they go side by side if possible....

Doozergirl

My washing machine and tumble drier are in different places. It makes sense for us because of the layout.

I also have a client where we moved the washing machine to a more sensible location for pipework, otherwise they'd have had water pipes that simply couldn't be hidden for a particular reason traversing the room.

I know you don't know the services layout in your friend's house because I don't know them in my own friends' houses.

This is what I am saying to you. You go from one extreme to the other. First you want a kitchen designer, then suddenly you know best.

Do your due diligence on people before they come into your house. Speak to other customers, go and see their work! And communicate, ask questions, do homework first, not after. Great that you don't want to be taken advantage of. It's perfectly fine to question things. Expect a sensible reply and make your decision then.

Furts

moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »

Well - I wish I'd learnt to stand my ground sooner - rather than thinking "That doesnt look right - can it be?" about various things done in my house so far.

Followed by doing research after the event - and finding out that I was perfectly correct - and it hadnt been done correctly.:mad::(:mad:. I'm stuck with a pretty bad mistake made by a fitter in the bathroom and I'm going to make very sure the same doesnt happen with my kitchen.

It's pretty priceless when a friend tells you that a so-called "kitchen designer" gave them a kitchen design that featured their washing machine one side of the kitchen and the tumbledryer the other side of the kitchen. Duh! Errrrm...obviously they go side by side if possible....

I am with Doozergirl. I have a low opinion of kitchen "designers", but a high opinion of where the skill and ability really lies. This is the trades who install the kitchens.

But also factor in a reality in life. You have invited a designer to your home. This was for a business meeting. Hence you need a strategy and an outcome before the meeting takes place.

You start the meeting by establishing the experience, ability and competence of the person in front of you. In essence you establish a position of confidence and the other person knows where you, and they, stand.

If the subsequent design details are not to your liking you direct the meeting to establish a satisfactory answer.

These are all fundamentals of any meeting so I guess you had already done all this - I know you are savvy. However if the person you invited was Magnet Retail they will probably not be used to operating in this manner.

A professional and Trade approach is a better way to get a satisfactory design, and a satisfactory price.