Advice needed? B&Q kitchen dispute!

trev2014

I'll try keep this short as possible as its turning out to be a bit of a saga!!!

We ordered a kitchen from B&Q back in June with a delivery date for early September. We purchased the kitchen on a 3 year 0% financing deal. B&Q designed the kitchen for us and we ordered everything from floor tiles through to appliances. On the 1st September we took delivery of the kitchen, however, the worktops weren't included. After several calls to B&Q, we were informed the solid worktops had been discontinued. Even though we ordered the kitchen 3 months ago, they’d failed to give us any notice the worktops had been discontinued. They simply delivered the kitchen without the worktops! So we were now in the difficult situation where we'd ripped out our old kitchen and our new, partly delivered, kitchen sat in boxes in the garage. After a few days without any kitchen at all, countless calls to B&Q, they informed us they'd now managed to source the worktops and would deliver them the following week. The day before the worktops were due for delivery B&Q called and informed us their system had cancelled the delivery yet again. They went on to explain the worktops weren't actually in stock and they weren't due to get them for another month. By now the new kitchen had been fitted (minus the worktops). All patients were gone by now. The manager at the local B&Q store tried numerous times to push inferior laminate worktops on us as alternatives but we stood our ground and refused them. After threatening him with citizen advice and the furniture ombudsman he came up with a compromise. He agreed to provide temporary laminate worktops and a standard sink (at their cost) while we waited another month for the actual worktops. The worktops were due for delivery tomorrow and guess who had just called to say they're not coming! They're suggesting that they may come on Thursday but cannot guarantee this.

We’ve had to reschedule the joiner several times now. We’ve made several calls to B&Q in the last month and they’ve reassured us each time the worktop wer arriving tomorrow (2nd Sept). The worktops we’ve chosen are exclusive to B&Q and go nicely with the curved kitchen units we’ve now fitted. We are not prepared to accept the laminate alternative having spent a fortune on the kitchen. Not to mention the under-mount sink we have wouldn’t work with a laminate worktop. The next alternate solid worktop which B&Q offer is £2000 more expensive. B&Q aren’t prepared to foot the bill for this! We’ve now logged a complaint with citizen advice but they’ve told us the complaint has to go through the financing firm.

We’ve been paying for the kitchen over the last 3 months (over £1k so far including initial deposit) and it feels like B&Q are just fobbing us off. They have no idea if these worktops are in stock, never mind if they can actually deliver them.

Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.

the_lunatic_is_in_my_head

Complain to their CEO office, not sure if we are allow to post contact details here but search B&Q at the ceo email website (just google ceo email).

Are the "next alternative solid worktops" available anywhere else?

itsnotarace

Can't really help with your issue, but I can confirm that B&Q are a total nightmare for kitchens - speaking as someone who had bought one recently and is in the middle of slowly getting it fitted.

We should have known to run when we made an appointment with their kitchen designer after having spent a lot of time planning it out ourselves on their online tool first.
We arrived 5 minutes before the slot to be told that the customer booked after us had turned up half an hour early and so she was now dealing with him instead. What???

However, having seen two kitchens we liked elsewhere that turned out to be discontinued, we persevered with the one we liked in B&Q.
However, when our order arrived, we found some units damaged, and one unit not delivered at all. Which of course, required further deliveries.

We ordered a Belfast sink and all the plumbing bits from them - and it turns out that you actually need a longer fixing screw for the sink drainer that what is supplied with the sink. A longer screw to fit from a B&Q sink to the B&Q plumbing gubbins that is. A trip to B&Q revealed that they don't actually sell this screw at all - you seriously have to buy it from another company which is down to you to find. Almost every review on their website of this sink confirms this. Astounding.

But the biggest frustration was the fact that we had ordered a couple of units that we ended up not needing as the plan changed slightly.
I would have happily taken these back myself to a nearby store for a refund, but was told that they had to arrange collection.
Fair enough, so i took a day off work for the collection, no one came. I took another day off the following week after speaking to their customer services who rearranged collection and again, no one arrived to collect them.

The third week, two guys arrived in a truck that was too big to get up the lane to our house and assured me they were away back to the depot to get a smaller van to come back and pick the units up....of course they never arrived.
The next week the same two guys turned up in the exact same truck that was too big for our lane and started to drive off before my stopped them and went through them. She made them get out the truck and walk up the lane to collect the boxes by hand.

I guess fairly minor issues compared to you, but we are now in week 5 of a kitchen install which isn't entirely B&Qs fault, but they certainly haven't helped any.

We have been complaining at each step with the number that is on your initial order form. We've been passed around several very unhelpful people before finding someone who has actually been quite on the ball - but they won't talk to you if you ordered through your kitchen fitter like we did, unless you have set up a password on the order to allow this. And even then, they will only talk to my wife as you can only have one additional name on it as well as the trade card holder.

Our fitter says he will never fit another B&Q kitchen again due to the delays and headaches with this one.

Ectophile

If you paid on finance, then section 75 of the consumer credit act applies. Which means that the credit company is jointly liable if B&Q fails to deliver.


Contact the finance company and ask them why they are charging you for a kitchen that hasn't even been fully delivered yet. Ask them what they are going to do to resolve the problem.


If they cannot solve it, tell them you want the whole contract cancelled, and a refund of everything you have paid so far.