Compensation

tracykett

I ordered a Wickes kitchen to be installed by my fitters and this was delivered in March 2020 after my old one was ripped out… the worktop and some of the cupboards were missing. We went into lockdown so I could not have the kitchen fitted and the worktops took another 3 weeks to arrive but they were faulty. Wickes head office communication was appalling. I went through till sept 20 until I could literally speak
to someone in store regards the missing and faulty items. The store manager was appalled and offered to do everything she could to put right including the fitting as my fitters had been messed around so much and lost time and money they refused to come back. Finally the kitchen was part fitted until their fitter decided to not work for Wickes anymore and walked off the job over an argument about payment with them. This left me with half a kitchen.  The kitchen was finally finished in April 2020 after Wickes said they were no longer prepared to fit the kitchen and I would have to source a contractor to finish it but they would pay. This proved very difficult after the mess their fitter left behind. I went without running water and cooking facilities from March until Oct and the hob was fitted in the Dec with no electric in there at all.. The cupboards and appliances were stored in my kitchen and small lounge leaving me and 2 kids 1x2 meters floor space in my lounge. The whole house was upside down. My son who has autism did not cope well resulting in the costly replacements and repairs, my daughter was also pregnant at the time, this made me quite ill to the point I went on medication for stress, anxiety and depression. It was a living nightmare. I was advised by the store manager to put a claim in for compensation inc take outs as we lived off these for all that time. I wasn’t interested in at the time as I just wanted a working kitchen. But now I think back of how I was ignored, left without basic facilities, fobbed off, lied to and received appalling customer service and had such a negative effect on my family . I decided to put a claim in to which they have offered £500. It cost me more than this for food( don’t have all the recipes) and still no response to my original complaint from back in March 2020. I was told about a daily amount for being without basic living facilities but not sure of where I get this info from. I feel like that have really not considered how me and my family lived during this time and what effect it had on us. Any advise would be gratefully received 

tracykett

Update finished in April 2021 not 2020

JHW1942

If you didn't keep receipts then you can only go on an estimate and see what they're prepared to cover.  In summary, you have a reasonable claim for genuine losses, anything else is goodwill.  There is no formula for stress, inconvenience, etc.

I'll get to the point:  How much are you after?  It's a blunt question, but without knowing how far away they are from your expectations, it will be difficult to advise on negotiating steps.

Sandtree

Technically the offer on takeaways would be the difference between what you did spend and what you'd have spent in the supermarket and on gas/electricity cooking it.

There is always a risk of ripping the old out before you confirm all the new has arrived and force majeure clauses will almost certainly absolve them for the delay caused by the pandemic and government ordered close downs etc. The reason people do take the old out early is to ensure all the prep work can be done like getting electricity to where the new hob is going to be etc whilst you have a nice clear workspace and therefore the second part of your story is then a bit odd with saying hob didn't go in until december and even then it didn't have power. Why didn't it get hooked up when installed? Given the hob was there from the beginning why couldn't a temporary hookup have been created to get you by? 

tracykett

There was no worktop or cupboards to fit the cooking facilities or sink to

lemondrops69

tracykett said:

I decided to put a claim in to which they have offered £500. It cost me more than this for food( don’t have all the recipes) 

Why would you need all the recipes? 

JJ_Egan

OK so how much ?? £50 , £100 .

olgadapolga

lemondrops69 said:

tracykett said:

I decided to put a claim in to which they have offered £500. It cost me more than this for food( don’t have all the recipes) 

Why would you need all the recipes? 

Probably should say "receipts".

pinkshoes

tracykett said:.  I went without running water and cooking facilities from March until Oct and the hob was fitted in the Dec with no electric in there at all.. 

I would take the £500!

Yes, it's annoying, but there are always alternatives...

 I had no kitchen for 3 months due to an error with the flooring, and had kids 3, 3, and 8 at the time, along with a 15 year old for a month!! I bought a 2 plate electric hob which I used on the dining table or in the garden with an extension cable, fridge in the lounge (along with the kitchen bits!!) and then washed up in the cloakroom! I also did a lot of BBQs in the garden. My food bill actually ended up being quite a bit less as we mostly ate salad, pasta and sauce and BBQ meat!! So your food bill didn't HAVE to be too high...

The £500 sounds reasonable.

JHW1942

tracykett said:

There was no worktop or cupboards to fit the cooking facilities or sink to

Again, how much are you after?

tracykett

I’m not really after a certain amount. I was advised by the store manager that there is a daily amount for each day you are without basic facilities, just wondered if anyone knew anything about it as I’m struggling to find any related info on the internet. I think I’ll just accept the offer of 500 as it’s too much hassle