New Kitchen

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Doozergirl

Nothing happens on time at the moment and these things are organised by humans. Sometimes things go wrong - more often than not, unfortunately because of Covid/Brexit.  Small issues are made into bigger ones by delays in every aspect of supply chain etc.   Kitchen companies were always renowned for this type of thing before the world went mad.  It's why, even with their strange pricing, places like Howdens are preferred by fitters because it is so easy to make quick changes or rectify delivery issues within hours.    Other companies end up re-ordering or even remaking items.  

The sink may not be sealed because there's still work to be done on the base cabinets.  One of those is unlikely to just slide into place so there may well be more than one temporary solution at the moment.  

If there's a design error, I'm not sure why the confidence is lost in the fitting team. 

You're sitting with a kitchen that isn't finished, so it's worth reserving judgement in the fitting until it is done, even though it is frustrating.  

You can only ask for some compensation.  At least you aren't fully paid up.  It gives you a little bit control, especially when quality checking when it is done.  

Doozergirl

When/if they finish?  I'm not entirely sure that they'll be happy with 50% of the money even if they're happy with you having an unfinished kitchen - which they won't be.   

Keep in contact and chase them up by all means, but if they don't have the unit then there isn't much they can do to finish the kitchen until they do.  

You want this to be right, not to fall out with people.  

FreeBear

starwood said: So, what you're saying is I have to wait for the company to decide when/if they fix the issues and I can't do anything to get the work done.

You need to allow the contractors a reasonable amount of time to finish - You have been advised of a 3 week lead time for a replacement unit, so it may be reasonable to allow a couple of weeks beyond that date for completion. Unfortunately, that tiresome little ritual of Christmas may well throw a spanner in the works.

On the plus side, by paying the deposit with a credit card, the CC company is now jointly responsible, so you can pursue them if things go pear shaped.

FaceHead

Agree that these things happen, and that you need to give them some - but not too much - slack.

I think you should email them (if that's how you communicate) and kindly say you understand the struggles, the 3 week lead time etc. and set a deadline for getting it sorted (e.g. 5 weeks: the 3 weeks, plus a bit to install). Looks like you'll run into Christmas...

If they don't then get it sorted, you can gradually get more pushy with them, referring back to your kind note where you set out the deadline. 

Doozergirl

It sounds like the state of the construction industry at the moment.   You can never guess what time you'll finish at something, so small companies must be optimistic if they think they can be giving exact times when they're outnon other sites, and now there's an extreme shortage of labour thanks to Brexit and a boom in demand so this is where we are.  We've employed subcontractors for 20 years and have to beg to get them into our own house at the moment!  Loyalty counts for jack at the moment.  They are too busy and it's hard to deal with even normal levels of work at the moment because of delays in materials.   

Has everything arrived or not?  

What are the outstanding issues? 

ComicGeek

I've just had the final piece of our new kitchen completed today, after fitting started in March. Even that was after a text at 9pm last night, saying they were available this morning at 8am - I quickly juggled around my day to fit in with this, however painful that was.

What probably would have taken a maximum of a month to complete a few years back has taken 6 months due to delays with engineers, appliances, manufacturing, materials, fitters etc.

It is frustrating, but working in the construction industry myself I do understand why things are taking longer - it's all about finding the right balance between being reasonable/patient and stamping feet, and not demanding the impossible.

NSG666

starwood said:

After a full day last week trying to get an update from the kitchen installer (phoned 9.30am for update of when they would be coming, he said he was not in the shop and would phone me when he got back at 2.00pm. Didn't. I phoned back at 3.20pm. Still not in shop will call be at 4.00pm. Didn't. An assistant phoned me at 4.20pm to say he was on the phone to someone else and proceeded to give me an update, but couldn't answer any questions. Asked him to have the owner phone me asap. Didn't, and ignored my calls. Finally spoke to him at 5.00pm.
A fitter would be coming last Friday between 11.00am and 12.00noon. Finally turned up at 2.40pm. Fixed a couple of things - one of which will have to be repaired or replaced, and was then called away at 4.15pm.
Does this sound like someone trying to resolve the issues?

In your original post you said that there was a 3 week lead time on the required units, that brings us to today 8th Dec. Have the units arrived? Have they given you any info on when they will arrive?

Rosa_Damascena

starwood said:

Well, the saga continues.
The 3-week lead time for the replacement unit was Thursday 16th December, and the kitchen company duly arrived on Friday 17th December.

Shelves which had been cut on Wednesday 8th December were fitted in oven housing.

Replacement corner unit and plinth arrived. Unit was assembled – not flat packed as expected. I said to the fitter it could then be measured before the other one was taken out.

The dishwasher was removed and the old unit was demolished (not uninstalled) as they couldn’t get to all the screws securing it. 

Then they found that the new unit was not the right size. They hadn’t checked the size before removing the old unit as had been suggested. The new unit was dis-assembled and re-assembled in the kitchen. They could not manoeuvre it into place. They needed to remove the drawer unit and I supplied photos where the secure screws holding the drawer unit were found. They also had to move the fridge to allow them to move the drawer unit. The new unit was put into place and secured even though it would have to be removed again.

New doors that had been ordered, either didn't come or were the wrong size. Neither of the corner units has doors that fit. 

The flyover that had been fitted on Friday 3rd December did not fit well and was replaced. The replacement was the wrong colour and that needed replaced. OK, but not a great fit - will accept as we just want them out.

The dishwasher has been installed at a slight angle because the left corner unit and the right corner are not square with each other. A 9mm difference. That needs to be corrected

The plinths have been installed but will have to come out again when the corner unit is re-installed.

Current status. Two corner units with doors which do not fit. Right corner unit needs to be removed again to be replaced again.

Why do we need to keep putting up with this? Don't we have any rights?

I can imagine just how fed up you are and feeling deliberately ignored is the quickest way customers lose faith in trades.  

This situation has been getting you down for a while, but as soon as you realise there is only so much influence you have here the easier it will be to get on with life. Accept that you are not going to have your dream kitchen for Christmas, for starters. It will be fixed in the New Year so chase at regular intervals and make do for now. It's a bit like childbirth - once the work is done and you have a nice new kitchen, somehow the trauma gets forgotten. 

Doozergirl

So true.  We had OSB for worktops last Xmas!  And the glass cupboard didn't have the right hinges so they were near impossible to open.  

All forgotten now.  

FreeBear

Doozergirl said: So true.  We had OSB for worktops last Xmas!  And the glass cupboard didn't have the right hinges so they were near impossible to open. 

But you did have the builders on site every day over Christmas so could castigate them as and when you needed to

(I also had a temporary MDF worktop for a few weeks - Used it to scribe the new worktop when it got fitted)