New Build Property - Wrong Kitchen installed - Help!!

Nick1617

So just to put the facts through quickly essentially me and my wife have just bought a new build property for £600k, we completed on 29th July. Following up a visit to the property 3 days before completion my wife immediately noticed that the completely wrong kitchen had been installed. This was the first time we were invited to see the property. I immediately got on the emails and were offered some awful options as to rectify this matter and these were:

1) Refund all deposits and do not proceed with the purchase of the house
2) Delay completion until this is rectified
3) Fix the kitchen and be put up in a hotel for 5 days as this is what they said it would take, although the lead time to order the kitchen was 6 weeks so not immediate.
4) Receive a cash amount of £1850 which is the equivalent of what the hotel would cost and food and keep the kitchen

Of course the cost of a kitchen if it were to be completely replaced will cost upwards of at least £10k which is initially what i had asked for if the kitchen was kept. Also £5k for them to replace and fix the kitchen whilst we stay home. 

The company itself new the position we were in and it was definitely not feasible to push completion due to the interest rates doubling as to what we were offered which would have meant we could not afford the house, so i feel completely taken advantage of. 

So we completed on the friday and i have been going backwards and forwards trying to get a date for this kitchen to be sorted and receive this cheque which was agreed for £2.5k, i spoke with my solicitor who was absolutely useless and even came back with responses to requests made after completion had be done which i find completely ridiculous. 

I have researched the NEW HOMES OMBUDSMAN service but they are yet to represent anyone, is there anywhere further i can take this?

user1977

What do you mean by "this cheque which was agreed for £2.5k", as that sounds like you've agreed a settlement?

Section62

Nick1617 said:

So we completed on the friday and i have been going backwards and forwards trying to get a date for this kitchen to be sorted and receive this cheque which was agreed for £2.5k, i spoke with my solicitor who was absolutely useless and even came back with responses to requests made after completion had be done which i find completely ridiculous. 

I have researched the NEW HOMES OMBUDSMAN service but they are yet to represent anyone, is there anywhere further i can take this?

So they've agreed option 5 which is to replace the kitchen with the one you wanted and give you £2500?

If they put it in writing then really you need to give them a bit of time to sort things out.  If the lead time on the kitchen is 6 weeks then they won't yet have an exact date, and even if they did, there may still be some reluctance on their part to give that to you until they are absolutely sure as they may anticipate you asking for more money back if the promised date can't happen (for reasons within or outside their control)

Raising a cheque in a large organisation takes time as the request goes back up the chain for approval before someone prints or writes it and puts it in the post to you.  Two or three weeks to arrange would be normal, unless the site office have their own chequebook.

There are other actions you could take - for example a solicitor's letter - but it will cost you time and money, and won't necessarily make any difference to the outcome.

If they didn't put the offer in writing then the position would be different.  You'd need to consider what action to take to get them to honour a verbal promise.

TripleH

Sorry to clarify,

Did you pay extra for the kitchen (upgrade) or did you specify a certain colour/type?

It does sound like a settlement has been agreed (or developer thinks there has).

We were fobbed off with the fridge/oven being a different colour to rest of units as a planned design (making ours unique) rather than what they could get hold of so might supply be an issue?

pinkteapot

It's not clear exactly what agreement you've reached with the builder, as it sounds like it's something different to options 1-4. 

So you're expecting a £2,500 cheque... and what else??

Option 3 sounds reasonable under the circumstances... A mistake was made. It's rubbish but it happens. Getting the kitchen replaced as fast as possible and putting you up in a hotel during the works seems pretty fair. Most people have to live in their houses while kitchens are replaced. I'd have gone for that and tried haggling for a little goodwill cash on top. 

julicorn

What's so "awful" about option 3 anyway? 

SeanG79

julicorn said:

What's so "awful" about option 3 anyway? 

I expect the OP Mortgage offer was due to expire within that time and based because rates have increased, had they reapplied, they couldn't afford the increased mortgage payments at the higher rate. Hence why they felt compelled to complete.

@nick1617 - it hasn't even been 2 weeks since you completed, I expect you need to give them some time still

pinkteapot

SeanG79 said:

julicorn said:

What's so "awful" about option 3 anyway? 

I expect the OP Mortgage offer was due to expire within that time and based because rates have increased, had they reapplied, they couldn't afford the increased mortgage payments at the higher rate. Hence why they felt compelled to complete.

That's option 2, not 3... (I've assumed it was complete, move in, and just move out temporarily in six weeks' time when the kitchen's done). 

powerful_Rogue

Can't see the issue here. The builders have given you plenty of options.

What do YOU want?

caprikid1

I think they feel they are entitled to more compensation than being offered.

I think the builder is being extremely fair offering lot of options all very reasonable.

I think you are just trying to take advantage, if you are not careful goodwill will dry up.... you will need to work with these people for snags etc .

Nick1617

SeanG79 said:

julicorn said:

What's so "awful" about option 3 anyway? 

I expect the OP Mortgage offer was due to expire within that time and based because rates have increased, had they reapplied, they couldn't afford the increased mortgage payments at the higher rate. Hence why they felt compelled to complete.

@nick1617 - it hasn't even been 2 weeks since you completed, I expect you need to give them some time still

Yes that was the case, looking at 1.6% currently to go up to nearly 2.5% over a few weeks of waiting. 

My main issue is that I don't want it to get to Christmas and it still hasn't be rectified, yes these thing take time but you know fully well what companies of this size are like.