Wickes Bathrooms and Kitchens - poor value?

FlaatusGoat

Recently I ordered a replacement bathroom and kitchen, choosing to opt for something no-thrills but practical. At the end of both designs, I've been giving a sheet with the materials and cost of each as you'd expect. Now, I'm starting to pick through it. Already I saw I was being overcharged quite considerably for things like the kitchen tap (£200 vs £25 @ Toolstation/screwfix) and in the end I've got them to revise it. Same with the appliances, paying to the tune of £100's over like-for-like machines bought independently.

Moving over to the toilet, the toilet/cistern quite literally is £150 more than what I could find in the shops.

I'm now at a point where I think the whole thing is borderline a rip off. Still, I'd say the entire quote is 40/60 parts/labor which is what I'd expect.

Where would the savvy money saver go to replace their kitchen and bathroom? I'm inclined to go to a local fitter and ask for a no-thrills job on the bathroom at the very least and have the toilet, sink, bath, shower and flooring done. Kitchens I appreciate are probably a bit more specialized but still, I'm open to suggestions.

Jonboy_1984

Did you use their instore design service, as that needs to be paid for somewhere in the process?

(as does the time for people that get quotes and then buy elsewhere!!!)

ashe

Get a quote from howdens for what you want (you may need a fitter with an account first)
take that quote to diykitchens to get them to beat it (usually considerably)
take that to howdens and see what they can do 
repeat until you know who you are going with 

Gavin83

FlaatusGoat said:

Recently I ordered a replacement bathroom and kitchen, choosing to opt for something no-thrills but practical. At the end of both designs, I've been giving a sheet with the materials and cost of each as you'd expect. Now, I'm starting to pick through it. Already I saw I was being overcharged quite considerably for things like the kitchen tap (£200 vs £25 @ Toolstation/screwfix) and in the end I've got them to revise it. Same with the appliances, paying to the tune of £100's over like-for-like machines bought independently.

Moving over to the toilet, the toilet/cistern quite literally is £150 more than what I could find in the shops.

I'm now at a point where I think the whole thing is borderline a rip off. Still, I'd say the entire quote is 40/60 parts/labor which is what I'd expect.

Where would the savvy money saver go to replace their kitchen and bathroom? I'm inclined to go to a local fitter and ask for a no-thrills job on the bathroom at the very least and have the toilet, sink, bath, shower and flooring done. Kitchens I appreciate are probably a bit more specialized but still, I'm open to suggestions.

Do those quotes include fitting or is it just for the goods?

The value will depend on what it is. Taps for instance can be bought for tens of pounds or thousands of pounds. £200 at some online store or independent will get you a premium branded tap though. As an example I'm pretty sure you could pick up something like Crosswater/Grohe for that price.

It's always best to shop around though. If you can get the same quality elsewhere for cheaper then do so. I fit my own bathrooms so that gave me a little more flexibility to shop around so bought most of my stuff online. Paid about £1k for the bathroom suite but then that was Villeroy and Boch and it was a large bath. I've a trade account with Wickes but I still wouldn't buy my bathroom suite from there. Only ever bought materials.