Kitchen installation gone wrong – Section 75 partial refund advice needed

XEO25

Hi all,

I’m after some advice to check I’m taking the right approach with a kitchen supplier/fitter.

• The kitchen was supplied and fitted a few weeks ago (around £15k total) by a local kitchen supplier (they supplied and fitted).
• I paid about 50% of the balance by credit card, so Section 75 should apply.
• The installation had numerous workmanship faults - uneven alignment, poor worktop joins, inconsistent overhangs, damaged doors, etc. I provided photo evidence by email, and they accepted responsibility.
• The company carried out a remedial visit last week after I gave them a written “final opportunity” to fix the problems.
• While a few items were fixed, several key issues remain - the main issue being base unit and worktop alignment, which I expect will need to be refitted, and new worktops provided.
• I’ve decided not to let them attempt further work, as each visit seems to make things worse.

I’m now planning to:

1. Get independent quotes for the cost of putting the kitchen right.
2. Submit a Section 75 claim to my credit-card provider requesting a partial refund (to the amount required to fix the issues), arguing the contract’s been fundamentally breached.
3. Include the quotes and photo evidence in my claim.

Questions:

• Does that sound like the correct approach under the Consumer Rights Act / Section 75?
• Do I need to contact the kitchen company to tell them the final attempt to fix was unsuccessful, or should I just deal with the credit card company?
• Any pitfalls I should watch for when wording the Section 75 claim?

Thanks in advance - this whole process has been very stressful, so I just want to make sure I’m proceeding correctly before submitting the claim.

MyRealNameToo

XEO25 said:

Hi all,

I’m after some advice to check I’m taking the right approach with a kitchen supplier/fitter.

• The kitchen was supplied and fitted a few weeks ago (around £15k total) by a local kitchen supplier (they supplied and fitted).
• I paid about 50% of the balance by credit card, so Section 75 should apply.
• The installation had numerous workmanship faults - uneven alignment, poor worktop joins, inconsistent overhangs, damaged doors, etc. I provided photo evidence by email, and they accepted responsibility.
• The company carried out a remedial visit last week after I gave them a written “final opportunity” to fix the problems.
• While a few items were fixed, several key issues remain - the main issue being base unit and worktop alignment, which I expect will need to be refitted, and new worktops provided.
• I’ve decided not to let them attempt further work, as each visit seems to make things worse.

I’m now planning to:

1. Get independent quotes for the cost of putting the kitchen right.
2. Submit a Section 75 claim to my credit-card provider requesting a partial refund (to the amount required to fix the issues), arguing the contract’s been fundamentally breached.
3. Include the quotes and photo evidence in my claim.

Questions:

• Does that sound like the correct approach under the Consumer Rights Act / Section 75?
• Do I need to contact the kitchen company to tell them the final attempt to fix was unsuccessful, or should I just deal with the credit card company?
• Any pitfalls I should watch for when wording the Section 75 claim?

Thanks in advance - this whole process has been very stressful, so I just want to make sure I’m proceeding correctly before submitting the claim.

The gap in your to do list is that you dont have any expert opinion on if the workmanship is reasonable and you are just being overly picky or if its substandard particularly considering the price paid / details of the agreement. Maybe the bank will say the photos are evidence enough but its common for them to want a report the cost of which you add to your claim

Under S75 there is no requirement for you to even have told the company there was a problem let alone given them opportunity to fix it. It's often better to deal with the company than the bank as they will be quicker etc. S75A is different but your spend is small enough to be in S75 rather than the worse S75A

The main issue with S75 is that each item must be over £100, thankfully yours is mainly a workmanship issue so is a single value and presumably was well over £100. Some have found that banks argue that kitchens are individual parts so if people claim 5 of their £60 door knobs were damaged they are declined because each door knob isnt over £100. As long as the damaged parts are over £100 there is little risk. 

It is a case of wanting their cake and eating it though as whilst some have tried to argue you need to look at the parts individually others have argued cases shouldn't be in S75 because the customer had artificially divided up invoices to keep under the S75 limit

XEO25

MyRealNameToo said:

XEO25 said:

Hi all,

I’m after some advice to check I’m taking the right approach with a kitchen supplier/fitter.

• The kitchen was supplied and fitted a few weeks ago (around £15k total) by a local kitchen supplier (they supplied and fitted).
• I paid about 50% of the balance by credit card, so Section 75 should apply.
• The installation had numerous workmanship faults - uneven alignment, poor worktop joins, inconsistent overhangs, damaged doors, etc. I provided photo evidence by email, and they accepted responsibility.
• The company carried out a remedial visit last week after I gave them a written “final opportunity” to fix the problems.
• While a few items were fixed, several key issues remain - the main issue being base unit and worktop alignment, which I expect will need to be refitted, and new worktops provided.
• I’ve decided not to let them attempt further work, as each visit seems to make things worse.

I’m now planning to:

1. Get independent quotes for the cost of putting the kitchen right.
2. Submit a Section 75 claim to my credit-card provider requesting a partial refund (to the amount required to fix the issues), arguing the contract’s been fundamentally breached.
3. Include the quotes and photo evidence in my claim.

Questions:

• Does that sound like the correct approach under the Consumer Rights Act / Section 75?
• Do I need to contact the kitchen company to tell them the final attempt to fix was unsuccessful, or should I just deal with the credit card company?
• Any pitfalls I should watch for when wording the Section 75 claim?

Thanks in advance - this whole process has been very stressful, so I just want to make sure I’m proceeding correctly before submitting the claim.

The gap in your to do list is that you dont have any expert opinion on if the workmanship is reasonable and you are just being overly picky or if its substandard particularly considering the price paid / details of the agreement. Maybe the bank will say the photos are evidence enough but its common for them to want a report the cost of which you add to your claim

Under S75 there is no requirement for you to even have told the company there was a problem let alone given them opportunity to fix it. It's often better to deal with the company than the bank as they will be quicker etc. S75A is different but your spend is small enough to be in S75 rather than the worse S75A

The main issue with S75 is that each item must be over £100, thankfully yours is mainly a workmanship issue so is a single value and presumably was well over £100. Some have found that banks argue that kitchens are individual parts so if people claim 5 of their £60 door knobs were damaged they are declined because each door knob isnt over £100. As long as the damaged parts are over £100 there is little risk. 

It is a case of wanting their cake and eating it though as whilst some have tried to argue you need to look at the parts individually others have argued cases shouldn't be in S75 because the customer had artificially divided up invoices to keep under the S75 limit

Thanks that's really helpful. 

I am aware that I might need a report (although some of the pictures are obvious) and was going to request this from the chosen contractor.

MyRealNameToo

XEO25 said:

MyRealNameToo said:

XEO25 said:

Hi all,

I’m after some advice to check I’m taking the right approach with a kitchen supplier/fitter.

• The kitchen was supplied and fitted a few weeks ago (around £15k total) by a local kitchen supplier (they supplied and fitted).
• I paid about 50% of the balance by credit card, so Section 75 should apply.
• The installation had numerous workmanship faults - uneven alignment, poor worktop joins, inconsistent overhangs, damaged doors, etc. I provided photo evidence by email, and they accepted responsibility.
• The company carried out a remedial visit last week after I gave them a written “final opportunity” to fix the problems.
• While a few items were fixed, several key issues remain - the main issue being base unit and worktop alignment, which I expect will need to be refitted, and new worktops provided.
• I’ve decided not to let them attempt further work, as each visit seems to make things worse.

I’m now planning to:

1. Get independent quotes for the cost of putting the kitchen right.
2. Submit a Section 75 claim to my credit-card provider requesting a partial refund (to the amount required to fix the issues), arguing the contract’s been fundamentally breached.
3. Include the quotes and photo evidence in my claim.

Questions:

• Does that sound like the correct approach under the Consumer Rights Act / Section 75?
• Do I need to contact the kitchen company to tell them the final attempt to fix was unsuccessful, or should I just deal with the credit card company?
• Any pitfalls I should watch for when wording the Section 75 claim?

Thanks in advance - this whole process has been very stressful, so I just want to make sure I’m proceeding correctly before submitting the claim.

The gap in your to do list is that you dont have any expert opinion on if the workmanship is reasonable and you are just being overly picky or if its substandard particularly considering the price paid / details of the agreement. Maybe the bank will say the photos are evidence enough but its common for them to want a report the cost of which you add to your claim

Under S75 there is no requirement for you to even have told the company there was a problem let alone given them opportunity to fix it. It's often better to deal with the company than the bank as they will be quicker etc. S75A is different but your spend is small enough to be in S75 rather than the worse S75A

The main issue with S75 is that each item must be over £100, thankfully yours is mainly a workmanship issue so is a single value and presumably was well over £100. Some have found that banks argue that kitchens are individual parts so if people claim 5 of their £60 door knobs were damaged they are declined because each door knob isnt over £100. As long as the damaged parts are over £100 there is little risk. 

It is a case of wanting their cake and eating it though as whilst some have tried to argue you need to look at the parts individually others have argued cases shouldn't be in S75 because the customer had artificially divided up invoices to keep under the S75 limit

Thanks that's really helpful. 

I am aware that I might need a report (although some of the pictures are obvious) and was going to request this from the chosen contractor.

Ideally it wouldnt be from one of the contractors you are getting a quote from as they have a vested interest in finding as many faults as possible and therefore at least have a major conflict of interest and more likely arent really independent. 

born_again

CC would want a report & also quotes to fix the work. So 3 at least.