wickes kitchen issues

hi guys.

last february we decided to upgrade our kitchen. went into wickes and they had their 50% off sale, so we ordered one of the high end cream oak (sprayed by the look of it).

it did look great and the workmanship seemed to be fine.

within a week the porcelain sink had a big crack in it. so we called and asked for a replacement and fitting. the sink turned up very quickly but took them about 3 months to come and fit the sink

by this time our flexible tap (one with a hose attached) had gotten worse and worse to the point it takes 5-10 mins to fill the sink (cold is ok, hot just trickles out). apparently those taps arent suitable for backboiler systems (even though hot water pressure in the bathroom seems fine). we then have to pay towards a new tap. nobody has come to fit this or arrange a fitting.

now, i look at the bottom of the units and the upright sections either side of the cooker have started to badly delaminate. this is annoying as we were told it was an oak kitchen. not some oak and some cheap laminated bits.

i need to take some pics tonight so i can go back and complain but to be fair im very annoyed with them. even in the half price sale the kitchen cost £10k installed and so far we have had 3 big issues with it. it is supposed to last 15 years but at this rate i dont hold much hope for this.

should i be able to force them to fit the new tap? (not sure why i should pay for a plumber). and getting them to replace the laminated sections will be a pain and anyway, its not what i ordered as i was under the impression it was all oak.

any advice?

 

If i was fitting a tap for the wrong type of system i would have mentioned it and as i assume wicks tradesmen fitted it,so up to them to replace it, as for the delamination does your receipt say all oak or oak effect panels

 

If the cupboard carcasses around the sink are delaminating then they have got wet due to splashing in general use and the chipboard/mdf is swelling under the "foil" wrap. (unless the cracked sink caused a major flood).

A solid Oak Kitchen from a DIY store has solid wood doors. Everything else is chipboard or, if you are lucky, MDF.

If you suggest to Wickes that you thought the entire kitchen was solid oak, I'm afraid they will **** themselves laughing...

 

£10K for a Wickes kitchen (in a half price sale)

What kind of prices did you get from bespoke kitchen fitters if you thought £10k was a good price?

I'm not meaning to sound insensitive, but there have been a few threads recently were people have mentioned the cost of various jobs and it's left me scratching my head in disbelief (someone else reckoned it would cost £5k to put a window in!)

 

Who chose the taps...?

Flipping heck 10k....From Wickes...underpants defo pulled down.....

 

Agreed, some people have to much money lying around

 

I don't mean that. If people want to chuck their money away that's up to them. I just find it hard to believe that intelligent people can be so out of touch with how much things should cost.

Reduced from £20k.....bargain

 

Including fitting it really isn't a lot of money.

Most kitchen taps aren't suitable for Most UK low pressure systems but you normally get away with it as you have a fair amount of head between the cold storage cistern and tap. The pull out flexible hose taps really don't work well at all though. The cold side won't be a problem as its mains fed.

 

I'm in a bungalow with a head of maybe 2m above my ceramic tap with a flexible hose in the kitchen.

It works fine. But I did plumb it in myself

 

Depends on the tap, most are made for the European market.

0.2 bar is usually the minimum pressure even on specific low pressure taps, which you have.

The plumbing does make a difference too, a lot of people whack cheap flexible pipes on the tap which doesn't help.

 

I'm guessing the 10k was with appliances ?

 

If you add up all the various aspects of a full kitchen fit then the price is fine. If you get the local handyman to fit it who has no public liability and can't even spell Part P then £10k will seem a lot.

 

My surprise at the cost is based on my experience of using a kitchen company who designed, built, and installed our kitchen for much less than £10k paid by the OP in a half price sale.

 

I have just done my own kitchen. Doors, end panels, cornice, pellets etc (no cabinets) new hob, extractor, sink and tap and worktops.... £6500.. Used all the old intergrated appliances.

John...

 

Assuming the £10k cost includes appliances and fitting, then this is a reasonable amount and not necessarily a ripoff at all.

We don't even know the size of the kitchen, number of units or length of worktops. My kitchen which has yet to be fitted cost that and then some with quality appliances and I don't think I've been ripped off.

If we are talking solid oak worktops and the kitchen is a good size, that's half the £10k cost already.

Yes you could buy a small chipboard kitchen for £500 with a bucket for a sink and a cold box for a fridge, but my sink alone cost that.

Not really much help to the OP, but if you're not happy and its falling apart I'd be straight on the phone or back in the store ASAP, whether I'd paid £1k, £10k or £50k.

 

It's not the 10k, it's spending 10k at Wickes...

 

The Wickes Kitchens aren't bad.

Get them back to sort your problems though, sounds like something isn't right.

 

Wicks I believe are the same as Benchmarx Joinery, all owned by the same company (part of the Travis Perkins group) and not bad at all.

 

I was agreeing with you

 

our kitchen is massive (25m2) and chock full of cabinets and wood worktops. we priced up other places and this was much cheaper even though we got their most expensive range. admittedly we got a much lower price initially but then i realised they hadnt put drawers in most of the units so that bumped the price up a fair bit. maybe i just got carried away though?

we were told the units were solid oak sprayed cream, so i guessed all the front facing bits would be. it seems the verticals (either side of range cooker and white goods) alone are mdf with oak veneer.

i chose the tap. he did say was our water pressure ok and it was fine with old tap and still is good in the bathroom.

yeah, plumber who came around to do other stuff said most houses cannot use those taps.

yeah. around the sink is ok. seems to be near where the dog bowl is and my son has knocked it over a few times. of course me thinking it was oak i didnt think too much of it until i saw it delaminating. surely a kitchen should have a bit of water resistance? most of the time stuff is on those feet with the under plinth things taking the hammering. seems to be a poor bit of design really.

thanks for the replies (and the ridicule lol).

 

Ordinarily it's £5K for the ridicule, but you can have it for free.

 

bargain!

 

Dony.. Slightly harsh there dude...

You make that comment without knowing:
The size of the kitchen.
The config of the units installed.
If that includes fitting the kitchen.
Appliances are/are not included.
Which companies he went to first and the quotes he got for similar layout.

These all have massive effects on the budget.

I am no kitchen expert but I tend to avoid places like B&Q and Wickes for kitchens because I am never convinced by their quality (rightly or wrongly) and I have heard a few people have less than encouraging things to say about their after-sales experience when there are issues.

Liam - I am a shocker when it comes to complaining, but my wife is awesome at it (compliment dear not slagging). I think you need to start hassling them and tell them you want discounts or stuff thrown in for free for their bad after sales service. I talk a good game but am not very good to the actuals.

Good Luck dude and hope you get it sorted.

 

The guy I used to work for wouldn't go out to even look at a job unless they were spending £10k.

…..that was a good 10 + years ago and Bathroom too!!

 

Think I saw him on Rogue Traders...

 

I know it was a joke but it was the complete opposite, he made customers aware of the quality of work and also the Quality of the Suite and Tiles.

 

Maybe so, but my comments were based on my own experience of having kitchens installed in 2 different houses by companies very similar to those you described in the Good Customer Service thread. These companies only produce kitchen and bedroom furniture (design, manufacture and install) whereas somewhere like Wickes do a bit of everything.

Also, my own kitchen is very large (35m2) which I now know to be bigger than the OP's, though admittedly it's not all taken up by units.
Last year we decided to remove our larder and have a built-in fridge installed in it's place. 1 phone call and the guys came out, removed the doors, shelves and kicker boards, installed the fridge and refused to take any payment because it was all done in about an hour! I very much doubt Wickes would do that, even on their £20k range of kitchens.

It may come across as somewhat snobbish, but I would never consider handing over that sort of money to a large, faceless store.

Like you, I hope Liam gets it sorted.......even though he is a Utd fan.

 

Now that is a much more measured response & conveys your point way better.... Consider yourself out the dog house

I agree with you on the wicks is like B&Q being a jack of all & a master of none. There after sales would be a worry for me when problems arise as they sub contract their work out so accountability is a real issue.

Liam - unleash the fury!

 

I bought a whole kitchen from Benchmarx who are part of the Wickes Travis Perkins group.Paid about 5k for it and have been pleased .Having said its carcass that is the most important part and I am afraid the vast majority of those are made from chipboard regardless of whether you 5k or 30k .Why they us such rubbish is beyond me MDF would be far better provided its well laminated , even plywood which has been used for decades