B&Q Kitchen

jhegarty

Anyone ever use the B&Q kitchen fitting service. If so how much did it cost?

They won't give me any idea in the store without a full order and house visit.

quattfa3

Hi J,

Avoid these guys like the plague.

I bought a €3k kitchen form B&Q and had a friend lined up to fit it as a favour. Two weeks later the kitchen arrived, I pulled out the old one and my buddy came up to fit the kitchen. Unfortunately B&Q didn't deliver enough of the correct parts for the kitchen and too many wrong bits. Needless to say my buddy couldn't fit the kitchen.

It took a further 4 weeks; several phone calls and a lot of take away before I was equipped with the kitchen I paid for.

I asked B&Q for a price on fitting the kitchen (a glutton for punishment) and was quoted €2k. Reeeeeeeeediculous.

I got a chippy to fit it for €600 in the end and he did a fine job, I had the sparks and the plumbing work done for €400 (including a gas hob set up, the sink and dishwasher moved and the shed plumbed for the washing machine).

The first complaint the chippy had was that the units were not pre-assembled, unlike other kitchen providers. This job took a day.

the second complaint was that, despite every assurance from B&Q, there wasn't enough work surface for the job. Disgraceful when you think that the kitchen was designed in a CAD like package that generates a BOM.

B&Q told me I'd be waiting a week or two for more work surface so I flaked up to Noyeks (sp?) and they couriered out work surfaces to me that day.

The plumber wasn't happy that B&Q had sold me a mixer tap. He maintained that unless the hot and cold systems were at equal pressure you are best advised to go for a "faux" mixer tap otherwise you need pressure equalising valves or risk poor performance or at worst, if the cold water is at high pressure, filling the tank in the attic from the wrong end and causing a catastrophe!! I didn't understand most of what he said but he was incensed.

The best advice I was given by B&Q Kitchen staff was to shop around for the appliances. This advice was worth €1000 against the same appliances purchased in B&Q (I spent €1500 on oven, hob, extractor and splash back in Power City).

All in all I had a bad experience with B&Q Kitchens and any tradesperson I spoke to confirmed that this experience isn’t a one off.

Best of luck.

Mick

murphaph

I too had a world of hurt from B&Q (Liffey Valley!). They didn't deliver everything and when I asked the delivery driver what ime he'd be back with the rest of it he said a week! He nicely advised me to go over there and pick the missing stuff up myself, fcuking disgraceful service. I only bought the carcasses in Liffey Valley-I bought the doors in Newry cos at the time LV didn't sell the door I wanted, only available in the UK. Imagine, I asked in LV did they have that door, they said "no". I said "how about up in Newry?", they said "call them and find out". I said "can't you call them for me now?" they huffed and puffed and eventually someone knew the 'speed-dial' :rolleyes: for Newry, the cheeky cow dialled the number and handed me the phone! Customer service, hel-Lo!!!

Anyway, the staff in Newry are a million times better at their job and friendlier too. I got the doors and brought them back on a trailer. Fitted the kitchen & white goods myself without too much trouble. Anyway, I couldn't honestly recommend B&Q proper, nevermind their fitting service!

Debracd

I had heard some awful stuff about B&Q so went with Cash and carry instead. Couldn't fault them or the fitter they sent out! €2050 including fitting!

jhegarty

mmm... I think I am starting to see a trend.... :eek:

FranknFurter

As an ex-B&Q worker, I can tell you, DO NOT GET YOUR KITCHEN FROM THEM!

Their fitters are barely trained, and the products themselves are badly made (they rely on you buying bits as it falls apart).

The ppl who are selling you the kitchen get 1.5 days "training" the rest is off the top of their heads (no experience value as few ppl stay there long enough).

STEER WELL CLEAR.

murphaph

FranknFurter wrote:

As an ex-B&Q worker, I can tell you, DO NOT GET YOUR KITCHEN FROM THEM!

Their fitters are barely trained, and the products themselves are badly made (they rely on you buying bits as it falls apart).

The ppl who are selling you the kitchen get 1.5 days "training" the rest is off the top of their heads (no experience value as few ppl stay there long enough).

STEER WELL CLEAR.

Says it all really. I concur that build 'quality' isn't up to scratch.

narommy

I'd like to add a support for Noyeks. Good price and knowledgeable staff as I've posted elsewhere. I've a really nice kitchen now for €4k including powercity appliaances (integrated fridge,dishwasher double oven, 5 ring gas hob and microwave all by Powerpoint)

jhegarty

Right...

looks like its going to be a visit to C&C Kitchens at the weekend :cool:

and no where near b&q

beer enigma

I bought a B & Q kitchen about 18 months ago from Liffey Valley & have to say I'm delighted with it.

Admittedly, I designed & spec'd the kitchen myself from brochures & parts lists to make sure it fitted & had the correct components & then fitted it myself. I also collected it from Liffey & checked the list before signing for it.

I haven't had any quality issues with it & in a house with three young kids, it takes a lot of abuse.

I have heard bad about some of the fitters, although I think thats dependent on the guys they use as B & Q don't actually emlploy fitters directly as far as I know....

pauld

I realise the thread is about kitchens however we had the guy from B&Q ou tlast night to spec our bathroom which is on the small side. the fixtures & fitiings came to 2 grand, the installation charge as calculated by his latop cad programme was 5 and half grand - i fell off my chair with the shock.

the bathroom is small, he estimated the tiler would tile it in less than a day (no fancy patterns) and the plumber would rip out and intall the bath, toilet and hand sink in a day and half. total labour would be 2 and half days - for 5 and half grand. i need to retrain as a plumber if that is their going rate!!

JohnDigital

I had a similar experience with B&Q, I ordered a €5600 kitchen from them and the day after they called me to say that they didn’t have enough of the units in stock and that it would be another 6-8 weeks before they would have what we needed so I cancelled.

I then went to cash & carry and got a vastly better quality kitchen and far better design for €4800 and got it fitted by one of their recommended installers for a further €850. I can’t fault one moment of my experience with Cash & Carry (Sandyford Co. Dub if anyone is interested).

For all the fancy bits of the kitchen like drawer inserts, pull out storage units, carousels, waste disposal, sink, taps, water filter, integrated bin etc I went directly to Hafele (www.hafele.ie) in Kilcoole Co. WW - their prices are fantastic - same sort of price as B&Q but the parts are 5x better quality. Hafele have a retail showroom where they display a great range of stuff but have catalogues of every conceivable extra that you could ever want.

thedesigntribe

I'm going to be up in Dublin at the weekend looking at kitchens, can you recommend good showrooms/suppliers to visit?

Thanks

JohnDigital

http://www.cashandcarrykitchens.com/default.asp?k=showrooms

Mairin

just to echo everyone else dont go to b+q. we got our bathroom stuff from them and kitchen sink. the prices were very good but the products shoddy. the toilet seat broke in about a week, the plug in the kictchen sink is useless and about 6 red plastci screws have fallen off the shower door, although the door is still in tact.
they're good for small pieces, shelves and the like

lalorm

When I bought my house, Quality kitchens did the kitchen for us. At the time everything went well and no issues. However, a few years later, I went back and wanted them to do and extra area in the kitchen with more units. They didn't want to know about it! They said the job was too small and only wanted to to a whole new kitchen!! So much for after sales service!!!

Mike

jhegarty

just to give the end of the story....

Went to Cash & Carry in the end and couldn't be happier with the service, quality of the product and the cost.....

JohnDigital

Great, glad it worked out well for you mate.

Debracd

Glad you got sorted! Congrats on th enew kitchen, hope it wears well;)