When Is A Kitchen Fitter Not A Kitchen Fitter?
How the state of the economy can leave you with a kitchen nightmare…
With the economy in trouble, many housebuilders have stopped building houses. This means a lot of joiners, painters, plumbers, plasterers etc. all now scratching around for work.
How does that affect you and your kitchen?
Some of these out of work tradesman have decided they can make a buck fitting kitchens (yes, even some of the painters).
These guys aren’t bothered about customer satisfaction, repeat business or doing things properly. For them, it’s all about getting their next meal and staying afloat for a couple of years until the housing market starts to pick up again.
“Kitchens supplied and fitted for £495”
One of the advantages of not having to care about quality or customer service is that you can cut corners and use the savings to lower your prices.
I’ve even seen the following on a local lamppost: “Kitchens supplied and fitted for £495”.
Question: Who can supply and fit kitchens for this price?
Answer: Nobody – an oven, a hob and a hood costs more than this from most kitchen suppliers.
The ad may say £495. When you call, the guy on the phone may say £495… but when it comes down to the final price… it’s not going to be £495.
The name for this is “bait and switch”.
So add a few hundred pounds onto the price to start with. Still a good price, right?
How Do They Manage To Save Money?
There are 3 ways they can cut their costs:
- No.1 Buying the kitchen cheaper – experienced kitchen fitters have long-established relationships with suppliers that allow us to get the best prices for good kitchens. No Johnny-come-lately is going to be able to trump that. So, if they’re getting a kitchen cheap, it’s because it’s a cheap kitchen – flat pack, cheap, poor quality and you’re probably going to wish you had kept your old kitchen.
- No.2 Working “cash-in-hand” – another way they can cut costs is to work cash-in-hand and not pay the tax. That may appeal to you as a way to save money, but it means there’s no paper trail and that means, if something goes wrong, you’ve no consumer rights and you’re stuck with the problem.
- No.3 Doing a shoddy job – it takes longer to fit a kitchen properly than to slap one up haphazardly. That means the good kitchen fitter costs more than the shoddy kitchen fitter.
How To Research A Kitchen Company
The best way to avoid the cowboys is to properly research the company.
Here are some things to look at:
- Check the credentials of the company you buy the kitchen from – How long have they been trading? Are they associated with any accreditation or third parties, e.g. the Guild of Master Craftsman?
- Do they have a registered office and a landline number?
- Ask to be put in touch with previous customers. Don’t be swayed by adverts – be swayed by previous work. If a company can’t easily put you in touch with previous customers – or show you examples of their work – then avoid them.
- If the installation is included within the price, withhold at least 50% of the fee until everything is complete – this will ensure that any missing items will be fitted before final payment is made. If a company disagrees with this – don’t use them.
- Is the work guaranteed and for how long? What is their after-sales care like? When you call them do they always pick up the phone first time or do you have to leave an answerphone message and they call you back?
- Make sure the company provides you with a written quotation (not an estimate as this means it’s only a guess and the price will most probably go up). Don’t make a rushed decision and read through the quotation thoroughly checking all appliances, kitchen units and the scope of works before agreeing.
To help you out you can use the internet to seek out customer reviews and expert opinions by entering the chosen companies or kitchen ranges into an internet search engine. These results will provide you with both positive recommendations and negative criticism giving you a good feeling about the company you are dealing with.
All the Best and Hope this helps,
Tommy