In Frame Kitchen Supplier Problems and Delays

presidenttttt

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Hi all,

Looking for advice, do I suck up the following or what would you do?

Large premium in frame solid hand painted kitchen booked last September. Worktops only went in today. Handles and finishing touches in tomorrow. With appliances there is little or no change left out of 40-45k.

Long story short, we were promised we would be squeezed in before Christmas, and this was part of the reason we committed to this cabinet maker, others had availability but it was getting tight.

In short, the cabinetry and workmanship once done appears sound. However the project management has been an absolute disaster leading to huge delays and mistakes.

When Christmas timeline slipped Covid caused delays in January. 3rd week of January came and went with no kitchen. Will add once he realised his Christmas timeline was screwed he did arrive with an oven and hob fridge and freezer to keep us ticking over without any qualms.

In terms of mistakes; despite measuring up twice, when installing one press was measured too long so had to be brought back (mistake was along the lines of 1131 being cut as 1311). Another error was a door which need a horizontal piece (design) added after we spotted it was missed. Glass doors were also designed to have 3 small panes rather than one long pane, and that was missed and had to be redone. These were all easily resolvable, and his problem and time lost- so we don’t really care as they are rectified, but they are indicative of someone totally overloaded.

Then worktops took 4 weeks instead of 10 days, I called the worktop factory myself last week as I was sick of excuses and delays - to be fair to kitchen supplier the worktop factory seemed to be running slow and insinuated a supply issue(don’t they all now!) I could view this as the worktop suppliers error however errors and disorganisation drive more errors, or as some say “you create your own luck”, so ultimately this is the kitchen suppliers fault, and his problem to managed, and I shouldn’t be chasing worktops. I actually felt bad calling the worktop shop as I am not one for getting pissed off with people.

Amongst all of this there were several dates confirmed then changed at late notice and effectively we were given the run around. Last week after worktops never showed up I had to go into writing to say I considered him in breach of contract and we had lost all confidence in his word.

Tonight I arrive home and the worktops look good, almost 6 months after deposit went down, and almost 3 months late, but I see the undermounted sink is standard size and we were clear several times we wanted the larger sink (fits all your pans!). My wife was particular on a few things but this was sort of my little input, so now I’m as disappointed with it all as her. So another mistake, and one that won’t be easy to fix like the simple door errors. Given this isn’t a cheap kitchen that people might remove in a few years anyway this final hard to fix mistake has me very disappointed.

Pay up final payment and take it as a life lesson? Or can I kick off? What would you do?
 
For that price I'd insist on it being perfect.

As for the delays, the building trades and anything related are never on time in Ireland. COVID and Brexit have exponentially made that far worse. Everywhere is short on materials and staff. I'd let the delays slide this time.
 
I wouldn't be worried about the delays, that's life these days! I did the finishing work on my own kitchen counters and I couldn't even get it done on time due to supplier delays.

But I would insist on correct sink as discussed before paying up balance and any other bits that have not been corrected.
 
It will always annoy you - get it fixed or discount the cost of getting it fixed.
 
Insist on correct sink and stand your ground.

When it comes to final payment sound them out then on discount in light of the many errors and delays. Nothing to lose by asking :)
 
For clarity correct sink I suspect means major work /cutting/replacement required on hard surface worktop.
 
For clarity correct sink I suspect means major work /cutting/replacement required on hard surface worktop.
I imagine it does but it's a major part of the kitchen, at least to me it was anyway! I sourced my own sink and had some palaver getting it from UK due to Brexit and that was despite kitchen installer telling me I couldn't have what I wanted as it wouldn't fit. The wrong sink would annoy me day in day out and if it was specified originally then I'd hold them to fixing it no matter how hard it is.

Have you it in writing/txt/email somewhere what size the sink should have been?
 
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