MikeGrahamT21 Posted June 22, 2020 Share Posted June 22, 2020 On 20/06/2020 at 23:04, Barney12 said: The Innova branded product is what I ordered. It was fitted this week. Unless they print fake labels I can confirm it’s a Spanish product and I have to say I’m impressed with the finished article. The two guys that fitted the worktops were efficient and courteous. Thats good to hear, maybe the place I used gave me the scare story! Always hard to tell. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJNewton Posted June 22, 2020 Share Posted June 22, 2020 Okay, thanks. Good to hear it wasn't an absolute certainty! (I imagine like a lot of rumours there's a grain of truth; perhaps just not quite as much as sometimes sounds) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeGrahamT21 Posted June 22, 2020 Share Posted June 22, 2020 Yeah I could only go on what they told me. It seems the quartz i've got is from both Spain and Asia, but made by Consentino (IQ), the people who make silestone, and my colour is from Asia, so no idea if thats a good or bad thing! Was around £600 more than what i would have paid for a similar Innova top. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pepelepeu Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 Hi Thanks for the very interesting posts with regard to DIY Kitchens. We haven't placed our order yet but a visit to the showroom proved a very positive experience. As mentioned in one of the posts there are many manufacturers with a similar quality base. would Howdens be included in this group and has anybody purchased recently from them? I was wondering on their customer service attitude and of course price! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CC45 Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 Our DIY kitchen should be with us next week. Utility units have been in ~ 3mths now - happy with them. I think they are quality items. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJNewton Posted July 8, 2020 Share Posted July 8, 2020 (edited) We'll be pulling the trigger on ours to be made soon... We actually ordered (and paid) just before Christmas to secure the sale prices but with me being so seemingly slow at DIY, and the pandemic of course which I'll milk the excuse of as far as possible for the continued delay, we've not been ready to receive it until now. No doubt there's some sort of post-Covid sale on now with discounts the size that have never been seen before but I'm avoiding the website for fear of spotting such a thing! Edited July 8, 2020 by MJNewton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJNewton Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 Can anyone confirm how the units from DIY Kitchens arrive in terms of packaging and protection etc? A photo would be perfect. There's a chance I may have to move them around a bit before installation and so wondered how shiftable with a sack truck they might be without damage and too much effort. It's a large open plan room but Sod's law there'll always be in the way of whatever it is I need to do. Obviously I'll need to unpackage them to inspect for damage but hopefully will be able to package them back up again. Am I right in thinking they don't have their feet installed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeGrahamT21 Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 2 hours ago, MJNewton said: Can anyone confirm how the units from DIY Kitchens arrive in terms of packaging and protection etc? A photo would be perfect. There's a chance I may have to move them around a bit before installation and so wondered how shiftable with a sack truck they might be without damage and too much effort. It's a large open plan room but Sod's law there'll always be in the way of whatever it is I need to do. Obviously I'll need to unpackage them to inspect for damage but hopefully will be able to package them back up again. Am I right in thinking they don't have their feet installed? luckily I took a photo when they first arrived... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJNewton Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 Perfect - thanks! The packaging looks ideal too for our situation. I had visions of it being bubble and shrink wrap, with tape thrown in for good measure, and which can never be reused in quite the same way once removed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CC45 Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 Our arrives 2 weeks ago - well packaged. They give you 7 to 10 days to check them all & inform them of any issues. I wouldn't leave them unchecked. I had 3 queries about mine - replacement units are on their way. Good service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJNewton Posted August 3, 2020 Share Posted August 3, 2020 (edited) Yeah will definitely give them a good inspection. I've convinced myself there will be some issues and so will just go with it if/when it happens. I noticed on the invoice they've sent my drawer choice (ie the internal blum components) have a product code of 'Recently discontinued product' so it's anyone's guess what's going to happen there! I've raised a support ticket but no response, which again was a bit surprising as they've always been great with support so far). Trying to relax about it all though as my extension has been stressful enough as it is! Edited August 3, 2020 by MJNewton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bored Shopper Posted August 4, 2020 Share Posted August 4, 2020 Our DIY-Kitchen order (36 cabinets and endless panels) arrived on the exact date we agreed (we paid for Platinum delivery). The team of 2x guys did all the heavy lifting (plus, naturally, we helped) and did not bat a lid at our very rough terrain (we were digging patio at that moment). All items were very well packed in thick cardboard (we've recycled it all - tons and tons of cardboard). Three of 36 cabinets were missing, I logged a support ticket and from then on the communicaiton was quite good, we had a few very detailed exchanges, identified what's present and what's missing (mea culpa, I did not notice some accessories which were dropped inside cabinets), and received all the missing bits within 2x weeks. Checked every item once received (a day's work!), no damage discovered. So far very pleased with the look and quality. Generally found DIY Kitchens quite flexible and helpful - our built was severely delayed even prior to COVID, and then stopped for the lockdown, and all this time i have been in contact with them postponing the delivery again and again (and again, and again - a total of 7x times!!!). Eventually got it delivered on the dot. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJNewton Posted August 4, 2020 Share Posted August 4, 2020 Great to see I'm not the only one that takes photos of things like a kitchen delivery... Also great to hear we're not the only ones to have their kitchen build slipped - we ordered just before Christmas (to get the sale prices) and were just about to set a delivery date when Coronavirus struck! Now that that excuse is slipping away we finally set a date and it'll be here in a few weeks... Thanks for the pointer about some bits being inside cabinets... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bored Shopper Posted August 5, 2020 Share Posted August 5, 2020 With DIY Kitchens the only difficult bit was matching what was delivered against the order summary you get when you place the order and against the online plans. Online plans number the cabinets in one way (quite logical), depending on where they are placed on plans. When you place the order, the cabinets are split into the cabinet proper and - separately - the door(s) for it, so what used to be (eg) Cabinet 1 on your online plans becomes (in the order list) Item 15, Item 16, Item 17 and Item 18. The descriptions are good and detailed and yet it is a bit of a mess. Finally, in the DELIVERY NOTE which the guys give you when they start off-loading, all the cabinets are again listed as one unit (carcass+doors), but reference numbers are different again! The stickers on the delivered boxes were NOT matching the order or plans :))) I thougth I was well prepared, having my fulll order and plans printed out and neatly clipped to a clipboard (me looking all poised and professional ??), and then I looked in the delivery note in horror and realised that these two do not match! Luckily, by that time I was so obsessed with the whole kitchen design for the past 7 months since placing the order (what if I got it wrong? what if cabinets do not fit? what if i got ergonomics wrong? what if this?.. what if that?.. what if I don't like the colour when I see it?..) - that i learned all cabinets by heart and could recite my list and plans backwards. Ended up taking a photo of EVERY item's packaging sticker, and then verifying code by code against my order list. That was the best way to do that since the guys were offloading at a breakneck speed, by that time it was 22:30 (we were their last delivery), pitch black (the house did not have proper interior lights at that time), so was unable to properly check stickers, verify against 7x pages of paperwork etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bored Shopper Posted August 5, 2020 Share Posted August 5, 2020 8 hours ago, MJNewton said: Great to see I'm not the only one that takes photos of things like a kitchen delivery... We are taking photos of EVERYTHING EVERY DAY, and have a database of weekly downloads (tons of server space!). This is such a unique chance for us to document the texture of the house, and to create a clear record of what's behind all the joists, plasterboard and under the floors to avoid guessing later on. You think you would remember where your MVHR ducts are - you won't. It has already proved quite helpful - naturally, the moment you affix plasterboard you immediately need to know where that bloody cable is!! That was, actually, one of the perpetual points of conflict with our previous builders - they were very much against us taking photos (naturally, that would be highly inconvenient when cutting corners!!), so we're glad we parted ways. The new team are all for it and even send us more pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeGrahamT21 Posted August 5, 2020 Share Posted August 5, 2020 10 hours ago, MJNewton said: Great to see I'm not the only one that takes photos of things like a kitchen delivery... Also great to hear we're not the only ones to have their kitchen build slipped - we ordered just before Christmas (to get the sale prices) and were just about to set a delivery date when Coronavirus struck! Now that that excuse is slipping away we finally set a date and it'll be here in a few weeks... Thanks for the pointer about some bits being inside cabinets... They have changed their delivery price structure now, used to be Gold minimum to get them to bring it inside the house, which I originally paid for at £150, they then changed this so that all of their delivery prices had them bring in the house, so you can get them to refund the difference down to the new £99, only difference is you won't know what day of the week they are coming until they ring to say they're an hour away, which wasn't an issue for me as i'd booked the week off work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wagas Posted August 5, 2020 Share Posted August 5, 2020 I was strongly considering using DIY for my self build but having thought about it I'll probably end up going with Howdens. DIY kitchens look a bit more special IMO but the thought of waiting days or weeks for missing bits seals the deal for Howdens. My mum's self build that I managed had a Howdens and there were missing bits and scuffed bits but everything was replaced really quickly, within 24hrs, and if we were short of anything it was a 20 mins drive to buy it off the shelf. I think that is worth a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJNewton Posted August 5, 2020 Share Posted August 5, 2020 3 hours ago, Bored Shopper said: We are taking photos of EVERYTHING EVERY DAY, and have a database of weekly downloads (tons of server space!). This is such a unique chance for us to document the texture of the house, and to create a clear record of what's behind all the joists, plasterboard and under the floors to avoid guessing later on. Yes - same here. One day someone will be able to construct a layer-by-layer 3D model of our extension from all the photos we've taken! I often scribble on the building fabric too detailing where things are or why I'm taking an otherwise obscure photo. 50 minutes ago, MikeGrahamT21 said: They have changed their delivery price structure now, used to be Gold minimum to get them to bring it inside the house, which I originally paid for at £150, they then changed this so that all of their delivery prices had them bring in the house, so you can get them to refund the difference down to the new £99, only difference is you won't know what day of the week they are coming until they ring to say they're an hour away, which wasn't an issue for me as i'd booked the week off work. Yes I noticed that. Being a tight Northerner I opted for the cheapest delivery package (£75 at the time) and was a little nervous about having to bring everything in myself and work around being at the office. With even the lowest tier providing an into-the-house service and me still working from home I don't anticipate any issues. I got an interesting email from their worktop supplier detailing their Covid work plan which means they and us can never be in the same room at the same time - they'll template up and leave the room, we'll go in and give the thumbs up or make comments, they'll go back in - rinse and repeat. I suppose a lot of kitchen sizes are such that social distancing can be difficult but with ours being a large open plan room perhaps they might be a bit more relaxed - or the 'non present' party will just have to stand in the garden shouting orders through the sliding doors! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJNewton Posted August 5, 2020 Share Posted August 5, 2020 (edited) 9 minutes ago, Wagas said: I was strongly considering using DIY for my self build but having thought about it I'll probably end up going with Howdens. DIY kitchens look a bit more special IMO but the thought of waiting days or weeks for missing bits seals the deal for Howdens. My mum's self build that I managed had a Howdens and there were missing bits and scuffed bits but everything was replaced really quickly, within 24hrs, and if we were short of anything it was a 20 mins drive to buy it off the shelf. I think that is worth a lot. Yes, I know exactly where you're coming from. This aspect is probably the main concern for me using DIY Kitchens - not being able to just pop in and pick up a another drawer, extra shelf etc whether up front or further down the line. I don't mind so much having to wait for damage/missing replacements as our extension has taken a rather leisurely pace as it is and this will be new kitchen in a new room so we still have a working backup that I suspect we'll use for some time still. Edited August 5, 2020 by MJNewton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJNewton Posted August 29, 2020 Share Posted August 29, 2020 (edited) I thought I'd post a bit of an update as this is proving a useful thread to capture people's experience of DIY Kitchens. We had ours delivered a couple of days ago - was given a 48hr window and promise of an hour's advanced text message notification which ordinarily would've been a bit of an issue but as I am working from home during lockdown it was a non-issue. In actual fact they text me at lunchtime asking if it'd be okay to aim to arrive for 7:30pm-ish so this meant I could relax a bit and get things ready, and they turned up on the dot and delivered without issue: The drivers were really friendly and most obliging about where to put things. I'd made them a ramp to ease getting up our front step and I always feel little things like that can help things go smoothly. Really impressed with the packaging too - carefully wrapped doors and panels, and carcasses wrapped simply (but very effectively) in cardboard and PP strapping. The quality of the units, drawers and paint seems spot on too. I spent the whole of the next day unwrapping and checking everything... I do love the way the original order, invoice and delivery sheet all have a completely different order and subtly different part numbers just to make things take twice as long as they need to! Such is the forced intimate familiarity with each and every item there's a very real risk I'll end up referring to the 'pan drawers' as P2ID1-6 forvever more... ? There were unfortunately a few issues: - Wrong internal drawers (6 of) sent (I'd paid for the glass-sided Tandembox Intivo/Antaro drawers but got the basic Tandembox Plus ones) - A crack on one of the drawer fronts (it's on the rear but as it appears to be in the timber itself - not just the paint - I think it is only a matter of time before it comes through to the front) - A chip in the corner on one of the large doors (on an edge that's on the end of a run so unfortunately likely to be visible) - A permanent(?) marker mark where the writing on a piece of tape with my order number had gone beyond the edge of the tape (it might well come off easily but haven't yet dared try anything other than a damp cloth until it's been discussed as I don't want to risk damaging the paint/finish) - Insufficient soft-close buffers - only one fitted per pair of hinges which isn't enough for these heavy doors (20mm timber) - surely this can't be right? (The Blum technical manual advises one per hinge for 'normal door sizes' and I'd hope/expect them to follow this) - A larder unit supplied with drawer runners fitted and fully glued despite requesting no fittings and dry-assembly (to allow me to experiment with shelf and drawer positioning which now I can't really do without leaving visible fitment marks/holes and I'll also have to drill my own hinge holes for no reason) - Hinges missing for those doors requested to be supplied undrilled (soft-close zero protrusion ones so not cheap) It's just my luck really to have these issues and so whilst I do feel some disappointment I am not the slightest bit surprised! We're fortunate that we're not in any rush: this is a new kitchen in a new room (still got the functioning old one), I'm DIYing so there are no fitters and/or other trades to rearrange and our extension is already many many months beyond how long we thought it would take so 'a bit longer' is something we've learnt to live with! I've raised a ticket and finger's crossed it'll get sorted without too much issue - I've been really impressed with their pre-sales support so hopefully they won't be giving up on me now they've got my money. Incidentally, does anyone know what happens with damaged items? Do they get collected when replacements are delivered? If they're going to end up chucking them I wondered if I could keep them as whilst they're not acceptable for a 1-day old kitchen they well find some purpose years down the line as spares. Edited August 29, 2020 by MJNewton 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterW Posted August 30, 2020 Share Posted August 30, 2020 8 hours ago, MJNewton said: Incidentally, does anyone know what happens with damaged items? Do they get collected when replacements are delivered? If they're going to end up chucking them I wondered if I could keep them as whilst they're not acceptable for a 1-day old kitchen they well find some purpose years down the line as spares. So I had a 500 tall cabinet delivered that should have been a 300 tall, and that was my error. They said to just return the door for credit and keep the rest and it’s been used for all sorts of trimming up etc and additional shelves. For damaged stuff they left behind the old ones on another job - I think it’s more hassle for them to take it back 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CC45 Posted August 30, 2020 Share Posted August 30, 2020 They took some away & left others, took about 7 or 10 days to get replacements - if they have them in stock it might be quicker. With the rise in lockdown orders I think some of their QC has slipped a little. Just putting ours in now, no issues. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJNewton Posted August 31, 2020 Share Posted August 31, 2020 On 29/08/2020 at 23:55, MJNewton said: There were unfortunately a few issues: [...] An interim update: they replied to my ticket today (bank holiday so wasn't expecting that) and it's really positive. They went through each of the points, proposed a remedy and requested photos for the damaged items (which is fair enough). So far so good. A bit of a pain, not to mention some apprehension that for some reason we wouldn't be able to resolve things but we bought from them knowing full well that there *could* be some issues and that they're a few hundred miles away so wouldn't just be able to pop in a pick up replacements off-the-shelf unlike some of the other suppliers we decided against so I'm willing to take the rough with the smooth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeGrahamT21 Posted September 1, 2020 Share Posted September 1, 2020 The unit that i had damaged, the chap who picked it up said he was collecting all the damaged bits for a new kitchen in his council house, so fair play to them really, it was usable, but not worth paying for. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJNewton Posted September 1, 2020 Share Posted September 1, 2020 Oh okay - I'd be just as happy with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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