Kitchen Payment Terms (Warning; Rant Post!)

[Barney12]

Bloody kitchen companies I detest them!

 

ME: "Yes, I think we have a design and price I'm happy with"

ME: "What are your payment terms"

THEM: "100% with order"

ME: "But I don't want it until August"

THEM: "100% with order or we cant guarantee the price"

ME: "No retention for fitting issues?"

THEM: "No. 100% up front"

ME: "Surely a reasonable deposit now (25%), 72.5% on factory build (10 weeks before delivery), 2.5% fitting retention would be reasonable"

THEM: "No"

ME: "Goodbye"

 

Rant over!!

[Nickfromwales]

Stick to your guns.

I've seen a £35k kitchen fitted by a blind ex-cobbler and they waited MONTHS to get it sorted at the kitchen companies leisure. 

Let them come to you. . 

 

[Guest Alphonsox]

Thanks - I should be meeting our preferred kitchen company in the next few hours. That's another question to add to the list.

[Barney12]

Just now, Alphonsox said:

Thanks - I should be meeting our preferred kitchen company in the next few hours. That's another question to add to the list.

 

The full payment is annoying enough but absolutely no "retention" or "final payment on fully completed" is a huge risk and is arrogant in the extreme. As @Nickfromwales has said they'll have absolutely NO incentive to correct any issues.

[Nick]

Yep, would never pay for an installed product 100% up front.

 

Even 2.5% seems like too little as if they make any sizable mistake the cost for them of sending more installers back, ordering new material, e.t.c. could easily exceed that, at which point they may just decide to take the hit as they'll have made most of their profit and won't want the aggro.

 

Final 10-20% on completion / handover is reasonable to request. Asking for actual retention over a 6 or 12 months defects period is unlikely to go down well for non-building trades but no harm in asking.

 

The best type of recommendation you can get is for a company who made a mistake and resolved it professionally and quickly. Mistakes are common, proper customer service isn't.

[JanetE]

Wickes!  10% down payment last April, kitchen fitted in the last month, everything hunky dory.  Monthly payment just starting. Final 75% due before the end of June!  

 

Downside is of course you have to like their kitchens, which we did!! 

[Ferdinand]

11 minutes ago, JanetE said:

Wickes!  10% down payment last April, kitchen fitted in the last month, everything hunky dory.  Monthly payment just starting. Final 75% due before the end of June!  

 

Downside is of course you have to like their kitchens, which we did!! 

 

At this point you could stick the remaining payment on a 36 month interest free credit card and pay off gradually until 2020 at almost zero extra cost.

 

At the least the cash could be saved somewhere which would give you an extra 2k or so.

[ryder72]

Full payment upfront is barmy.

 

Most good retailers would want 25-30% upfront and balance before delivery for supply only kitchens

For supply and fit kitchens, it would typically entail a 5-10% balance on completion. I dont think any company would entertain a retention of 6 months.

[jamiehamy]

On 12/02/2017 at 14:05, JanetE said:

Wickes!  10% down payment last April, kitchen fitted in the last month, everything hunky dory.  Monthly payment just starting. Final 75% due before the end of June!  

 

Downside is of course you have to like their kitchens, which we did!! 

That's good to know. We may be going with Wren on their 'by now,  pay next year'  but I don't want the finance to start until the kitchen arrives at the earliest - otherwise Wren have their money and I have less recourse with issues. 

[Jeremy Harris]

44 minutes ago, ryder72 said:

Full payment upfront is barmy.

 

Most good retailers would want 25-30% upfront and balance before delivery for supply only kitchens

For supply and fit kitchens, it would typically entail a 5-10% balance on completion. I dont think any company would entertain a retention of 6 months.

 

 

I agree.  I think we paid 30% with the order and the remainder on delivery for our supply-only kitchen.  Just as well as we had a lot of missing/damaged parts because the idiot lorry driver hadn't secured the load inside and it had slid around all over the back of his truck.  Not only that, but the same idiot lorry driver ripped up the freshly laid pavers on our drive, smashed the kerb stones when he drove over them and dented the alloy dry verge on our gable when he threw open the truck door, not realising it would hit the roof.............

 

I think we had around £1500 or so in compensation from them, all told, plus loads of replacement bits of kitchen.  Not a supplier I'd use again, or recommend to anyone.  The kitchen was fine, very good value in fact, but they screwed up the VAT, as well as the delivery.