DIY Kitchens

[Sioux]

Recently spent quite a lot of money £20k on a kitchen+worktops from DIY Kitchens - never again.  Their showrooms are very impressive so we ordered on line, doing our own planning on their on line planner which was relatively easy, and as it was lockdown it was the only way to do it.

 

I think it's a shame as the reason I was buying from them was it's made in UK hence providing local employment.  My nephew had purchased from them five years previously and was very pleased and, having seen it, I was impressed.  

 

The trouble is I think they've grown too quickly and taken their eye off the ball.  Delivery is appalling.  Over a two day slot so they can't specify which day.  My personal experience was I cancelled arrangements for the weekend as DIY said they would deliver on one of those days, made new arrangements to visit friends far away, for the day after their proposed delivery date.  Then had a text sent saying there was a problem and it would be delivering on our new rearranged date with our friends so I cancelled again.  I couldn't miss the opportunity of not having the delivery.  Drivers came who aren't very friendly.  I didn't get a call or text to say how far away they were, they just knocked on the door, said my name and where do you want it!  I suspect they don't like their job as they must get all the flack and complaints from customers.  Such a shame as they were obviously a good company to start with.  To top it all now it's arrived one of the doors is badly damaged so I have to wait for a new one !

 

What I don't understand is how other companies can give you a specific date and whether it will be a.m. or p.m. and you get a call or text from the driver saying an approximate time of arrival.  DIY Kitchens need to look seriously at this as a good reputation is hard to come by but it can be lost very quickly.

Edited June 30, 2021 by PeterW
Readability / Font

[ryder72]

Let me try and clarify a few points about this-

The doors that DIY use are all almost exclusively EU made. No local employment generated

The hardware is mostly to exclusively Austrian. No local employment.

The chipboard is locally made partly from UK grown timber and mostly imported EU grown timber. 

Machinery is mostly Italian or German.

Handles etc are mostly EU made.

 

Obviously the carcases are cut and assembled in the UK but I cant see how this is calling it a British kitchen. Its about as British as the new Land Rovers made in Slovakia.

 

Having been in this kitchen game for a while the reason we have turned our focus to exclusively German products is three-fold -

 

Quality is better. The detailing is far better. Components and chipboard is better. Finishing is better.

 

Reliable supply. When they give us a delivery week it gets delivered that week. A week before we get a half day delivery window and it gets delivered. In 15 years of working with German suppliers we have had 2-3 deliveries that didnt make the delivery week and all due to factors out of the deivery drivers control.

 

Competitive pricing - For the quality of product delivered the prices are sensible. Not cheap. But sensible pricing.

 

I have tried numerous British suppliers and regretfully unless one goes to the very top end of the market (£50k+), its nothing but trouble. British manufacturers simply do not invest enough to be able to deliver.

[nod]

I’ll second that I fitted a German Kitchen in ours (Nolte)  and will do in the next It was the easiest kitchen I’ve ever fitted 

Everything fits Even the kick boards where cut to size with fully bound edges 

Cheaper than Magnet and Wickes also 

[saveasteading]

Are Nolte available to buy without the fitting by dealer service? : I can't see a retail option.

[Red Kite]

We fitted DIY Kitchens earlier this year (kitchen and utility) and this is the 3rd kitchen we have fitted from them. Generally pretty pleased with them - pre sales and design were helpful and flexible in terms of modifying units to suit. Delivery was great - turned up when they said they would and were helpful and friendly. Some of the doors were damaged (do inspect all the delivery as soon as possible as damage needs to be notified within 3 days I think) but they sorted this and sent replacements. Had a couple of iterations in getting all the doors replaced but they were great in organising this. So would give them a reasonable review - not perfect but worth it for the money. And in our experience really expensive / high quality kitchens are not worth installing.

 

I agree that DIY Kitchens quality has gone down over the last 5 years, probably victims of their own success, but still OK. Not fitted Wickes or Magnet so have no comparison, and not sure if the Germans do the same online design / order / supply only model - I thought they were more supply and fit through local fitters / expensive showrooms???

 

My only other comment is that a ready assembled kitchen is the way to go - our son fitted an IKEA flatpack and assembly was an alarming amount of work and not as robust!

[James Newport]

13 minutes ago, Red Kite said:

My only other comment is that a ready assembled kitchen is the way to go - our son fitted an IKEA flatpack and assembly was an alarming amount of work and not as robust!

 

Is that down to the design of the Ikea units, perhaps? I had a flatpack kitchen from another online supplier and it was fine once built. Each unit took ten minutes to put together. 

[nod]

2 hours ago, saveasteading said:

Are Nolte available to buy without the fitting by dealer service? : I can't see a retail option.

Yes 

We had no problem 

Just go into a shop 

We have two Nolte Sellers near us and both were fine with supply only 

 

Edited June 30, 2021 by nod

[Bozza]

My experience was different in December.  The product was excellent, as was the service.  One minor issue with slight blemish to one door which they sent up within a week.  In terms of delivery they used to offer various delivery options but due to Covid backlog went to a different model.  Everything worked out ok for me and I’m up in Aberdeen.    
 

Because of Covid they had to use two guys in two vans which inevitably impacts upon their delivery service.  Delivering a kitchen is somewhat different challenge to delivering a single item and I personally cleared my diary either side of the two day window as a sensible precaution in case of delays.  The delivery drivers I got were were great but in fairness I was appreciative of their hard work what with them delivering me a kitchen to me in the middle of a deadly pandemic.  I bought them their lunch, but that’s just how I treat people who are face to face with the public and perhaps get grief for things that are not their fault. 
 

I would not hesitate to use DIY kitchens again / recommend them without hesitation.  
 

 

[Haylingbilly]

3 hours ago, Bozza said:

My experience was different in December.  The product was excellent, as was the service.  One minor issue with slight blemish to one door which they sent up within a week.  In terms of delivery they used to offer various delivery options but due to Covid backlog went to a different model.  Everything worked out ok for me and I’m up in Aberdeen.    
 

Because of Covid they had to use two guys in two vans which inevitably impacts upon their delivery service.  Delivering a kitchen is somewhat different challenge to delivering a single item and I personally cleared my diary either side of the two day window as a sensible precaution in case of delays.  The delivery drivers I got were were great but in fairness I was appreciative of their hard work what with them delivering me a kitchen to me in the middle of a deadly pandemic.  I bought them their lunch, but that’s just how I treat people who are face to face with the public and perhaps get grief for things that are not their fault. 
 

I would not hesitate to use DIY kitchens again / recommend them without hesitation.  
 

 

Blimey, when I saw your picture I thought your text would be singing the praises of expensive German kitchens - it looks very nice indeed!

[Alexphd1]

My experience was different and very similar to bozza. They gave me a del week and delivered by two drivers in two vans on Tuesday. Drivers where pleasant and efficient. One unit was damaged and the replacement arrived within two weeks. Quality seams good considering the price. Still to be fitted.

Wow knowing what I got for £7k (utility, bootroom and dressing rm) bespoke painted units (no appliances no worktops no sinks) you must have a very big kitchens for £20k of material! 

[Crofter]

I fitted a kitchen from DIY earlier this year. I had heard of the mixed reviews, and stories of negative reviews getting deleted from their website. But they were the only supplier in our price range who could do a style we liked with all the unit sizes we needed. Had absolutely no problems whatsoever. I wasn't really bothered about having them ready built, it made it a right pain living in the house for a few days as the old kitchen went out and the new one went in, no space anywhere!

Previous kitchen I fitted was from Wickes, I don't detect much difference in quality, maybe the DIY one is slightly better. Legs are more robust I think, but nothing else jumps out.

Kitchen prior to that was a budget one from B&Q, I'm going back 10yrs+ here though. Totally difference standard, wouldn't bother again.

We looked at IKEA and liked them quite a lot, had one picked out, but their range of unit sizes just didn't work for us. We'd have needed some sort of box-out at one end of the run which would have been a waste of space and a bit of a pain to incorporate. In the end we got our handles from them and ended up getting the same look using DIY's units, for about two thirds of the cost.

[Catapulta]

We bought a kitchen from and had it designed by B&Q. Unfortunately the measurements were so poorly done and the order was completed in an appalling way that we have since had many problems thanks to their design consultant. So now we are waiting for bespoke [commercial link removed] The problems we have faced include:

Ø Full size dishwasher not included in plans, slimline dishwasher and extra cupboard included instead. Had to return our full size dishwasher and miss a day’s work to wait in for new slimline dishwasher.

Ø Gap left between cupboards and appliances due to poor measurements. Incorrect measurement of wall and door mean that we have had to have a new door specially made to accommodate the overhang of worktop and end panel of one of end cupboards which now hangs over the doorway causing the previous door to scrape against worktop and end panel as well as get stuck every time you try to close the door.

Ø Sink pipes left exposed, therefore small cupboard had to be moved to accommodate this leaving us with a large and a small cupboard next to each other which look ridiculous as don’t match in size. Following consultant’s plans would have been dangerous as pipes cannot be too close to appliances.

Ø Only been given one drawer despite requesting around four in plans. We were not given choice over size or number of cupboards but had requested that these were similar to our previous kitchen which they weren’t.

Ø Mixture of white gloss (more expensive) and white country cupboards ordered. Additional panels and various kitchen bits ordered and charged for unnecessarily.

Ø Missing item from order.

Ø Dent in worktop.