I have saved up for a seriously long time and have the plans for new kitchen.

I can have the fairly expensive kitchen that is included in the plan, or I can purchase a kitchen elsewhere and fitter will still fit it for me. (The kitchen is a bit too expensive, but I could stretch/borrow a bit).

I like a wickes kitchen that has 40% off in their sale, but am nervous.

Are Wickes Kitchens any good, or will half not be delivered and the remaining half drop to bits?

I was told, years ago, that most kitchens are made by the same manufacturers, and one is generally paying for the name/brand.

Does anyone know anything about kitchens?

I have waited 15 years to be able to afford this and don't want to get it wrong.

Thank you in advance - all advice gratefully received.

We have had 2 new kitchens fitted from Magnet. Initially we went to MFI but they cocked up our quote and weren't willing to negotiate so we said no thank you.

First time we paid their fitters to do it. The second time it was a lot bigger kitchen and was going to cost the same to fit it as to buy it, so DH did it.

If I was doing it again I would get cupboards up to the ceilings and as many drawers, cupboards as I couldfit in. Get pan drawers as well as cupboards. We have 4 and they are fab.

Will be watching this thread with interest, cos I'm wanting a new kitchen, too.

MaureenMLove has just had one put in - will go and get her for you

I had our done last year but by an independent kitchen company as MFI/Moben/B&Q/Wickes were all charging me through the roof for something I didn't want

always worth a check and the smaller local ones, not always more expensive, mine certainly wasn't

The fitter is highly recommended by a good friend. Her kitchen is beautiful, but she is richer than me.

I expect he gets commission if he fits one of "his" kitchens, but they are pricey.

I am confident he will do a good job - there is some building work to be done, hence the expense, but I wonder if it is false economy to fit a cheaper kitchen (ie Wickes) or if i should go the whole hog and have the expensive one - that i can't really afford, but I know that i will never again have a new kitchen, so this will have to last.

I am fearful of making a mistake.

There is absolutely no mileage in expecting DH to do anything. He doesn't do DIY. Neither does he see any reason why anyone would want to replace a kitchen until it had all fallen to pieces and crumbled to dust. Sigh.

He does work very hard and long hours though, so I should not complain.

mine is from the schuller range and it was £4.5k (I had all my appliances though) and I have been thrilled with it
was £1k to fit it but we took the cost down by removing the existing kitchen ourselves, dh is terrible at diy and also works horrendous hours but I have no problem at demolishing things

schuller

.

You rang!

First of all. Howdens is no longer the trade company of MFI, so anyone who tells you it is, is wrong! (U>S company bought MFI, but didn't want the Howdens bit!) Some of the designs that are at Howdens are the same still, but any new ranges at MFI are purely MFI. They now have a huge manufacturing place somewhere in the North of England and there's are exclusive.

We looked at all the kitchen places, like you, we've waited a long time for this and we're throwing money at it, so don't want to get it wrong! Personally, I didn't think the Wickes kitchens were nearly as good a quality as MFI. In fact, I didn't find any of them as good.

I think reputation is a bit tricky on something like this tbh. People have said to me not to touch MFI with a barge pole, but we've had no problems what-so-ever. That may of course be, because they have new management, who knows.

So, not a lot of help at all really, am I? We did barter with the guy in MFI though! We managed to get nearly £2,000 off the cost, just by being cheeky!

Thanks maureen. I haven't looked at mfi. will do that now.

Thanks dizzydixies. Actually the schuller range looks very like the ones he provided - I think they are German.

I have made an appointment to see the design consultant at Wickes, but i just wonder if i am being silly trying to save a few hundred pounds, if it isn't going to last. I am certain I will never have another new kitchen.

Thanks also to everyone else.

Am hoping that someone who has had a wickes kitchen will come along soon.

ok...have seen wickes b&q and homebase. Not great.
howdens step up as are ikea.
john lewis have fabby starter kitchen range. Get local fitter, worth asking local flooring suppliers as to who is known locally as good fitter. Our fitter charges £1500 max fitting for large kitchen incl plumbing.
no decorating though.
I seriously think john lewis kitchens are really nice.

We've recently had some quotes for kitchens. The Wickes one was more than double the other two even with the discount for fewer cupboards. We also had a quote from Grahams (who are part of Jewsons I think) which was pretty reasonable and B&Q - though I'm slightly put off by them because of their reputation. Not too impressed with either Homebase or MFI as all their cupboards seemed to be laminate rather than wood. Magnet had some nice ones but we didn't get as far as getting quotes off them.

mine Looks white there, but its much more buttery in rl! They do fantastic work surfaces too. That's want costs the money these days tbh. We have something called Maia, which is like a resin and has all smooth edges and no joins.

just had ours done, fitted by friend of parents but the units all came from Howdens...will attach picture to profile later as dh is still painting the walls !

Dss will be demolishing the old kitchen for me. They will also do some of the painting and decorating, and ds1 will do the flooring. So can save a bit that way.

Ooh - Maureen, that is beautiful.

3littlefrogs if it was schuller then mine is absolutely wonderful, brilliant pull out corner shelves/ pan drawers/ bi-fold top cupboards and hidden cutlery drawer - all highly recommended

NEXT and Habitat both do kitchens too

The brochure I have does not have a brand name on it - but some of the ranges are identical to the Schuller ranges and the brochure is german, so I suspect it is the same manufacturer.

So maybe I should pay the extra for the quality.

Also - I am sure that this chap would not fit poor quality, as he has a very good reputation.

I have only found one review of a Wickes kitchen on-line and it was bad.

I hate having to make decisions about spending money on the house. Dh is not interested, but if it goes pear shaped it will be all my fault. OTOH it is my savings (gleaned from my wages over the last 8 years and squirrelled away into savings account) that I will be spending.

Oh dear - it is hard.

I think, as long as you go into it, with whoever you choose, knowing that you are the cient and you are giving them money, you'll be fine. Remember, they want your custom and the more knowledge you have about their products and your customer rights, the better off you'll be. We struck up a rapor with our guy at MFI and he was really helpful. It helped that DH is a tradesman, so we know an awful lot of plumbers, builders, electricians etc, so each time he gave us a price for something, we were able to say, 'well, we know we can get cheaper.'

I also think, that just because someone has had a bad experience from one branch, doesn't mean its the same in every branch iyswim! I believe in telling them like it is - this is what I want, you want the commission, so this is how its gonna be!

Best of luck! Let us know, when you make a decision!

go with the good reputation and word of mouth, if its a small company they have to rely on that for repeat business

am THRILLED with my schuller and will drag out some photos if you like

Have discovered they are "Hacker" Kitchens. German.

Any experience?

Check around all the suppliers and do lots of reading on the net before committing or starting.

My SIL gave me her old cabinets (3 years old!!) to put in our kitchen, it's a Burbidge kitchen, terribly expensive by my standards - and after shopping around, I found that Caple do EXACTLY the same units (they even use the same photos in their brochure) for half the price!!

Saying that, Homebase do almost exactly the same units appearance-wise, for about a tenth!!

When you do a bit of reading around and looking at all the brochures, you will suddenly realise similarities and ways to save money all over the place.

Have fun!

OK, I work for a fabbo Kitchen and Bathroom company but they are expensive (40K for a Kitchen +) However, I have now had 2 B&Q kitchens and I love them. The first one DP fitted and was fine, this one was fitted by an independant installer and is fab. The trick is, to try and get someone to design it who has fitted kitchens before. They will have a much better idea of use of space etc, rather than just because it looks pretty!

Also, independant installers are usually pretty good at doing the whole job i.e flooring, plumbing, gas etc.

B&Q do home visits to design too.

Nicholas Anthony where I worked, have some good ideas you could use

Hi! (this is my first ever post so hope it works!)

My DH has his own kitchen business and sells Schuller amongst other brands - they're excellent value for money and he's had loads of happy customers with them.

My advice would be to shop around, get a few quotes and don't be afraid to go to independent retailers - you can always ask to see pics of their previous work.

If you like a design from one company but the kitchen is out of your price range ask if you can have the plan - a decent design is at least half of what makes a successful kitchen - and most designers will sell it to you for a small fee (DH charges £50 - £100 depending on the amount of work he's done).

One last thing, with people like Magnet ALWAYS barter with them - they start off with a huge profit margin and will often come down considerably. However, with smaller retailers it's often helpful to give them an idea of how much you've got to spend so they don't waste their/your time.

Good luck!

PS spoken to DH, he says Hacker kitchens are good, though he thinks Schuller are better (but then he would say that!)

He has seen some Wickes kitchens with decent doors but thinks the carcasses are poor quality and recommends you get the German kitchen.

It might be more painful financially but I reckon it will be worth it.

We had one done recently and you have my sympathies. I don't like B&Q or Wickes kitchens. John Lewis have good ones but, dear oh dear, you pay. I think local and small is the way to go.

I have just finished stroking my brand new MFI solid oak worktops

We had a terrible experience with MFI many years ago...and swore I wouldn't go back. But they did the best cheapo version of the £25k kitchen I really wanted. The guy was great, chucked in ALL our appliances without us asking! So it cost £6.5k instead. Our builders fitted it. MFI's fitters may have been quicker, don't know if cheaper.

Just a word of warning, when you order, they don't always tell you the delivery might not come in one go..a few crucial bits were missing so i had to ring and badger to get it delivered quicker.

Thanks all. I reckon I will go with the german kitchen. I went to see one that the fitter was putting in a house locally and it is really good quality. It might be a bit more expensive - but it has to last the next twenty years at least, as I will not be doing it again if I can possibly avoid it.

Interesting reading on how some of you faired, and what you seek. Working in the kitchen industry myself, it is curious to see other peoples experiences. Some good pointers to note though, are the necessaries ;

Ask the basics questions.
Is the kitchen flatpack or rigid (does it come already assembled or flatpack).
What thickness are the carcases (the standard today is around 18mm, but many flatpacks are 15mm).
Are the units guaranteed or the doors (I know certain companies only guarantee the doors and not the units).
Delivery time, how long and how long for ordering replacements?

MFI are notorious for taking lengthy delivery times. They are also guilty of not supplying all of the kitchen at point of delivery.
Howdens are a trade only company and you won't be able to buy direct from them, unless you are a tradesman. However, they are the ONLY kitchen company that keeps kitchens in stock. Their big plus is that they can supply it tomorrow and replace any damages immediately.
Wickes similar to MFI but possibly better quality.
Moben expensive and lacking.
Magnet, improved quality, with improved prices however don't be fooled.

With all the above, price is the big variable. You can argue with them all and they will all budge and give a different figure daily. It's amusing.

However, MFI are gaining some good feedback from their german product. Unsure exactly what, whether it's Kuche or something. I need to discover myself what it is people are praising, but at the end of the day, you need to discover what it is you want - price quality or installed today.

I bought mine from MFI - BIG mistake! Ordered November 206, installation commenced February 2007 - still not finished ! I picked them because they seemed to do a good kitchen/installation package - really not the case! Terrible customer service and SO slow (although to be fair, asisde from not being finished 21 months after ordering, the kitchen is actually very nice).

Chris, you make some good points, esp about arguing on price with people like Magnet. DH read somewhere that someone had done a price comparison on a few standard base units and Magnet's RRP was more expensive than Poggenpohl! Their perpetual half price sale, 'free' appliances (never free, cost is added to the kitchen mark-up) and negotiation are the things that bring the price to a reasonable level.

Personally I don't think the advantage of stuff being in stock is a huge one (apart from replacing damages) - most people spend months thinking about their kitchen, so why the big deal about having it done next week?

One final point of advice, make sure the kitchen company does a proper measure before you order. One of DH's competitors does a quick measure first to do the design, then get the fitters to do a proper measure after the kitchen is ripped out This means the customer is left for weeks without a kitchen while they wait for fillers etc to be ordered. Needless to say he doesn't get any recommendations.