Bath Store - anyone used them?

[TheseThingsAreGoodThings]

And what are they like in terms of quality and cost.

I am replacing my downstairs loo and re-doing a Bathroom.

It seems to be so easy to just go in and choose and order stuff. Quality and prices seemed ok to me .... but what do I know?

Any views / experiences / better options?

Thanks,

[TheReturnoftheSmartArse]

Both our bathrooms were from Bathstore in a sale. They've been in for 6 years and still look immaculate (and that isn't because I clean them often!). I don't honestly know about price/value for money. We had looked elsewhere but they had a sale on and a showroom round the corner ... so they won. And they delivered everything the day after we ordered it. Which, whilst very efficient, was a bit of a PITA as we weren't ready and everything had to live in the garden for a few days!

[Ponks]

There are a lot of online reviews / threads slating them for poor service / problems with the items / deliveries etc. Which is bloomin' annoying as I really like some of their things particularly basins ... a friend used them for her bathroom and had no probs but I am debating due to having read critical posts.

[QuintessentialShadows]

We used them. We ordered the entire bathroom including flooring and tiles. The flooring was picked out in a different store to the other items. We were told there was NO problem consolidating all the items into one order, so we ordered, paid, and delivery was expected on the same day we flew to Mauritius.

Only the flooring arrived. The builder/decorator had stripped the old bathroom, and nothing else when we returned, as they did not want to disturb us on holiday.

Meanwhile, bathstore.com had no record of the other order, and we had to argue A LOT, and show them our proof of purchase to get them to agree to deliver the items we had purchased and paid for. They refused to do a compensation, because in their opinion, we should not have trusted them to manage the order (wtf) and the items were a good price anyway.

Fecking feckers.

This is more than 10 years ago, though. But I hate them with a vengeance.
It is their fault that ALL my neighbours have enjoyed watching me have my 7 am shower in the garden in the morning. Nekkid of course. How did I know they were early risers, and alerted each-other to the show?

[linspins]

We had a bath from them. When the plumber fitted it, it looked like it buckled slightly, and had very fine crackle glaze where this happened. I think possibly it was the plumbers fault, but he proclaimed to not even be able to see it. I phoned Bathstore in tears, worried about what to do, and they said, 'have a new bath, free of charge.' (Obviously I didn't say I thought it was the plumbers fault, just outlined what it looked like now, and asked them what may have caused it..)
They arranged very quick delivery so that I wouldn't be bath-less over the weekend with two small kids.
I will never know if it was an original fault with the bath or a problem on installation - however, I was really impressed at Bathstore's customer services. So, thumbs up from me....

[onessa]

We used Bathstore for our new bathroom a few years ago.Product quality was good but customer service during /after sales was very poor. The 'man in charge' of the store was not bothered that we had a problem, barely spoke to us in the shop when we were trying to rectify the problem and spoke HORIBBLY to the female members in the shop, which says it all really!!
This was the store at SALTNEY near Chester--others may be better??

[HubertVonRumple]

When dh and I were doing our bathrooms last year we looked there but we thought the quality was quite poor, our builder agreed and said he'd had problems fitting bathrooms purchased from there.
Best thing is to go to an independent bathroom store, choose exactly what you want and then take the list of products to your local plumbers merchant and they will source it LOADS cheaper. Our plumbing merchant was fantastically helpful as well and delivered when we were ready as opposed to when suited them. We saved thousands doing it that way.

[stepawayfromthebiscuits]

Used them to refit bathrooms in a couple of houses - no problems whatsoever. Bought items in sale, the sales guys were happy to 'unofficially' recommend a local fitter, and when DH cracked the loo seat (don't ask) they found a replacement for us even though they no longer stocked the same item.

[itssnotfunny]

we got ours from there a year ago, we ordered it in the nov but didnt need it till jan (extension works) - the very long sink/ worktop combosnapped on delivery and they took it away and a new one came a week later which wasnt a problem for us - it broke because it was snowy and the man fell with it. It looks superb in my opinion and the shower tray appears to be same as b and q one but was 500 cheaper - from what i can tell the sale is always on.

[Mmarsh00]

Since purchasing an entirely new suite and having it installed by Bathstore I have encountered nothing but issues. One of the main reasons for using the Bathstore installation team was to try and avoid situations like this - spending hours trying to rectify shoddy workmanship and poor aftercare. Yet that is exactly what I've encountered! Its now 5 months on since my bathroom was completed and I'm still fighting to have a leaking shower screen and incorrectly fitted radiator fixed.
After requesting another company come and rectify the mistakes ( after two failed attempts by the original fitters) I've returned home to find more shoddy workmanship and a note from my downstairs neighbours saying the fitters caused a leak - the fitters told me nothing of this, and I could be liable for any resulting costs!

Avoid at all costs. Painful, appalling customer service and terrible quality of fitting.

[shovetheholly]

I dropped a glass bottle from the cabinet above the sink onto the sink and smashed it.

Got a new sink from Bathstore - has been in for about 4 years and it looks great. However, I picked it up from the store rather than getting it delivered, and had it fitted by my own plumber, so I perhaps didn't have to deal with the problematic end of their service?

By the sounds of things, the products are fine but delivery, installation and customer service less than ideal.

[shovetheholly]

quintessential - I am at your neighbours! And now considering whether I also may need a blind.

[OlennasWimple]

They seem to be brilliant or awful, don't they?

We had a really good experience with them - great prices and quality seems comparable to other high street stores. One thing I really liked was that we ordered most of our stuff during the sale, and when we needed to add a couple of extra bits to the order and swap an item for another (wrong loo seat!) they added them at sale prices too.

[OCSockOrphanage]

We did three bathrooms about 7 years ago, buying most of the stuff from Bathstore. Customer service needed chasing up but were helpful; delivery was as expected (although as we couldn't unpack it as it was delivered, we signed it off as "not inspected" so they exchanged, promptly, one item that was chipped in transit) and it was all fitted by plumbers a friend recommended. We are happy with everything except... the loo brush heads, which now need changing after seven years use. They do not sell replacement heads and nothing else on the market fits their head.

[OlennasWimple]

Serves you right for having a loo brush OC

[OCSockOrphanage]

They were the only reasonable option (aesthetically) but I am sure in better run houses that no one ever leaves a skidmark ?

[19lottie82]

I used bath empire, ordered everything online and they were GREAT! And a lot cheaper than everywhere else...... use quidco for cashback too!

[pizzaeatingmonkey]

Absolute shambles at Bath Store. Totally unprofessional. They did the bathroom 2 years ago and I'm still angry about it!

[PatMullins]

Plumbers hate them.

[CocktailQueen]

Hmm. We did three bathrooms in Bathstore. Cupboards and products are all very good. Service good - everything arrived when it should. Things look good 9 years later. We have had to replace 2 out of 3 automatic plugs. Be careful which loos you buy as you have to flush twice to get rid of all paper. Bath and pls else all fine.issue with using mixer taps though - we were sold mixer taps for main bath that apparently should not have been sold for bath.

[Stumpyb]

Buyer beware. Under terms and conditions you must unwrap and carefully check every piece of wood etc front, back and edges or they will not replace any damage that you find later despite it having obviously been packed damaged and not damaged in transit. This is a very difficult job to do if you have a number of large flat pack boxes that you have to find the space to unpack.
We opened and checked all the obvious edges but did not take every piece out of the box. When it came to fitting there was damage on the front face of one of the cabinets but it was past the 7 days so tough. Don't buy if you do not have the time and space to check every single piece!

[Fleung]

Had bathroom purchased and fitted by bathstore 5 years ago. Not happy with the service since money was paid. Though bathroom did get fitted and finished in the end.
However, 5 years down the line, there were few issues. I raised them since March 17. Rubbish excuse for one, out of warranty for another, completely ignored the other one! When trying to get the outstanding issue resolved, I was asked repeatedly to send in images despite they were sent 3 times! Then customer service packed up and the ball bounce back to the store! Process started all over again! Then arrogant store manager told me I didn't have 10 years guarantee at time I bought the bathroom! (Which is entirely not true as I still have original brochure from 5 years ago which clearly stated 10 years gaurantee!)
I'm also told they may not have the part as they no longer do that model!
4 months on! I'm no where getting the problem solved! Never with Bathstore again!

[roversaloon]

There appears to be a number of Bathstore threads here and so I am 'covering all the bases' by posting this message on all of them. That way, anyone considering a Bathstore purchase should be given the chance to read about my views and experiences. I class myself as a very knowledgeable and competent DIY'er and have installed 7 bathrooms from scratch in my time. I set myself a high standard of workmanship and feel therefore I can speak from a position of a fair amount of experience.
The quality of Bathstore products is typical of the mass production methods they employ. The carcasses are melamine faced chipboard so are no different to many other suppliers. Therefore, when you look at their prices, they appear to me to offer poor value for money. After discount a typical cupboard carcass is over £100 which, when you consider what it's made of and the quality of the finish seems a lot.
Move on the the fascias and things only get worse. The one I have just installed on behalf of my daughter was the Portfolio range and a 600mm fascia pack (two small pieces of veneered/painted chipboard), after discount was £228; an absolute rip off in my opinion.
I suspect they really want you to use one of their approved fitters. Therefore beware if you are planning DIY or using an independent. The installation instructions are incomplete and fail to cover all of the processes required. There is no dedicated support team; instead you need to speak to the supplying store. In my experience, the two stores I used were staffed by teams who knew nothing about the installation process. If you're lucky, you might get to speak to one of their fitters if they are in the store at the time of your call. However, don't count on that solving any problems; the gent I spoke to seemed to know very little and gave the impression that he wasn't to happy to help 'an amateur' anyway.
To sum up, in my opinion, Bathstore initially impress with their showroom displays but drill a little deeper and they seem to offer very poor value for money and are not 'tooled up' to give quick support during independent installation. So, shop around and you will almost certainly find something better.