Hi Everyone,
First post on here so apologies if I have posted in the wrong section.
Purchased a kitchen from Wickes and opted for their installation service. It has been nothing but a headache since day one!
Installation was supposed to take 2 weeks - starting on 28th Feb, finishing on 11th March. I have had to deal with the following:
- Kitchen fitter drilled through the electrics when boxing in the boiler causing the heating to not work. He admitted to drilling into the electrics but tried to cover it up by saying that our heating wasn't working anyway (complete lie!);
- Gas engineer was found wondering through the bedrooms upstairs without asking anyone. My mum was lying down as she felt unwell and had a massive shock when the engineer walked in.
- Kitchen fitter smoking in the back garden (not in the front near the skip as agreed) and throwing his cigarette ends around the garden.
- Kitchen fitter taking off the old wall tiles and leaving them behind the new kitchen cuboards, instead of cleaning up the mess, as it would get covered by the plinths.
- Cracking cabinet doors when drilling in the handles.
- Rolling his eyes constantly and being generally disrespectful when i tried to politely talk to him about any issue.
The above is only a handful of the things I have had to deal with. I would be here all day if I listed them all!
Things came to an abrupt end on the 1st April. Kitchen fitter came back after 3 weeks to finish off what was left. I didn't want him back in my house, but Wickes said I had to give him a chance to put things right, before looking into other options.
Kitchen fitter turned up nearly 2 hours late, was extemely rude and became aggressive (only verbal aggression, not physical). I had to tell him to leave as I felt unsafe and it was only myself, my mum and young nephew in the house. He had a hammer in his hand aswell during the time, whilst shouting aggressively. I was very close to calling the Police, but luckily he left when I told him too.
I have been in discussions with their customer relations team ever since. Was told the regional installation manager would call to discuss what had happened, but he never called.
There are alot of little things that need to be fixed which I have included pictures of but the main thing is the worktops. I noticed towards the end of March/ beginning of April, only a few weeks after the worktops had been installed, that there were cracks appearing in the seams/ joints. There is also a small 'lip aswell' and edges which haven't been sealed!
Either the fitter didn't join the worktops properly from underneath, or he didn't cut them at the right angle, or both. This has caused a gap in the joints, which the fitter gas tried to cover up using a filler. The problem is, whatever cheap filler he has used, it is cracking already. The kitchen has barely been used, as we had our wall and floor tiling done. No heat has been placed directly on the worktops and no harsh chemicals has been used. I had laminate wokrotp sin my kitchen previously for over 20 years and none of the joints cracked or had filler in them!
Wickes have been made aware and their response was - 'The kitchen fitter said there were no cracks in the joints when he installed them a few weeks ago...'
My main worry is water getting into the joints and the worktop starts to bubble/ blow, due to water damage. Never had this issue with my old worktops.
Literally at my wits end now and want the kitchen to just be finished! I wish I had read the trustpilot reviews before I purchased the kitchen. Nearly 25% 2 star reviews - most of them to do with their kitchens and bathrooms!
Any advice on what I can/ need to do would be appreciated!