To take builders to court

[chedderandport]

Hi All,

I ordered a new kitchen through a local building building company last June. They sent me design which I approved. They then invoiced me and I paid. They received the kitchen in July.

For various reasons the kitchen was not installed until Nov when the building company realised that they were missing some wall units and integrated doors to cover fridge freezer.

It also became clear that they had not ordered integrated doors for the dishwasher and washing machine, a miscommunication their side.

They installed the kitchen , and told me in November they would rectify the issues, since then nothing has happened, they are blaming supplier and say they could not check kitchen was complete when it arrived as it was flat packed.

Its now over 3 months with no progress despite me chasing.

Anyone else have this? I am getting quotes from other companies to finish kitchen now and will pursue them for the costs to rectify unless they come back in one week with a date to complete ?

You paid in full based on an approved design?

Hi, I paid for the units etc when they had ordered them

Did you pay with credit card? Might be easier if you did, save going to court. As you've paid, but not received goods

No unfortunately didn't use a credit card !

You paid for the units or the work in advance? You shouldn’t have paid for work in advance, just materials if needed. So you should only be down the cost of a couple of door fronts or whatever else is missing in terms of materials.

You may have already checked, but this sort of thing should be covered in their T&C's, which you should have received with the quote.

Tbh kitchen doors are usually imported, it can be difficult to order just a couple of bits that have been missed as they're palletised, and the supplier will wait until they have a full pallet before they import. It can honestly be a complete pain because it's impossible to speed up the order.

It was clearly their error, but it's in their interest to finish the kitchen. Understand it's frustrating, but the kitchen is usable in it's current state, and if they have ordered the replacement materials etc I think they can demonstrate they were planning on finishing it, so not sure how it would play out in terms of a claim.

Perhaps you could ask for proof the additional doors and cabinets have been ordered? And have a calm and honest chat about a realistic date?

Very annoying for you and I hope you get it sorted without threats of court if you can. Best of luck.

Thank you

I think.my.frustration is that the building company are not communicating and won't give a date or confirm the extra bits are coming

Definitely ask for proof the materials have been ordered. It's a common thing to ask and shouldn't be an issue for them to provide. If they don't have a delivery date from the supplier, they are probably holding off confirming anything to you yet.

If they are not responding at all, that is so infuriating.. Especially as you're living with an unfinished kitchen! Maybe escalate it to the company director? It may be the member of staff you are dealing with has an unmanageable workload or they're just a bit shit. Really hope you get it sorted soon.