To not buy new kitchen over a tap

[Kubricklayer]

DW and I are close to pulling the trigger on a £30K kitchen. Spent last month back and forth agreeing specifics.

A few days ago DW saw on their FB page a deal for new customers in Feb to get a free £1K Quooker tap if they spend min £15K on a kitchen.

We then sent an email to chase up our kitchen stuff and asked if we’d get the tap since the sale will likely go through in Feb.

They said it’s for new inquiries and as we inquired late Dec we wouldn’t qualify for the tap.

At this point in time we’ve not paid a deposit, or signed anything and they’ve spent significant time designing our kitchen. All that effort will be for nothing if we decide to walk away.

Surely it’d be worth throwing this tap in so not to risk losing the sale? I’m not fussed about the tap tbh but part of me is a bit annoyed because we’re spending over double the money needed to qualify for the free tap and the sale will now be finalised in Feb, the qualifying month.

would you push back and insist on getting the tap if you were in my position?

When we got our kitchen we negotiated. Upgrade on appliances, I went and priced the quartz worktop at a supplier directly and suddenly they could match that price. There is a game to be played here and neither you or the shop are playing.

Exactly this. And all the people encouraging her to walk away over the tap she doesn’t want!!

The deal was on after she placed the order what’s hard to understand? Who even gets into a sweat over this.

op get the kitchen you clearly love it. Stop spitting your bloody dummy out man

Just to clarify we’ve not put any order through. We’ve told them what we want and they’ve spc’d up an offering which we’re considering. No deposit, agreement, signature of any sort. Just what they are proposing and what we’re considering.

maybe I am grabby but £30K of business is in the balance here. Why do they deserve this business? What are they doing to win over and secure the customer?

@40andlovelife I can't imagine the level of wealth you would need to be so causal over 30 thousand pounds.
.I must admit the millionaires I know are not probably worth 10 millions but they are probably about 5 or 6 taking into account property wealth.
They wouldn't accept this.

So I can't imagine how wealthy you and op are.

That’s a leap if ever I heard one. I would raise the same point if the kitchen was an ikea special. Nowt to do with how much the kitchen costs. The fact remains she missed out on the deal it’s just one of those things.

I would not get the kitchen from there in that case. I’m petty but also think if it was that good of a kitchen you’d have pressed the trigger already so I’d happily walk away

Yes it would leave a foul taste and I would always remember it. I think it’s pretty cheap they won’t throw in the tap. (We have the quooker tap and is the best thing ever) especially the sale hasn’t even gone through!!! Ridiculous I would be extremely annoyed and go elsewhere

Kitchen companies are used to designing and then people not making the purchase as usually people will pick a couple of companies to design and get quotes. I wouldn’t feel bad going elsewhere

We also have a German kitchen and shopped around. (Our kitchen was quoted at 30k for Leicht, 25k for Nobilia but we only ended up spending 20k for Hacker and the design and quality was amazing)

our kitchen company also price matched cheaper appliances we found if they could source the same.

I do think you need a couple of quotes @Kubricklayer . I also think, and will be flamed for this, that £30k for a 7m x 7m kitchen with Island is pretty good value outside the budget ranges. Does that include fitting? What's your budget for tiling/flooring.

You have already said that they have suggested cheaper alternatives to get the prices down for you.

There are two ways of looking at this. £1000 on £30,000 is 0.033 of the overall cost. You can say I won't sign without the tap or insist on a reduction (which you might not get), or you swallow it. The problem is you don't have a comparable quote.

I wouldn't be without my Quorker.

Why do you keep mentioning an order? I’ve not placed an order? I told them what we want ins kitchen and they’ve provided a mock up with pricing?

no negotiating other than me saying I wouldn’t but the first price offered in a car. How can we get the kitchen we want for a better price point? I was then told you can switch x for y and this for that.

So I’ve had a half baked prod at dropping the price slightly which has been batted away. So again no sway from them.

but just to absolutely clear we’ve ordered nothing, placed No order. lol

Definitely shop around, I dislike their approach as well, not letting you have the plans etc. I wouldn’t be happy with this .And the Quooker is absolutely fantastic, couldn’t be without mine now!! It’s very penny pinching of them. Try and see if you can get a quick sense check price elsewhere. It’s insane they expect you to pay without letting you have a copy of the design. I like to spend time poring over these things. It’s a huge investment.

Perhaps let them know that you are reaching an impasse because your wife is willing to walk away over this, and that you are considering alternative options.

Yip tell them you’re going elsewhere unless they give the free tap. It’s the principle of it all. You’re spending £30k and they can’t give u an offer they are giving anyone else who spends half that.

If you had already paid the deposit and signed contracts that’s different. I’m pretty sure they will throw the tap in.

Quooker taps are shite, they're doing you a favour!

Quooker taps are brilliant. As previous posters have said who own one, they are great.
You will LOVE the tap. I would never have a kitchen without one now.

I'd tell them in person.....

We love the plans. Quality seems great bla bla

If you agree to qooker tap we will happily sign the contract today with deposit (and have your credit card/ bank card in your hand)

So a more gentle way of extracting a yes possiblyh

If they still say no....just say oh ok....we'll go away and have a rethink and we will get back to you if we still want to go ahead

Kind of puts the ball in their court a bit more and gives you thinking space

I have a different branded boiling tap and also wouldn’t be without it.

Id be casting my net a bit wider with suppliers if I were the OP, £30k isn’t unreasonable, but it’s not money you spend lightly

You missed out on the tap deal so get over it. Did you try to get any reduction in price as you are obviously so keen on getting some sort of bargain? If not, that is down to you.

If you are that bothered about one of those awful taps then go somewhere else.

I think you are being silly. You don't even want the tap. You said the kitchen is a good price and that your kitchen is large. Perhaps you are already getting a very good deal. I would say get some more quotes and it will put this one into perspective. You may find you can get better elsewhere but you may not. This company have told you what they can do and you either accept it and go with it or find someone else. Trying to get them to do something they said no to will just end in bad feeling on both sides. Not the best way to start a new kitchen.

I love my Quooker! I think you are being unreasonable not to have included this in your plans anyway, and not to be shopping around. I got plans with a few different suppliers, the last one I tried gave me the same spec as the previous two, but a better design and it cost 5k less than the others. The biggest difference was he came out to the house and hand drew the plan, rather than the swanky CAD the others designed with.

But you don’t even want the tap??

I wouldn’t worry about it in that case 😂 Those taps always feel corporate to me.

If you're not bothered about the tap forget that, but ask for a 1-2% overall discount.
That would be £300 -600 off, which is fair.

Is there a manager you could ask ?

stick to your guns I’d be happy to walk away. They need to offer something for your business.. If I were you I’d say thanks for your time. We will think about it some more and come back to you as we are also in negotiations with x company. Then go to x company and see what they can offer you. You now already know the layout that you want so that’s a bonus. FWIW I have a quooker and it’s fab.

Also Neff are rubbish products.

Have you had any other designs done OP? I’ve had Howden, Wren, am waiting on Benchmarx and am doing a DIY Kitchens based on the plans of the others. I did it this way as I want to see if they come up with different ideas and designs. I would never go with plans from only one company especially one that will only let me view the plans when I am in their offices. I’ve been lucky with Wren I’ve got the whole plan so can do a comparison. Have they given you a breakdown of units, worktops, lightening etc?

Anyway, I would be like you in this situation l, I wouldn’t be impressed with the ‘no’ to the tap and would take a step back. I wouldn’t tell them this, I would just say you’re still exploring options.

Are you prepared to go back to step one? (Hopefully yes)

I would (a) restart the process with other providers and (b) send her an email saying you won’t be able to proceed without the Wuooker and see what she says. Do not give her the order without it, because if the installation is less than 💯 you are going to be in a bad mood every time you come into the kitchen.

The whole flicking through the design on the tv would actually have done my head in on day one, and I would have booted her out for that, because it would feel like a set up to short change you.