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?

Why are they not entitled? They haven't placed an order yet

@needastrongoneagain it's not the cost it's the lack of quotes ,searching around ,comparing , as pp said 30 grand and neff appliances etc

Thinking about still using them inspite of crappy tap offer etc .

It's that that says ...Uber wealthy chucking money around.

Tell them you're going to get a couple more quotes in as you didn't realise how much January / February incentives could save you elsewhere. Point out that you like the design and may well be back "in a couple of months".

Because you really should get other companies' quotes first, particularly if you've asked for a cost breakdown and not received one!

It would be a red flag for me.

Your kitchen is still at the sales stage - a time when companies are at their very best in terms of customer service in order to clinch the deal.
If this is theiir attitude at the sales stage then what will the service be like once the kitchen is installed and paid for? There will be some snags that require attention- large or small- most projects have them.
How attentive will the company be then?
If they can't be reasonable and responsive at this stage then their aftercare is likely not to be great.

I’d certainly want that tap if I were spending 30k! Is that deal available with any other company? That would be my starting point. Then I’d play one company off against the other.

Yes, I'd absolutely walk away unless they included the Quooker tap and the cash back Neff offer too.

That’s crazy, kitchen companies always do deals - the Neff discount is a scheme run by Neff so you’d get that no matter where you went because you register your appliances through Neff. With respect £30k is far too much money to be spending without shopping around - different designers have different strengths so may design a better kitchen for you than your current supplier.

I’d visit a couple of places, give them an idea of what you’re looking for and see what they come up with. Free tap or not, I’d want some price comparisons before parting with £30k.

You really like what they've come up with and they get fab reviews, so why are you being so stubborn about a tap you don't even want @Kubricklayer ?

It's the big kitchen companies that do the hard sell and forever find ways to keep you on the hook. That's the kind of thing that I don't trust.
A small company is more likely to have given you a fair price at the start, rather than an inflated one that then gives them room to give you 'special deals'.

Agree with pp... You need to shop around.
Is it all pretty pictures or do you know clearly what goes where? You need to know that and mull it over at home.

Get the quote from DIY kitchens (draw it up and add all the units you need) and ask for a price match - actual reduction not switching for cheaper stuff. That's not a reduction.

I shopped around for my kitchen, a mix of bigger and smaller companies. In the end I went with Wren because they were completely transparent about cost - I could see what everything cost, where discounts applied and the cost difference of slight changes to the design.

The smaller company gave me an overall price, subject to change, and no clear breakdown beyond units and appliances.

My kitchen was fitted without issue, looks amazing and the design is really clever for the space I have. They weren’t the cheapest quote I had but very good value for money and by far the best design.

There is no deal done yet however, so it qualifies for February, pretty basic logic.

I m an interior architect, i would be extremely peeved if they wouldnt throw in the tap. It s time to sort your negotiation skills

FIRST

• check their T&Cs to see if they own the design even if you havent paid anything. In my T and Cs, payment of a deposit means signing the contract and agreeing with t and cs. In which I own all design. I would never start working on a design without the payment of a deposit.
• so check and you ll know if they ve been foolish

SECOND email them

• make it clear that you like the design and appreciate you understand the time and effort spent by both parties to get to this point. Stay factual
• it would say that you are surprised at spending twice the amount and not being able to the tap
• thank them for their help and go somewhere else. Even if you dont have the plans, you know them. Dont be afraid to tell them in that email
• they are foolish not to have asked you for a deposit
• let them come back to you. If they prefer to loose 30K of gross income for a 1k tap, they really dont know anything about running a business. The most expensive thing that will happen to them is loosing customer satisfaction who can (and will) tell everyone they know and worst can mention it on social media. Reputation is your biggest asset when you run a business.

if they re good and they care they ll come back to
you. Then you have a choice on how to react. I think in that case, you shouldnt be a dick. Accept and move on.

enjoy your new kitchen.

I think it’s poor customer relations not to throw in the Quooker tap as well. People saying you didn’t want it before are missing the point: you weren’t prepared to do without something else in order to have it, and that’s fine.
But the idea that you’re a few weeks too early to be given the benefit of an offer looks really bad IMO. It’s like car insurance or banks giving great offers to new customers while treating existing customers as cash cows.
They’re still making a profit on those new orders so even if technically you were earlier, it’s low to refuse you.

Actually what’s to stop you cancelling now and coming in tomorrow and getting the new offer?
(I haven’t paid attention to the dates so maybe that’s too late but I’d point it out to them all the same)

Surely it’d be worth throwing this tap in so not to risk losing the sale?

They are thinking ‘surely they won’t throw away all their time spent over a free tap they didn’t even order’

100% disagree with that

Call them and say you do not feel this is right so you will be walking. They may very well change their mind

They are pretending to be something they aren't. A genuine boiling-water-tap would heat up mains water to 95°C or whatever at the time it's needed, without a reservoir just heating the water as it flows through the pipes, like a central heating system does with the radiator fluid, such that there would be no limit to the number of hot drinks you can make or pasta pans to fill, it would just keep going. Instead, a Qooker is really just a hidden-away kettle that dispenses very slowly and once you've used up its reservoir you have to wait for a long time before it is ready again. The house where I was cooking Christmas Dinner had one and it's awful if you are catering for large numbers.

Yes I would. You are buying a very expensive kitchen and they will be making a huge profit on it. The least they can do is give you a free tap.

They haven't made the order yet though. And it's the only quote they have. Most people get at least two quotes before making a decision. We have just had new cupboard doors fitted and even for that we got three quotations.
OP would be unwise to just accept the 30k kitchen quote with no free tap without at least considering other companies

Definitely shop around esp if paying cash/card and not payment plan with monthly payments

try smaller independent shops too - if they manufacture their own units you can get a fully bespoke kitchen with any extras you want

£30k is always worth shopping around for- you’ll see huge differences in what you get

I don't know what make my friends is but she got one for a treat in her 30k kitchen that she has waited 20 years for.
She said its the biz.

I think they will cave and give you the tap if you threaten to walk away.

I love my Quooker tap and no way would I have a new kitchen without one. I have catered dinners for 12 people and have never experienced running out of boiling water.

False I think they should offer more than that now !

My plumber got wren down by as astonishing amount

I’d just pull out. Your point about them wasting dozens of hours of work for nothing is totally valid, and they won’t want to lose out on that. So when they ask you why, you tell them and they’ll throw in the tap to keep you.

I spent £3,000 on my kitchen 27 years ago.
It was the least expensive at the time, with a very good company.
I highly recommended them afterwards.

It is still much admired for it timeless simplicity. Cream, very neutral and very well built in a large urban house, in a superb location.
Its still 95% perfect.
I would half like to change it if I could do so, without the total pain in the arse interruption. Would love the hot tap because of my friend who loves hers.

My husband who does fxxk all in the kitchen inexplicably thinks we should put an all bells and whistles kitchen in, no expenses spaired......🙄 🙄, I'm giving his opinion the consideration my 60 year old menopausal hormones will allow.

We have plenty of money but no way I would spend 30k without looking around.

I would want testimonials from people.
We changed our very large front door.
I researched and asked a highly, highly recommended guy to do it.
I told him he totally had the job from the very beginning, because he was so highly recommended, but I really would appreciate if he could give me the best price....and i would so recommend him on.

He did. He got 15 jobs from my job within one month, because he did a fantastic job and I was so verbal about it.

I always tell everyone who comes into my home that a good job here means literally dozens of recommendations because I am a fussy verbal woman!

My door guy came back to do my windows 3 years later and said the amount of women who said "hilary so highly recommended you, so just give me a price".

He did my whole house windows at an excellent price.

I highly recommend telling anyone that you employ that you are someone who will actively review them.

It has worked for me, for 30 years.