To hope Moben kitchens go bankrupt?

[sheas]

Obviously only after they have sorted out all the atrocious kitchens they have fitted thus far. If you are considering using them then for the love of God....DON'T. Just Google Moben and see details of the trail of misery they have caused. SPREAD THE WORD

Are they affiliated with Thomas Sanderson by any chance?

We have a weird window in dd's room, huge double height peaked window that goes right up into the gable so we can't put cutains across it or hang conventional blinds.

It has lots of seperate panes, about 9/10 so i rang Thomas Sanderson thinking they might be able to fit conservatory blinds.

Trying to book the appointment was a nightmare, they kept insisting that dp was there for it... despite me xplaining that he (a) worked (b) doesn't care and (c) wasn't paying for it! Eventually i lied and told them he'd be there.

The woman came and she was nice but she spent ages measuring, discounting, sales pitching and eventully came up with a quote of over 2000 euros, for just that one window!!!!

she explained they insist partners are there as it's usually conservatories they quote for which can be up to 40,000 and the husbands won't believe the wives when given the quote... she said she's been screamed abuse at repeatedly and kicked out of houses after giving quotes! (why she chooses to that job is baffling)

Tulip Don't know whther they are affiliated with Sanderson...maybe...Things were going well but we seem have hit a sticking point...shame 'cos things were going so well, pity that they will let themselves down (again) at this late stage...

I am also a disgruntled Moben (and Dolphin their sister company) customer. I've not commented on this thread earlier as I was hoping I could resolve things amicably with the company, but that doesn't seem to be happening.

I am now coming to the conclusion that the company is deliberately set up to stay just within the law and to make maximum profit without any care for customers (rather than just making some unfortunate errors).

I see that Susan Kinnaird indicated she would speak on the phone to anyone who emailed her with Mumsnet in the title, so I did that last night asking her to call me today. Its short notice, but I've no choice, as I need to make some rapid decisions about legal action, going to the press etc. I'll go all the way if I have to after the way my family have been treated and the distress it has caused.

I'll see if Susan comes back to me and keep you all posted.

Sheas - what happened with your sticking point? It all seemed to go quiet after your last post, unless I missed something.

My husband worked (briefly) for sharps, as did my bil. You have no idea what a huge con the whole thing is! They come out - they HAVE to spend 4 hours in your home or they get it in the neck! They give you a stupid price just so they can give you a huge 'discount' on it and make you feel you're getting a really good deal . They make all those phone calls, which is just them following the script for visits (unless you are stupid enough to agree to the first price they give you!) and then maybe their manager will want to speak to you to give you a special offer. If you manage to resist, then you can probably expect a phone call at a later date offering you the same thing for even less than the quotes on the night - but the sales person who came out to you gets diddled out of their share.

They treat their sales people like shit! They find a way to diddle them out of their commission as often as possible! - They STILL owe my husband money. There was always some reason why he didn't get his cut of a sale . They let you go on a fixed weekly amount at first but constantly harrass you to switch to commission only - so they can diddle you out of it!

God they are bloody awful. And so calculated in their approach to conning customers and screwing over most of their sales staff! The only way to make the fab money they bang on about is to be really pushy and bullying with customers.

I hate them.

The above is my personal view, based on my personal experience of being the wife and the sister in law of 2 people who have worked for space kitchens and is based on my personal experience of waiting for money that never came and being told my bil was doing the same and is no way to be taken to be a view supported by mumsnet.

(just in case )

Your personal opinion just adds to my personal opinion that Moben/Dolphin/Sharps are very skilled at skating as close as they can to what they can get away with in law, as what you say implies they have a similar approach to their staff as I have experienced towards their customers.

They seem unwilling to act, indicating it is impossible when dealing with a little consumer, but when trading standards are involved are suddenly able to achieve it (in my case, for example they told us they couldn't get deliveries out at a few days notice due to when the delivery company was in our area, but when trading standards were involved suddenly offered a next day delivery).

I am seeking financial recompense, as I don't think I've been given what I was sold in terms of level of service. They first said they had a no compensation policy (which is illegal) and then when I threatened legal action, said they had a policy of following certain guidelines in offering compensation (surely both can't be true) and offered what I consider to be a paltry amount with an attached 10 day deadline for me to respond.

They have also threatened me with debt collection agencies for funds that, under what I agreed with them, are not due now.

In my opinion, they know that most consumers can't afford to risk legal costs and so are willing to play hard ball knowing that most claims will go away.

I may be wrong in my view, it may be that there has just been a miscommunication between us, but the evidence is starting to stack up.

If I am wrong, a proper dialogue, for example with Susan, would sort this out, as I'd rather sort this amicably. If they can't do that, I'll be forced to assume the worst and will fight this all the way to protect others.

There are plenty of examples here and elsewhere of people having problems with them and I suspect it is their bullying tactics that have caused people to complain on the net instead of keeping fighting for what they are due. Someone has to take a stand!!

Hi everyone,

A bit of hopefully helpful information, if you have a problem with a big company of any kind, including but not exclusively Moben.

I'm not a trading standards officer myself, so am hoping there are no inaccuracies in the below paraphrasing of what a TSO explained to me.

We all know that there are lots of people on the web complaining about companies because they want to publicise the problems so others don't suffer.

Another way to stop people suffering in the future, when you have had a problem is as follows:

Trading standards have a named officer where the head office of any company is. Normally trading standards have a fairly narrow remit, and often they won't get involved in civil issues.

BUT, if there are a lot of complaints about a company, even if they are "civil" in nature, for example thinking you paid too much for what you received, or time delays, this named trading standards officer can get involved.

All you have to do to lodge a complaint is to ring consumer direct and tell them the name of the company and your name and postcode an address and say what your problem is.

This then adds to the number of complaints about the company and increases the possibility of TS getting involved to protect others in the future.

As a by product, if your problems include specific things like safety that your complaint involves, they may well get a trading standards officer to intervene in your case.

So, if a company has caused you problems and you can't get satisfaction from their customer services etc, this is one way to make a difference

We had our kitchen done last July (already a year now) and we are still waiting for someone to come and fit 2 cutlery drawers and the filters in the extractor.

At the design and survey stage, we were promised that a Project Manager will be onsite to assess progress etc but we never saw him. After countless calls to Moben, I was able to find out who he was (McQueen) and he promised to sort out the problem but we are still waiting. We even went to the shop in Central London to find out what was happening, they were very helpful there but still no drawers or filters.

We have had a few frustrating calls from Moben to find out what the problem is, every time it is a different person.

Shame about the service.

Unhappy customer from SE1 in London

I've just read the words dolphin bathrooms and my blood has begun to boil!! Don't even get me started..........too late......fucking expensive and fucking useless!!!!! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

and fucking npower too.......6 months of wrangling over a bill because they had gotten day rate and night rate the wrong way around..............grrrrrrrrrrrr!!

MOBEN are pushy and totally unscrupulous retailers. I cannot believe the nonsense they come out with. Don?t believe a thing they tell you. The only reason they want you to sign there and then, is because they want the SALE (your money). It?s all a big sham; the salesmen are not designers at all but glorified window salesmen from all walks of life. They have an enormous turn over of staff because the salesman are on a ?COMMISSION ONLY? self employed basis. They don?t care about designing the dream, only lining there pockets! Oh and when you see positive reviews online line, I wouldn?t be surprised if it?s the Moben staff who have written them.
I understand they teach their staff to get the sale at all costs and use all sort of ridiculous ?CONS?, like dummy phone calls, checking availability of stock and delivery dates? Utter rubbish, all of it. They are also taught to design really minimal basic designs as to minimise the amount of cupboards used as they are so expensive. The y make you believe their quality is excellent too? But you could buy a beautiful hand made Kitchen for what they charge, if you shop around. The reason their costs are so inflated is because there overheads are enormous. They are also very unprofessional as they negatively criticize other companies so they look like they are on top. BEWARE.
Having done my own personal research; what you need to know about a kitchen is the density of wood to air/resin ratio of the cabinets. Good cabinets should have around 85/95wood to air ratio. It makes them sturdy and less likely to fall apart. They should also have good fittings drawer runners, hinges etc. (Blum, Hetic or Selice), for longevity and of course good solid doors that won?t chip or warp! I have done a lot of research on this subject and the new B&Q ranges (COOKE & LEWIS) are looking good, you might have seen their advertisement before Grand Designs. There are plenty of companies around though, some much better than others. Don?t be afraid of really examining g the cabinets etc.
I have come to think that you should really be able to trust and like the designers, they are the ones creating your dream and remember, fitting is also important! The fitting costs might initially seem expensive, but labour is not cheap in the UK and for project managed fully fitted kitchens, it?s worth paying the company that little extra to make sure everything runs smoothly; there are after all, many hundreds of components in a kitchen and many reasons for it to go wrong. And there are a lot of tradesmen involved. Good luck!

OK - this is how reputable Moben kitchens are! We had a nightmare plan and fit of our kitchen from February this year which took over 3 months!!! The kitchen is fine now (although i dont love it the way i did when ordered because everytime i look at it i am reminded of all the stress!!) except that the sink (a Rangemaster SS bowl and a half which wasnt cheap!!) is not draining properly. Initially they replaced it but it is still faulty! Back i went to Moben who were clearly sick of me despite the MANY thousands we paid them - & despite promises from their 'Project Manager' Mr McClarence i never got the visit from Rangemaster and after a 'final chance' letter from me which they ignored i contacted Rangemaster directly - THEY WERE BRILLIANT! Visited within a couple weeks and agreed the sink was faulty, agreed to replace with one they have CHECKED is fit for purpose and will pay £80 for it to be fitted!! Great result .....but then i got a letter from Moben!!! It reads as follows:-
"We are writing to you regarding your kitchen sink, and can confirm that after in-depth investigation and discussions with the manufacturer, that the sink is commercially acceptable and fit for purpose, and will not be taking any further action regarding this"
So who is being honest here?? Clearly they havent consulted Rangemaster have they!! Somebody on here said they have mastered 'sailing close to the wind' and i couldnt agree more - a scummy company who really dont care at all!

OK - this is how reputable Moben kitchens are! We had a nightmare plan and fit of our kitchen from February this year which took over 3 months!!! The kitchen is fine now (although i don?t love it the way i did when ordered because every time i look at it i am reminded of all the stress!!) except that the sink (a Rangemaster SS bowl and a half which wasnt cheap!!) is not draining properly. Initially they replaced it but it is still faulty! Back i went to Moben who were clearly sick of me despite the MANY thousands we paid them - & despite promises from their 'Project Manager' Mr McClarence i never got the visit from Rangemaster and after a 'final chance' letter from me which they ignored i contacted Rangemaster directly - THEY WERE BRILLIANT! Visited within a couple weeks and agreed the sink was faulty, agreed to replace with one they have CHECKED is fit for purpose and will pay £80 for it to be fitted!! Great result .....but then i got a letter from Moben!!! It reads as follows:-
"We are writing to you regarding your kitchen sink, and can confirm that after in-depth investigation and discussions with the manufacturer, that the sink is commercially acceptable and fit for purpose, and will not be taking any further action regarding this"
So who is being honest here?? Clearly they haven?t consulted Rangemaster have they!! Somebody on here said they have mastered 'sailing close to the wind' and i couldn?t agree more - a scummy company who really don?t care at all once theyve been paid!