Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Other subjects
Original poster

Getting A New Kitchen.... advice please

24 replies

tinkerbellchelle · 09/04/2006 08:46

We're looking to get a new kitchen and wanting to get come people round for a quote. We have a max budget of about 10k and have a mid size kitchen but want something off a high quality with good service. Locally people who can visit are B&Q, Magnet, Moben, Select Kitchens ( inside johnsons buildbase ) and MFI.

Does anyone have any experience of these companies or know of any other good kitchen companies?

THANKS :)

OP posts:
Spacecadet · 09/04/2006 08:51

i recently had a fitted kitchen from homebase and i cant fault it quality wise. they didnt fit it, i had to employ a local carpenter, but the kitchen is lovely, didnt have any probs with missing parts etc, delivery was within a month.

Spacecadet · 09/04/2006 08:52

a lot of the local tradesman ive spoken to also recommend magnet and mfi too.

Original poster
tinkerbellchelle · 09/04/2006 09:14

thank you :) if anyone else has any advice Im more than grateful.

OP posts:
hermykne · 09/04/2006 09:18

tinkerbelle
i had a mfi kitchen in my previous house, and lvoed it, the guys who fitted it were very professional and did a v good job. all the drawers ran smoothly the fittings were good and the finish great. i miss that kitchen.

picnikel · 09/04/2006 09:23

We had Magnet - they were very good especially with the design. We got someone ourselves that we trust to fit it.

GeorginaA · 09/04/2006 09:36

Avoid Moben like the plague - they're the same people who own Dolphin bathrooms who are historically overpriced and hideous customer service.

We went to Wickes for our kitchen and got independant fitters (the builders who were doing our extension at the time). Very happy with it and a good price. Better price than MFI and was nicer quality (anti-slam cupboards etc).

littlerach · 09/04/2006 09:40

DH's friend used to be a fitter for B and Q and told us never to use them as hey were so crap.

alexsmum · 09/04/2006 09:43

dolpin bathrooms quoted us £12,000 to do our bathroom.it's the size of a cupboard!!!

Trifle · 09/04/2006 09:43

I would say it is important to get the same company to fit it from where you buy the kitchen. We had an MFI kitchen and got their own fitters to install it. Even with our tiny kitchen there were quite a few parts missing which is understandable really as there are literally hundreds of parts. The fitters were the ones who had to do all the chasing, ordering and collecting of the bits missing otherwise I suppose it would have been down to me. My MFI kitchen is good but basically I believe you get what you pay for. Their customer service was crap to say the least. I phoned 18 times to get 3 missing door knobs sent. In the end I went to their showroom armed with a screwdriver and unscrewed the ones from the display.

Bobalina · 09/04/2006 10:20

just had kitchen fitted with MFI and would highly reccommend them.

tootiredtotalk · 09/04/2006 10:33

hi. where do you live. my father has his own kitchen company and could possibly come see you. he knocks hundreds off b and q, homebase, mfi and moben.

zippitippitoes · 09/04/2006 10:34

our kitchen is mif fitted by dp and we are very p[leased with it..it's an oak one

Purple77 · 09/04/2006 10:56

We had an MFI kitchen but got someone else to fit it which seemed to work but did find that if you agree to have their fitter and let them come and quote, once you turn it down they are inclined to get in touch and offer to do it privately. We did have loads of hassle with MFI customer service but end product was good.
Not sure where you are but Ikea kitchens are really good too but you probably want someone to fit it.

tallulah · 09/04/2006 11:38

We bought our kitchen from MFI and had one of their so-called planners draw it up and order it. They make you sign their charter which says you only have 7 days to tell them if something is wrong. It was several weeks before we were in a position to get the worktops fitted and when the carpenter arrived he told us we had one worktop too many. MFI quoted us Charter and refused to take it back so it has been stuck in our hallway since before Xmas Angry Angry. My argument is that the bloke must have known from his measurements that we only needed 2 worktops but sold us 3. We didn't order them- he did. I will never shop at MFI again.

zippitippitoes · 09/04/2006 11:41

with regard to MFI we did have it designed by them but didn't use that quote..we designed it ourselves and just gave them a list of what we wanted..

Original poster
tinkerbellchelle · 09/04/2006 13:57

tootired > we're from oxfordshire x

OP posts:
MUM007 · 09/04/2006 21:30

Just finished Fri having a kitchen fitted by MFI. I love it. Its a schreiber one. Everything went very smoothly from planning to fitting and would definitely recommend. Good price too. Got it in 25% off sale. Only downside had to live on takeouts for 10 days!!!

chonky · 09/04/2006 21:47

We're just about to get our kitchen from Howdens:

\link{http://www.above-it-all.co.uk/howdens/companies.htm\howdens}

They're owned by MFI, but supply trade only (I strongly suspect the kitchens ypu'll see in an MFI showroom are from Howdens, but just priced higher)

Passionflower · 09/04/2006 22:21

Don't use Magnet and don't buy a Whirlpool Fridgefreezer.

crunchie · 09/04/2006 22:39

With the sort of budget you have to spend I would say go to a local kitchen comapny. They won't have a '50% OFF' sale, so you won't feel like you are getting a bargain, wjhen all it means is that everything is hugely over-priced anyway! I would avoid, magnet, moben and MFI, infract all those on your list. Go to a proper specialist they are not THAT expensive. My kitchen was £12K, but that is with Black Granite worktops and a range cooker/splashback/hood that was about £1500 ish. Get 3 - 4 quotes and get them to give you ideas. MFI/MAGNET/MOBEN etc all work on your iddeas, they have none of their own. Specialist kitchen companies can have genius solutions to issues that you might never have thought off.

Also with your budget go for units that are NOT flatpacked. The rigid carcass units are far superior and last longer, you could change doors15 years later but the units will be fine.

But loads of magazines to get ideas (not saying this JUST as I work for interiors mags) But they ave inspirational ideas which you can then discuss with whoever you choose.

Original poster
tinkerbellchelle · 09/04/2006 22:55

crunchie > we spoke 2 a local kitchen company who did our next doors kitchen and they are visiting us wednesday to do a design etc so hopefully they will give us a good design. We dont have a massive kitchen so it will be great to see what storage idas etc they have.

thank you for all your comments x

OP posts:
clerkKent · 10/04/2006 13:02

We are having our kitchen fitted right now. We bought the units and floor tiles from B&Q, worktop from Homebase, cooker online, hob and extractor from another online, wall tiles from a specialist company, and it is all being fitted by a local builder (we were warned off B&Q fitters). B&Q did the design. Total cost will be approx 10k.

fatbetty · 10/04/2006 13:10

AVOID MOBEN LIKE THE PLAGUE!!!! We had them do our kitchen in our old house and it took 3 installations and 2.5 years to get it right. And endless amount of chasing them up. In the end we had to take them to court.

jamese · 10/04/2006 22:49

We got ours from Jewsons, and had our chippie fit it - it cost around £12k but that was with Corian worktops which cost £3.5 so very good value for oat cabinets etc. Would fully recommend Jewsons.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page