New kitchen - are we about to be scammed?

[mammymac]

We're looking to fit a new kitchen and have got our joiner etc all lined up for about 6 weeks time. We've been choosing kitchens and selected a Crosby Kitchen (Canova) which is cream gloss.
A local firm are charging us £4000 for the units. However, a quick search on the internet found a small company in Bradford who are currently offering 20+20% off Crosby. He hasn't got a showroom, just operates out of his house. It's a possible saving of around £1500 which would help massively.
We've spoken to him and he sounds fine. He's talking 2 weeks delivery which will come direct from Crosby.
So what do you think? Should alarm bells be ringing? Is it too good to be true? What can we do to ensure that we don't get burned here? I don't want to end up on Watchdog!!

It depends when he wants you to pay. If the bulk of the bill can be paid on delivery of the units, then it should be ok.

Good idea - I've emailed to ask if we can (part) pay on delivery.

Anyone had a Crosby kitchen lately?

make sure you know what your units should look like- the quality etc so you will know when they arrive whether they are right.

we went via howdens- the builder had an account- gave us a copy of the invoice with the units and we wrote him out a cheque.

would not pay- even a quite modest amount- upfront at the moment- proceed with caution- you could save £1500, you could lose £2500! everyone sounds fine on the phone!

Never heard of Crosby kitchens.

Often the doors are made by the manufacturer and then the supplier provides the cupboards. Therefore the quality of the cupboards can be variable.

These people supply second nature doors with their own cupbaords for instance. I looked into them and there are online recommendations for them.

I also went and had a look at this company and they seemed good quality.

In the end I bought mine from Wickes.

I was going to suggest that you called Crosby Kitchens direct and ask them if they supply to this person, how long for, if it is correct that they will be shipping direct to you, etc? However, I looked them up on the web and it seems to be very difficult to actually find any details about the company. I would tread warily, the kitchen you have chosen seems to be a fairly standard cream gloss , could you really not get the same thing for the same money from e.g. Wickes?

And if you are buying from Wickes, you may want to consider buying from Benchmarx who have the same kitchens but for trade so cheaper and carcasses are already made. Apparently they are lenient about the trade-only rule.

Why not ask him for some references of other satisfied customers? And follow them up. And make sure they're not his mate/sister etc. If he has a problem supplying any, you know what to do.

Benchmarx are lenient about the trade-only rule. My kitchen is about to be delivered from them and it wasn't trade although the builder was happy to open an account with them if they were going to be strict with that rule.

Does anyone know why Howdens only supplies to trade? They must be aware that half their orders are to customers using their builder to order on their behalf.

lala - AFAIK builders get massive kickbacks from Howdens so their price structure is, ahem, different to how it would be if they sold direct. Our builders were very keen for us to choose a Howdens kitchen " as they come ready made up not flat pack, just thinking of you ". [hhmm]

We got an Ikea one.

op - I would want to know how the supplier is able to offer this price. eg. Does he expect to sell a minumum number and therefore is getting a good nett price?

Yes, my joiner was keen for Howdens, we went for Ikea as well . I don't understand why they don't cut out the middleman and sell direct to public perhaps at slightly higher rate - more customers and no kickbacks. Everyone says that the kitchens are nice but buying one seemed so cloak and dagger I couldn't be bothered with it.