Bathroom refit, anyone used Soak.com or Victorianplumbing?

[earthangel797]

Hi,

I am about to refit my small bathroom and have zero experience in this. I have a fitter but I have to chose/order the items myself. Has anyone used soak.com or victorianplumbing or better bathrooms? I don't think its great to order items without seeing them first but most of these websites don't have showrooms. Just need to know if the quality is generally good?

We ordered a sink vanity and toilet from Victorian Plumbing and then ended up getting the rest (family bathroom vanity too) at a local bathroom shop. The price was on a par but the difference in quality stark, the Victorian Plumbing vanity is cheap and flimsy compared to the family bathroom one. I'd now only buy stuff that I've seen first. Have a look for small local firms

We have just been through this. We have a reliable plumber so told him our rough budget and style and he recommended some brands and told us which ones to avoid. We then looked around a LOT of bathroom showrooms (independent and chain though we found the independent ones much better!) and decided on what we liked. We then ordered via our plumber's preferred (local, independent) supplier as we knew he was happy to work with them. He ordered it all on his account for us to get his trade discount.

I used victoria plumb (different but similar to Victorian plumb) I think the quality is variable - you might be lucky or might not. There are also reports of issues with delivery.

My order was fine, I'm super happy with the bathroom for the price. I had one issue with a tap but they sent a replacement no drama at all.

We've been through this too, spent ages looking round showrooms. We used Victoria plum for a lot of it in the end and find it fine, customer service was good and quality seems fine. There was loads of choice and styles we liked.

Have used on line but when it came to fitting we had to change one if bathrooms (was doing whole house refurb). Spent a fortune sending stuff back by courier. On line very much cheaper despite courier fees but it was a PITA!

Look at QS supplies - they were a lot cheaper than the others and most things had a 10 year guarantee - plus the info in thickness grade etc

Several plumbers said get a cheaper toilet as it made no difference

Example bath panel screen was £400 cheaper

We ordered the sink off eBay - limited to size its fine

We ordered the toilet form b&q

All matches fine

Tiles were cheaper online as well if you fined ones you like and google them we saved £15 SQ MT

Shop round is the best advice

Total - suite taps shower mirror tiles - totaled £1500 - we had an expensive mirror!! Google Bluetooth mirrors - we want the kids to use this rather than the ensuite

Make sure you buy the recommended wastes etc - as there or U.K. Sizing and European sizes - which can make fitting difficult

We chose wall mounted taps with additional shower as well as a double shower head for the main one - all plumber said the bar showers were by far the easiest to install and maintain if there and future issues

Look at Grohe taps or Bristan ones for quality - again price is worth shoppingw round

Thanks for all the advice Everyone. Guess I'd better dedicate my Sunday to looking around independent bathroom shops.

Do not use Soak.com!!!!

Awful company. Complaint not resolved after 4 months.

Faulty sink and awful customer service.

The staff do not have a clue about the products and will look to blame your installer if all else fails.

AVOID AVOID AVOID!!!!

Hi OP

I've just finished rennovating my house, which included a new master bathroom, two ensuites and a downstairs cloakroom.

I found all my tradespeople first & went with their recommendations wherever possible.

I fell in love with this bath at Victorian Plumbing, then ended up getting the rest of the same range. My local independent was a third more expensive for the same range.

I also used Victorian Plumbing for bits in both ensuites & for my cloakroom suite. Couldn't fault them, everything arrived when they said it would and nothing was ever missing or broken.

My plumber got all the sundries (wastes/pipes/valves) etc. from local independents, where they were much cheaper.

That bath is the most comfortable one I've ever had, it's fabulous

Good luck!

see my recent review of soak uk.trustpilot.com/review/soak.com

Hi Everyone,

I recently did a bathroom up and got bits from the bathstore, which I was very pleased with and Victorian Plumbing, which was dreadful.

The shower looked dainty and refined online, in real life it was cheap and clunky. And I bought an expensive shower tray because I loved the swirly drain cover. It arrived without this. For 6 weeks I have been trying to get them to help sort it. 40 minutes on the phone, someone called Karl Lee was lovely and said they’d help personally, then emailed me from info@ rather then their personal email so I was back to the beginning of the queue. Then someone called Daniel Ponsonby picked up the ticket and closed it, without doing anything to solve it. It’s been dreadful. ALL the pictures on their website show the lovely drain cover and nowhere do they mention it’s not included or different.

Honestly, I think they rely on the fact that their products are sold online and difficult to return so they can get away with them looking better than they are. I mean any company that takes on a variation of their then competitors name (Victoria Plum) to hijack traffic to their website and confuse people as to which shop they’re buying from, says it all really.

I can recommend bathstore and I have heard good things about soak. I would also recommend seeing items in person as much as you can. It’s really difficult and expensive to return bathroom items.

Good luck.

Victoria Plumbing take your money and then you struggle to resolve issues.
I had a £1000 bath fitted, I then noticed micro blisters around the top.. I waited 2 to 3 weeks for another one, they wanted the first one back before delivery of the new one.
My plumber removed the damaged bath, they picked it up and delivered another one, this also was damaged.
They said again send it back for another replacement, this would take several weeks, so rather than be left without a bath or shower in the house we had to fit the new damaged bath.
So I’ve got a bath, that’s damaged, they have refused to cover any of the plumbing costs as they say I shouldn’t of fitted it.
They have said if I keep the bath they will reduce bit by £100, the plumbing cost so far is £680 plus vat.
The bath is damaged on the back that is not that noticeable.. I am forced to take the £100 as I cannot afford to add to the £680 plumbing cost..
I have sent several emails, they do not care about anyone but taking your money.
My advice is stay away from Victoria Plumbing.

Vitoria Plumbing take your money and then you struggle to resolve issues.
I had a £1000 bath fitted, I then noticed micro blisters around the top.. I waited 2 to 3 weeks for another one, they wanted the first one back before delivery of the new one.
My plumber removed the damaged bath, they picked it up and delivered another one, this also was damaged.
They said again send it back for another replacement, this would take several weeks, so rather than be left without a bath or shower in the house we had to fit the new damaged bath.
So I’ve got a bath, that’s damaged, they have refused to cover any of the plumbing costs as they say I shouldn’t of fitted it.
They have said if I keep the bath they will reduce bit by £100, the plumbing cost so far is £680 plus vat.
The bath is damaged on the back that is not that noticeable.. I am forced to take the £100 as I cannot afford to add to the £680 plumbing cost..
I have sent several emails, they do not care about anyone but taking your money.
My advice is stay away from Victoria Plumbing.

Just in case anyone is still reading this. Go to an independent company and go local. You may pay a tad more (and that is by no means certain) but you will save in grief, postage, phone calls, stress. Any issues...they are there...you can see them face to face. Altogether more enjoyable and easy.....and you will talk to someone who actually understands plumbing......I am shuddering to remember trying to explain to on-line supplier they had sent a wrong tap.......

Definitely wouldn’t ever use Victoria plumbing... I should of read the reviews..

Sharing my experience of Victorian Plumbing
I spent over £4000 with them last year. I had a cistern fail causing a flood. Luckily I was in so no lasting damage. The cost of the emergency call out plus a second visit to fix the cistern was £135.
I was given the runaround for three months before they decided not to reimburse me.
I will never use them again and would ask anyone to think twice before using them.