My bloody kitchen...one disaster upon another...

[kitchenemergency]

Very briefly my kitchen is being replaced as part of an insurance claim.

It has taken a very very long time and I basically threw my toys massively out the pram to insist it was finished by Xmas. I've been without a kitchen for many months and the replacement only got the go ahead a few weeks ago.

My previous kitchen was chosen by me and I loved it. This one I already have reservations about...I've attached a couple of photos...

I need to know if im being unreasonable in being unhappy.

My main issues are the difference in height between the larder cupboard and other wall units (in my original kitchen they were the same height)

The brown cupboards. I thought they'd be covered by the outer/ door but the shelves are brown. Nothing else in kitchen is.

I also used to have inset lights in my glass cupboards...these don't.

I just feel it looks cheap. My old kitchen only came from a big DIY chain but looked expensive.

Am I being over critical?

These are both photos from the howdens website of Tewksbury, so they do the option of white carcass and shelves or oak brown.

I'd get them to change.

And get the cabinet with the lights.
There are photos of the Tewksbury with cornice and Pelmet too.

It is one of their higher end kitchens

The doors do have a grain, you just can't see it on the photos.

There is glass in the oak cupboard already...This is clear (was opaque in my old kitchen which would have made the mismatched interior less noticeable!)

I was sent a pdf. No brown cupboards. The layout was wrong and I asked for changes. Never saw a pdf of what I asked for. The pdf also was on different pages so it wasn't clear there would be a difference in height between the wall units.

I like it OP but I totally get how you feel. We had insurance replace a new wooden floor in the kitchen after a leaky pipe caused a flood. The floor originally was dark oak and the new one is more of a medium oak - it makes my ivory cupboards look cream and I bloody hate it. The fitters tried to convince me the new floor was more expensive and better but I just don't believe them.

I think you need to speak up - I wish I had said something.

@kitchenemergency

That's true, seeing it on different pages doesn't exactly show the height difference.
Get them to put it right.

Howdens won't be the problem, they are very good at accepting returns.
It's the contractor the insurer has hired that needs to put this right for you.

Maybe they have rushed a little knowing how long it's taken to get to this point.

Make sure you're happy.

Better to be right than quick

Yanbu, don't be fobbed off. Can you escalate it within the insurance company, is there a claims manager to "take ownership", you sound like you're getting passed from pillar to post.

Sadly the claims manager has been so unhelpful there's little point in discussing it with them - telling me to calm down (when I was calmly asking them to record a complaint) and later suggesting I couldn't remember a discussion we'd had (when I wrote it verbatim)...I'm all set to go to the Insurance ombudsmen once it's all sorted.

Sorry they've been so dreadful
Are you able to mention the company so we can avoid them? (I'm due to renew home insurance next month)

Our contractor was diabolical too. Just awful. It actually made me ill.

It won't matter who the home insurance company is (ours was Legal and General), it's the building co that does the actual work that (in my experience) is the nightmare. And you won't have any control over that.

Looking at the Howdens website, it looks like they do supply pull-out larders like your previous one. I’d be asking them to provide this as a like-for-like replacement.

www.howdens.com/kitchen-accessories/storage/upgrade-full-height-pull-out-larder-accessory-obj-sku-family-hyh1316

I wouldn’t be happy with either the difference in height or the units or the brown internal shelves. The difference in height is really poor and does make it look like a cheap, poorly designed, kitchen.

To be fair these contractors are much better than their predecessors (first ones owner was verbally abusive to me over the phone and his staff damaged my property. Second ones refused to give any time estimate and then when I insisted said they werent prepared to work for me because I had a bad attitude). In comparison the current lot have been loads better. But they are rushing and I am a perfectionist. I should have a job doing snagging on new builds because I can spot every error. Although tbh the ones in my kitchen are pretty bloody noticeable.

I've been awake half the night fretting about this. I've sent an email to the contractors and my insurers with photos saying I'm really unhappy. I sent the photos to my DP (we don't live together so he's a lot less invested in this than me) and his response was that it looked ridiculous. Which furthet confirms in line with a lot of responses on the thread that it really isn't good enough on Howdens/ the builders part.

Hi
Do you not see a plan before agreeing.

The wrong carcass has been ordered for the shelves cupboard.

The cupboard around the fridge is the wrong size.

What an absolute pain. I hated it when we had ours done. It sounds like you have no control because of your situation.

I did see a plan. And asked for changes.

I've been contacted by Howdens who were proper shitty with me. Told me it's quite normal to have wall units 2 different heights and that the glass cupboards are always brown and that is how they're supplied! Didn't accept there are white units on the website.

I felt really patronized and talked down to like I'm a little woman who doesn't understand . I was told it was 'clear' from the plans the units would be different heights (not to me) but then when I pointed out on the plans the top box was much closer to the fridge than it is, AND that the glass cupboards were white inside he had nothing to say.

I feel really unhappy now.

Escalate it.

Your fridge is pretty tall. If the larder cupboard were shorter (to be level with the wall cabinets) would it still leave height for the bridging unit over the fridge, or not? I wonder if you got given the taller larder cupboard so it would work with the bridging unit that you presumably asked for(?) Is the larder cupboard taller than your old one, or are your wall cabinets shorter, or mounted at a different height to previously?

The larder cupboard style (pullout Vs hinged) and oak carcass are clearly wrong but I know how hard it is to stand your ground. Maybe push the fact that you didn't get a chance to approve the final plans?

The Howdens guy won't accept the oak carcass is wrong. He says that's how they come

The bridging unit in my old kitchen was much closer to the top of fridge, a gap of say an inch or so, and the wall cupboards were the same height. The new bridging unit has a much bigger gap above the fridge so that may be the reason. Or the wall cupboards may be shorter. But what I object to is the guy telling me that's normal and how it is, it has to be that high because of my fridge and it's perfectly acceptable for the wall units to be different heights!

Nothing back from Howdens. I'm really not happy especially with how he spoke to me. Completely unprofessional and lacking in customer care.

Put a complaint in then.

For what it's worth I think your best way forward is insisting the larder cupboard is changed, because that is clearly just wrong. Those larder units are £££ so you will have a fight on your hands, but if you win that one you can ensure the replacement cupboard is the right height. You can check the heights of yours and work out if you have been given the right height wall and and larder cupboards, and if wall units have been fitted at the right height to work with the larder. Being Howdens I don't know, but DIY only have 2 standard heights. The shorter one, 1970mm plus legs I think, goes with 720mm standard wall cupboards. It doesn't look to me that the bridging unit would fit if you currently have a tall larder and would be switching it for a "normal" one, but it's difficult to tell on t'interweb.

The cupboard you could consider painting if it's not worth the fight any longer but it does seem to wrong to me. Yes it might "just come" with brown inside but I bet it also "just comes" with white if they pick a different item off the list. Does the rest of the kitchen have brown insides?

This is not something I've dealt with myself but is the contractor handling the whole thing or just fitting what Howdens supplied? I wonder if you need to take it up with the designer (Howdens?) where it's the wrong cabinet rather than a fitting issue. The visualisations aren't always 100% accurate and they will probably have a disclaimer to say so somewhere. Do you have a list of cabinets? If so see if the details (pull out style, carcass colourless are on there.

I've asked for a list of products they wouldn't provide one. I wanted to have extra wide pan drawers either 800 or 900. I got 500 ones...and they're just 2 deep drawers so not for cutlery so pretty useless!

I'm basically being treated like a stupid woman and I am anything but that so it really gets my goat.

None of the kitchen has brown carcasses except those cupboards.

I honestly could not be less impressed with Howdens at the moment.

I'm getting cross on your behalf. Can you stop the work right now and go back to your insurer?
FWIW this is our units that are similar layout to yours - they're the same height (of course)

My insurers aren't interested. I'm expected to sort it all out myself.

Apparently they can alter it so there's a ONLY a 20mm height difference between the cupboards. Howdens attitude is very much suck it up buttercup. So that's nice.

They won't even do basic stuff like tell me what coving they're supplying.

What about the contractor?

The howdens contract will be with the company who has bought and is fitting it for you. Why aren't they doing anything about this? You shouldn't need to be contacting howdens at all with these issues.

They are renowned for being so unhelpful to the general public as that's not who pays the bills

I was dealing with the contractor who apparently were dealing with Howdens. However there seems to be a complete lack of communication. For example in my original kitchen I had lights in my glass fronted cupboards, they came with the kitchen and were fitted when it was installed.

I previously sent an email about this which I never got a reply to.

The Howdens guy says yesterday he'd never been told I had any concerns
So I send him a copy of my email about the lights (And other stuff)
He says he saw that email and discussed it with the contractors.
I say ok - so why have I still not got any lights?
He then says 'Howdens don't do lights' like I've asked him to supply a fucking unicorn.

It's like pulling teeth.

Just a further note can anyone send me a photo showing what Howdens coving looks like? What I had was very like that in user's photo above but I have a feeling I'm going to be told that doesn't exist. I have asked the guy for photos but am still waiting. He's told me he's chosen what he thinks matches what I had despite never having seen my previous Kitchen!