The following is a catalogue of errors, disasters and general incompetence,
in chronological order, we have experienced during the installation of our new
Moben kitchen. At the end of this document is 7 items outstanding with the kitchen
installation that requires Moben’s immediate attention.
06-06-01
The Moben designer, JB, visits and our order is placed with Moben for
£10,612 and a deposit of £1,286 is paid. Installation is requested
for February 2002. We agree with the designer that the existing Moben kitchen
is to be removed carefully as we intend to re-use this in our cellar area; also
a single built in cupboard carcase is to be reused, albeit with new doors fitted.
Nov
2001 Survey arranged for 13-12-01. 12-12-01 Survey postponed, I telephoned
Moben (0161 872 2422) to inform them of this but the surveyor still arrived on
13-12-01 and cannot get into the house.
05-01-02 Jim Wallace
surveys the kitchen and delivery is confirmed at 06-05-02, with installation at
13-05-02. The order value is reduced by £250.00 due to changes in the work
top specifications. Also agreed was the re-use of one of the existing built-in
cupboard carcases and the careful removal of the units for our re-use.
04-03-02
Telephoned Livingston office and then Manchester to bring forward delivery
and installation by two weeks due to holiday commitments. Delivery is arranged
for w/c 22-04-02 and installation for w/c 29-04-02.
28-03-02 Whilst
trying to work out the project plan for the kitchen installation, despite numerous
requests of assistance from Moben all of which were ignored, we realised that
the stainless steel back panel for the range cooker had been omitted from the
order, we ordered this with Livingston office and paid for this by Visa. Inquired
about the £250.00 order reduction and was told a cheque would be sent to
me.
05-04-02 A letter was received from Moben apologising
that the kitchen would have to be delivered w/c 15-04-02, not w/c 22-04-02 as
previously arranged
07-04-02 Telephone call from K at Moben
arranging delivery of the kitchen during w/c 22-04-02, contrary to the letter
received earlier – delivery arranged for 24-04-02 before 10.00am.
22-04-02 Telephone Moben Livingston office to inquire about the removal of the existing
Moben kitchen units prior to the fit on Monday to allow for the plastering of
the walls, this was required as we had to remove wall tiles. 24-04-02
Delivery Company arrived at 9.30am and delivered the majority of the kitchen
units, the worktops were on back order and therefore not delivered, as per your
work order 156338.
24-04-02 Telephone Moben Livingston office
to chase the inquiry about the removal of the existing Moben kitchen units and
was told that the removal company would phone.
24-04-02 S.B.M. telephoned
to arrange removal of the kitchen units on 26-04-02; they also offered (at an
additional cost to me) to plaster the walls on the afternoon of 26-04-02 stating
that they usually did this for Moben anyway. I arranged to have this service also
from S.B.M.
26-04-02 I telephoned the Moben Manchester customer
services number to ask the whereabouts of the worktops and was told they would
be delivered either today or on Monday. 3 workmen from S.B.M. arrived at 10.30am
to remove the kitchen units. After first using my toilet facilities in a very
malodorous way, they then proceeded to try and remove the cabinets. I had arranged
for my own electricians to be present to fit new lighting, which was fortunate.
The S.B.M. workmen were removing a carcase which had an internal plug socket fitted
(there were approximately 4 of these including the electrical points for the cooker
and hood all of which were detailed on the survey documents), they asked my electricians
if these were live – a rather stupid question as the kitchen had been fully
operational prior to their visit.
My electricians were forced to help
these workmen remove the electrical sockets and then make them safe until the
new units were fitted on Monday, as the workmen did not have the skills to do
this. I was walking through the kitchen when I noticed the workmen trying to remove
the cupboard carcase that was to be left, I advised them of this and they left
this alone although removing some of the shelf brackets without replacing them.
The workmen left at 2.30pm stating that another team would be visiting
that afternoon to remove the gas hob (and cupboard to which it was fitted) and
the kitchen sink (ditto on the cupboard). At 3.30pm the next team had not arrived
and I rang the Livingston office and was given the telephone number for S.B.M.
I was advised by S.B.M. that the next team might have to come on Saturday morning
as time was running a little short, after numerous chasing telephone calls to
them until 6.00pm on Friday, I was given no further information. I telephoned
S.B.M. again on Saturday morning and also the Moben Livingston office to find
out if the fitters were coming on Saturday to remove the rest of the kitchen –
no one returned my calls, gave me any further information or visited to remove
the remaining units and appliances.
I was left with a seriously butchered
kitchen (only the sink and gas hob remained), and was unable to arrange for my
own plaster to start work making good the area where the tiles had been removed
as by this time it was apparent to me that S.B.M. did not have the skills to complete
the plastering and were very unreliable.
28-04-02 The Moben
fitter, JW, telephoned me to inform me that they would be arriving at 8.30am on
Monday.
29-04-02 The Moben fitters JW and R arrived at 8.30am
as promised, I asked for and was shown JW CORGI registration card prior to removal
of my gas appliance due to the recent adverse media attention that Moben gas fitters
had received. During the afternoon I was advised by JW that the worktops would
not be with me today, in fact the manufacture of them had not yet started. I was
extremely concerned about this and rang Moben Manchester customer services and
spoke to GC, he advised me that the worktops should be with me on Wednesday or
Thursday, he could not confirm which day as he could not contact the manufacturers
until the following day. I also asked to talk to someone regarding compensation
for this as I would be left without a kitchen sink until Friday, it also meant
that the rest of the kitchen would be pretty much unusable until the work tops
were fitted. After holding for approximately 15 minutes to speak to his manager
who was on the telephone, I was told that he would call me the following day regarding
delivery of the worktops and also ask his manager to call me to discuss compensation.
30-04-02 The kitchen fitting was proceeding and by the end of the day all the carcases
for the base and wall units were fitted. The range cooker was put in place and
the cooker hood was fitted, obviously no worktops (and kitchen sink) or doors
were fitted. GC telephoned me to advise me that the work tops would be delivered
on Wednesday morning, as requested by the fitters, by this time I was aware that
the fitters would be leaving that evening and not returning until Friday morning
as they had been sent to another job. I asked GC to confirm that the fitters would
be there on Wednesday to fit the worktops, I also spoke to the fitters and they
informed me, again, that they wouldn’t be returning until Friday as it would
be highly unlikely that the worktops would arrive on Wednesday morning, based
on their previous experience. I was telephoned about 4pm by Moben to ask if the
worktops could be delivered on Thursday as the Moben driver was collecting from
Manchester and delivering to Glasgow on the Wednesday. It was explained to me
that they would be safer with the Moben delivery driver than with a carrier, I
reluctantly agreed to have them delivered on Thursday as I knew that the fitters
would not be returning until Friday – the fitters were informed of this change.
01-05-02 At approximately
3pm a carrier arrived (not a Moben delivery driver) with my worktops plus some
additional items the fitters required (I think they were for the kicker plates).
I was slightly confused as it was Wednesday, and they were delivered by carrier,
which I was advised the previous day might not be as careful with the very delicate
work tops as the Moben delivery drivers.
02-05-02 I telephoned
Moben Livingston to advise them that due to a new floor that was being fitted,
the cooker hood would have to be raised by 18mm, and the top of the open basket
carcase had been damaged, something that would not have happened had the work
tops been present. The Installation Manager called me and confirmed that there
would be no problem moving the hood. S from the Livingston sales office had previously
advised me that the fitters normally carried spares of the carcase tops as this
was a common occurrence but, at my insistence, also informed the fitters and/or
Installation Manager that this would require fixing.
03-05-02 The
fitters, JW and R, arrived at 8.30am and completed the installation of the kitchen,
they left at 4.15pm. The decals on the hinges state “Kitchens Direct”,
I bought from Moben Kitchens, not its budget sister company. A skip had been arranged
for 3pm and after numerous chasing telephone calls by JW it had still not arrived
when they left. The skip arrived at 4.20pm and I was left to inform the driver
that he would have to load the rubbish/remaining kitchen units etc. that had been
left on my newly paved front garden area since Monday himself. Some of the items
were too heavy for him to manage alone and I was forced to offer my assistance.
I then started the clean up operation in my kitchen, although the fitters had
tidied round to some extent, the use of a circular saw in the kitchen meant a
lot of sawdust etc was still present. Whilst cleaning I noticed that two of the
doors and the side of the carcase of the open basket unit had dents in them. My
husband returned from work and noticed that the drawer handles had been put at
the top of each drawer, not in the middle of each drawer as per the brochure.
My husband also noticed that the decorative edgings for the open shelf/drawer
units had been fixed to the outside of the carcase, not the insides as per the
brochure.
07-05-02 I telephoned Moben Manchester and asked to
speak to GC as he was engaged I asked to speak to his manager. I was put through
to S? and tried to relate this catalogue of disasters to her, first mentioning
that she had not called me back despite two requests to GC for her to do this,
she denied ever receiving these messages to call. After being put on hold she
came back to me and apologised for this but told me to bear with GC as he was
new, something that I am not prepared to do. S then asked me to get to the point
as she was busy as it was Monday morning, I did correct her on this as it is in
fact Tuesday, and she then told me that the “tale” could be put in writing
and she would read this when she had more time and come back to me. I lost my
temper completely at this and still incensed I was told that she would get someone
to call to arrange to view the problems and make a report. I asked once again
about compensation and was told that this would be sorted out once Moben completed
the installation to my satisfaction.
The following 7 items are outstanding
and we require these to be addressed by close of business today.
1. 2 doors have dents in them 2.
The open drawer carcase has a dent, this is in keeping with one of the dents in
the door and looks like something has been dropped or rammed into it, possible
the kick plates. 3. The replacement and repositioning of the drawer units and
handles so they are central. 4. The replacement and repositioning of the decorative
edging on the open shelving/drawer carcases, please note that in at least one
case these have been glued to the carcase. 5. Replacement of the “Kitchens
Direct” hinge decals. 6. Either the reduction in the finance amount by
£250.00 or a cheque payable to ourselves. 7. Compensation, we want this
sorted out now, not when the installation is complete.
