Installation to date...... We have had such fun getting our kitchen installed, that I have finally decided that I should keep a blog to record the actions (or lack of them) by Kitchen Kraft.

The following entry is a retrospective of the installation from October through to the end of December 2005.

Doug Simpson visited on 10^th November to carry out a final survey, prior to an installation which was booked for the week commencing 28^th November. Doug identified a number of minor issues with the design, which we happy to have corrected.

Doug later contacted us to advise that he had not been able to locate a supplier for “antique pitted” Himalayan Blue granite. We advised Doug that we had seen the particular style of granite in both Magnet and Panorama, and that we believed that Magnet’s supplier was a company called Whitehalls. We also started our own investigations to find a supplier for Himalayan Blue granite.

A few days later, Doug called to say that he had managed to secure a supply of our selected granite. Again, I expressed my concern over the potential for expensive mistakes, and asked that we should be shown a sample of the granite prior to ordering. I was advised that the worktop suppliers would be able to provide a sample when they came to template the worktops.

On Friday 25^th November, I received a telephone call from KK's office to confirm that the fitters would be arriving on Monday to take out the old kitchen, and that I needed to have a building society cheque ready to pay on delivery of the kitchen units. Later in the day, I received a further telephone call to advise that the building works team were at my house, unable to gain entry to remove the old kitchen. Doh!

On the following Monday (28^th November) the “building works” team arrived late in the afternoon to remove (as I thought) the old kitchen units. In fact, they were only there to remove the wall units and tiles – they could not remove the base units as this involved disconnecting a gas hob and sink. This was doubly annoying, as I had made arrangements to be home from work all day, and was expecting to be able to get floor tiles laid where the old base units had been during Monday evening. I realise that it is common practice not to have floor tiles laid until after the kitchen has been installed, but I was keen to have a completely clean and uniform floor laid wall-to-wall.

The next day, the fitters arrived and proceeded to remove the base units. I was given the opportunity to quickly lay my remaining floor tiles once the base units had been removed and before the new units were delivered late in the afternoon.

Installation continued on the Wednesday, with the fitters making good progress at setting out the base units and appliances. I raised some concerns over the electrical installation, as it transpired that we were going to be left with just one double socket once the installation was complete. I also noted that a redundant socket from the old kitchen was being left mid-cable behind the new units, and another cable had been extended using a chocolate-block connector wrapped in insulating tape. This, to me, looked to be lazy workmanship on the part of the fitters.

I also noted that the unit by the dining-room door was narrower than we anticipated, and was only a base unit, with no display cabinet over. We were told by the fitters to take these matters up with Ray, our project manager – as far as they were concerned, the job-sheet did not show any electrical works being required.

Ray agreed that the fitters should modify the electrical installation in order to provide adequate power outlets. He also agreed, as a goodwill gesture, to provide the dresser unit which had been omitted from the plans.

By Thursday, we were advised that our cooker would not be arriving for a further two weeks and that it would not be possible to template the granite worktops until the cooker was in place.

I noted at this point that the peninsular unit (a major feature of the kitchen design) was completely out of line with the floor tiles. We had discovered when the floor tiles were being laid that the room was not completely square, so had lined the tiles up with the end wall of the kitchen. Unfortunately, this was not the wall that the peninsular unit had been lined up to. We could also see that an additional wall-unit was required to balance out the design (and prevent a double power socket from disappearing behind a dresser unit). Other minor snags included a completely unstable carousel in a corner unit, unsecured power outlets and sinks that would not hold water.

We had a telephone conversation with the MD of Kitchen Kraft during this time, and were assured that they would get the job right, and that someone had been to Panorama Kitchens’ showroom in Prenton to determine exactly what style of granite worktop we had requested. This had now been ordered, and they were awaiting delivery.

I received a letter from KK's office requesting that I complete a customer satisfaction survey. As I was far from satisfied, and still waiting for the job to be completed, I ignored this letter. Some time later I had a telephone call from the office reminding me that I had not completed the survey, and attempting to arrange a visit for someone to deliver a complimentary bottle of wine and obtain our feedback on the installation. I pointed out that our installation was going badly, and was far from complete.

Further work on the kitchen was then halted, pending delivery of the cooker. This was scheduled for Thursday 15^th December. Given that we had a number of issues with the installation, Ray arranged a site meeting with the fitters on Wednesday 14^th. There was still no sign of the granite worktops at this time. I had been in touch with Ray, and had also spoken to your granite suppliers who advised that the granite had been ordered and was “waiting to be shipped from Italy”. Samples of the granite would not be available until the material had arrived at the stone-yard.

During the site meeting the fitters first tried to say that it would be impossible to get the peninsular unit to line up with the floor tiles. I stood my ground, and argued that it was more important that the peninsular unit was parallel to the end wall of the kitchen (and hence in line with the floor tiles) than it was to be perpendicular to the side wall. After much argument, the fitters finally agreed that it COULD be fixed, but that it would take at least 2 days to achieve. Ray agreed that this work should be done. Other snags pointed out at this time included holes in the plasterwork and an unsecured (potentially unsafe) mains socket outlet which had been left hanging from the wall since the start of the job when the building team removed the wall tiles. I also pointed out that the mains socket providing power to the cooker hood and microwave was not attached to anything solid, and would need fixing to the wall.

The fitters spent the rest of the day fixing a new carousel, cornice and pelmets, leaving the peninsular unit for the next day.

On the Thursday (15^th December) the fitters arrived, as usual after 9am. By shortly after 1pm, they had installed the new cooker, and realigned the peninsular unit (so much for this being a 2-day job!) My wife returned home at 2pm to find that the fitters had gone, leaving a pile of packaging from the cooker blowing around the garden, unsecured temporary worktops, a unit with no worktop, screws, fixings and other debris on the floor and in the cupboards. A power socket was still in an unsecured and unsafe state. The fitters told my wife that they would now be on holiday until after Christmas. We were also advised by Ray that there was no chance of the granite arriving before Christmas and that the material ordered was the wrong thickness so even if it HAD arrived, it would not be suitable. In desperation, we agreed to visit your suppliers, Prestige Marble, to see if they had any alternative granite suitable for our worktop.

On Friday 16^th December, my wife and I gave up a day of our Christmas holiday to go looking at granite. We discovered that the people at Prestige Marble had no idea what “Antique Pitted” granite looked like, and were unable to supply such a finish. Clearly no-one had been to look at the samples on display in Chester or Prenton.

We had a telephone conversation with Ray to express our displeasure and annoyance, and to point out that the kitchen had not been left in an acceptable state considering that we would now be living with temporary (in some instances non-existent) worktop over the Christmas holiday. To his credit, Ray came out straight away to examine the job, and to measure up new temporary worktops which he delivered the next day. However, it took a further three telephone calls to get the rubbish from the cooker installation removed, and the waste pipes to the sink made watertight.

  ¶ 7:53 AM