New Kitchen Problems

[devjim]

On the 24th June I had a delivery from Omega kitchens of various units as designed by Trago kitchen department at Newton Abbot, including recommended Candy Double Oven and Microwave unit.

Below are the problems that have appeared

 

1. All items came flat pack, nowhere in the catalogue nor did your staff advise that they where flat pack and the fitter was expecting the units to be constructed, therefore the fitter has charged me an extra £300 to assemble.

 

2. A drawer front had scuffed paintwork, returned for replacement.

 

3. Two of the cupboards had backs of the wrong size both returned for replacement, one back too large and one too small.

 

4. Two hinges supplied incorrectly, parts missing. Replaced after a few days and still the hinge packets had parts missing.

 

5. The cupboard above the oven only has holes at the front for the shelf supports, therefore shelves cannot be fitted.

 

6. The microwave as recommended by Trago and  which was to be built into a microwave unit was too deep. It has now been returned and  it is now down to me to find one that fits as their  expert had no suggestions whatsoever what would fit.

The new microwave cost me an extra £60.

 

7. The double oven recommended by Trago is too small for the opening in the built in unit, which means there is a  gap at the top and the bottom of the oven has a lip that overlaps the shelf it is resting on, therefore the drawer below will not close flush as the drawer below.

 

8. The Double Oven FC9D415X itself has it's problems.

Yesterday evening the top oven was used for the first time and the baking tray has twisted due to the heat, and was virtually impossible to pull out of the oven, not very good having to pull and twist a very hot tray. 

No doubt with further use it will only get worse plus the shelf brackets themselves do not seem very level, once again due to the heat I suspect.

I am not very happy with this situation having paid £380 for something which appears to be not fit for purpose in fact dangerous.

 

I have done nothing over the last few days but run backwards and forwards to Trago at their Newton Abbot branch about all of this, which has meant time and frustration.

 

Because of the missing parts our fitter has not been able to complete the kitchen within the predicted time scale and has had to go onto another job, which means completion now will not be until the end of July.

 

Can i make any claim whatsoever or is it just to be accepted?

 

Thanks for any replies.

[BankFodder]

Well I have to start off saying that it is a shame that you didn't simply stop the installation process immediately and reject the goods. If it is clear that they were not advertised as being flatpack then at that point you were entitled to reject the goods, to reclaim a refund and also any associated costs such as payment for your installers wasted time.

In fact looking at your story it seems to me that every time a new problem came along which effectively gave you an entitlement to stop the contract and to reject the goods, you took action which effectively accepted the situation and continued with the installation. In other words at every step where you could have rejected the contract, you gave up those rights.

It seems to me that you may be saved by the fact that you have just discovered that the cooker doesn't fit and also it has a defect and certainly in respect of the fact that it doesn't fit, there seems to be no particular remedy available other than to purchase a new one.

Under the consumer rights act, if a defect occurs within the first 30 days you can then assert a right to reject the goods and you are entitled to a refund and the supplier has to pay any associated costs including the costs of retrieving the goods. You have passed the 30 day mark.

However if a defect occurs within the first six months then the supplier must be given an opportunity to repair or remedy the situation and if they refuse to or they are unable to then you are entitled to reject the goods.

As I have said, it is a great shame that you have allowed it to go this far because the cost and inconvenience of starting again at zero is quite substantial because you will have to have everything stripped out and returned to the supplier if it turns out that the supplier is not able to address the problems which you have discovered just now.

I think you will have to decide what you want to do – and you will have to decide it quickly instead of going on with this hotchpotch of make do and mend solutions that you seem to be arranging so far.

First off I think that you have got to detail all of the problems that you have discovered – highlighting those that have not been remedied at all – and then write to the supplier, inform them of the problems and give them 14 days to produce a solution. Reading through your list this really means addressing the problem of the misfitting oven than and also of the twisted tray.

However the contents of your letter will depend upon what you would rather do. You could tell the dealer that if they don't sort the problem out within 14 days then you will assert your right to reject the goods and you will organise the stripping out of the entire installation and the return to them and that you will pursue them for a refund and the costs of removal plus any other associated costs.

On the other hand if you want to keep the installation that you have so far then you will simply have to write to the supplier and insist that they find a proper solution to it all and that if they do not do so within 14 days then you will take your own actions to find a solution and you will then be claiming all the costs of this from them.

Additionally – but separately, it seems to me that you have incurred costs such as the costs of assembling the flatpack and also the costs of a new microwave and you should certainly claim these back from the supplier – but you should absolutely check very carefully to make sure that you are right and that the kitchen units have been installed as ready assembled.

I don't think we can give any more advice until you decide what you want to do.