Kitchen Company Looking for Payment Up-Front??

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DubShelley

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Hi All,

We are getting some extra units installed in our kitchen - will cost us approx. €1,000. The kitchen company can't install it till the end of January but they are saying they need us to pay the full amount up front before they will do anything.

Does anyone know if this is normal?? Or should they just be asking for a deposit?

Thanks,
Michelle
 
We were told that we would have to pay 10% to book our kitchen. The price is fixed at this stage, even if materials go up.

No way would I fork out 100% for a job not finished. Payment is the one really good lever you have to get problems sorted out!
 
NO Chance, go bust and where would you be, I know MFI went bust in Belfast and loads of people out of pocket - Don't mind the " we are massive etc or we are busy and have no problems with our books !"
 
You'd be crazy to pay up front. I'm sure theres plenty of other places happy to do the work.
 
This request may tell you something about the state of the company.

If you pay all up front you have no leverage in getting the job finished.

A request for a deposit is perfectly reasonable, depending on whether they are bespoke or standard units.

SSE
 
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if they want you to pay upfront ask them for a bond from an insurance company in relation to the works been completed ..... love to see their faces

and then ask them for a large discount as they dont have to worry about cashflow.........
 
If you pay by credit card, then you are fully covered against the company going bust.

I would agree not to pay 100%, but they are right to charge people something up front for custom made kitchens. If you change your mind, they would have gone to a lot of expense and might not be able to recover it.

Brendan
 
I know a guy who two years ago saw a deal in limerick city. Pay for your kitchen in full in december and get free fitting. They did and lo and behold kitchen crowd up and left. He didnt know till he drove by and seen place boarded up.

With our house we kept back a good chunk of money with each tradesman we had in till a few weeks after wards to check out for problems. I wouldnt pay all up front. My Dad always said a fool and his money are easily parted.
 
Brendan said:
If you pay by credit card, then you are fully covered against the company going bust.

I would agree not to pay 100%, but they are right to charge people something up front for custom made kitchens. If you change your mind, they would have gone to a lot of expense and might not be able to recover it.

Brendan
Click to expand...

Not really custom made. They did the kitchens in all the apartments in our development so it's fairly standard. Where everyone else has 3 large presses above the sink, we have a window so it leaves us really tight on space.

The guy we're dealing with is really ignorant but unfortunately, as they fitted the original kitchen and the doors on the units are quite unusual, we have no choice but to go with them.
 
Hi Shelly
Are The Kitchen Company Installing The Kitchen For You Or Is It An Independent Fitter That You Will Pay When You Are Happy And The Kitchen Is Completed
 
pjtjegooner said:
Hi Shelly
Are The Kitchen Company Installing The Kitchen For You Or Is It An Independent Fitter That You Will Pay When You Are Happy And The Kitchen Is Completed
Click to expand...


It's the Kitchen company installing the kitchen...they're the ones looking for 100% payment.

Its a long story but basically they have us over a barrell...we were originally going to get the extra units fitted by another Kitchen company which my cousin works for and got us a really good deal with. However, they couldn`t match up the unit doors for us and the original kitchen company wouldn`t give us the name of them either.

We tried every avenue to get the name of these doors but at this stage I just want them done so we decided to go with the original company...even though it really pains me to hand over money them!!!
 
DubShelley said:
... However, they couldn`t match up the unit doors for us and the original kitchen company wouldn`t give us the name of them either...
Click to expand...

Could your cousin. who is in the trade, buy the doors from them and do the rest of the work?
 
I believe the posher kitchen people ask for it all up front but you can insist on holding some back or payment on the day of completion.
 
mathepac said:
Could your cousin. who is in the trade, buy the doors from them and do the rest of the work?
Click to expand...

They don't sell direct to anyone, they will only supply the doors if they are fitting the kitchen.

But there has been a development....we managed to find the name of the company that supplies the units to kitchen company!! So my boyfriend just called in with a door off the unit and they are going to make the units for about €400 less...we just have to get someone to fit them which will cost us feck all as we know a few carpenters...not sure about the deposit yet but definitely not 100% up front!

So a happy ending...I can't wait to tell the other crowd to SHOVE IT :D :D :D
 
We are unfortunately a pair of poor suckers who paid for our kitchen up front 2 days before Christmas and low and behold I opened the Sunday Times yesterday and the co. have gone into examinership.

Our only saving grace is that we did put the entire cost of kitchen on our credit card so I'm assuming we will get full refund if we don't take delivery of the kitchen? We've already started the process with the credit card company

I know it's not the end of the world it's the bloody inconvienence of it as kitchen was to go in early jan and we're on a tight schedule as it is.
 
God, hope that works out ok, Brack, at least you have the credit card guarantee which is very handy.

OP, I think a charge of up to 50% is entirely reasonable for a job of this nature, it is a small job that I have heard of companies refusing to do at all... a deposit of 30% to 40% couldn't be argued with, even 50% to 70% in the case of your job as maybe it would be a complete loss for the company if you withdrew, and it may cost them 50% to 60% to manufacture and finish the cabinets.

On the other hand they could be overcharging, it's not definite as small jobs are never economical, 1K seems quite good for extra cabinets and fitting.

I'm glad to hear you got the doors elsewhere... I was going to suggest you post pictures of the doors here, and see if anyone knows a place to get them.

Cheers
 
When I got the kitchen installed in my new build, I ordered three extra presses for the utility room, which came to €500. Kitchen company insisted on payment upfront too. In fairness, I think they had a bit of hassle with people holding onto their money because something else was wrong with their house and that type of thing, so I think thats where it came out of.

I was not too worried at the time, because builder was still on site and he had good leverage with them at the time, but I would think twice about paying upfront for something now.
 
You dont have to pay for anything up front anymore. If they want your money then let them do it your way. I would pay 10% up front and then nothing till all is finished to your satisfaction. If they dont agree go somewhere else.
 
Just to jump in there on this thread...

We went to sort out a bedroom wardrobes recently with Kitchen World
They have asked for 50% deposit and they said they won't take the remaining 50% until the day before delivery.
We then pay the fitters separately after the job is done.

KW have gone into examinership also. [broken link removed]

Should we proceed with the wardrobes or hold off? If we pay the deposit by cc, are we covered in case they go into liquidation between the time we put the deposit down and delivery?
 
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