When Wickes installed my new kitchen, I noticed an odd, worsening smell that I put down to the ongoing works.
It was nearly two months later that I realised it was gas. My supplier dispatched an emergency engineer, who discovered a leak in the newly fitted hob and categorised it as an immediate danger. The gas supply to the hob was disconnected and Wickes sent a replacement, but no one came to install it.
Three months on, I’m stuck with two hobs, neither of which I can use. Wickes knows I am undergoing cancer treatment and therefore vulnerable, but it doesn’t respond. Lack of cooking facilities is affecting my diet, and the anxiety and stress is not helping my condition.
MA Maidstone, Kent
If it were any other company, I’d be incredulous. Gas appliances must be installed and tested by qualified engineers registered with Gas Safe. It is beyond belief that your installer seemingly did not pick up on a leak that could have resulted in calamity. But regular readers will know that Wickes has some form when it comes to botched installations.
You had demanded that Wickes investigate the blunder and confirm that all the other gas and electrical works undertaken during your renovations meet legal requirements. It apparently ignored you.
It leapt into action only after I questioned its conduct. Within 48 hours, the old hob was removed, the new one connected and a gas safety certificate issued. “I can cook again – it feels great,” you told me.
Wickes never actually admitted wrongdoing in its response to me. It told me that it aims for the highest levels of service and thoroughly vets each installer and their work.
That comes as news to ES of Abingdon, Oxfordshire, whose four-week, £35,000 project to install a Wickes kitchen, utility room and bathroom was into its ninth month when she contacted me.
Along the way, she said, walls and ceilings were damaged, the kitchen and utility room installations proved so substandard that they had to be ripped out, and the kitchen sink had to be replaced four times.
The utility room fittings had to be removed for a second time after the design was found to be inadequate and, because of an IT error, her many calls to report problems with the bathroom were neither noted nor actioned.
“Our house has not been our home for more than eight months,” she said.
Wickes did this time muster an apology that the process “took longer than expected”, but it ignored my questions about the workmanship and poor communications.
The job was completed within a week of my contact and the company offered compensation of £750, which ES described as derisory.
But Wickes’s goodwill had drained away when I alerted it to the plight of MS’s elderly sister, whose £10,000 bathroom refurbishment was supposed to be completed last July.
MS said the fitter only showed up when he felt like it, which was rarely. Family emergencies, annual leave, Covid and, on one occasion, “flea bites” were the varying reasons for his absences, said MS. The fitter demanded immediate payment for additional work, then failed to reappear, leaving the job unfinished, they added.
The shower is leaking, the bathroom radiator remains unconnected, and the loo is unplumbed, MS told me. Wickes, they added, refused to get involved.
And here I’ve hit a brick wall. I have been dealing with this case since November. Every time I chase Wickes, it promises action that doesn’t materialise. It did eventually produce another installer, who arrived unbriefed and unequipped.
Wickes then decided that a full and final settlement of £500.99 would suffice. This sum included £250 in compensation; the balance was to cover the blunders which it expected MS’s sister to sort out herself. And because she has to sort it out herself, Wickes would disqualify the remedial work from its guarantee. When I demanded that the company revise this scandalous offer, it fell silent.
MS is now seeking quotes from independent installers so that they can make a costed claim.
If Wickes refuses that, it is best to take the case to the Furniture and Home Improvements Ombudsman and, if that does not meet the need, a county court claim is the last option.
A shoutout for great service
‘I questioned whether a four-month-old German shepherd counted as normal wear and tear.’ Photograph: Getty
Some companies take customer service literally, and it is time they had a shout-out. “My dog scratched the lenses of my Cocoons sunglasses,” writes LR of Colchester, Essex. “I asked the company if this would damage the UV protection, and the warranty entitled me to a new pair if I paid £2.99 for postage and packing. I questioned whether a four-month-old German shepherd counted as normal wear and tear, but was assured that it was covered.”
Meanwhile, the Canadian company 3 Sprouts, which sells children’s storage units, astounded Londoner RE when the plastic hooks of a door organiser were snapped in a house move. “They said they weren’t able to sell the hooks separately and sent me a whole new organiser” she said.
JB, of London, discovered that Le Creuset’s lifetime guarantee covers human carelessness as well as wear and tear. “I kept my casserole on the fridge, from where it fell, chipping the enamel,” she writes. “It was totally my fault. I asked Le Creuset about a repair. They asked what colour I preferred and sent me a brand new one.”
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