Anyone use Howden's?

[Flynnwood]

The law that came into force circa 22 weeks ago.

The act which supplements and expands rights from the 1977, 1979, 1982 & 1999 acts on the and their various amendments, which themselves also made a distinction between consumer and non-consumer purchasers of goods?

Jelly, do you have a link to that Act? I can't find it, hence my question to Jacob.

 

[No skills]

Benchmarx better quality?? They must of upped their game, I fitted a kitchen of theirs a few years ago and the carcasses were only a touch better than b&q

 

[chippy1970]

Benchmarx better quality?? They must of upped their game, I fitted a kitchen of theirs a few years ago and the carcasses were only a touch better than b&q

Yeah me too that's why I was surprised

I fitted 3 big benchmarx kitchens a few years back on a small set of detached houses we built. The main builder uses Travis Perkins so benchmarx supplied the kitchens.

The carcases and fittings were all good but the fronts were all rubbish. The solid oak painted doors all split and some joints came apart.

All I can say is that these basic gloss white slab door units I fitted last week were much better than Howdens.

The panels cut really nice with my ts55 and just felt much better quality than howdens stuff. It maybe just this particular model but I doubt it.

Best of all the staff are very clued up in my local branch unlike howdens morons

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[MBcarpentry]

Yeah I'v had a trade account for years with howdens and pretty much agree with other comments price variations between branches can be massive but on the most part what they sell is decent and you can haggle them down. On the kitchen side of things there units are much better qaulity that the magnet trade range but agree most joinery supplies can be had for less from builders merchants. I will continue to use them and if buying a lot of stuff from them I ring the 3 local branches to me and take the best price.

 

[sawdust1]

The prices will vary depending on who you speak to at a branch as well.
I use Howdens a lot for kitchens Door and other odds and ends. Fitted around 10 of their kitchens for lets and would say they
are ok, not the best quality, but its what you pay for.
I know them all well at our branch, the kitchen designer will produce plans and a computer image from a scrap of paper and
gives me 2 prices, mine and one for the customers.
The annoying thing for me is they charge £95 to deliver a kitchen, when i spoke to the manager about this charge he said it
was because they us a man with a van.
I don't see how they can continue to be trade only when they have full page adverts in all the glossy magazines, and only say
in small writing trade only. It does cause a lot of hassle for the staff as our local branch who get lots of joe public calling in expecting to buy a kitchen.

 

[Graham Orm]

Do it. They are giving away Milwaukee cordless drivers for signing up. I've been a trade account user for years and know the manager well, so I managed to bag myself one. I offered it for sale on here but there were no takers so sold it on Ebay. All my kit is Dewalt so i now have a new Dewalt 4ah battery on its way thanks to Howdens. I've had masses of freebies off them over the years. Bottles of wine, saws, chisels and more wine. I'm extremely happy with my local branch and use them every week. The kit is always superb and you should be getting very competitive prices.

 

[Selwyn]

So who makes the best kitchens then? (at a reasonable price)

 

[Graham Orm]

So who makes the best kitchens then? (at a reasonable price)

I can only speak from my own experience.
Anything from B&Q & Wickes feels poorer quality generally than Howdens. If there's something missing or broken Howdens have always brought it to site for me same day or next day. Their stuff is always superb. I have been badgered by Magnets a few times and asked them to price a job eventually, after ringing once to see why the price hadn't come back after a week, I decided that they weren't for me. I still haven't got the price and the kitchen was fitted 2 years ago.

Of course this may all be reversed and vary greatly region to region and branch to branch. Wherever you go take the time to get on first name terms with the staff and manager, it works in your favour constantly, I favour loyalty to a supplier rather than chasing the best price. You get better after sales and get better treated generally.

 

[Jacob]

So who makes the best kitchens then? (at a reasonable price)

Don't know about "best" but IKEA certainly OK.

 

[Graham Orm]

So who makes the best kitchens then? (at a reasonable price)

Don't know about "best" but IKEA certainly OK.

Never handled one Jacob but they look good. I have done a repair on one and the plumbing kit was very weird.

 

[chippy1970]

If you can up your budget just a bit then there's lots of better kitchens. Omega, crown imperial and pronorm are all very well made.

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