Those bathroom conversion ads in the national press

[wack61]

In October my father in law passed away, he was 80, about 12 months ago he had someone in to remove the bath and replace it with a shower.

They were there 2 days.

They removed the bath and replaced it with a shower tray the same size, fitted 2 sheets of waterproof boarding over the tiles, 1 glass side, a shower curtain an electric shower , a seat and some crappy lino on the floor

They did no tiling, didn't replace the sink or toilet

It looks crap

I've just been told what it cost £8,500

Must be a nice feeling when they go to sleep thinking about how many pensioners they've ripped off

 

[tiler65]

They give my trade a bad name.

I can't believe how much they charge. Its like they hard sell a high price then they say well I can give you a 35% discount but in reality their prices are way too high in the first place.

A lot of the figures are now swamped by INSURANCE and red tape.

This country is the market leader in red tape.

 

[candlestick]

If it was Dolphin bathrooms, then it wouldn't surprise me - them, Sharp Bedrooms and Moben kitchens are all part of the same cowboy group that I had the misfortune to deal with a few years ago!!

 

[Flash In The Pan]

A few years back some cowboy persuaded my 80-yr old neighbour to get a "new roof" on her house, took a £500 cash deposit off her and a cheque for £5000.

All he did was paint the roof tiles, fortunately he did this on a weekend, so I got the cheque stopped for her on the Monday - the guy never came back....

 

[-Rob-]

I'm running out of this thread right now. I have builders in my house doing a loft conversion as we speak. Luckily it's a fixed price and quite a reasonable one at that so I'm not getting ripped off. I'm also checking their work every night when I get home so if they cut any corners (which they certainly don't appear to be) then I'll be on to them straight away.

The elderly are easy prey for builders because they can't check up on what they are doing so they just trust them and hand over the cash.

 

[Tazmaniandevil]

20-odd years ago I sub-contracted to Moben. Back then their kitchens were the best quality on the market, with a price tag to match. We, as installers, had extremely tight quality control standards to adhere to, and part of our payment was withheld until the customer was fully satisfied with their kitchen.
After the great Moben/Dolphin merger things started to go downhill. The kitchens are no longer the same quality, and the installation teams are often semi-skilled rather than trades people. (I wouldn't go as far as to call them cowboys, not wanting sued, but some are less semi-skilled than others)
My biggest issue with these "home solutions" companies is their sales techniques. They "design" your kitchen/bathroom/bedroom around the maximum number of units etc. they can squeeze in, rather than creating something usable.

 

[candlestick]

20-odd years ago I sub-contracted to Moben. Back then their kitchens were the best quality on the market, with a price tag to match. We, as installers, had extremely tight quality control standards to adhere to, and part of our payment was withheld until the customer was fully satisfied with their kitchen.
After the great Moben/Dolphin merger things started to go downhill. The kitchens are no longer the same quality, and the installation teams are often semi-skilled rather than trades people. (I wouldn't go as far as to call them cowboys, not wanting sued, but some are less semi-skilled than others)
My biggest issue with these "home solutions" companies is their sales techniques. They "design" your kitchen/bathroom/bedroom around the maximum number of units etc. they can squeeze in, rather than creating something usable.

They are a joke - hard selling techniques (we had a 'kitchen designer' still in our kitchen at Midnight on Boxing Day a couple of years ago, payment up front, crap product (see Kitchens Direct), extortionate pricing, and poor customer service (I had verbal threats when I dealt with them).

We ended up going to Trading Standards, who, after a strongly worded letter to their head office, managed to get our full £1500 deposit back from them.

Oh, and I will call them cowboys, because they are!!!

 

[tiler65]

They are a joke - hard selling techniques (we had a 'kitchen designer' still in our kitchen at Midnight on Boxing Day a couple of years ago, payment up front, crap product (see Kitchens Direct), extortionate pricing, and poor customer service (I had verbal threats when I dealt with them).

We ended up going to Trading Standards, who, after a strongly worded letter to their head office, managed to get our full £1500 deposit back from them.

Oh, and I will call them cowboys, because they are!!!

Howdy pardner.

 

[candlestick]

 

[mj4456]

I never pay an upfront deposit for anything and will not pay any bill untill i've seen and are happy with the work, a large reputable company will have sufficient funds not to need the deposit and be confident that their work will ensure payment.
A couple of years back my mother decided to have the drive reblocked(unknown to me), I turned up one evening to find the guys leaving with the job partly done and reckoned it wasn't a bad job, only when a guy with a pickup turned up to collect the "old blocks" did I get angry, they were disposing of them foc as a favour! I soon stopped that and made a few quid back for my Ma.
Although the work itself has been ok sofar.