Visitors to the site are reminded that the details contained within user comments are uncorroborated and as such should not be read as fact but as the opinion of the person who left the comment.
Comments:
This company installed my kitchen about 4 years ago. I was lucky in that I had competent installers and the kitchen still looks good.
However, this is a warning about a new sales technique I experienced in February. I was called by Space Kitchens offering me a no-obligation 10% cashback on the cost of my kitchen if I accepted a quote on installing new doors and windows from one of their sister companies. I agreed to a visit from the salesman and he gave me a verbal quote. Since then, I have received no money from Space Kitchens or any response to my letters and calls. I have reported this to Trading Standards. If you have had a similar experience, please report the company to Trading Standards and then some action might be possible.
Good news, they went into administration 11/07/08. Bad news, they took a number of companies for a lot of money;and then re opened for business on the 14/07/08.
Just be careful if considering using them.
Space kitchens have recently gone into receivership and are now under the new name of 'Feature Homes'. Like a great number of others on this site, I have been taken in by this company to find that I cannot replace anything new through them and they owe me several thousand pound, that I am not likely to receive back.
I only had the kitchen in February and have waited for the cashback since then. I did get a cheque that bounced and by that time I couldn't get hold of anyone.
I am told that they have been bought out, but I believe that they are still the same people and haven't been bought out at all. Their practices are dreadful, not leaving you alone until you sign up. i just wish I had been stronger and told them to go away.
Please if you are approached by this company 'Space Kitchens' or even 'Feature Home', turn them away, never mind how good they make it sound.
They also came round to my place and lowered the price enough for me to go with them but I would never recommend using space kitchen (they don't even deserve capital letters) unless you like misinformation, stress, constant errors, laziness, rubbish excuses and massive unapologetic delays. When I signed on the dotted line I was informed the work would be project managed (now that's a laugh) and that it shouldn't take any longer than 2 to 3 weeks. Space kitchen's think they completed the task, which had no structural changes, but only 5 months later. Even then they hadn't finished. They installed a wrong appliance which I have signed documentation from them admitting their error but still they won't replace it for what I actually ordered. ' Oh, they will but at an additional cost.
We had a similar experience to most of the rest of the people on this page - The 'designer' came round and took three hours to try and sell us a kitchen and kept lowering the price. Called his boss on the 'phone three times. He was actually quite a nice bloke but we had said repeatedly that we didn't want a credit deal and that, no matter what the price, we would not be making a decision there and then. He kept on trying but eventually lost interest and we packed him up and sent him on his way.
I actually found it slightly entertaining as he tried every trick in the book and we got quite a nice kitchen design out of it for free. But we won't be buying it from Space Kitchens! We are both young and strong willed, it worries me that they were calling on a street where a lot of elderly people live alone who, after 3 or 4 hours may just get too tired or confused to make a rational decision.
Incidentaly Space Kitchens seem to be using the name 'Fashion Home' in their advertising material, possibly because of the bad press that they are receiving.
We were approached by this company, and the pattern of pestering phone calls led to us setting up a meeting. I didn't realise my partner had done this, so I did some research and came up with this site. We tried to cancel and all of their numbers were withheld so we couldn't.
When the salesman arrived we told him there was no way we were going to deal with a pressure selling company, and handed him the pages of bad feedback.
He was aware of it but said that had been posted by 'their competitors', and that there were some good comments there. I responded saying that some of the good comments looked as though they'd written them themselves, and the bad comments were written in different styles so I knew which ones I was more inclined to believe.
We held our ground and insisted we wouldn't deal with a company that did pressure selling.
The thing that really confirmed for me that I was right was that the guy got his mobile phone out, and started dialing his boss. He said he needed to tell his boss he wasn't just down the pub, i.e. we would have to speak to him.
See the other feedback comments below and you'll find that getting the boss to speak to you is yet another of their pressure selling techniques.
We'd made it abundantly clear we wouldn't deal with them and he still wouldn't go away. We had to shut the door in his face.
They then rang us 10 minutes later to ask if we'd like to reschedule our appointment.
If you, like some other people on this website, get pestered with repeat calls from this company when you have told them you don't want them to contact you any more, this is a breach of your rights under the Data Protection Act and you can report them to the Information Commissioner's Office (website is http://www.ico.gov.uk/)
Space Kitchens - take note - we couldn't care less how good your product is - and feedback about quality varies - this sales technique takes advantage of people who are vulnerable and stressed - we would never buy from you on principle - I suspect we're part of a growing number of people who would feel this way.
Do not attempt buy a kitchen from Space kitchen!!!My wife and I we had a horrible experience with this company. The first appointment they came at 08:00Pm and left at 02:00AM!!!They are very aggressive in selling their kitchen, be aware of that. Anyway the first price was £13.000!!and then they dropped to £6.500 after calling the head office. Still not happy they pursued us come on I am sure you really want it! We said still too expensive, that's it the sale closed.
After a few days we received a phone call from Space kitchen, and they said that we could have the same kitchen a fraction of the cost!We said ok, here we go, booked an other appointment, they came and draw the design in 2 hours. Finished they said will cost us £3300 and we agreed with that, also they made a few changed that we asked. When the surveyer came (this the 3rd appointment by the way!) to finally add the design and measurements in his computer.Finished with that we were very excited in looking our new kitchen. Fine at this point we signed the contract and paid the deposit of £330,and they arrenged the delivery for the coming wednsday. So at this point we ordered our fully integrated dishwasher form the internet.
A few days later they called us to say that the delivery date was postponed to Saturday.
Once again they re-called us saying that the kitchen could not be delivered unless we were prepared to pay an extra £800!!!At thi point my wife and I went furious, disappointed and stressed due to the fact we have already ordered the fully integrated dishwasher!!!After all this nightmares we decided to call customer service to complain. The women said the person responsible is not available at momnet its in meeting right now, just give me your mobile telephone number we'll call you back, this never happened. Once more I called them back to complain again, this time they said they could not deliver the kitchen because they could loose money in building it. Still not happy I explained that I have a contract in front of me which stated the order total of: £3300. My message is simple to the other consumer who want a new kitchen, do not buy a kitchen from Space Kitchen. I never had as bad experience as this one, they also not personally apologised. They will use the same system as they used with us. I never see a kithcen drop in price from £13000 to £3300. You dream kitchen, becomes a nightmare if you buy form them, they are the classic cowboy.Good luck to you all.
I am a property developer covering quite a large area, i have been stung in the past by various companies, due to poor quality kitchen furniture, badly fitted appliances and disappointiing installations that have sometimes taken a matter of months to complete.
I purchased my first space kitchen about 18 months ago, the designers proffessionalism and attention to detail set the standard for the rest of the work that was done.
last week i bought my 3rd space kitchen, i will continue to do business with this company as they have exceeded my expectations with quality, level of service and workmanship.
glad i have found this site. like many ihad a "bad" experience with this company. the salesman and his student stayed for what must have been 4 hours, offered a silly price reduced it,etc etc. I'm sure any one who is reading this will recognze the tactics. The fitters were only moderately bad but time has shown the lack of attention to detail. Trying to get some one to look a the problem was going to cost on top of the overpricing. I feel that this company has no ethics at all and deserves the slating it gets on sites suchas this. To finish they seem to be in league with another company heavily featured on other pages that being weatherseal windows, same approach, tactics, pitch. Feel relived that I made a rule never to sign anything on the day and always to get 3 quotes. suggest you do the same.
I wish I had read this blog before i invited the "designer" from Space Kitchens. We are at an early stageof kitchen buying and hence we are trying to compare and contrast prices and ranges from various companies. So I entered my details on SK's websie and they contacted me immediately. Having had bad experience wiht Moben kitchen in the past, during my very first conversation with their personnel, i mentioned VERY clearly that i am not ready to make a decision and if you are sending someone please do not send a salesmen. Their response, "oh no, we will send our designer who will help you design the kitchen and give you a fully no obligation quote valid for 24 months.." I was a bit skeptical to hear that but thought it was worth a try.
The day before the appointment their Customer Service Manager called to confirm the appointment and yet again i mentioned "i do not want someone to come in and do a hard sales as i am not ready to take a decision now if you think you are wasting your time please do not send someone.." She repeated the same message, "we will send a designer to design a kitchen..who will give you a no obligation quote.."
One the day, the "designer" turns up and the very first conversation i have with him is,"Look Mr Designer, i am not looking to take a decision today so if you think you are here to sell me one, lets end this appointment now.." His response, "i am here to design the kitchen for you and if you dont like i leave.."
He spends 3 hours, yes 3 hours designing the kitchen and taking his time after that produces a figure weird figure of £19,407 and then discounts it down to £12,555, if I make a decision today. At that point I thanked him for the quote and repeated that I am not ready to make a decision. Before i could say anything, he called up his sales colleague and soon i was on the phone with that guy "Tony" who was hard selling me and literally forcing me to sign up there and then. I was so annoyed that i passed the phone back to the designer and told him that we can NEVER have a deal.
Its not very difficult very to see through their tactics - quote a very high price, give instantaneous heavy discount and force the customer to make a hurried decision under heavy sales pressure.
To be honest the designs and styles they have were good and if it wasnt for this "sign-up now" sales experience i would have seriously considered them. But, after this experience, i dont think i will ever recommend inviting the designer to anyone's place.
this company is horrendous. i passed by the website for a second, requested a brochure and that evening was called by them offering an appointment with a kitchen designer. i said i was only researching kitchens and not looking to buy one until the end of this year. they insisted that the appointment would be beneficial and a quote would be provided. i cancelled the appointment twice, only to be hounded to make another one. i gave in and the "kitchen designer" (actually sales man) arrived at my home at 2pm. after 2 hours of telling me about the company he measured the itchen and started work on proposing the design. i had to leave to collect my daughter from school, he sat in his car and waited for me to return to give me the price. he then came in again and continued working on his figures whilst i made my daughers tea and fed her. eventually around 6pm he gave me a price of over £15,000! i have a small kitchen and was shocked. he said if i signed up right now, and became a Feature Home client, it would go down to £10,000. this is included providing me with new cooker and hob, so I said i would rather keep my 2 year old NEFF appliance, but no I had to have theirs. i said it was too expensive, and pointed out i didnt have the money until later in the year. he then dropped the price to £9,000. In between many calls to his "boss" to obtain "subsidies" available for my area. he then offers me the kitchen on credit. i say no - I am a single mum and cant afford £200 per month! BY now it is 7pm, my daughter needs her bath and I am getting really tired after 5 hours of this. Somehow by constant pressure at 8pm he gets me to agree to sign up for the kitchen, on credit. I have given in, my daughter, still not bathed should be in bed. I had to get rid of him. Thankfully I know I can cancel an agreement within 7 days. After he leaves at 8.10pm i check the small print for cancellation rights. Yes i can cancel, it advises that the form should be sent recorded delivery! Yeah... I also see the credit is @ 20.4% APR - over 10 years! A joke. In the morning I stop the deposit cheque with my bank and send a cancellation request - recorded delivery. Since then, which was 2 days, they have constantly been calling me on my home numver and mobile. I had a lucky escape, but how many people will get sucked into this? Its like being in a timeshare presentation except they are in your own home... beware - dont even make the appointment.
I almost got suckered into buying a kitchen from Space Kitchens. The salesman went through a design for me and then punched in some figures into his calculator. It looked like he was giving the best discount on earth. The figure went from £12000 to £6000. The final figure went to £4600. I was about to sign up but fate had it that my sister turned up.
She said it was all too expensive and told the guy to leave. And I also had a call from his manager who was really making it sound cheap.
I then foolishly went and gave a £100 deposit to RockSolid Kitchen who were about to flog me a kitchen made from bin liners and card board boxes. I lost my £100 deposit after asking them to take the kitchen back.
They fitted a new kitchen for us at the beginning of this year. Quite soon afterwards, the "magic corner" broke. Since then we have contacted them numerous times, but in spite of this, no one has come to fix it.
I would not recommend this company to my neighbours dog. The fitter left the pipes to the sink leaking and we now have mould and fungus on the walls. the sub floor is soaking wet. What are Space kitchens doing about it...... they repaired the leak but have done nothing to sort out the damage caused. The managers are rude and unhelpful, never call you back when they say they will and when you complain you get passed back to the person you complained about. A nightmare experience from the beginning.
I am disappointed when comments are made suggesting that the sales people are conmen. The truth is often that people apply for jobs in this company fully expecting to be working for a honest organisation. Having left good jobs believing in the hype given at interview stage. The reality however is some what different, and now finding that the control and leverage that this company exerts means that honest individuals find that they have to lie and cheat just to be paid the basic minimum. Most of the time the Space Kitchen rep only get paid his £50 when he has completed a minimum of four hour in your house and only when his manager has spoken to you on your phone from your house. Spare a thought for the poor sales guy or girl who is trained to add 100% to the cost to give you 50% discount, what a great deal!!! And if you don’t by which you wont his manager will further reduce the price by another 50% the sales guy gets nothing and Space Kitchens will make a minimum of £3000 per contract. Sounds like a great deal for some one, but not you and not the Sales Guy!!!!
The kitchen design produced by the salesman - who was new to the company - was not perfect but the defects were spotted and corrected by the surveyor who produced for us the design of a kitchen which perfectly met our needs.
The kitchen was delivered according to schedule; all elements were present and correct.
The installer worked diligently and meticulously so that the end product completely matched the expectations which had been created by the salesman.
Throughout the project progress was monitored by the company - generally over the telephone but with one site visit during the installation.
We have had kitchens or bathrooms installed by other nationwide firms and by local 'boutique' providers: our experience with space kitchens was that the service provided far exceeded that of any other supplier we have used.
I had cold caller at the door suggesing I may be able to get a free kitchen. The 3 people I spoke on the phone afterwards backed this up, but I was also told that even if I didn't get that I would get fantastic discounts, no obligation to buy, and a price that would be fixed for 1 year! Sounds too good to be true well it is. After arriving 1hr late and after 2.5hrs, not until 10.30 pm did I get told disount the from £11,000 to £7,500 applied at that tme only.... BEWARE AS THEY ARE MISLEADING !
As some others, we were contacted by Space kitchens, they were offering us a free kitchen, 30 mins later we had a sales guy sat in our front room not taking no thanks for an answer - he even put me onto his boss over the the telephone who was very rude to me. Making accusations that I was waisting their precious sales time.... since then almost every month we get a phone call from them - we ask to be taken off their contact lists and each time they fail to remember to do so!! on oscassion when they realise that we are not happy they just put the phone down.... awful customer service awful telephone manner completely unprofessional should not be operating as a company! There phone calls are boarding on harrasement now!
Do not use this company!! They have not got a clue on customer care once they have fitted your kitchen taken your money it is impossible to contact them again. The Manager is never in the office for you to speak too and also will never return your calls. I would rather have gone to MFI or B&Q I'm sure i would have recieved better service and care.
I too was contacted by this company, 4 hours later the salesman (con man) got round to telling me the price over 14,000 but with discounts and buy it today price it was reduced to 9,000 and that was suppost to be with free appliance till my husband asked and then he said ohh and took it off the price so i spoke to a joiner and also to Magnet who had a good laugh and then told me i could have the kitchen with ALL appliances for 3,600. so my advice DONT even let them in your home i had to inform them my dad was half owner of the property just to get rid of the guy, later that night the sales manager phoned so i told him i had done a bit of research in to the price and he said that they could not beat it (didnt think so ) and left me in peace. No doubt i will get a call in the future and teh know what they can do with their kitchens.
kitchen fitted in september. parts missing still not been sent. by november one of the drawers melting cos near the cooker, flame in oven keeps going out - brand new cooker but they are trying to say its the cooker that is faulty! my dishwasher now leaks - it didn't before. they say its because its an old one. extractor fan light bulb went. changed them now and it doesnt work at all. kitchen drainer stinks cos stuff cant go down properly cos of angle of pipe. been phoning them since november an inspector came around january. what they going to do about it? still waiting. lovely kitchen going to last 5 years? i dont think so
I bought a kitchen from this shower paid 9K for a load of crap.
The fitting team where a disgrace.
Finaly the kitchen got fininshed, after 3 weeks the intergrated fridge door fell off and the internal corner unit fell out upon looking there was 1 screw holding in the fixture.
Customer Service Crap
Kitchen Crap
Would of been better off going to DIY store and doing it yourself.
DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY. We had to kick the guy out of our house at 11pm after 4 & half hours. Then received nasty phone calls from his manager. Have since received cold calls about 3/4 time a month. They will not take us off their register even though we have since had a new kitchen fitted. I have today received two further calls that were insulting/abusive. If you have problems then call h/o 01254 583883 ask for customer service - you have to wait a long time but they will take you off their register. Also ask to speak to company director Maurice Denton.
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Visitors to the site are reminded that the details contained within user comments are uncorroborated and as such should not be read as fact but as the opinion of the person who left the comment.
Comments:
However, this is a warning about a new sales technique I experienced in February. I was called by Space Kitchens offering me a no-obligation 10% cashback on the cost of my kitchen if I accepted a quote on installing new doors and windows from one of their sister companies. I agreed to a visit from the salesman and he gave me a verbal quote. Since then, I have received no money from Space Kitchens or any response to my letters and calls. I have reported this to Trading Standards. If you have had a similar experience, please report the company to Trading Standards and then some action might be possible.
Just be careful if considering using them.
simeon at 31st Jul 2008, 09:36PM
I only had the kitchen in February and have waited for the cashback since then. I did get a cheque that bounced and by that time I couldn't get hold of anyone.
I am told that they have been bought out, but I believe that they are still the same people and haven't been bought out at all. Their practices are dreadful, not leaving you alone until you sign up. i just wish I had been stronger and told them to go away.
Please if you are approached by this company 'Space Kitchens' or even 'Feature Home', turn them away, never mind how good they make it sound.
I actually found it slightly entertaining as he tried every trick in the book and we got quite a nice kitchen design out of it for free. But we won't be buying it from Space Kitchens! We are both young and strong willed, it worries me that they were calling on a street where a lot of elderly people live alone who, after 3 or 4 hours may just get too tired or confused to make a rational decision.
Incidentaly Space Kitchens seem to be using the name 'Fashion Home' in their advertising material, possibly because of the bad press that they are receiving.
When the salesman arrived we told him there was no way we were going to deal with a pressure selling company, and handed him the pages of bad feedback.
He was aware of it but said that had been posted by 'their competitors', and that there were some good comments there. I responded saying that some of the good comments looked as though they'd written them themselves, and the bad comments were written in different styles so I knew which ones I was more inclined to believe.
We held our ground and insisted we wouldn't deal with a company that did pressure selling.
The thing that really confirmed for me that I was right was that the guy got his mobile phone out, and started dialing his boss. He said he needed to tell his boss he wasn't just down the pub, i.e. we would have to speak to him.
See the other feedback comments below and you'll find that getting the boss to speak to you is yet another of their pressure selling techniques.
We'd made it abundantly clear we wouldn't deal with them and he still wouldn't go away. We had to shut the door in his face.
They then rang us 10 minutes later to ask if we'd like to reschedule our appointment.
If you, like some other people on this website, get pestered with repeat calls from this company when you have told them you don't want them to contact you any more, this is a breach of your rights under the Data Protection Act and you can report them to the Information Commissioner's Office (website is http://www.ico.gov.uk/)
Space Kitchens - take note - we couldn't care less how good your product is - and feedback about quality varies - this sales technique takes advantage of people who are vulnerable and stressed - we would never buy from you on principle - I suspect we're part of a growing number of people who would feel this way.
After a few days we received a phone call from Space kitchen, and they said that we could have the same kitchen a fraction of the cost!We said ok, here we go, booked an other appointment, they came and draw the design in 2 hours. Finished they said will cost us £3300 and we agreed with that, also they made a few changed that we asked. When the surveyer came (this the 3rd appointment by the way!) to finally add the design and measurements in his computer.Finished with that we were very excited in looking our new kitchen. Fine at this point we signed the contract and paid the deposit of £330,and they arrenged the delivery for the coming wednsday. So at this point we ordered our fully integrated dishwasher form the internet.
A few days later they called us to say that the delivery date was postponed to Saturday.
Once again they re-called us saying that the kitchen could not be delivered unless we were prepared to pay an extra £800!!!At thi point my wife and I went furious, disappointed and stressed due to the fact we have already ordered the fully integrated dishwasher!!!After all this nightmares we decided to call customer service to complain. The women said the person responsible is not available at momnet its in meeting right now, just give me your mobile telephone number we'll call you back, this never happened. Once more I called them back to complain again, this time they said they could not deliver the kitchen because they could loose money in building it. Still not happy I explained that I have a contract in front of me which stated the order total of: £3300. My message is simple to the other consumer who want a new kitchen, do not buy a kitchen from Space Kitchen. I never had as bad experience as this one, they also not personally apologised. They will use the same system as they used with us. I never see a kithcen drop in price from £13000 to £3300. You dream kitchen, becomes a nightmare if you buy form them, they are the classic cowboy.Good luck to you all.
I purchased my first space kitchen about 18 months ago, the designers proffessionalism and attention to detail set the standard for the rest of the work that was done.
last week i bought my 3rd space kitchen, i will continue to do business with this company as they have exceeded my expectations with quality, level of service and workmanship.
The day before the appointment their Customer Service Manager called to confirm the appointment and yet again i mentioned "i do not want someone to come in and do a hard sales as i am not ready to take a decision now if you think you are wasting your time please do not send someone.." She repeated the same message, "we will send a designer to design a kitchen..who will give you a no obligation quote.."
One the day, the "designer" turns up and the very first conversation i have with him is,"Look Mr Designer, i am not looking to take a decision today so if you think you are here to sell me one, lets end this appointment now.." His response, "i am here to design the kitchen for you and if you dont like i leave.."
He spends 3 hours, yes 3 hours designing the kitchen and taking his time after that produces a figure weird figure of £19,407 and then discounts it down to £12,555, if I make a decision today. At that point I thanked him for the quote and repeated that I am not ready to make a decision. Before i could say anything, he called up his sales colleague and soon i was on the phone with that guy "Tony" who was hard selling me and literally forcing me to sign up there and then. I was so annoyed that i passed the phone back to the designer and told him that we can NEVER have a deal.
Its not very difficult very to see through their tactics - quote a very high price, give instantaneous heavy discount and force the customer to make a hurried decision under heavy sales pressure.
To be honest the designs and styles they have were good and if it wasnt for this "sign-up now" sales experience i would have seriously considered them. But, after this experience, i dont think i will ever recommend inviting the designer to anyone's place.
She said it was all too expensive and told the guy to leave. And I also had a call from his manager who was really making it sound cheap.
I then foolishly went and gave a £100 deposit to RockSolid Kitchen who were about to flog me a kitchen made from bin liners and card board boxes. I lost my £100 deposit after asking them to take the kitchen back.
My advise stick to MFI, B&Q and Magnets.
The kitchen was delivered according to schedule; all elements were present and correct.
The installer worked diligently and meticulously so that the end product completely matched the expectations which had been created by the salesman.
Throughout the project progress was monitored by the company - generally over the telephone but with one site visit during the installation.
We have had kitchens or bathrooms installed by other nationwide firms and by local 'boutique' providers: our experience with space kitchens was that the service provided far exceeded that of any other supplier we have used.
http://myspacekitchen.blogspot.com/
The fitting team where a disgrace.
Finaly the kitchen got fininshed, after 3 weeks the intergrated fridge door fell off and the internal corner unit fell out upon looking there was 1 screw holding in the fixture.
Customer Service Crap
Kitchen Crap
Would of been better off going to DIY store and doing it yourself.
DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY
See Watchdog website for further complaints
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