Better Kitchens Avis 

I bought this kitchen in August and I waited a few months before reviewing (I rarely do).
The customer service whilst polite, is poor. They forgot to deliver a side cover for one of the drawer. It was supposed to be fitted and it wasn't. I had to wait 10 days for it to arrive. They also forgot to send a couple of hinges which we waited for as well. I called twice to have those send. After a week I called again as it had not arrived. I was told the previous person forgot to send them ... hence the 10 days wait.
I did not pay much attention at the time but it is not very good.
BUT the more annoying thing is the quality of the kitchen itself. Better kitchen they are not.
The central island I bought look very good but the fact that they put doors on both sides make very wobbly and there is not easy way to fix this. It makes it fairly dangerous with a granite top on it. I am still trying to find a solution to put some internal support to keep it square and stable.
The doors again look very good (nice thick doors) but they are very fragile, hence after 3 months we have already 3 chips on them. So it will age very badly .... I now look at these every time I go to the kitchen.
The internal shelves are very shallow and do not reach close to the door, therefore you lose some space. I therefore made them bigger by cutting a 2cm strip and sticking it at the back of each shelf.
The quality if the carcasses is poor and some cutting (especially in the corner units ) is chipped in various places which make them look very amateurish.
Overall, the best thing is the price. It is cheap ... sadly, it feels cheap as well. If I had to buy another kitchen I would wait until I can afford something of a better quality.
I did buy the same style 3 or 4 years ago from Selco, it is still in as good a condition as when I fitted them. One of the reasons why I bought from them was they had a very good range than the other suppliers within my budget (for instance getting an under sink cupboard for a Belfast sink was not easy). And the second reason I bought from them is I thought it would be of a better quality than what I bought before from Selco.
It definitely is not.
Not recommended overall.
PS: this is not a stroppy review ... I just want you guys to be aware of the points above. It is a shame I cannot put some pictures.

I purchased some units for a utility room in August 2019 and due to COVID-19 these were fitted during November 2019. I noticed a mark on the ‘dummy’ drawer unit a couple of days ago, and I touched this and the high gloss finish crumbled away, and I then noticed that two other corners were the same. I contacted Better Kitchens online including a photograph of the damage and received a response stating that I should have reported damages within 48 hours of delivery.

I rang Better Kitchens today to inform them this was not a damaged item but a faulty item, as having had a previous high gloss kitchen for over 17 years I had never experienced this issue before. I was then told that having spoken to someone else, the photograph clearly shows that the item had been damaged. I asked what could possibly have sustained this type of damage in three areas and was told “well I don’t know I wasn’t there when it was damaged”.

Absolutely appalling customer service, I am at a loss as to why I would send a photograph of an item that they seem to think I had wilfully damaged and request a replacement. I would just remind people that if you order from this company, do check your items when they are received and, unfortunately if you do receive a faulty item, fully expect them to wriggle out of their clearly poor workmanship. Disappointed is an understatement. Whilst I am here, to be honest the unit was rubbish, I purchased a Belfast unit for a Belfast sink and the unit was so low my installer had to build up the bottom to enable the sink to be used at a reasonable height - I never complained about this but so wish I had now. Be very careful when you use this company.

March 2020 I was eventually contacted by the company and I received, free of charge, a replacement part. It was extremely kind of Better Kitchens and very much appreciated but unfortunately the bad customer service I experienced would make me wary of using this company ever again and I would not recommend as I would hate for a friend to have to go through the same stress. Definitely a thumbs up for resolving the issue but the time that this took would not make me use them again. Tbh they refuse to accept that there was an issue with the part and keep saying that I should have reported it when I received the part.....it was fine when it was received, clearly there was a fault with the product.

Very pleased with the quality of our kitchen carcasses and doors. Great help with the design of the kitchen too. Our delivery was during the first lockdown and there were a few hick ups with timings unsurprisingly and a couple of items missing. However, these were sorted out and we are still pleased that we chose this company as the quality was far better than others we had looked at but at a much better price. We did visit the showroom before lockdown which helped in the decision to go with this company. My husband installed the kitchen and it has been reasonably straightforward. We are very pleased with the kitchen and Better Kitchens have always responded to queries even if a little slow on occasion but I blame that totally on the pandemic and the issues that caused. Staff were always courteous and helpful.

As someone who has fitted many kitchens,most of which were supplied by well known DIY stores, I was blown away with the quality of the units, doors, and drawer runners supplied by Better Kitchens. Not only is the quality of these units far superior to those being sold by DIY stores, but they cost far less as well.

When I first found this company online, I was a little hesitant about placing the order with them, as I live in Scotland and they are based in England. I was concerned about what would happen should items arrive without hinges, shelves etc. However, I was amazed to get to the end of the job with not as much as a missing screw and to find everything I ordered was 100% as expected.

This is a company I will use again and I will have no hesitation recommending them to others.

Tom Mc Kendrick

After looking round some well known kitchen companies we thought we would look online as well. From the initial email through to delivery the Better Kitchens team were very helpful and quick to respond. Any issues / questions we had were dealt with swiftly and resolved even during the situation with COVID. The kitchen themselves are really good and solid, they come with all doors / draws on so a huge time saving. Definitely recommend and will be using them again in the new year to do the utility!

Fantastic service, beautiful product, The delivery was on schedule, with the product carefully protected. I fit Kitchens for a living and was very impressed with the efficiency of entire supply chain. Definitely 5stars

I'm currently looking for a kitchen, and found Better Kitchens has some very attractive "example" prices on their site. I printed their list of what was included in the example, and began to work through it, adding each to my basket. By the time I had added all 19 units included in the example price, the total was three times what was advertised.

I called Better Kitchens to find out what I was doing wrong, and why the price I was being shown was so different from what they advertised. They told me there was a "technical problem" with the prices. All of them!

In short, Better Kitchens' advertised "example prices" are completely unattainable and, as far as I could tell, deceptive.

EDIT: adding my response to the company response below.

My basket total is £3,091.39 (see quotation SO45503) for a list of items that you advertise will cost £1,091.91 (Millwood Conifer, U-shape).

Which is correct?

We’ve had no problems
Couple of calls pre order to make sure we were getting everything correct
Ordered totally online remember to include shipping in your budget
Guide for shipping date is only a guide hoped for half term as the guide said but once ordered gave me a date of the week beginning 2/11 came on the 4/11
Checked off the van everything there lad on van was as helpful as could be under guidelines etc
We ordered assembled to save time on installation, the only way I would ever do it again yes they are heavy and awkward when assembled but if you’ve got it right it just slots in to place
The units are strong and sturdy and well packed to avoid and damage in transit
You 48hours from delivery to check everything is in order and it was
Been simple from the start the hardest thing has been getting someone to install the gas hob!!
Nothing to do with better kitchens though
They have been great good communication throughout very happy with the kitchen
Which was probably more than half the price it would have been in Wren and just the same quality
The wife’s happy so I’m happy
Well done betterkitchens and thank you

All the kitchen units arrived in time, with no damage and everything i ordered.
I have received a call a day earlier to confirm the date and time, next morning your team delivered the kitchen at the time it was scheduled.

The quality of the kitchen is brilliant and much cheaper compared to any other company i could find.

I am very grateful for Marks help, from the chat services, as very recently one of my kitchen door has been damaged by someone who came to install my hob. He tried to find a solution for me to get the door replaced even though the range of my kitchen was discontinued. I am very pleased to see that Mark went beyond his role and helped me.

Thank you Better Kitchen for your amazing services and brilliant quality.

Daniela

To have a good experience with this company, you would have to be very lucky. Too many items arrived in poor condition to warrant the price, and we are still waiting almost 3 months down the line from purchase for items to arrive (yes, they have sent us the same item damaged, twice). Terrible communication on all parts, having to chase constantly for any form of information. The world is in a funny way right now, but there is no way they couldn't keep in touch with their customers and manage some expectations. Even with such a delay, they will refuse any form of refund or compensation, worth baring in mind when working with tradesmen. Please think carefully about buying from Better Kitchens.

We had a great customer service experience and are delighted with our new kitchen. The team couldn’t help enough, the planning and drawings were spot on. Delivery when expected even during Covid and all arrived in perfect condition.
Yes I read the reviews first - some are bad, but most are good. We took the risk - and it worked! Couldn’t be happier.

I won't bore you with a detailed review. I will just say dealing with them has been a stressful headache for months & one I wish to forget.
Deal with them at your own peril, but take heed of all the bad reviews about their customer service because unfortunately it is all true.
My niece was showing me a kitchen she had seen on their site & I steered her well clear.

Great kitchens but poor customer service, Kitchen arrived but no worktops only to be told that they were no longer able to supply them, some items missed, took ages to get replacement items, had to send numerous e mails and a lot of the time got no response. I ordered touch up paint none arrived, was told it was going to be sent out, still didn't arrive, eventually told we don't need the paint they don't do it but I was still charged. Eventually got refunds, sent an e mail over a week ago but got no response. Now stuck with a drawer front that I have to try to put on as my kitchen fitter left weeks ago, but they don't seem interested.

Initially unsure of using an online service I really shouldn’t have been concerned. We visited the showroom and found the kitchens to be of excellent quality. The sales team were excellent and delivered a full plan in no time at all. We ordered the kitchen (a real timber shaker at this price was impossible to find elsewhere) and used the colour match service which is excellent. When the kitchen arrived, the fitter was highly complimentary of the quality. Although it was straightforward to fit the few questions we did have were dealt with promptly and swiftly. Similarly when we changed our minds on the worktop the sales team dealt with the change seamlessly. All in all I highly recommend this company. Way better than the normal DIY warehouse alternatives.

Please do not use this company.
I ordered my kitchen in June. 7 weeks later, after chasing a number of times, SOME of my kitchen arrived. Doors were missing, plinths, handles, and a unit were also missing.
The customer service team apologised and agreed to rectify asap as I had tradesmen booked to fit the kitchen. They didnt rectify. They sent a couple of bit of wood to "make do" as the missing unit (a tray space). I ended up having to go to Wickes to buy a similar coloured unit to allow the tradesman to fit the kitchen and plumb in ect.
The doors turned up much later and the plinth turned up on Friday last week - Nearly 12 weeks after I first ordered the kitchen. I could have had a bespoke kitchen measured, made and fitted in half that time from a company such as Wren.
I wasted many days off work waiting for deliveries which never turned up. Constantly being promised it would be sorted but it wasnt.
The final straw was last week when I was ringing up to chase the plinth (again). I rang customer services and asked to speak to Mark Scott - the one dealing with our order - he was "on the phone" at the time and I was promised he would ring straight back, he didnt, I rang again 2 hours later, same thing happened. And again an hour later - "still on phone". So I asked my husband to call and not give our surname - funny enough he was transferred straight through. To make mistakes is one thing but to purposely ignore calls is not acceptable.
Do not use this company. Go to Wickes - they were so helpful when I was trying to find a stand in unit to make up for Better Kitchens joke of a service.

Purchasing a complete kitchen online was a bit of a leap of faith, especially as payment is made up front. I have to say I had no need to worry and Better Kitchens delivered a quality kitchen 100% complete when they promised. I fit a lot of kitchens supplied by Bowdens and Henchmarx, they are almost always short on the delivery and I can honestly say that my Better Kitchens delivery is probably of a higher quality. Everything is pre-assembled and the hardware is very good quality. It was great to be able to specify a carcass colour - something you can't do with the High Street names. I will definitely use Better Kitchens again in the future and highly recommend them. Thanks very much.

We bought a couple of cabinets for our utility room. The product is largely good (although one door has come of its hinge after two weeks) and the people are polite. However, not only did the products take weeks to get to us, one of the items was oddly left off the delivery, as something went wrong in the assembly process it seems. It then also didn’t arrive at the next delivery date about a week later. We had to repeatedly chase for a new ETA as we heard nothing, and it finally arrived a few days later again. This put our project back even further, and our booked builders too (the wider job dependent on that installation). No compensation for what was their error was ever offered, nor the impact of the delay acknowledged, which I find poor.

Also, the delivery guy tried to drop the cabinet in the road, leaving me to leave me to lift it (impossible), saying there was no drop curb - until I pointed to the drop curb at the end of the pavement a few feet away. Once dropped on the pavement in front of our house, he left the large pallet and protector board with us, saying he couldn’t take them back. We are now having to pay for a large collection to get rid of these items, which takes up our time, and money, further.

Really disappointing all round. Considering Better Kitchens talk about improved customer service and “keeping the customer in the loop at all times”, this makes the above even worse. In contrast, Wren, their competitors, were absolutely perfect for a previous order for a kitchen, and come highly recommended by us.

Faulty items and poor after sales communication.
This is the second time we've used Better Kitchens and what a change in quality / customer service, the first time was excellent service and very helpful sales, this time, what a shock!
Items arrived late and damaged (work top / breakfast panels) after struggling to get hold of the customer service team (always answer machine and never phoned you back) I was told different stories each time, in the end I asked for cash back to purchase the items elsewhere and had to chase the refund daily!

Would I recommend: definitely not due to the second purchase, (only 9 months apart)

The quality of the units and the expedience from order to delivery were first class. Secondly, I'd like to thank you for your customer support, the chap I spoke to on the phone when I was having trouble working out the orientation of the soft close cupboard hinges was more than happy to provide over and above the requested information.

DIY is a bit frustrating, however, the cabinets are really strong and the finish of the painted doors is really nice.

Better Kitchens should provide better literature to support people doing DIY, but even without it's all possible if you are proficient at DIY (which I imagine you would be if you buy a kitchen DIY)

Few issues with communication and items delivers however better kitchens resolved them all promptly (after getting over the communication issues :) ), Kitchen is fitted now and looks great.