I of 3 Previous emails sent to Wickes 10th November 2009 I wish to make a complaint concerning the appalling treatment I have received from your Cardiff branch. I have been treated badly by your company and have contacted Trading Standards who are in agreement and have taken up our case. I am left with no kitchen until January 2010 after being told five weeks ago that the kitchen will be fitted within 4 to 6 weeks. I have constantly been given conflicting information by various members of Wick’s staff including the manager of the Wicks store I have been unfortunate enough to deal with. I feel the problem lies in the fact that Wicks has taken on too many customers who have bought half price kitchens. This has left Wicks with not enough fitters to go around. I was told five weeks ago that my kitchen would be fitted within 4 to six weeks. I have been given a constant flow of conflicting information, by different members of staff, regarding the installation of the kitchen. On querying this information we have ‘conveniently’ been offered a full refund or we will still have to wait until after Christmas for the kitchen to be installed – no explanation as to why they are not honouring the original installation date. I am very angry at the way I have been given the run around and fully intend to take this as far as I am able. The cavalier manner in which the Cardiff branch has conducted them selves has been nothing short of disgusting. I will be sending a full account of the whole sorry business to the Managing Director, Mr Jeremy Bird Mr L Cicero 11th December 2009 The above information was sent by email to one of your departments around 10th November 2009. Someone – a woman – rang me back and asked me to make a full complaint after the kitchen had been fitted. I’m now wondering if the kitchen will EVER be finished. The fitters were due to arrived on 27th November around 9.00am. When they failed to arrive I made yet more phone calls and they finally turned up in the afternoon, to start the five day fitting. It is now the 11th December and the kitchen is STILL not finished. We are waiting for the fitters to return to fit the larder unit and also to fix the leaking sink – we have a bowl under the new sink unit to catch the leaking water – also one of the upstands have fallen off and another is about to do so. We have lived in chaos without a kitchen for weeks and weeks, trying to wash dishes etc in the tiny sink in the tiny cloakroom under the stairs, with all the contents of the kitchen strewn around the downstairs rooms and we are STILL waiting for the fitters to return after one of the units (larder unit) was found to be damaged on opening. 2 of 3 Cont’d Another was ordered for next day delivery. It turned up two days later – damaged. Another was ordered to be delivered on Monday 7th November. We were asked to wait in between 7.00am – 19.00 for delivery, which we did. Nothing happened by late afternoon. Because of our past experience in dealing with Wickes staff we rang Wickes to find out what time delivery of the unit would possibly be and was told that they do not deliver on Mondays and that we had been given the wrong information. The person (Angela from the Cardiff branch of Wickes) who had given me the ‘wrong information’ was on holiday. What a waste of time! We were advised – yet again – to stay in and wait for another delivery for the next day. Another unit was delivered the next day – Tuesday – and it was damaged. By then I knew we would have problems with the fitters turning up that week (because they are inundated with work – their words) when the Monday delivery did not happen and Tuesdays delivery was yet again damaged. Back to square one! We have three damaged unit/carcasses hanging around the house creating even more chaos. My wife suggested that the fitters could possibly match up the undamaged parts from each damaged delivery. They agreed to this and we have been told that they will be here this Saturday 13th December – I’ll believe it when I see it. The whole experience of dealing with Wickes ‘totally unprofessional, ‘pass the buck staff’ especially coming up to Christmas, has been extremely frustrating and stressful to the point where my wife – who is not in good health – had to spend a week in Yorkshire with my son to get away from it all only to find on return that it is still ongoing. The above is a quick outline of what we have had to put up with so far. I fully intend to put all this and more in a letter to the managing director of Wickes who I strongly advise should read other customer complaints I found on the net concerning Wickes incompetence because his salary depends on CUSTOMERS! L&J Cicero 3 of 3 12th December 2009 Fitters turned up at 9.00am – couldn’t fit the unit because it was DAMAGED but advised us that another unit would be delivered on Tuesday. I rang and spoke to Craig (Manager) who said that it would not be delivered on Tuesday Wickes would not get the order until Monday and it would possibly be next Saturday 19th December, before the unit is fitted. I’m now beginning to worry about the quality of the units. Either they are made of extremely poor material or the van driver needs to be replaced. Three units arriving damaged – definitely something wrong in transit. As seems to be the norm for Wickes, each person I spoke to gave different information so I really do not know whether the kitchen will be finished this side of Christmas or not. Looks as though we ARE going to have to wait until January after all. I look forward to keeping you up to date on the next cock-up. Mr and Mrs Cicero The kitchen was finally finished on the 19th December 2009. Other problems arouse but we are too tired to bang on about it anymore – just read the main letter. Mr L Cicero 1 of 3 MAIN LETTER 26th February 2010 L&J Cicero Mr Jeremy Bird Managing Director Wickes 120-138 Station Road Harrow Middlesex England HA1 2GB Dear Sir I am writing to you to complain about the standard of service that I received from your Cardiff branch at Excelsior Drive, Cardiff. In early October 2009 I went into your store and saw that there was a half price sale on kitchens and was interested enough to enquire with a regard to having my old kitchen replaced. I spoke to a member of the kitchen sales team, Mr. Paul Morgan. I asked him how long it would take to fit a kitchen. He replied that it would take between 4 to 6 weeks from ordering. I was very happy with this information because it would be fitted long before Christmas. It was our turn, this year, for my family to spend Christmas with us. We chose a new kitchen, placed an order and paid in full for the new kitchen to be fitted – within 4 to 6 weeks. In the light of Mr Morgan telling us that the new kitchen would be fitted with in 4 to 6 weeks I ripped out the old kitchen in preparation for the new. Mr. Morgan came to my house to measure the dimensions for the new kitchen. Whilst at our house he said that within a day or two we would receive a call from the kitchen fitter to confirm measurements and to see what other ancillary work would need to be carried out. After two weeks we had not heard from the fitter. We rang Paul Morgan to ask where the fitter was and when he would be arriving. He said he would ring the fitter and ring us back – and this is where everything started to go wrong. After numerous phone calls and constant conflicting information by different members of staff the fitter did eventually contact us and said he would call that evening. He did not turn up. However, he rang – the next day – to say that he would be there that evening at around 6pm and turned up at around 9pm saying that he had just come from another job and was extremely busy. 2 of 3 Cont’d From the outset his manner was petulant and very abrasive to the point where were very much on edge and almost afraid to ask any questions. After checking the measurements he said that other work needed to be carried out and then gave us a quote way above the guidelines set down in Wickes list of quotations. When we queried the quote saying that it was rather high and would like to seek other quotes. He became very abrasive and said that was for us to decide and that he would not be able to fit the kitchen until January 2010 anyway. We were really fed up with this latest revelation. He could see that we had no kitchen facilities at all. We were using the tiny hand basin in the tiny cloakroom to get water. The thought of being in this position until the New Year was very worrying. He replied that it was not his problem. We asked about any other fitting teams being available and he said that the other teams were in the same position as he – fully booked up well into the New Year – 2010. He also said that the kitchen would not be under guarantee if we got outside fitters to fit the kitchen – so we had to stay with Wickes. He said that we should speak to the sales staff regarding dates for fitting. We had already done this at the very beginning when we ordered and paid for the kitchen on the 3rd October 2009 and was told it would be fitted within 4 to 6 weeks. He concluded by saying that he would not fit the kitchen anyway because my wife had been rude to him over the phone previously and walked out. The following day I rang Paul Morgan to inform him of what had happened with the kitchen fitter and what he had said regarding the date for fitting. Paul Morgan replied saying that the kitchen would be fitted during the period he had originally quoted and therefore to leave it with him. He said he would contact us later. I waited 2/3 days for the call back. In frustration I rang him and asked him why the delay in calling me back. He said that he had had difficulty contacting the manager – Clive Davies – however, at my request he gave us Clive Davies telephone number – for us to, basically, do his job – chase Clive Davies up. I did manage to contact Mr Davies who confirmed what the kitchen fitter had said regarding the kitchen not being fitted until the New Year. I explained to Mr Davies (who really did try to help) that I had no kitchen facilities whatsoever and could not wait until the New Year. Mr Davies said that his teams were fully booked and that the sales staff should not have quoted 4-6 week for fitting. I said it was really was not our problem if Wickes was inundated with customers buying kitchens and not enough fitters to go around and that I had ordered and paid in full for the kitchen on the understanding that the kitchen would be fitted within 4 – 6 weeks. Mr Davies said that although he did not have much hope he would try to see what he could do and would contact at a later date. By now we realised we had made a big mistake by choosing to purchase a kitchen from Wickes. After numerous calls to the store, being told that Paul Morgan was on leave and speaking to the manager and to various other members of the staff and being given conflicting information by EACH ONE OF THEM I finally gave up and went to the store to see the store manager in person and was told that he was at another Cardiff branch. 3 of 3 Cont’d I was told at this stage that I could have a refund if I wished but found this unacceptable because we knew that we would be in the same position as we were with Wickes at this late date and, due to the manner in which we were being treated, it would be an easy way out for Wickes appalling service. We were, by now, sending emails to every Wickes email address we could find on the net especially the Managing Director, complaining about Wickes standards of customer care. We have received emails to say that the complaint would be dealt with and had phone call from someone asking us to complain after the kitchen had been fitted. The whole experience was shocking especially the guarantee aspect of not allowing us to get outside fitters also the late date if we were to find another kitchen. We had – unfortunately – to stay with Wickes. I have photographs of the conditions we were living in at that time and will send them to you if you wish. I would like to point out that the kitchen tops are a big disappointment. We chose tops but were advised by Mr P Morgan to choose other tops that, he said, were better quality but find that they mark very easily and already are starting to look old. We did not experience this problem with the old work surfaces. Also the handles are not the ones we wanted but we were so hacked off with everything we just didn’t have the energy to asked them to be changed. Any excitement, joy or pleasure in having a new kitchen fitted – as was the case when we had our previous kitchen fitted by B&Q some years ago – has been completely stripped away due to the whole frustrating, fiasco. The kitchen gives us no pleasure because of all the anguish suffered to get it fitted. In the light of all this anguish, upset and disappointment I feel that some measure of compensation is called for and not in the form of a silly ‘wine rack’ as one poor traumatised customer was offered after he had gone through almost the same scenario as us. That just about sums it up – left traumatised!!! We await you reply. Mr & Mrs Cicero Additional Information. On the third occasion that Angela (customer services manager at Cardiff Wickes) reordered the larder panels she rang me to say that the parts would be arriving midweek and that the kitchen fitters would arrive Saturday morning to fit the units. I explained that we had arranged to travel to Yorkshire that weekend and therefore it would be very inconvenient. Angela replied saying that that was the only time the fitters would be available. Faced with this prospect I agree to cancel my journey to Yorkshire. When the fitter arrived Saturday morning they unpacked the parts only to find that they were yet again damaged and of no use. When I asked what happens next, they said they would phone Angela to advise her of the damage and that the replacement panels would not arrive for another week. They also said that I would have to make further arrangements for the kitchen to be fitted because they were fully booked until the New Year. What a catalogue of disasters and cock ups!!! At this point I was beside myself with anger and frustration over the whole sorry affair. I was further incensed when I saw on the internet other long suffering customer reviews at the standard of customer care they had received from Wickes nationwide and the indifferent, negative response they receive from the customer after care service. On the following Monday I rang the store to speak to Angela only to find that she was on holiday. I was then passed onto a person called Craig and, understanding my frustration, said that he would reorder two sets to increase the chances of receiving undamaged panel. He asked me to ring him the next day to reassure me that the order had been placed. On ringing Craig the following day he said that Angela had only ordered one set – she had countermanded his order for two sets. I drove to the store to discuss the matter with Paul Morgan – he was actually there! Not on leave or on holiday! We finally agreed that two sets of panels would be delivered to the store and another fitter would open, inspect, deliver and fit them on Friday evening. On Friday, around 5.00pm, whilst out shopping, I received a call from Angela to say that the panels had arrived and the fitter would be in the store shortly. I asked Angela to explain to the fitter I would be home in approximately 20 minutes. I arrived home within 20 minutes. I waited until 18.00pm – no fitter. I rang Angela only to be told that the fitter had called within the 20 minutes but on finding the house empty had left. Angela gave me a contact number to ring the fitter. On ringing him he said that he was unaware of the message I had given Angela. However, he did say that the first pack he opened was damaged but he second was fine and that he would be along Saturday morning to fit them. Yet another episode of us having to constantly badger Wickes staff, to ensure the kitchen would be fitted before Christmas, which is was but has left us traumatised. I cannot believe that something so simple in the hand of experts could turn out to be so fraught with anguish and frustration. Mr & Mrs Cicero

Not altogether the installers fault, but we’re still without a functional hob (installed though!) – electrician is coming Monday 17th albeit because we need an updated circuit board). Wall are being tiled around the 17th also.

We personally visited the showroom last week and ordered and paid for an additional unit (which we incorrectly “assumed” was on the CAD drawing), and have already been advised of delivery of this on 26th of this month. So what the hell is going on?

How come if we can order and be advised a couple of days later, the why couldn’t the installers have done the same over two weeks ago.

Mr. BIRD – you’re in for a rocket!!

Mrs. Dis-satifaction – and still my name is still on this!
- but it will be eventually!!

I must add that I will definitely have no hesitation in contacting WATCHDOG if I fall foul of their incompetence
- more especially if I have to wait weeks (or WICKES!!) for the extra units to be delivered (and which then have to be installed). Watch this space –

P.S. MY NAME ISN’T ON THIS!!!

I must say that I think the suggestion of involving Wathdog is one that should seriously be conisdered. Their customer service is beyond bad it’s something that needs to be looked into.

STEPHEN NEWTON / MARCH 26TH, 2008, 7:12 PM / # Loved your reply – tied the idiot in knots.

I have been offered two 5% off vouchers as compensation which I consider an insult.