England » Blackburn » Mastercraft Kitchens

A disaster from start to finish (except it wasn't finished)

It started off quite well with what seemed a competent salesman (the same salesman claimed he would also project manage it, ha).

After agreeing a price for a kitchen to my design a deposit of 25% was handed over and a start date planned for five weeks ahead, during the sales pitch lots of pictures were shown of other kitchens that implied a kitchen would be completed in around two weeks, little did I know then how untrue this would be with a fitter having to travel 2/3 hours to get here everyday. A week before the start date Mastercraft insisted on full payment before starting, I must admit alarm bells started ringing.

However on the due date work started and progressed slowly over the next few weeks before it ground to a halt due to parts shortage.

And that's when Mastercraft Kitchens started to totally ignore me as things went wrong with my kitchen.

After four weeks of haphazard and short 4 or 5 hour visits from the fitter there followed a two week gap where I felt impelled to help push things along by:

Fitting a cupboard door, shelf and drawer front (as a qualified chippy it was no real problem).

Fitting all the cupboard handles.

Completed the fitting of the dishwasher.

Sorted out the thumping of the washing machine by levelling it correctly.

Completed the fitting of the boiler cupboard.

I personally supplied 170% hinges for above so you can actually get to the boiler as the 45% hinges that were fitted made this impossible,

and also had to cut down the boiler front control flap which fouled on the boiler cupboard, now you can now actually open it.

I supplied a missing handle courtesy of ebay and refitted doorframe and architrive correctly.

but

Week six and the floor has not been finished with self leveling, a different fitter was sent who said he doesn't/can't do floors and anyway he has to rush off to pick his son up from Southport,

but at last after six weeks I had a working hob and plinth lights were fitted.

After he left I found a scratched and dented light switch with dangerous loose wiring inside that hissed and sparked and with no means to fit one of the securing screws because of a missing tag on the back box.

Several attempts to fit a fan cupboard stay resulting in more unwelcome screw holes.

Overlong screw has then been used to refit the extractor fan which penetrated into and damaged the adjacent cupboard

The top drawer under my hob not closing all the way because it hits a switch put in for the hob.

Fine scratches to my quartz because worktop has been used as a work bench.

Unfinished woodwork and electrics in my hallway where a door has been knocked through.

Base plinth under cupboards held in place by jamming it in with a bit of cardboard.

Extremely badly fitted and totally wrong type of extractor vent kit that you can see as it sits 35mm above the wall cupboards but the biggest problem is that the 200mm x 55mm vent pipe has just been butted up and siliconed (which has since come adrift) to an existing round hole which was partially blocked up, leaving just a tiny half round hole of 100mm x 35mm for all that air in the large pipe to vent out of.

and I also have problems with

a dud LED ceiling bulb.

Bubbles in one door front.

Four of the plinth lights come on ages after the rest.

One self closing hinge not working.

Original but now unused drain pipes left open and in situ, meaning draughts and drain smells can get into the house.

New drain pipe just inserted into toilet soil stack and siliconed around instead of using a correct strap-on pipe boss.

Gas pipe removed and capped off by non Gas Safe workman.

Electrics not fully checked out and Part P Certification supplied.

Week nine and Mastercraft phoned to say they will send a fitter here again in week ten, I told them not to bother, i'll finish it.

So all I can say to readers contemplating a new kitchen, find somebody local, don't pay over all the money, insist on stage payments and don't use Mastercraft Kitchens.