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Why Homebase
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We moved into our house in January last year with the sole aim of improving and updating the property and moving on to the next project, hopefully making a profit along the way. The kitchen that was in the house when we bought it was O.K. but was about 15 years old ... Read review
Advantages: customer service, quality of units, price offers Disadvantages: need larger display area
...we live.
Homebase for me had always been the DIY place just up the road for all the decorating and household needs. I had had a quick look around the gallery upstairs where they display kitchens and bathrooms but never gave them a second thought as a serious kitchen supplier.
So it was with some surprise that the style of kitchen we had looked at in MFI was on display in Homebase. (MFI call it Riminni Maple, Homebase ... .../>
Now Homebase do account card, normally I will run a mile from these, but this one gives you the opportunity to put your purchase over £1000 on the pay nothing for 12 months scheme. Provided you pay the full amount off within the 12 months you pay no interest. So why not keep the money in the bank and earn interest on it for a year.
This card also gives you loyalty points as does the normal Homebase card, so there will be some useful ... more
One of the biggest projects by far is the kitchen. Often a focal point of the house, a good kitchen design and build can add thousands to the value of a house. With that in mind my latest and biggest project needed some serious consideration.
Why Homebase =============
We moved into our house in January last year with the sole aim of improving and updating the property and moving on to the next project, hopefully making a profit along the way. The kitchen that was in the house when we bought it was O.K. but was about 15 years old and badly designed, being a large room it should have been ideal, however the use of that space was poor and storage and workspace limited.
Having done two previous house refurbishments I had a good idea of what we needed and the budget I was willing to spend, so the task of choosing the price range and specification was fairly simple. The hard part is choosing the right company to go with.
There is a huge choice available for self assembly and fully fitted kitchens and the first reference points were the usual suspects; MFI, Wicks along with the direct suppliers. Most of the kitchen ranges on offer are made by the same manufactures so it is a case of price, after sales and availability.
MFI was the first stop, and it was one I had some trepidation about having suffered at the hands of their incompetence before. But they do have a good range and seem to have improved quality and after sales, so in the wet and gloomy January sales we set off in the hope of securing a realistically priced quality kitchen. It seemed the January gloom had infected our local MFI as well, we waited for someone to show a little interest after looking around for 20 minutes, then queuing at the customer service desk a young man wanted to take our details and then get back to us about booking a home measure and quote. "Can you not give me a booking date now?" "No" He said "We are booking into February now. If your serious I might be able to get a cancellation" "So what if I do the measurements myself and plan it here?" "Well you can, but we will still have to come out to do them again" With this we turned tail vowing never to darken their doors again. Driving home mumbling about the state of customer service and retailing attitudes it dawned on me that we may have the solution a mile away from where we live.
Homebase for me had always been the DIY place just up the road for all the decorating and household needs. I had had a quick look around the gallery upstairs where they display kitchens and bathrooms but never gave them a second thought as a serious kitchen supplier.
So it was with some surprise that the style of kitchen we had looked at in MFI was on display in Homebase. (MFI call it Riminni Maple, Homebase call it Napoli Maple)
Homebase have upped their game in recent years, having had many owners, who it must be said never really gave it the attention it needed. But now free of large corporate politics the management have concentrated on its image. Most stores have been given a going over and now present a clean and welcoming look. The kitchen displays are not on the same scale as MFI, but there are 8 different styles on show with a good range of accessories and appliances too.
At my local branch I was greeted by a very polite and engaging man, who although had "Trainee" on his name badge, was eager to speak to us and asked all the right "open questions". He made an appointment for us the next day with the Planer and suggested that we do accurate measurements and gave us all the brochures and planning grid paper.
So at 10 am next morning I met Frank, a studious man who with the aid of his CAD design software took the measurements and started playing around with combinations of units until after about an hour we had a plan. His helpful advice and the friendly service, coupled with the fact that we could get the whole kitchen for under 2k due to the sale plus it was a 10% day too. So the kitchen was ordered.
Now Homebase do account card, normally I will run a mile from these, but this one gives you the opportunity to put your purchase over £1000 on the pay nothing for 12 months scheme. Provided you pay the full amount off within the 12 months you pay no interest. So why not keep the money in the bank and earn interest on it for a year. This card also gives you loyalty points as does the normal Homebase card, so there will be some useful vouchers to come later as well.
Once the order has been processed you are contacted by the Homebase kitchen team, who give you availability and a delivery date. I was surprised to get a date within 2 weeks. I had organised my Man to do the Gas and Electric in February, but this was no problem the helpdesk gave me a date a week before we were due to start stripping the old kitchen so we could check the order in while stripping the kitchen and sort any issues out before assembly.
The Delivery and Fitting ==================
Homebase do not offer a fitting service, however they do have contacts who will quote and survey for you but this is not covered by any guarantee from Homebase. This was not a problem for me as apart from some carpentry and Gas and Electrical work it was self build by me. But you may need to find a good local fitter who will quote at least 50% of the value of the units for labour, anything over 75% of the value, he is ripping you off.
And so the delivery day came. The weather could not have been worse. We had been contacted by post and telephone. It is worth remembering that your new units will take up a fair amount of space and the letter sent to us has a picture of how the kitchen looks on a pallet. I like this someone has put some thought into customer service here, you can imagine how many times the delivery drivers have turned up to an address to find no effort has been made to make space for their delivery. We were also called by the driver on the morning of delivery, who gave us a 2 hour delivery window, and sure enough the chaps arrived within the first half hour of the quoted time.
Distribution is handled by a division of Wincanton Group and they are very efficient and friendly. Once delivered they check the whole order with you and you sign for delivery only (any damage can be reported in 30 days for replacement). They were very careful and even with torrential downpour going on they were cheerful and polite.
So to the fitting. Each draw and unit pack is clearly marked on the boxes, door packs are marked by size. They are well packed and only one door was slightly damaged and replaced within 48 hours.
The units fit together well with all the necessary fittings in each box. The instructions with each unit can look a bit daunting, there are few written instruction and the construction diagram is like a picture story board, but to be honest anyone who has done a few flat packs will grasp the correct assembly of the units.
The pre-drilled parts are well finished and fit together without the need to re-drill holes, and the only adjustments that needed to be made were for the in accuracies of the walls rather than the units.
The Finished Article ================
Flat pack kitchens have improved their image. No longer the nightmare of missing parts and splitting fibreboard. The units we choose were the cheaper units in there range and I was pleased with the look achieved with these units. They are sturdy enough if the house goes out to let and stylish enough to sell the house easily. It is possible to get a reasonable kitchen for under 2k. Finish with some good tiling and quality appliances who's to say that kitchen did not cost 10k. See pictures for yourself.
Conclusion =========
The other two reviews gave Homebase a less than glowing report. I would however recommend their kitchens and their service as a real alternative the MFI or Wickes. Their customer service (in my store at least) deserves particular mention. In an area of retail that has had a terrible reputation Homebase have strived to improve the level of service and quality. Recommended.
Advantages: Cheap Disadvantages: Instructions are poor. Job can be very frustrating
...For this we found Homebase had the best to offer, but if you prefer a traditional look there is much to choose from through MFI, WICKS, and many many smaller independents. We foolishly thought we needed to make a purchase in the January sales to get the best offer, as all offers ended in January, but alas this is simply an (effective!) marketing tool for mugs like me. Its a bit like the "chance in a lifetime" DFS sale...totally fiction. The prices ... ...So I eventually approached Homebase to arrange a home visit from their planning man (who promptly forgot and came a week later). This is something they're happy to do as you're about to spend a small fortune. We had an 8square metre kitchen which we arranged in a "U" shape. With only one new appliance (cooker/hob) the cost including the variety of trained specialists cost about £3500. Of this about £2500 was spent with Homebase, but this includes ...
Stevejames 27.04.2004
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Homebase DIY Kitchens
Advantages: Interior Solutions are very helpful. To a point. Disadvantages: Poor product design and manufacturing quality.
Recently Homebase have started selling framed kitchens. They have 2 a wood and a cream one. We bought cream.
The issues I have so far (and I'm not yet finished dealing with them yet) found:
Delivery:
1: Advertised in shop as 4-6 weeks. Advised by the sales person 4 weeks. Reality 7-8 (and bits still missing)
2: Delivery at a componet level rather than a unit. So you have not way of knowing if all these little boxes the blokes are throwing off ... ...several grand you've spent with them.
You then have 7 days to check it is all there. Do this. There are 2 checks that must be completed.
1: The number and type of packages matches the delivery note. Yes this does mean checking each part number and counting each box.
2: Check that what they put on the manifest was enough to build the kitchen you ordered.
The best way to do this is to get on and build. fast. very fast.
Design of the frame kitchen ...
why.the.dots 12.03.2006
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful Review of Homebase DIY Kitchens
Advantages: Kitchen was good Quality Disadvantages: Homebase can't get their own house in order, so don't think they'll fix yours!
There was endless bickering within homebase staff about the layout of my kitchen. They put in all the cupboards that they liked, never once asking my opinion, the homebase planner chose my taps my oven hood and gas, as well as the worktops and the cupboards, and he added in wine racks for good measure. It was a 10% day, it was my first kitchen, and within budget so i wasn't that fussy, he rushed it through and i somehow signed up to a credit card ... ...Then one of the homebase kitchen staff noticed there were items missing from my order, so he order them free of charge, whoopee. However, the a day before the kitchen was due i was told the the washing machine was delayed. Never mind i thought, but then as the kitchen was being fitted there were three cupboards missing. Phoned them up and credit to them they dispatched them in a few days. However two of the three cupboards still didnt arrive. Can't ...
sarahjane121 22.03.2009 (20.03.2009)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Homebase DIY Kitchens
Advantages: looks okay but no better than any other Disadvantages: too expensive, badly installed, wrong items installed
avoid homebase kitchens in belfast gallwally.
my experience was that:
the salesman was incompetent - he took no notice of my specific requests, despite me showing him and telling him exactly what my requirements were. apparently he put the wrong codes in his computer and now that the kitchen is fitted there is nothing i can do about it.
the fitters were sloppy - items were installed poorly and quickly and not to the "showroom standard" that i ... ...to respond to letters of complaint
customer services - phoned to ask about the nature of my complaints but have so far, three months later, done nothing about it
i would advise anyone thinking of using this branch of homebase to fit their kitchen to avoid, avoid, avoid. ...
hamblettamaud 31.03.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of Homebase DIY Kitchens
Advantages: straight forward assembly Disadvantages: speed of delivery of extras
...to purchasing the Framed Cream Homebase kitchen which I have just finished installing, although having purchased and installed one 6 years ago, which was still looking great when I sold the house last year, I would have been put off by the previous reviews on the framed kitchen.
I have just installed 17 units with an Belfast sink island, don't try to replicate the one in their catalogue, it doesn't work as shown, but despite this I must say I am ...
SarnauDesign 08.01.2009
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: somewhat helpful Review of Homebase DIY Kitchens
Base your Home around the kitchen 
