HOMEBASE Kitchen Nightmare -Not a dream kitchen.

The kitchen fitting industry-a virus that governs itself and relies on what it can get away with.

Two years on from the start date of a Homebase nightmare we feel able to write a review of our experience for a job that should have taken 2 to 3 weeks and went on for over a year. We were drip fed one problem after another which left our nerves in tatters. We paid thousands of pounds extra for fitters and a promised project manager.

For once in our lives we wanted someone else to do the work but we discovered that the trusted charming salesman had made empty promises alongside incomprehensible accounts. The project manager did not exist and if it had not been for our skills as a seasoned DIYers we would never have seen closure on this project-the essential room in the home. It's not just Homebase, the company we used, it appears to be rife within all the major companies. The list of complaints in the reviews applied to us in one form or another and we are still hearing of terrible experiences of friends and relatives currently suffering. The workforce involved in this industry are in general not trained, not experienced and not able enough. We came across one person who seemed determined to resolve our remaining issues and we decided to accept the offered compensation, an allowance for distress not included. We wanted closure and our privacy back.

In general it seems as if this industry is corrupted by poor management, poor communication and an under-skilled workforce. It taints the reputation of the remaining good guys out there who are so hard to find. We expected to sit back and relax whilst our dream showroom essential kitchen was created. Instead we got a potentially bargain basement product (our massive input saved it), an expensive nightmare. The remarks in the overwhelmingly bad reviews and the contempt they express are well deserved. As Homebase customers we were treated appallingly under a veneer of sympathy and understanding.