Firstly, Kitchens Direct (KD) are not a cowboy outfit. There is a cowboy with a similar name who KD keep on having to sue. KD are part of the same group as Moben. The kitchen and fitting will be the same, but the price a bit lower.

The sales person was friendly but pushy. I guess that's how they get results. He had good ideas and the price was OK. He recommended a granite worktop provided by Jet Stone. Given the cost of the work-top, perhaps we should have shopped around, but in the end Jet Stone proved good.

KD insist on 25% on order and 75% before despatch. I was nervous about this, especially given the reviews here (and in future will insist on 25% on completion). Anyway, for extra security I upped my credit card limit, cleared the balance, and put the whole kitchen on Visa (also in case KD go bankrupt - unlikely but always possible).

When the surveyor came, he "undid" a bit of the designers work. He claimed you can't have a double oven, and an induction hob with a granite top. (Later the fitters said you can. In the end, it seems we could have had one, but the oven would be 10mm lower which would distort the visuals of the floor line.) So now we have ceramic where we expected induction.

Warning - the kitchen is delivered a few days before the fitter arrive, and takes up a lot of room. Luckily we have a garage.

Everything started on time. The fitter was a contractor (not KD) but was really good - knew his stuff. A separate plumber and electrician all turned up as planned. There were however one or two bits missing, and it seemed to fall to us to call KD and arrange delivery. Getting through to KD is difficult - waiting for 10 minutes or so, or leave a message which doesn't get processed. KD have skimped on their call centre.

Two cabinet doors were off colour. KD would have been within their rights to say "that's a natural wood variation", but they replaced them at their cost. A second fitter came to fit them, but KD had sent the wrong ones. A third fitter finally fitted the right ones.

It took a further two weeks for the granite work-top (KD had installed a temporary worktop). Now all is well and the kitchen is fine.

All in all we're pleased. The price was similar to Howdens, but I think the quality is higher. The fitter was great. I didn't like:
- Having to sign on the day - but it seems lots of supplier push this.
- Having to pay before the work
- Trying to get through to KD customer services

Having read other reviews, I'd recommend you find out who the fitter will be, and maybe try and insist on 25% payment on completion.

Kitchens Direct gave me a timely phone call just as we were looking around for quotes to get the kitchen replaced. The designer came out on a weekend and draw up a kitchen design that had some good ideas and seemed to tick all the boxes including being competitively priced. After receiving 4 other quotes (one lower than kitchens direct) we decided to opt for them and placed the order.
We hit 2 initial snags - the surveyor informed us that a couple of things the designer had put into the drawings were not possible (including an upstand behind the work surface), and the initial delivery date could not be fulfilled. However, after these couple of minor hitches I cannot sing the praises of kitchens direct enough. The fitter arrived as did the kitchen (by two friendly & helpful drivers). He was fantastic, the quality of installation was top notch, we even felt comfortable enough with him to leave him with a set of keys to let himself in and out of the house as we both work long hours.
The upshot is we have a quality kitchen installed to a very high standard and we are pleased as punch. The fitter gave us lots of advice on tile installation, kitchen maintenance etc, and even cut up the spare wood for kindling for the fire without being asked (they don't make them like that any more!)
I would not hesitate to recommend kitchens direct.

Kitchens Direct are a great company! I've read some unpleasant reviews, but as 3 members of my family and myself have used them, we had nothing but great service. They were very quick and very professional.

The designer said a lot was down to the salesman himself, if he went the extra mile, then all his customers will be happy. Unfortunately, occasionally they'd get someone who had just joined and didn't follow the traditional high standards, but when the company finds out (and apparently they do quickly) then they are on their way.

The sales guy took before and after photos, and he gave us a hamper for allowing him to use them. I can't recommend them more strongly.