Crimson Kitchens www.crimsonkitchens.co.uk

Never in my life have I been so close to a nervous breakdown or to committing murder. I knew it was a project that was unlikely to run totally smoothly as there are so many components to a kitchen, but I never could have predicted the trauma that Crimson put me through. The first signs of an issue was when I received a phone call the Thursday before the Monday they were due to start work, asking me to change from integrated handles to normal ones as they did not fit the doors. I refused as that was an essential part of the 'look' and anyway I had ordered my kitchen in March for them to begin work at the end of May! They eventually said they would sort it. The end result was that the fitters had to purchase equipment to make the integrated handles as they were fitting the kitchen. It went downhill from there. The delivery was incomplete; wrong units were constantly delivered; the wall units had been measured up too small to fit the boiler so had to be re-made (10 day delay); the drawers were too small so had to be re-sent; they decided to give me normal cupboard doors for one unit instead of the up and over doors I had ordered so they had to be re-made (10 day delay); they decided to send silver doors for one unit, instead of the black doors I had ordered (one week delay); the bi-fold cupboards could not fully open as the wrong hinges were constantly supplied. (I found a company for them to purchase the correct hinges, which took me the whole of 5 minutes to source, this is after they sent an 'expert troubleshooter' to have a look at the hinges and he told me I had to change the cupboards as no hinges would be able to lift the doors properly!) Please note, that all the exchanges of drawers, re-building of cupboards, etc meant that the fitters would leave and not return for up to 10 days as they were waiting for the new delivery. The wall paper on the feature wall peeled off and was on the floor the following morning; I could go on, but I think you get the picture. I was told that the entire refit would take UP TO 4 weeks. It was 13 weeks before I could finally say the kitchen was open for operation. This is just a brief synopsis of what I went through. I have not mentioned the issue with the stud wall; the 'sudden departure' of my designer and the surveyor, therefore leaving me to be the project manager; the issue with the extractor fan; the 15cm filler; etc etc.

Am I happy with my kitchen?? In all honesty it was such an uphill battle that I'm simply glad that it's all over.

The good points: Throughout all of this I initially dealt Mark, then with Martin and sometimes Denise. They are truly lovely people, who deserve to work in a more professional organisation than Crimson! Also, Granite Direct who supplied my guartz worktop and Full Glass who did my glass splashback are superb.

Purchased my kitchen from Crimson and not only do I have a fantasic kitchen, but the whole process has been made easier by friendly and helpful service throughout. The quality of kitchen is great and the designer did a great job with the space (utilising all areas). Would definitely recommend this company!!

Having had a heart attack last year, I thought the last thing I wanted was the upheaval of a new kitchen. My children really wanted one, so I gave in. I needn't have worried though, Crimson Kitchens were marvellous. From the planning stage to final kitchen and beyond, I wouldn't go to anybody else. The salesman wasn't pushy, the surveyor was great and Mark, who took over when the kitchen was being put in, was just like one of the family in the end. The fitters came on time, were polite and supportive, making helpful suggestions - nothing was too much trouble for them. When there was a fault with the Baumatic cooker which the manufacturer didn't want to correct in time for Christmas, Crimson Kitchens bought a new one and had it fitted free of charge. The stress I and my family had anticipated was non-existent with Crimson's help. If I had known how good they were I would have gone to them earlier. I would recommend them to anybody.

I recently had my Bathroom supplied and fitted by Crimson Interiors and I can honestly say I have never experienced such an efficient company to deal with. We had a designer in and with no hard sale whatsoever he designed the perfect bathroom for us. After reading many great reviews from previous fitted kitchens by Crimson my partner and I were in no doubt we had made the right choice by placing an order. Within 2 weeks the Bathroom was delivered and the fitter got to work installing. Within 1 week the transformation was astonishing you would have to see it to believe it. The fitters were punctual, very tidy and polite. I was kept in constant contact from the office who were equally as efficient. If you are looking for value for money, excellent quality and an all round fantastic company then look no further than Crimson Interiors Ltd.

Crimson Kitchens handleless gloss range

We had already decided on white gloss handleless which a few companies do and pretty much the layout, but wanted it to look a bit different with a few of the doors in a contrast colour.

This is where they are so unique, they offer about 20 gloss colours and a further 20 matt colours in case you want to mix finishes which isn't apparent from their website as it looks like they offer what everyone else does with just black and white. It really is the difference between looking like an average kitchen and a bespoke one. We decided on Noce marino which is a walnut wood effect and does look quite real, again what makes the difference is the grain match from door to door. In the end we decided on one side of the kitchen being in Noce Marino and the other white with all plinths being Noce Marino. They even provided us with long extra pieces for some shelves we wanted.

They were very fast on delivery, (2 weeks), even though a couple of the cupboards had to be made to non standard sizes. Mark kept me informed on delivery times and even ordered an extra door for our tall unit which had been made to size as the split on the doors didn't quite look right once he had seen it, they really are perfectionists.

The appliances we bought were cheaper than we could have bought on ebay, we had to exchange the hob after delivery as the one i had chosen couldn't be fitted into corian, again thay did this without question even though I had had to opened the packaging. They really do want to do everyhting to help.

We got our own fitters to fit the units and bought the corian over the internet as were having other work done at the same time. The fitters commented on how expensive they looked and no one would ever think they were cheaper than b&q or wickes.

My only negative is my first appointment was cancelled as our designer was ill and I had to chase for the designs, but I would rather that than be hounded by pressure sales. They also don't have a showroom so I was a little nervous to part with a deposit at first. They are members of some official body though which means if any thing had happened I would have got my money back.

Mark at Crimson was really helpful, he dealt with all our requests professionally. They helped with the initial drawings for our new kitchen extension and did a good job. The sales people who came to show us samples weren't the most efficient, but since we had a good idea of what we wanted that was not a big issue.

If you are prepared to get involved and have a good idea of what you want, then I think Crismson is a very good proposition, they have enabled us to save a significant amount of money (>30%) that we spent on a top quality worktop.

I would definitely recommend them to friends.

Arnaud SW London

New Kitchen. Crimson have just supplied my new kitchen and I must say I've been super impressed with their efficiency and customer servise.

Asad came to the house and without any pressure, listened to what we wanted and advised accordingly. Then Mark took over processing and he has been amazing to deal with. Phone call after phone came in from him, checking to see everything was going well and his service throughout was beyond our expectations and so refreshing.

Would definitley highly recommend Crimson to anyone thinking of having a new kitchen, as they deliver on all fronts.

We chose Crimson as we’d seen good reviews on the internet. Sharaz who came to do the initial consultation was very good and not at all pushy. We had to call him round a couple of times as we needed to double check measurements and specifications. The kitchen was ordered and delivered efficiently. The fitters were very hard working and managed to fit the kitchen in 5 days. They were very accommodating of our timeframe and even delivered the kitchen a day earlier than planned. During the fit, we realised that the sink we had ordered was too small. We called Mark, picked a new sink and he arranged for it to be sent to us on the same day. We are very happy with our new kitchen and would definitely recommend them.

We obtained several quotes for our new kitchen and chose Crimson because they were able to give us exactly what we wanted both in terms of being able to do the building alterations required (taking out a chimney breast) and in the choice of kitchen (wood painted in exactly the colour we wanted). There was no hard sell at all, and we were slightly nervous that the quote was a fair bit less than other comparable kitchens but Crimson gave us some references to check out by phone to reassure us.

Anyway, we needn't have worried. The team stripped out the old kitchen and did the building work in the first week and fitted the new kitchen in the second. They were all really hardworking, polite and did their best to minimise the dust and disruption. They did a great job of patching the ceiling and extending the wooden floor where the chimney breast had been - you'd never know there had been one.

Two things we wish we'd thought of: shaker-style doors means the centre panel is too thin to screw things like bins on the inside. Also, there's about a 10 day delay after the kitchen is fitted until the granite worktops are fitted. We were expecting this, but wish we'd asked for the old sink to be plumbed back in temporarily and an old worktop to be rested on the new cupboards as it would have made life easier. But that's not down to Crimson.

When there were a couple of queries Mark was just at the end of the phone and was very helpful - great customer service.

There were no hidden costs and most importantly we've now been using the kitchen for a couple of weeks and are really delighted - it looks fab and really works. Thank you Crimson.

Penny DS

Hi,

I've recently gone through a major house renovation and coming from Italy the kitchen has always plaid a major role in the functionality of a house. Before deciding which kitchen to purchase I have done a few researches. I then had about 10 different kitchen companies around the house to help me with the design and style of kitchen. Crimson was the last company that came around and I nearly cancelled the appointment. Seeing 5 kitchen companies in one day was perhaps a bigger task than I've envisaged and we all know what sales men can be like. Anyway, I didn't cancel and Crimson came. The main reasons as to why I've decided to purchase the kitchen from Crimson were down to two (i) good value for money (ii) the laid back approach of the Crimson's representative - apologies but I've compeletely forgotten his name. He was punctual, he listened to what I wanted first and then made comments on what he thought would work best. Within a couple of hours I had my kitchen designed just the way I wanted it and was able to give me an instant quote. A few weeks later the surveyor came to take proper measurements and ensure I didn't want to make any changes. At that stage I was still able to make a few changes which were incorporated into the new kitchen design.

Because of the other works that were carried out at the house, I kind of lost track of the kitchen. However, Crimson's customer service (Mark) was superb. When you purchase something you always are a little worried that once the sales man leave your house it will take you ages to get back in touch with the company again, especially if something goes wrong which in my case did. The kitchen was fitted within a few days and turned out to be just the way I wanted it. The kitchen fitters, Vitaljus and his helper were absolutely fantastic. They were very punctual, exceptionally clean and meticulous in what they were doing. It really showed that they really do care about what they do and how the final product looks like and they’ve ensured that despite not having a fully finished kitchen it was at least a fully working one.

However and as I've mentioned above, not everything turned out to be as smooth as the fitting of the kitchen (cabinets and appliances). There have been some problems with the worktop (which I won't bore you with) which meant a delay of a couple of weeks to see the finished product. Unfortunately these things happen and the best thing to do is to be honest about them and inform the customers, which is exactly what Mark did. I think that Mark and I were talking almost every day – sorry Mark! He was the one calling just to keep me updated. During the final stages Mark even called whilst the worktop and glass backsplash were fitted to make sure that all was going well.

I’m sure that you all agree that’s easy when things go well but the tricky part is when things start not going too well and how companies deal with it. After all customer service is key to any relation between company and customer and Crimson definitely has exceeded every expectations!

I’m a very, VERY happy customer now. Everybody that has seen my kitchen has complemented me on both the design and the quality of the kitchen!

I know that the kitchen is a big purchase in a house and I can’t tell you that Crimson is the cheapest company out there but if what you are looking for is good value for money and excellent customer service I would strongly suggest to give Crimson a go!

A really BUG thank you to Mark and everybody at Crimson for making my wish come true!

Andrea

London, E1