Unicom Direct - www.unicom-direct.com

We are thrilled with our worktop, and Unicom Direct as a company. From our initial contact to final installation Unicom Direct offered us value for money and a really helpful service. Our queries were always dealt with immediately, by kind and polite staff. We were given dates to suit us for templating and installation and the worktop was delivered as promised! We could not fault those those fitting, they were efficient and did a very professional job. We were particularly impressed that the staff member templating the worktop travelled across the country in the early hours of the morning so he could be with us at a time to suit us. After fitting we had a query about staining as the worktop seemed to be marking easily, we were immediately sent some cleaner for the worktop and we have had no issues since using this. So thank you to all the staff at Unicom Direct, we love our work top!

Seemingly a company that trades under various names. The website, emails and the bank account details all refer to different companies. I think I first made contact through www.kitchen-worktops-plus.co.uk. The bank details refer to the company as Unicom. Samples were sent very quickly.

Initial dealings were with a Glasgow based lady until payment was made after that a dealt mainly with a man based in England. White quartz counter tops were ordered.

Initial dates for installation needed rearranged at their request at short notice. The first counters that were installed made of three pieces, had one piece like the sample and two a more yellow-white. During installation they needed to level the kitchen cupboards and gain access to below them. In doing so they appear to have torn in half the LED strip lighting that had just been installed. (Not a cheap item to say the least). Their terms stated the cupboards should have been level so I cannot get too excited about that. I suppose I should be grateful they had not refused to do the installation.

I requested that they correct the multi-coloured tops and they agreed to. The second counters that were installed were exactly as we had hoped. No more LED strips were destroyed during the second installation. There seemed to have been a misunderstanding between myself and them about what I had hoped to be replaced. They did agree to my requests but again dates of installation were changed a number of times at short notice which was fairly inconvenient.

I did not enjoy the fact that I had paid for the counter tops before they were installed once things started to go wrong. Am rather relieved it has turned out ok in the end despite the difficulties.

We did a lot of shopping around to try and get the best quality for the best price and decided that Unicom was the company for us.

In addition to this, we also had amazing customer service, from the initial phone call (which was made and answered on a bank holiday) through the entire process. It was easy to order, easy to book in a date for templating and the communication throughout was second to none, even offering advice about fitting extra batons to ensure the worktops were as secure as possible.

As for the actual templating, it was great, very thorough, and very fast and the men that came were incredibly professional, and very nice. When it came to delivery, the same guys came back and they were so nice again, and really professional, giving lots of advice for fitting in things around the worktops, such as splash backs etc, even though they weren't fitting those - excellent. Buying a beautiful worktop like ours is a big decision, a big cost and what you need is a company that puts you at ease and gives you the best product and the best experience and this is what you will get with unicom.

The quartz itself is beautiful - we went for the black and sparkly type, which is exactly as you would expect, black and sparkly and absolutely stunning. I would definitely recommend using this company, its the best on cost, and their customer service is amazing, from first contact, to the ladies who deal with the booking in dates, to the guys that fit it - I am not just saying it, it is a brilliant experience that I would recommend to anyone.

Unicom were efficient and organised with the pricing, gave me the best quote, and were so accommodating and flexible working round my builders and ever-changing deadlines! Their staff were polite and helpful, and even when I guessed they had a huge workload, long days and lots of travelling, they were still painstakingly thorough in both the template and installation stages, and gave great attention to all the little details.

I ordered some American Black Walnut worktops from these guys. They were almost impossible to come by at the time but they said they could get them.

After the first few excuses James the fitter offered to come to my house template the job and fit free to compensate for all the delays. When he visited he stated that I shouldn't have them fitted yet as we were still due to have plastering and painting to do.

Once we were in a state to have the tops fitted came the excuses. I received a call from James like clockwork every week with various excuses similar to previous reviews who were obviously waiting for work to be done around the same time as us.

The final straw came when we were phoned to say that someone at the company had left the tops outside to long before delivery and that they had warped. This was the last straw for me as I had had to move into my in laws 2 bedroom bungelow with my wife and two girls (1 & 3). I contacted Unicom for a refund and was told by them that I was fully responsible and liable for the damaged worktops and that I would not receive a refund.

Luckily James phoned again and I let it go to my answerphone rather than answering, where he left a message admitting responsibility and offering to fit an alternative product at the company's expense. I fully believe that this is the only reason that the company refunded my money despite the original refusal to do so.

In the end we used Worktop Express who delivered what we ordered when they said they would.

Never again!

Extremely disappointed with the service I received from the point of trying to organise a fitting for my corian worktop!

Cancelled three times, with excuse after excuse after I had paid in full,claims after template taken fits within 7 days,more like 3weeks.. My partner rung the MD who hung up on him, one word unprofessional !!

Finally was fitted yesterday, no sink waste was fitted and no care and maintenance kit either!(also paid for )

Avoid, Avoid Avoid !!!

I see the MD has taken the time to publicly reply to users here but interestingly hasn't bothered replying to my emails. I don't usually write reviews unless it's either a very good or very bad experience, unfortunately the latter applies here.

First warning sign: Quoted 10 days from order to fitting, suddenly jumped a day later after I ordered to 25 days (reason given: "It's Christmas shortly". Yeah, and it was yesterday also...). Buyer beware.

Templating guy was friendly enough but then it went downhill. I initially ordered rounded edges, was told I could change "within 48 hours" by the templating guy, I did so by changing the order to Square edges - less than 24 hours later. I emailed the person who confirmed the changes in writing (after some prompting no less). But guess what arrived? Rounded (pencil) edges, not square edges.

A phonecall to him prior to signing off the worktop delivery/install was quite interesting - first he said I could reject the worktops and have them remade (takes weeks so not really an option near to Xmas). So, I asked if I could sign for them now as " INCORRECT " and then have Unicom come out - at their expense - and make the edges into the Squared ones I ordered. Apparently this was fine, although it now appears that Unicom are saying I signed the final templating form with Smooth edges so I have no recourse. But hold on a minute... I thought these were Square edges that were installed so that's not what's on the Order Form???

Hmm, strange indeed. Now it appears that he is ignoring my correspondence, a true professional.

The most farcical thing about it all, is that he actually tried to convince me that these Rounded edges WERE in fact square edges - "they were just a little bit smooth due to complaints". I asked the 3 fitters respectively if they felt these were rounded or square edges they were fitting (they fit them day in, day out so they should know?) - no prizes for guessing what their replies were....

My advice is unfortunately to avoid at all costs. I dislike writing negative reviews about small businesses in these recession-wary times, but ultimately it is their own fault. They had ample chance to improve the situation but didn't and I feel they mislead and tricked me several times. Sharp practice indeed. As others have said there are many other providers out there who just re-sell/outsource the Corian fitting to others. Unicom are just middlemen.

PS: I have notified DuPont about this unprofessional-ism from UniCom IBC Ltd (Unicom Direct, unicom-direct.com) and would advise all to steer well clear. If you REALLY must buy from them, then definitely PAY WITH YOUR CREDIT CARD, to give you added protection so you can do a chargeback if it is needed.

The only reason I am giving 2 stars instead of 1, is because the worktop itself is well built and made, but this was nothing to do with Unicom as it was done by a company called Sheratons who Unicom paid.

Unicom supplied a quartz worktop which was supposed to contain reflective glass,and refused to accept our complaint (with accompanying photographs)that it was defective.It actually had only one,half-pinhead sized fleck in the entire surface,which even Sheridans and the fitters stated was insufficient.We have informed Trading Standards and will continue to make this known to as many people as possible until we get justice.We are legally entitled to a replacement as what was supplied was defective.I wouldn't advise anyone to use this company.

I was quoted for a Corian top and integrated sink in one colour and it arrived with a different colour sink. When I queried it with Laurence Deary, the salesperson, I was effectively told I should have read the contract. True enough, despite what was written on the quote, at some point the sink colour was changed on the paperwork, without anyone ever advising that the sink wasn't available in the colour I wanted, nor asking me what colour I would like instead.

Perhaps my own stupid fault for not doing my homework or reading the contract in enough detail, but the way the issue was dealt with was mind-bogglingly bad including threats to charge me for storage of the tops that were sitting unfitted in my kitchen(?!) and being told when trying to reach George Oates, the MD to escalate, that he was a busy man and my concerns weren't serious enough to be bother him with. And to top it all being asked to pay more than stated in the contract for Unicom to finish the job. In the end I had to get someone else to finish the job at extra cost to me. No easy task with Corian.

My advice: there are plenty of places offering Corian at similar cost, use one of them. My understanding (and I may be wrong) is that Unicom doesn't actually fabricate or install, they contract the work out and are simply an online trader through kitchen-worktops-direct.co.uk and kitchen-worktops-plus.co.uk. In my experience, one to avoid like the plague.

The Sales Pitch was good. The Price was good. The Product (Corian) is the best - what can go wrong...

1) bad fitters

2) no customer support to bad fittings

3) rude, abrupt emails

A few weeks after having a 6k Corian worktop fitted we noticed a 2mm gap between the worktop and upstand. This has collected dirt. I contacted Unicom who wrote back in a rude manner saying it was a cleaning issue.

As the gap is small dirt falls into it (all around the worktop) and no matter what cleaning product you use you just cannot get anything into the gap to dig out the dirt.

I wrote back again and via the MD I was again told, sorry not our problem.

6k worktop ruined by a bad fitter. An independent has since been out from another company and agreed its a bad fit. Unicom will not do anything about this so I am having to pay to get this sorted out.

Do not use. Go local and pay more, you will get proper service and fitting.