Very Poor

Magnet - www.magnet.co.uk
★★★☆☆
3.2
55.0% of users recommend this
  • Value For Money

Guest's review of Magnet - www.magnet.co.uk

“Very Poor”

★★☆☆☆

written by on 13/09/2014

We bought our dream Magnet kitchen in 2013 and paid £ 23.000. On reflection the kitchen looks just how we imagined it to look and the design layout works very well practically.

The kitchen we purchased was the Charlestone Bone range with granite worktops previously from the Magnet elite / bespoke range. Therefore, one would expect the quality and fit to be amazing. Unfortunately it is not.

Ever since the kitchen was installed we have had nothing but problems !! This is partly due to a design fault and partly to do with the quality of fitters they use.

We had an integrated under counter fridge and freezer installed into a large six unit island. BIG mistake !!. Don't get me wrong it looks great but over a period of several weeks of opening and closing the doors to the fridge and freezer, the appliances gradually work their way backwards and therefore, the doors don't shut properly. This resulted in the fridge leaking and the freezer constantly icing up. The fitters said it was because they couldn't secure the fridge housing unit to the underside of the worktop as it is granite ... and advised that Magnet had recommended the wrong fridge / freezer design to go under a granite worktop ? We approached Magnet about providing the correct design and we were politely told to sling our hook.

The last fitter that came out to realign the fridge /freezer and doors for the 12th time, tried to strengthen it up with extra screws and screwed through the fronts of the doors on two occasions. The cheeky devil tried to hide his error with cork. I didn't notice it until I cleaned the cupboard door front after he'd left, when the screw end sliced through my hand drawing blood. In all fairness magnet did replace the door for new ones.

The last time the fitters came out they secured two wooden blocks to the underside of the granite worktop , and touch wood, it hasn't moved yet after 5 months, although I must say it does look unsightly. But what can we do ? We asked Magnet to replace the appliances for the correct ones and they refused.

The after service is poor ... in all fairness they do send people out to do repairs, but every time we phone to complain we can't help feeling we are seen as a burden rather than a customer that has spent £23.000 and has had a raw deal. They always apologise but its very robotic, I don't believe they give a hoot if i'm honest.

We are no fools and appreciate that all kitchens have there problems over time with doors dropping etc but every month is a joke. The whole experience has left us feeling despondent to say the least and has worn our patience thin.

I really wouldn't mind so much if we had only spent £10.000 on a kitchen but when someone pays £23.000 it is totally unacceptable.

My advise would be NOT to purchase a Magnet kitchen the quality is really are not worth the extra money you pay. I strongly believe if I had purchased a TOP of the range kitchen (a kitchen with metal drawers and runners etc and not chipboard drawers with flimsy draw runners) from one of the other better quality DIY stores such as Wickes or Howdens NOT B&Q , I would have had just as good quality but for half the cost.

However, if going down this route I would definitely pay extra for one of their top of the range kitchens, and pay for a bespoke fitting and after service guarantee. Paying for those bespoke quality extras would also give your kitchen that top of the range look to equal Magnet. Even with this extra expense you will still save a good third off the overall cost compared to Magnet.

When I chose my kitchen design I went with Magnet because the charlestone bone is an Edwardian style which offered tall cupboard units which we needed as we have high ceilings in our house and the standard range kitchen units look lost. If you need this design you'll have to go with Magnet as ive not seen these style in the other stores.

don't get me wrong I cannot fault the look of my kitchen it really is beautiful. It was all the teething problems that put us off and of course the cost compared to other competitive suppliers.

On a final note ... we bought a high gloss style kitchen for our rental property from Wickes 6 years ago. It cost £7000 for 17 units and included integrated appliances. After 6 years and three lots of tenants I must say the kitchen looks as good as the day it went in !!

We used the Minworth Branch, Sutton Coldfield.



Good Luck !!

Was this review helpful? 1 0