Stilhaus Kitchens
Complaint 287567 Details

I spotted an internet company called"Stilhaus Kitchens Warrington".I am a qualified carpenter and run my own building company, and have done for more years than i care to remember. Anyway,
Whilst looking at their web page i spotted the solid oak kitchen with granite tops, breakfast bar etc. At first i just couldn't believe my eyes!!. and thought that it must be ex display/ stock liquidation, and was walking round the house just mumbling "I don't believe it!!', much to the annoyance of my wife. Now rememer i've been in this game a while, so i rang the number supplied and said that i was interested in the oak kitchen on their main page and i would like to buy the exact kitchen in the picture but would they please answer a couple of pertinent questions about the kitchens.

(1) are the kitchens ex display /liquidated stock? Answer: new
(2) thickness of carcase (eg 15mm or 18 mm)? Answer: 18mm
(3) are they chipboard or mdf? Answer: chipboard with every edge covered
(4) clearance at back of units (for pipeworks) Answer: Yes
(5) leg ajustment ? Answer: Yes
(6) are the cabinet backs hardboard or 18mm, same as the sides? Answer: 18mm same as the sides.

Anyway, you get the drift. It just didn’t seem to add up, that kicthen i was looking at is a 15 grand kitchen all day long, the granite alone would normally be the best part of 2 grand. As they say ” If it looks too good to be true........it usually IS ! …but I got a surprise in this case…EVERYTHING was exactly as promised. I have no idea how they could afford to sell at this price, especially as the worktops WERE granite, and I only paid a nominal deposit of 50 quid. I didn’t pay another penny until it was all delivered and I had checked that everything I ordered had been sent. They took ALL of the risk, I risked nothing.
So, If in doubt, do what I did...give them 50 quid and order your kitchen. Make sure that your kitchen fitter is there to check your kitchen when it arrives, if possible. (obviously, in my case it was myself) and DON’T pay unless you are happy that you have been sent exactly what you ordered. The worst that can happen is you have paid 50 quid for what I know to be an excellent kitchen design and 2 hours of a kitchen designers time. The best case scenario is that, like me, you end up with quality kitchen for a fraction of other prices I was quoted.

Other bits of advice I can offer are to first get a couple of quotes from a kitchen company near you, and then ask for a quote from this company.
you can save yoursef a few quid by buying your kitchen flat packed but unless you are installing the units yourselves then this is a false economy as the fitter is just going to charge you to make the units up.
Don't try and fit the kitchen yourself if you are not extremely competent with power tools and you know what you are doing. At the end of the day it's a specialist job, so steer clear unless your really confident.
Get a qualified carpenter or joiner (like myself) to do the job, it will work out cheaper.