8 days ago

Great experience with Howdens Witham

Great experience with Howdens Witham. Dan was great, the planning process was seamless and delivery as planned. Communication was exceptional the whole time. Quality has been high end, and any odd missing bit or request remediated quickly. Only thing I would say is the pantry doesn’t come with shelves so bear that in mind.

Lauren

6 months ago

Dissapointing experience with quartz worktop

I have purchased a Kitchen from Howdens Witham. My initial experience was good with a friendly helpfull designer - he was easy to do buisiness with. I chose Howdens because thay were competitivly priced. My order included a quartz work top which has been the cause of disatisfaction. The kitchen units were fitted by my independant installed within a few days of delivery - ready for the worktops to be templated and ordered. The template person had high tech laser equipment to get everything perfect. From that point it took 2 working weeks for delivery whic I thought very poor - I wasn't warned. Ths 2 working weeks was is in addition to the near 2 working weeks needed for stripping out the old kitchen and all the other fiting work - so no Kitchen for nearly a month. The fittiing of the work surface was a disaster. My installer was advised that the fitting would be between 11:00 and 14:00 17th March but they turned up at about 10:20. Luckily I was home – had the weather been better I would have been out shopping. The fitters who did the work don’t give a very good impression of Howden’s – they seem like people who don’t like their job. The work surfaces were fitted quite quickly but the fitters attempted to leave without checking the fit of the Sink and Hob for which cut outs had been made. This should surely have been done at the outset – before even gluing down the surfaces. When I asked them to do so I was told that fitting was not included. I had previously been advised by Dan the designer that they would fit these items. I was not expecting the items to be connected but I was expecting them to be fixed in place. In the event the fitters agreed to check the fit - but with bad grace. The hob fited easily – but I’ve no idea if its correct or over size. The sink did not fit as the cut out was not large enough. The fitters initially tried to blame the problem on the fact that the sink had retaining clips (which increase the size by less than 1mm) and that the clips must have been fitted by my installer. This was nonsense, the clips were supplied by Howdens already attached to the sink. They initially tried to Jam the sink in with the clips removed but it wouldn’t go so they removed the worksurface (which had been glued down) and made the cut out larger. It took 3 attempts to increase the cut out size before the sink would fit. I stated that the clips are supplied for a reason and that the sink must fit including clips – they suggested they could be re-fitted after the sink in place. At this point I contacted Dan at Howden’s and asked that someone from Howdens come to my house to take responsibility and ownership. In the event no one did – I was just asked to write an email - the contents of which are used in this review. At my continued insistence the fitters did finally get the sink to fit including clips. Along the way the sink was first made to fit without clips. The fitters then said they would only fit a single clip – but they were unable to fit any clips with the sink in situ. They also suggested that with the clips fitted the sink would be Jammed in and removal (for plumbing work) would not be possible. I continued to insist that the sink be made to fit including clips AND be removeable. This was finally achieved but it was clear that the fitters just wanted to get away. They had no knowledge of customer service or how to deal with customers. At this time, I think that the installation has been completed correctly but I’m not qualified to say – I will now have to rely on my installer to confirm. Until I have that confirmation, I reserve the right to reject the worksurfaces and receive a full refund plus compensation for inconvenience caused. I can accept that mistakes can happen – the person doing the template design clearly got it wrong but you find out what a company is really like by seeing how problems are handled. Howdens have scored very poorly here. I could not be more dissatisfied or disappointed. Update 29th April. Following the above review I was contacted by the local Howdens manager who essentially explained that the worktop company are an entirely separate company over which he has no say, control or responsibility. I was also contacted by a manager at the worktop company who initially tried to avoid me by contacting my kitchen installer (who was not involved with the worktop install) and getting him to take the heat. I verbally repeated what is said above but in more detail. I never heard back further! No one has been prepared to accept responsibility for the total lack of competence or customer care. Draw your own conclusions from that! I truly regret buying from Howdens.

Michael Polley

6 months ago

All the staff at Howdens in Witham are…

All the staff at Howdens in Witham are amazing! They are always helpful and friendly it is a joy do business at this branch.

MELVILLE HUMPHREYS

11 months ago

Jay at Witham - outstanding

I used Howdens in Witham for a project that was feeling really overwhelming as it was for a holiday rental some distance away. Jay was so patient and helpful and made this happen for me by truly understanding what i was trying to achieve.

Janine Aldis

a year ago

Very helpful staff

Very helpful staff

KOBUS THE HANDYMAN

a year ago

Friendly to deal with and pleasant…

Friendly to deal with and pleasant experience!

Patrick

a year ago

Very please with the service and the…

Very please with the service and the product is top quality every thing was good the staff are excellent

AlanJohns

a year ago

Fast efficient helpfull can't fault…

Fast efficient helpfull can't fault them terrific team

pauline looker ORDER ID

a year ago

Better than the rest

Really attentive, knowledgable and kind staff across the board. Was delighted to be helped by Jay who went one step beyond to make things work out. Will not hesitate to go back to Jay and Howdens again for future jobs. Thankyou

Kit Shadbolt

a year ago

Customer service is not that helpful…

Customer service is not that helpful from. Some members Loading items was a issue for the person not helping to load my items felt that my business was not welcomed after spending over £3000 There’s a customer feeling not favourable as they are doing me a favour attitude by actually serving me So not really that good could improve by remembering that you are spending your money at your choice to a company

Westwood Carpenters

a year ago

Superb service from the Witham Branch…

Superb service from the Witham Branch of Howdens

CAROLYN MANN DESIGN & BUILD

a year ago

Excellent Customer Service

I have always found the staff at the Witham Branch of Howdens to be really helpful and knowledgeable. Excellent customer service should be the aim of all businesses and Howdens Witham deliver that.

CAROLYN MANN DESIGN & BUILD

2 years ago

Kitchen

Kitchen ordered short notice but nothing was any trouble for them survey done delivered on time and every thing was there great experience could not of gone better many thanks

pauline looker ORDER ID