P J Farrell was recommended to The Man and myself by our architect. We were told "what they don't…read moreknow about kitchens isn't worth knowing" On that strong endorsement, we gave it a go. We walked into a small, but swish looking show room and greeted by who we assumed is the "head" of this family business. He really did know everything. He didn't give us the BS sales patter, he listened to what we wanted, rejoiced in our practicality, and went over various design ideas with us. He showed us different cabinet finishes, different work tops, etc. He expressed an understanding of our budget constraints so when we were informed that one of the cabinet doors we liked was an "8 or 9" on the price scale, while the other was a "2" we asked to see the design/pricing of the "2" doors. After a bit longer than we expected, we were called back to view the design. Unfortunately, they had designed and priced the "8 or 9" doors and while it looked great, the price was far more than what we thought we made clear we could afford. They had some great price-saving ideas and said that they would re-do the design with the "2" doors and let us know. Unfortunately, they never got back in touch. I don't know if we fell under the radar or if they just decided we probably wouldn't be able to afford the cheaper cabinets anyway so decided not to bother with the work. We didn't get back in touch either because we were not pleased having to remind them that they could profit from us, and because we decided to start looking at other options. So, we were left feeling that we liked them but they didn't fully listen to us on our first meeting and seemingly wrote us off as not being able to afford their services. In these economic times I think these upmarket kitchen salesmen need to expand their ideas to cover those of us who are willing to pay more for quality, but don't want to be yanked around in the process.

Initially this company comes across as a great place to buy a kitchen. They have a great showroom…read moreand the staff seem pleasant, informative and knowledgeable. However after clearly outlining our budget we received our quote which was about £5K more than we had anticipated, however because of the quality of the kitchens on offer we decided to push our budget and commit to buying what we believed was a superior kitchen. Work was generally satisfactory although trying to get the tradesmen to respond to our calls and pin them down on dates for completion was a nightmare once the process had started. There was a period of about two weeks when no work went on at all. However, once the work was complete we suddenly found that several additional costs had been added on without consultation and so began a lengthy battle with the company, refusing to pay these unspecified costs. No written or verbal changes to the original quote had been advised by the company and we ended up having to threaten to go to the Ombudsman to get it sorted. Three years down the line and what we thought was a superior kitchen costing a substantial £16K hasn't proved to be the case. We now have one of the doors hanging off and after calling the company, expecting their work to be guaranteed at that price, have been told by rude sales staff that we cannot make an appt to get the work fixed but will just have to keep calling back on the off chance one of their tradesmen is free. On the whole an exceptionally poor experience for a LOT of money.