KEY POINTS:
The Consumers' Institute is warning the public to thoroughly research kitchen companies before using them, with two Auckland homeowners left tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket by a kitchen outfitter.
"I'm surprised I'm not on valium sandwiches," said one disgruntled customer, Maxine Muys, of her experience.
She and "extremely disappointed" businessman Tony Krzyzewski - whose kitchen saga has dragged on for more than two years - said they had little hope of recovering $116,000 paid to Alistair McIntosh of The English Kitchen Company to design, build and install their kitchens.
McIntosh, 58, told the Herald on Sunday that he was so stressed at dealing with "demanding" customers that he was retiring and selling the North Shore business he has run for six years. "I love the actual work but there's so much [irritation] with people," he said. "The public love to blame builders. I've got a son keen to go into the industry but I've advised him don't go near it. You have a lifetime of trouble."
The issue has thrown the spotlight on an ever-expanding industry that is largely unregulated. The Consumers' Institute said it received about two complaints a month about kitchen companies.
"I've very little trust in New Zealand tradesmen now," said Muys, an expatriate Kiwi who returned to Auckland after 25 years overseas. Having sourced McIntosh from a glossy magazine, she said she was promised the new kitchen in her 1940s villa would be completed before she returned to South Africa next week to settle moving arrangements. However, after weeks of delays and, on this point both agree, a steadily disintegrating relationship, Muys is now left with a $50,000 kitchen that even McIntosh admits is a disaster.
Muys' pantry is, she claims, "the size of a broom cupboard", the kitchen has missing shelves and cabinet doors, chipped handles, unsecured kickboards, and ill-fitting cornices. "It's fixable - but I think I have been treated very unfairly," she said. Since Muys has paid the full contract amount for her renovation she has sent a solicitor's request for further remedial work.
Apart from installing a TV door and sending four missing door handles to her last week, McIntosh said he believed he had finished his job as per contract. "I'm not prepared to entertain [fixing it]," he said. "I won't deny for a moment it's below the standard I would set myself. The problem is I couldn't cope with her any more." If Muys wanted to pursue arbitration she was welcome, he said.
Krzyzewski, who signed with the English Kitchen Company in July 2005, said he had received only two-thirds of his kitchen despite paying the full price of $66,000. "While the first delivery met our expectations, the rest was far from satisfactory." His last communication with the company was by email a month ago.
"After 2 1/2 years and many discussions we still eagerly await the delivery of the upper kitchen cabinets, extractor fan and rubbish drawers."
McIntosh told the Herald on Sunday that since the Krzyzewskis put a hold on their house-build last year he had gone on to other jobs and "we simply haven't been able, or prepared, to mess other people around". They would get their remaining items "before Christmas".
Said Krzyzewski: "It'll be a Christmas miracle."
Both Muys and Krzyzewski are now paying another company $10,000 and $50,000, respectively, to rectify or replace their kitchens.
Milvia Hannah, president of the National Kitchen And Bathroom Association - of which the English Kitchen Company is not a member - said kitchens were the most important room in a house and often cost a lot. "A general rule of thumb is to spend 10 per cent of the value of your home when you update."
Hannah said it was frustrating that her organisation, which has a code of practice and ethics for its 240 members, was often contacted by the public reporting problems with companies that weren't members.
"We help them as best we can by giving them advice but there's nothing we really can do. They should have come to one of us in the first place."
Consumers' Institute head Sue Chetwin said membership of a voluntary body was better than no membership. "It at least shows a level of commitment to customer care."
Diary of a kitchen nightmare- extracts from Jackie Krzyzewski's personal diary
* September 17, 2004: "Visited the Auckland Home Show and met Alastair MacIntosh [sic] of the English Kitchen Company. He showed us his work and we discussed the possibility of having him make our kitchen."
* August-September 2005: "Kitchen units are being built. Tony has sent Alastair $40k more or less for the kitchen and we are holding one instalment of $20k for completion plus the installation."
* November 2005-September 2006: "No further work done on our kitchen despite many phone calls ... Alastair phones Tony to advise that The English Company [sic] is in financial difficulties and he needs more money to be able to complete our work ... We agree because it is better we do this than end up with less than 1/3 of our kitchen."
* January 2007: "The kitchen is still not ready but Alastair says he will have it completed by the end of February."
* March 2007: "The kitchen is going to be a disaster. The second part has been delivered but it doesn't match the first part, nor is it built per the contract specifications. We have been to talk to our lawyer ... "
* July 27, 2007: "Guess what - Alastair hasn't done our kitchen units as he promised. He now says mid-August, so Tony will have to chase him then."
* August 8, 2007: Email from Alastair today saying he is suffering heart problems and doesn't feel he can complete the contract. He wants us to get another quote and will pay for this."
* 1 August 13, 2007: "Meeting onsite with [house] builder. After appraising the kitchen he says it is rubbish and will need to be scrapped. We can probably keep the pantry units which were originally built. Even the rosewood benches are not good enough to keep, because the wood has not been matched and is all stripey. So disappointing that it is all such a disaster."
* August 20, 2007: "After receiving the quote Alastair has decided that he now wants to finish the kitchen and make the upper cabinets himself as he thought the builder's quote was too expensive. We thought it was really cheap compared with what the rest of the kitchen cost us. Alastair wants to make the cabinets out of maltecca (sic) and we refused."
* October 4, 2007: "We are still waiting ... "
Meal plan
When building a new kitchen, the Consumers' Institute advises:
* Ask friends and family to recommend a company. If initial contact is via the web, ask to see actual work and speak to owners.
* Get a good contract.
* Get as much detail as you can on the timeline; find out the latest you can change your mind.
* Pay in instalments, with the smallest possible deposit. Withhold final payments until satisfied.
* Maintain contact with your contractor.
* Record discussions and agreements.
* Regularly check work to catch problems early.
