Happy to take your money, but as soon as you have a problem they aren't interested!
I can categorically say I NEVER write bad reviews, as most of the time the business takes the necessary steps to try to make up for any shortfalls. With Wickes, it's anything but.
We placed our order in February, and the first fitter we were allocated tried to add an extra £1.5k in work to the bathroom. This didn't sound correct, so when I flagged this with my design team they had to fight to get my order reallocated to my current installer.
It was extremely clear that because I was a lone female in the house, the installer had tried to pull the wool over my eyes and extort my lack of knowledge regarding building regulations to try and line his pocket. Despite this, I hoped this was just a rotten apple and proceeded with my order.
I didn't have much communication until I received a text from a supplier stating they had received the order for 'mermaid panels' and to contact them to arrange delivery (important for later). As I wasn't sure when my fitting would be, I emailed Henrik in Customer Services to make him aware, and ask whether this was something I needed to arrange myself.
I didn't receive a direct email back, however this then prompted the 'Delivery Date Confirmation' email to be sent to me, with the opening statement being 'we've been trying to reach you' which is false, considering I had no missed calls or emails. This being said, I believed everything to be on track now and that the panels would be arriving.
My delivery was booked for 25/04, however I was contacted on 24/04 at around 3pm to be told that the mixer I had ordered was no longer available. Henrik directed me to the store I placed the order with, and when speaking to Ben there I was told they couldn’t offer any alternatives and they would refund me and I’d need to find my own. When I queried whether they would help me look for alternatives, compensate me for my time doing so and also pay the clearly needed expedited delivery charges, I was told no but to “order from Victorian Plumbing as they offer free delivery.”
I then spent time trying to find an alternative, as I wasn't given or offered any help in finding one, to then be told the mixer had actually been delivered with the boxes and there was a mistake on Wickes' third party's side. Happy to just have a shower, I moved on with no fuss.
My fitter has started work on Monday, and noticed that none of the cardboard boxes we received were big enough to be the shower panels. I tried to call Henrik on the customer services team at 8:05 as lines are supposedly open at 8am, and was on hold for 10 minutes before I gave up and put the phone down and emailed instead. My installer also got in touch on my behalf, and we were then made aware that the supplier no longer supplied the panels I had ordered.
I then received an email from Ben at the store, advising me of such in writing but offering no support on what my next steps are. As such, myself and my fitter have been desperately trying to find another supplier as I will not have a functioning shower without them.
It's becoming clear that if we were to stay with the panels, we would be looking at 4+ weeks delivery. As such, I'm now going to be without a working shower for at least a month.
It's becoming clear that Wickes are very happy to take your money, but when it comes to sorting issues such as these the customer is left to clean up the mess. Considering the issue I had at the beginning of the process, I would have thought more care would have gone into the rest of my customer journey to ensure everything ran as smoothly as possible.
I'm having to compromise my vision for my bathroom, which I have paid a lot of money for, to try and find a 'quick fix' so that I have a functioning necessity. From my view point I’m struggling to see how this even happened – how did getting a text prompting me to arrange delivery of the panels turn into “there’s no panels at all”? Considering I emailed Henrik with this information originally, how was this missed when arranging delivery of everything else?
The reason we went with Wickes was so that this would be a hassle-free project, and it instead has done the complete opposite. The whole process from start to finish is disjointed, and nobody wants to take any accountability. I’m now on day 5 and nobody has contacted me – complaints department, customer services or the store.
I’m still waiting on a response from their complaints department, so in the meantime as this is a financed deal I will be contacting the Financial Ombudsman to refer the matter to them, as well as contacting the The Furniture and Home Improvement Ombudsman. I’m unsure of the latter, but they will have the privilege of having to pay £750 for the matter to be referred to the former, so maybe this will finally get them to acknowledge all the issues they caused!
Absolutely abysmal.
