The kitchen we had recently fitted is turning into a bit of a nightmare.

We had a kitchen supplied around 2½ years ago and we have started to have issues with the quality of the cupboards and panels.

The kitchen was supplied as a supply only with me using my own fitters whose quality of work I know and trust. The kitchen supplied was with gloss finished panels.

A couple of months ago I noticed that the veneer on one of the gloss panels was coming away on one edge of a fitted panel on the side of the integrated refrigerator unit where the panel had been scribed to fit the wall. Upon closer inspection it appears that the adhesive had failed and a similar issue was starting on the panel on the other side of the unit.

The supplier came out and inspected and said that the problem was not with the quality but with the fitting, with them arguing that the panel should not have been cut as this effects the integrity of the panels, a fact I disputed as the panels would not have fit as supplied and with the wall being uneven, a cut to fit was necessary.

While we disagreed on the cause of the failure, we agreed that I would receive 2 new panels to replace the 2 faulty ones, them stating that the replacements would be supplied as an act of goodwill and not as an acceptance of liability.

I have been notified that the replacement panels (which I have to fit at my cost) are with the supplier awaiting collection. However, I have since noticed a problem with a third panel, with the adhesive again failing. This time, however, the glue has failed in the middle of a cupboard front that has had no cuts on so to my mind this is a manufacturing fault.

I am therefore concerned that this is the start of numerous panels failing and that over time, the panels could and will fail at some point.

Before I speak to the supplier regarding this new issue and before I accept the replacement panels in relation to the initial fault, what should I be expecting as a resolution. As mentioned, the kitchen is 2½ years old, and as this only came with a 3 year warranty, I’m aware that I’m running out of time before I’m left high and dry.

Given that I’ve now had 3 panels fail (as well as another rejected at the time of supply), could I reasonably request that all panels be replaced as the issue is not isolated to one specific panel? Could I reject the kitchen in full and request a full refund as the kitchen, having began failing after such a short period, is not of a satisfactory quality and not lasting a reasonable amount of time (how long is a reasonable amount of time for a kitchen to last?)

They have already intimated that if a panel fails beyond the 3 year warranty period then they would not consider this as a warranty issue and they would treat any new faults in isolation and not part of a pre-existing fault.

My preferable solution would be to re-supply new cupboard fronts and panels as all the base units and hardware quality is fine. Also, with having granite worktops and flooring cut to fit around the kitchen, the last thing I want is to have to pull the kitchen out in its entirety and replace. If this is a reasonable request, the next question is whether the cost of fitting these units should be at my cost or theirs? They have already refused to organise the fitting of the 2 replacement panels saying that the supply of goods is all they are willing to do.

Sorry, bit of a long post but any advice you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

It is not unheard of for the high gloss coating (it is just melted onto the mdf core) to come away from the core; usually where there is heat or steam around. It is reasonable to expect an infill to be scribed to a wall and not to fail because of this.
You will not get any fitting costs, but you should inspect all the doors, tap them to see if there are any hollow sounding bits where the glue is coming away.
It might be worth getting in touch with the manufacturer of the fronts and express your concerns about the whole lot failing and whether they might consider resupplying new ones. They will be made in Britain unless it’s IKEA.

I’ll bet its howdens, we have one of their kitchens and it fell apart, terrible quality.
Our chippy really pushed for howdens even though we wanted ikea, he claimed it was much better quality. I have been dissapointed from day one. My skeptical husband believes that the chippy wanted Howdens so that he did not have to bother assembling the carcasses.
After a few rows with Howdens and the chippy, husband fitted solid doors made by a local carpentry firm and never looked back. Chippy has been ditched.

The trade use Howdens because the public can’t see the price that is being paid for it. Then the fitter can say £350 to fit the kitchen when infact he is making £1000. £600-£1200 to fit a kitchen is quite fair but customers don’t always agree.
Howdens stuff is ok ish; I have never seen one of their fronts that made me go Wow! The chipboard is not very dense, the laminate soft on the worktops and their budget appliances hard to get repaired.
Ikea is only better in that they have some nice fronts, they use Blum fittings. I would never do an Ikea supply and fit; I’d never be away from the store with all the snagging! Hate the wall unit fitting system, hate having to cut a taphole in the sink, hate the feet falling off the cabinets when you lift them, hate the flush backpanels….

Had the same thing happen to my old kitchen.
I contacted the supplier and asked them if they guaranteed their high gloss doors.
We were just inside the five year guarantee ….
The supplier (not howdens) provided a complete set of new doors .

Thanks for the replies.

The kitchen isn’t from Howdens (although we did look at theirs and came close)but from a local kitchen dealer. I do have the details of their supplier so I’ll drop them a line although it is a generic “contact us” email address.

Given the converstations I’ve had so far with the dealer, I’m not expecting them to be falling over themselves to be too helpful.

chickenman, no we paid the howdens “trade” price, it was just slightly more expensive than the IKEA one. If we had paid their ridiculous list price it would have been 6 times more expensive. Like £600 for a normal sized carcass? We paid between 70 and 200 for carcasses from them depending on what they were.My husband had enormous arguemtns with them over the doors which delaminated after 9 months. They refused to replace or refund. We have our solictor on it now and its probably going to go to small claims.