Ask RiotACT: Kitchen renovation

I have has a terrible experience with Pioneer kitchens and ended up having their kitchen removed and engaged another company to replace the kitchen.

Pioneer were initially charming etc however after money changed hands things changed dramatically.

Other areas Pioneer fell short are-
Changing the plans without consultation,
Blaming and charging us to have this fixed,
Their workmanship and finish was not what would be expected for a kitchen of the price,
There were over 30 defects which were assessed by indipendent MBA endorsed experts,
They failed to meet the delivery date (and 3 subsequent agreed deadlines),
Their senior representative agreed that the work delivery was not acceptable but would not agree to a refund.

Dealing with them was a total cluster, they are not the cheapest in town but they do promise the world.

Beware of Pioneer kitchens and go to another company. Crown kitchens are a much better option.

I had a very bad experience with simplicity kitchens. I spent 4 months trying to organise my new kitchen through them. They promised the world but didn’t deliver on any of it. Dave doesn’t return phone calls, doesn’t show up when he says he will, doesn’t return quotes within his own set timeframe. Basically they treat you like you are an inconvenience and that you are lucky for them to be building your kitchen. In the end I sacked them from the job.

We used The Kitchen Company (Fyshwick). Great work, great service and stress free. We also had an issue where my son pushed down too hard on the bin drawer and broke it and even though it was our fault and therefore not covered under their 10 year warranty, they were still really good about sending someone out to fix it. Can’t recommend them highly enough.

We used The Kitchen Company after reading another post on here (from a few years ago) where they got rave reviews. They were not the cheapest option but were competitive and worked within our budget. Their work was excellent and stress free. I would highly recommend them.

Try Simplicity kitchens who have won ACT building awards. They were brilliant to work with, great advice for planning and a an excellent work ethic. We needed the old kitchen taken away and a complete new one installed. They came on a Wednesday and by Friday lunch-time we had a usable new kitchen with the last bits done early the next week – not like some of my friends whose renos dragged on for days and weeks. They renovated our laundry and office area at the same time. Their quote was competitive and didn’t over-run. Others I know who have used them have been very pleased also. Good luck with it!

I don’t know if they do renovations or just installations in new houses, but based on our experience avoid CKC (aka CKC Joinery and Stone and don’t confuse them with the South Aust company of a similar name).

Their work is of low to acceptable standard and while they do have at least one good tradesman working for them, you will be lucky if you can ever get them to come out and do remedial work.

In our experience you will get constant flow of “we will get to that in a couple of weeks” responses assuming you can actually get in contact with them.

We are getting close to 4 months of waiting.