B&Q are Britain's biggest DIY retailer and they've just launched special classes to teach children how to do jobs around the home. B&Q's 'You Can Do It' classes are designed to teach children skills like drilling, gluing and sawing.
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They also teach mums and dads how to do essential plumbing and joinery. All very admirable. But perhaps they should have got their own house in order first...
(Do you have something to say about this story? Tell us what you think by emailing us here. Don't forget to include 'B&Q' in the subject line. Watchdog will publish a selection of viewers' comments underneath each story, both throughout and after the programme is on air. Please remember to include your name as you would like to see it published).
According to some of their customers, B&Q's kitchen and bathroom fitters have had problems mastering some of those basic skills themselves. For example...
Two days after Paula Nicoll's bathroom installation, her toilet dismantled from the wall. And one week later, she went downstairs to find her whole ceiling had collapsed, beneath the bathroom and flooded the hallway.
On Jonathan Paterson's bathroom installation, they got the tile delivery wrong, the bathroom panel wrong, the sink panel wrong, and there were various other pieces missing or broken. Jonathan told Watchdog:
"The list was endless!"
B&Q reckon they're so good at DIY, they're capable of teaching it to our children in their own stores. But do they really know the ABC of DIY? We set up our own classroom to remind them...
Lesson one: Know what you're drilling into
If only B&Q had followed that rule when they fitted Anita Hodgson's new kitchen. When they began work on her electrical wiring, they accidentally drilled through her kitchen wall into her lounge. In essence, they'd pushed the drill through too far - not once, but three times!
And things didn't seem to improve. According to Anita, they made a mess of the plastering too. And when they'd gone and Anita used her new kitchen for the first time, she discovered they'd forgotten another important lesson:
Lesson two: Before you leave, make sure all the plumbing is watertight
They hadn't fitted the drain pipe to her washing machine properly, and as her first load emptied, it pumped water all over her floor. For this and all their other mistakes, they offered Anita £500 compensation. But that's done nothing to repair her confidence in B&Q.
"The kitchen was my dream, I wanted a new kitchen, I've never had a fitted kitchen, it reduced me to tears so many times, I just wouldn't have them do anything else in my home."
Even though the fitters all wear B&Q uniforms, they're actually contractors. But we've discovered that they're not the only ones making mistakes. B&Q staff themselves are often responsible for the design of their customer's kitchens and bathrooms. And they don't always heed the lessons either.
Lesson 3: Successful design relies on accurate measurements
They messed up Sean Kirby's three and a half thousand pound new bathroom before moving a muscle. They'd sent a surveyor to check it would all fit, but when the installers started work, the bathroom didn't fit! It turns out that the B&Q surveyor had overlooked a wooden beam on Sean's bathroom ceiling that meant it was impossible to put the shower where they'd planned to. They'd not noticed his water tank wasn't big enough to supply the power shower too. And the extractor fan couldn't go where they planned to put it because of a lintel above the window. All this meant that what was meant to be a five day job ended up taking nearer 30.
"We just couldn't believe it. Every time we came home from work, there's another problem. This doesn't work, that doesn't work. We just eventually couldn't believe it."
Lesson 4 - Always read the instructions.
At least when it comes to the installation of new appliances B&Q fitters will have the instruction books. The one for Alison Hodgson's new fridge said:
"Ensure the appliance is away from any sources of heat... electric stoves etc"
And the one for her new electric stove agreed, saying:
"Do not install any refrigerators... underneath,"
Simple enough, eh? Guess what B&Q did? They installed the fridge right underneath her hob. Alison says the mistake caused the food in her fridge to go off:
"When you're cooking on the hob, it's interfering with the fridge. The fan's over-working so when you open your fridge, you can just smell a horrible smell."
Did they even read the instructions? Unlikely! And according to Alison, they also seemed to have difficulty following the rest of the plans:
"Everything was wonky, the drawers wouldn't open flush, they were banging into other drawers. Cupboards were not screwed in properly, light fittings underneath the units were left with wires just hanging. The shelving was attached by blocks of wood... Absolutely disgusting, appalling job. Wouldn't recommend them to anybody."
B&Q eventually moved Alison's fridge, installed some new kitchen furniture and offered her £100 compensation.
Our final case involves Andrew Dunn. He's been waiting for his finished kitchen for three and a half years! When the Watchdog team visited him, he was using water from his bath to wash up because his kitchen sink still wasn't plumbed in. Over the years, B&Q contractors have tried and failed to fit his kitchen properly three times. He says he's faced a multitude of problems, such as damaged goods, and poor workmanship by the contractors.
"It's been very stressful, because obviously when they quote three to four days to fit a kitchen, and it goes on over four months for the first time, and then three and a half years later you still don't have a kitchen, it is very upsetting. You pay a lot of money for what you think is a quality product, and you pay a lot of money to have it fitted, and you generally get the feeling you could fit it better yourself."
In response to the issues raised by Watchdog, B&Q sent a statement:
"B&Q takes these cases seriously and would like to apologise to each of these customers. We are in communication with all seven of the customers that you featured on the programme tonight and in five out of the seven cases all remedial work has now been completed to the customer's satisfaction and compensation for the distress and inconvenience caused has been offered and accepted by the customers. We are committed to resolving the two cases that are outstanding to the customers' satisfaction and are confident that this will be achieved as soon as possible.
"It is not acceptable to us that we have ANY customer that is not satisfied with their kitchen or bathroom installation and we apologise to these customers. We carry out around 30,000 installations a year some of which are very complex and that's why every B&Q installation carries a two year guarantee.
"We take all customer feedback seriously and any customer who would like any advice whatsoever about their installation should contact our customer services team on 0800 328 2415, visit their local store or email us at installationsservice@b-and-q.co.uk"
Watchdog Viewers' Responses:
I recently had a bathroom fitted ...wouldnt recommend B&Q to anyone.
We were told that we would be without a bath/ shower for three days due to missing bath legs. The bath was too big and had to have part of the bathroom door archatrave cut out. The radiator valve was the wrong one so we had to go and buy one ourselves, when I complained they said they would re- inburse the money we spent to go and get the new valve and we should keep the one that didnt fit out of good will....but we'd already paid for it with the radiator....although the fittes were good the customer services was a shambles.
Thanks
kelley
I had a bathroom installed by b&q, was told it was going to take 6 days, they began at the start of September and then finished mid-December.
First fitter disappeared halfway through, so did the second pair, third lot then finished it off mid-December.
By the end of December my tiled floor was coming up. I reported it to b&q and then they said they would come around and fix it.
Another contractor come around with the wrong details, the a few weeks later a different contractor came around to put in a fix, this lasted about two weeks and then after a lot of two-ing and thro-ing another bloke came around to fix it.
This took around 6 months to fix. They are a nightmare!
Paul Harrington, Essex
My parents bought some furniture from B&Q and spent over £600. When the furniture was delivered some 50 oil marks had been left on the carpet from the delivery just shortly after having the carpets professionally cleaned B&Q took 3 months to sort this out and by passing us on from one person to another.
Would not shop again
Jon, Southampton
We had the same problems with B&Q fitting our bathroom, which included three different baths which were not a stock item and each damaged. In the temporary bath they didn't plumb in properly which lead to flooding in the bathroom which came through our ceiling in our newly decorated hallway downstairs. The radiator we had chosen began to leak and as this wasn't A stock item we had to make do with a electric heater during the coldest winter last year and with newborn twins! No offers of compensation and on reflection being a new mum of twins I didn't have the energy to push. In retrospect the money spent and the job done wasn't really satisfactory-a rush job and full of difficulties for a simple refit of almost like for like! We won't be B&Qing again that's for sure
Sara Tansley
You can do it when you B&Q it, but can they?
In order to see this content you need to have both Javascript enabled and Flash installed. Visit BBC Webwise for full instructions. If you're reading via RSS, you'll need to visit the blog to access this content.
They also teach mums and dads how to do essential plumbing and joinery. All very admirable. But perhaps they should have got their own house in order first...
(Do you have something to say about this story? Tell us what you think by emailing us here. Don't forget to include 'B&Q' in the subject line. Watchdog will publish a selection of viewers' comments underneath each story, both throughout and after the programme is on air. Please remember to include your name as you would like to see it published).
According to some of their customers, B&Q's kitchen and bathroom fitters have had problems mastering some of those basic skills themselves. For example...
Two days after Paula Nicoll's bathroom installation, her toilet dismantled from the wall. And one week later, she went downstairs to find her whole ceiling had collapsed, beneath the bathroom and flooded the hallway.
On Jonathan Paterson's bathroom installation, they got the tile delivery wrong, the bathroom panel wrong, the sink panel wrong, and there were various other pieces missing or broken. Jonathan told Watchdog:
"The list was endless!"
B&Q reckon they're so good at DIY, they're capable of teaching it to our children in their own stores. But do they really know the ABC of DIY? We set up our own classroom to remind them...
Lesson one: Know what you're drilling into
If only B&Q had followed that rule when they fitted Anita Hodgson's new kitchen. When they began work on her electrical wiring, they accidentally drilled through her kitchen wall into her lounge. In essence, they'd pushed the drill through too far - not once, but three times!
And things didn't seem to improve. According to Anita, they made a mess of the plastering too. And when they'd gone and Anita used her new kitchen for the first time, she discovered they'd forgotten another important lesson:
Lesson two: Before you leave, make sure all the plumbing is watertight
They hadn't fitted the drain pipe to her washing machine properly, and as her first load emptied, it pumped water all over her floor. For this and all their other mistakes, they offered Anita £500 compensation. But that's done nothing to repair her confidence in B&Q.
"The kitchen was my dream, I wanted a new kitchen, I've never had a fitted kitchen, it reduced me to tears so many times, I just wouldn't have them do anything else in my home."
Even though the fitters all wear B&Q uniforms, they're actually contractors. But we've discovered that they're not the only ones making mistakes. B&Q staff themselves are often responsible for the design of their customer's kitchens and bathrooms. And they don't always heed the lessons either.
Lesson 3: Successful design relies on accurate measurements
They messed up Sean Kirby's three and a half thousand pound new bathroom before moving a muscle. They'd sent a surveyor to check it would all fit, but when the installers started work, the bathroom didn't fit! It turns out that the B&Q surveyor had overlooked a wooden beam on Sean's bathroom ceiling that meant it was impossible to put the shower where they'd planned to. They'd not noticed his water tank wasn't big enough to supply the power shower too. And the extractor fan couldn't go where they planned to put it because of a lintel above the window. All this meant that what was meant to be a five day job ended up taking nearer 30.
"We just couldn't believe it. Every time we came home from work, there's another problem. This doesn't work, that doesn't work. We just eventually couldn't believe it."
Lesson 4 - Always read the instructions.
At least when it comes to the installation of new appliances B&Q fitters will have the instruction books. The one for Alison Hodgson's new fridge said:
"Ensure the appliance is away from any sources of heat... electric stoves etc"
And the one for her new electric stove agreed, saying:
"Do not install any refrigerators... underneath,"
Simple enough, eh? Guess what B&Q did? They installed the fridge right underneath her hob. Alison says the mistake caused the food in her fridge to go off:
"When you're cooking on the hob, it's interfering with the fridge. The fan's over-working so when you open your fridge, you can just smell a horrible smell."
Did they even read the instructions? Unlikely! And according to Alison, they also seemed to have difficulty following the rest of the plans:
"Everything was wonky, the drawers wouldn't open flush, they were banging into other drawers. Cupboards were not screwed in properly, light fittings underneath the units were left with wires just hanging. The shelving was attached by blocks of wood... Absolutely disgusting, appalling job. Wouldn't recommend them to anybody."
B&Q eventually moved Alison's fridge, installed some new kitchen furniture and offered her £100 compensation.
Our final case involves Andrew Dunn. He's been waiting for his finished kitchen for three and a half years! When the Watchdog team visited him, he was using water from his bath to wash up because his kitchen sink still wasn't plumbed in. Over the years, B&Q contractors have tried and failed to fit his kitchen properly three times. He says he's faced a multitude of problems, such as damaged goods, and poor workmanship by the contractors.
"It's been very stressful, because obviously when they quote three to four days to fit a kitchen, and it goes on over four months for the first time, and then three and a half years later you still don't have a kitchen, it is very upsetting. You pay a lot of money for what you think is a quality product, and you pay a lot of money to have it fitted, and you generally get the feeling you could fit it better yourself."
In response to the issues raised by Watchdog, B&Q sent a statement:
"B&Q takes these cases seriously and would like to apologise to each of these customers. We are in communication with all seven of the customers that you featured on the programme tonight and in five out of the seven cases all remedial work has now been completed to the customer's satisfaction and compensation for the distress and inconvenience caused has been offered and accepted by the customers. We are committed to resolving the two cases that are outstanding to the customers' satisfaction and are confident that this will be achieved as soon as possible.
"It is not acceptable to us that we have ANY customer that is not satisfied with their kitchen or bathroom installation and we apologise to these customers. We carry out around 30,000 installations a year some of which are very complex and that's why every B&Q installation carries a two year guarantee.
"We take all customer feedback seriously and any customer who would like any advice whatsoever about their installation should contact our customer services team on 0800 328 2415, visit their local store or email us at installationsservice@b-and-q.co.uk"
Watchdog Viewers' Responses:
I recently had a bathroom fitted ...wouldnt recommend B&Q to anyone.
We were told that we would be without a bath/ shower for three days due to missing bath legs. The bath was too big and had to have part of the bathroom door archatrave cut out. The radiator valve was the wrong one so we had to go and buy one ourselves, when I complained they said they would re- inburse the money we spent to go and get the new valve and we should keep the one that didnt fit out of good will....but we'd already paid for it with the radiator....although the fittes were good the customer services was a shambles.
Thanks
kelley
I had a bathroom installed by b&q, was told it was going to take 6 days, they began at the start of September and then finished mid-December.
First fitter disappeared halfway through, so did the second pair, third lot then finished it off mid-December.
By the end of December my tiled floor was coming up. I reported it to b&q and then they said they would come around and fix it.
Another contractor come around with the wrong details, the a few weeks later a different contractor came around to put in a fix, this lasted about two weeks and then after a lot of two-ing and thro-ing another bloke came around to fix it.
This took around 6 months to fix. They are a nightmare!
Paul Harrington, Essex
My parents bought some furniture from B&Q and spent over £600. When the furniture was delivered some 50 oil marks had been left on the carpet from the delivery just shortly after having the carpets professionally cleaned B&Q took 3 months to sort this out and by passing us on from one person to another.
Would not shop again
Jon, Southampton
We had the same problems with B&Q fitting our bathroom, which included three different baths which were not a stock item and each damaged. In the temporary bath they didn't plumb in properly which lead to flooding in the bathroom which came through our ceiling in our newly decorated hallway downstairs. The radiator we had chosen began to leak and as this wasn't A stock item we had to make do with a electric heater during the coldest winter last year and with newborn twins! No offers of compensation and on reflection being a new mum of twins I didn't have the energy to push. In retrospect the money spent and the job done wasn't really satisfactory-a rush job and full of difficulties for a simple refit of almost like for like! We won't be B&Qing again that's for sure
Sara Tansley
You can do it when you B&Q it, but can they?