Alaris London

It’s taken me a while, but I have finally thrown in the towel with Alaris and have taken it on myself to alert others to the issues we have suffered. It is not often I really write reviews, but when it is in the public's best interests, sometimes the time lost is worth it so others don't suffer in the same way my wife and I have. I would add that for us this saga is still not over and we have finally taken the decision to get legal representation as this seems the only route to an acceptable resolution. I will detail the issues we have had below, but the very short version would be to advise anyone considering kitchens is to look elsewhere. We should have taken notice of the previous negative reviews written about Alaris. They are 100% appropriate and most cases generous to a company and owners who are completely disingenuous. On taking your money, they have no care for what you are delivered. We had a design that was unsuitable, product delivered that were damaged, remedials that took a month to arrive and refunds promised that have still not been processed and I suspect they never had any intention to do so. The customer service is along the same lines with owners believing that lying, ignoring and hanging up are appropriate ways to run a business. If anyone would like evidence of any of the points raised then I am more than happy to share. The whole story: After looking for a kitchen for several months, we came across Alaris at one of the home shows in London. We were sold on the looks and the promise of the high quality you would expect from a German kitchen. We initially dealt with Andrew Murray at the Dartford Showroom. At the initial stages he was very helpful, in spending time on the decisions and helping make choices. It’s only looking back now we realised that he had no design competence. We had many communications in person, phone and email. In general, we received very swift responses. That was until the point at which we had made payment to the company. After this point, it became a huge chore to get through to Andrew. We would call for days/weeks and leave messages and send emails, both of which were completely ignored. We had wanted the kitchen by a certain date which we had made clear to Andrew and been given the impression that this would not be a problem. It would not have been, had any timely responses been forthcoming. However, due to the lack of communication, we ran into the summer closure period and had to accept our kitchen months later than we had wanted with our builders leaving the job as they had finished their part. At some point through this period, John Alan Murray took over communication, though hardly much better. However, he was very quick when they needed money for some extra panels. When we finally got around to arranging the delivery of the kitchen, it arrived with parts damaged, parts missing, units different to what we ordered and some just changed as they saw fit with no communication with us about why. On top of all this, when our fitter looked at the design, he was appalled that anyone would design such an island design, to the extent that he was not prepared to fit it the way it was as he did not want to put his name to something which was bound to cause a long-term issue. We asked for another opinion from another fitter and our builders. Both independently looked at the design and pointed out the same flaw. Our corner design was also not viable which even John Alan Murray agreed he would not have suggested. Alaris were adamant that there was no design issue on the island and it was fine. We put it to them, that if they thought it was a perfect design, they should fit it and provide an indemnity that if we had any problems in the future that they would rectify it. No-one reading this should be surprised to know that they were not prepared to do it. Every communication we have with John Murray, he keeps telling us that it will all be fine. He oscillates between being a long-time kitchen fitter who thinks it can all be done to someone who can’t comment on issues as he’s not a fitter. When asked to shows us how, we have a response that he needs to check with his fitter. On the communication front, when we raise the issue of the still lack of response from Andrew Murray, we are told that we can communicate with John instead as he is now dealing with it, but then he can't answer any of the design issues and pushed that back on Andrew. Alaris have supplied to us not only a kitchen with material design flaws but also supplied units designed differently to the ones we had ordered. They acknowledge the issues but keep playing it off between different people. The reality for all readers is that this is a single-family business who know exactly what game they are playing. I would urge everyone to be extremely careful when parting with any cash. There is also another John Murray, who John Alan Murray, says is the Director and who we were promised would call us back. We still wait. So far we have discussed the appalling and unprofessional communication; the complete design flaw in multiple parts of the kitchen; sending damaged units and changed items without consultation. Yet we still have an incomplete kitchen and also outstanding payments due back to us. John says he has processed it and the Aberdeen office say they have no records. The merry go round goes on, but it’s very clear to me that this is a deliberate attempt by the company to avoid paying back what they owe. I have never ever come across such appalling service from any company. I would urge anyone considering using Alaris to think about the issues we have raised. I am more than happy to speak to anyone to go through our experience or show pictures and even happy to show them the kitchen. Pronorm as a brand is ok but again not the German quality that i would have expected. Had I known what I know now, I would have certainly have gone somewhere else - anywhere else. As mentioned above, for us this saga continues as I don’t believe a company should be able get away with what I believe comes down to deceit and theft. For anyone else, be warned.

Contacted Alaris for a Bora kitchen hob as they are one of the few UK stockists for the German brand. I was in contact John Murray via emails for details and prices, at which point he was informative and helpful. When we decided to go ahead with the purchase John could not get on the phone quick enough for my bank details and he had no problem contacting a Bora rep at this time. The product arrived in good time but some of the parts were wrong, which at the time I was not to concerned as there was time to rectify this. I again contacted John who said this will be sorted within a few days. This was not the case, John and his colleagues then went on to ignore my phone calls and emails. The few times I have managed to speak to John he has claimed the new parts were delivered and then claiming Bora are not responding to him which I find hard to believe. My kitchen is now fitted with no extraction ducting which is not something I can buy off the shelf. ONCE THEY HAVE YOUR MONEY THEY DON'T CARE.

James designed our new kitchen and he was very professional and had plenty of patience. The finished article is something we just love and its really a joy to work in and relax in which we now do a lot.

I hired them last year, although our project has not started as yet but we will work with them shortly. As compared to others who we looked at, John from Alaris had great sense of style and professionalism.

From Start to finish Alaris was excellent, from John who helped with greatly with the design, Claire who project managed, and from the fitters who were excellent. We found the prices far more reasonable than some larger chains for the same goods, furthermore when one of the 3rd party suppliers for the worktops let Alaris down in the provision dates I was impressed to see Alaris used another company to fit within the given timescales a product that ended up being better and at no extra cost to ourselves. I would 100% recommend Alaris to all my friends and colleagues, the service was exceptional and the finished kitchen is everything and more we hoped for.