Daniel Schlenz
18/03/2019
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We received three quotes for our single storey extension one of which was Bespoke. We were impressed with Colleen and her builder, they seemed switched on and promised low prices from suppliers based on their relationships. We had good rapport and most importantly the price of the project was less than half of the nearest competitor.
We contracted with Bespoke for the following:
Rear Extension
New flat roof
Interior painting
Alterations to internal walls
W/C installation under staircase
At first we were happy with the progress, we had the usual delays from unexpected findings, however it soon became apparent that any additions or amendments to the statement of works had a significant margin from Bespoke. eg when we needed London Stock Bricks, the price from Colleen was 20% more expensive than the price I could source.
The work took 9 months, only a little longer than planned and final cost was budget +20%. However the quality of the work was not uniformly good.
The following works had to be carried out again by new contractors within 12 months of the original project finishing:Roof and guttering had to be re-done by a certified roofer. It was obvious once the work was done the builder had no experience in laying a roof as can be seen in the photos which I added to the review on Houzz http://bit.ly/2W9fsv1
The downstairs WC was incorrectly installed, to be fair to Bespoke they did come back to install it properly but only after we’d paid for a second opinion to highlight the problem
Two rooms had to be repainted despite me highlighting my dissatisfaction with the finish to Colleen, her “painters” just didn’t have the skills.Internal leaks around the sky light which Bespoke were unable to fix on two attempts were later fixed by another party by filling an obvious gap in the seal.
In summary – there were some significant inadequacies which greatly increased the cost and inconvenience to us. But the structural work was sound and the reality is, Bespoke quoted so much lower than competitors that even if you added the cost of the works we had to fix ourselves, the final cost of the project still came in below the next bid.
Bespoke Living Responded: Many thanks for the feedback. We pride ourselves on excellent and reliable work. We would like to address some of your points for you straight away.
We are delighted to hear that we remained competitively priced, which we do try to do without compromising on quality.The final amount you were billed for was 20% more than the original quote, because there was alot of extra added work asked for by yourselves (which of course then took a little longer).
We always recommend to buy from proven suppliers. While it can be attractive seeing cheaper equivalents online, when clients order items themselves rather than through us, they can arrive late or damaged, or of sub-par quality. It does in our experience tend to hold things up and cost more in the long run, unfortunately. Our aim is always to keep cost – and stress! – to a minimum.
We vet our subcontractors and suppliers extremely carefully. When clients subcontract to other companies, we have no control over the quality of the work. The roof guttering you mention was adjusted by your glass suppliers, who manipulated the gutters to make their glass fit. The glass and leaking seal were also supplied and fitted by those subcontractors.
A WC was indeed fitted incorrectly at first, which we repaired and reinstalled as you mention. Our recollection was that you said you very happy with the paintwork, as it was a complicated block paint design.
We are glad you are happy with the work overall and the sound structure. We do rely very strongly on word of mouth, and we take real pride in our work and that of our associates, so thank you for the feedback as it is all useful!
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