B&Q / Diy.com
Reviews and Complaints

Warning. Do NOT ever purchase a kitchen from B&Q. My kitchen was faulty within 6 weeks of receiving it, I made my first complaint then it took 2 years of emails, house visits, store visits . This made me ill with stress . The kitchen manager said the kitchen was faulty and needed replacing. The surfaces were awful The cabinets rotted and had an oil leaking from them. I was offered a replacement 3 times but this was never honoured . They have now offered me £250 ! Rude, unhelpful staff.

£5000 down the drain and needing a new kitchen

Sunday 20 August I went to B&Q Croydon to return a tin of white paint - I ended up leaving without being served, as there was only 1 till open where the refund could be transacted - and while I was waiting, it was left unattended for a long time

I returned 7am this morning on my way to work - the assistant looked at my receipt and told me it was the wrong receipt, and stressed several times I can't get a refund without a receipt. I didn't want to be late for work, so took her at her word and left the store to get to work on time.

I have just checked the receipt - the product name and product code both appear on the receipt I had shown the cashier - so as bank holiday weekend approaches, I have to find time to go back for the 3rd time to return the paint

This product was on a very low shelf area and was marked as reduced to £10 that is the only reason l picked it up to buy it. It wasn’t what l went into the store for but liked it.

I thought my purchases had come to rather more than l expected when l was getting into the car, when l looked at the receipt the item was £18. I am disabled and walk with a walker so having to get the walker out and go back to the till was just too exhausting

This was at the Scarborough store.

I just want to say please could you make sure prices on shelves are clear what is reduced and have shelves easier to get to

Also in the plant area l couldn’t get my walker between two planters. I can’t be the only disabled person who walks around the store.

Otherwise l like the store very much.

I was sparked at the device I received from this store.I was purchasing some stones for my garden and needed some help for them to be put into my car.First I was told to go to the checkouts where I found 2 staff who were chatting and I asked for assistance and was told there is 2 staff on that section, so I found one Tracey who was stacking the shelf snd I explained I need help she said she can’t lift as dhe has a bad back so I explained that I am a cancer patient with health issues including a bad back snd need help. So she said to me to go and wait in the section and she will find someone as they haven’t got many men about.So I went back and waited with friend who was with me.we waited more than 20 mins and I went back and asked her again that we are waiting snd she said she has sent a msg snd to wait.A customer offered to help us as we thought he worked there but we said no as it wasn’t fair.Anyway finally as we were about to walk out Tracey came with a lad who helped us.In my opinion no customer care or genuine support and the no care attitude of staff.You have a big store and this is the treatment given.

Harlow kitchen department. So many errors made. Wrongly advised. Missed the deadline for ordering a kitchen at discount price. Placed complaint with head office. Just gets handed back to the inadequate Harlow store. Get nowhere! Ian, the store manager, one minute says one thing, then does another! Really bad management. AVOID IF I WAS YOU. Go to Howdens or Benchmark. Much better customer service.

Hi all. I ordered 2 bulk bags of bark chippings from b&q but got a text saying delivery to kirbside only as not delivered by crane or hiab. What use is this I thought, I phoned b&q on a monday and cancelled the order and was told ok your order is cancelled you will get full refund within 5 days. Went to hospital on wednesday as I had an appointment to follow up my cancer operation I had 3 weeks previously. Arrived home about 3 hours later to find 2 x 1000litre bags of bark on my drive placed right up to my garage door. I cannot open the door to access my mobility scooter or anything else I need form the garage. B&q informed of problem and 24 hours later the bark is still there and now have to wait untill tomorrow to see when bark will be picked up and taken away as I dont want it. The woman from b&q I spoke to on the phone has already had 24 hours to get it moved to no avail so I hold no hope for tomorrow I am afraid. I am absolutely disgusted by b&q's response to my problem and shall be seeking compensation big style as I am so angry by all of this mess. I do not need all this stress at a low time in my life, my wife is also stressed to her limits as she has had to do all the talking as I had my tongue removed. I will never use b&q again and would urge anyone thinking of having bulk deliveries from them to reconsider and look at other options. They really dont give a damn about my situation. Yours sincerely disgusted &appalled

My parent's bathroom was supposed to be completely fitted by the 5th October. So far they have had 1 overpayment charged, 2 incorrect deliveries, 1 broken shower tray, 2 days to which the fitter failed to arrive and now they have half a bathroom. Their original bathroom was ripped out 30th September ready for the new one to be fitted in its place - we are still waiting for this to be completed. A fitter did arrive today and fitted only the toilet. Upon leaving he announced he wouldn't be back until Saturday! Is this acceptable B&Q? I would like to personally thank you for the stress and worry you have put upon my parents. Luckily I'm off work this week so have come to visit their home to help aleviate the stress. The 'project manager' is obviously unavailable so I have no alternative to post online.

Advice to everyone - do not purchase anything from B&Q which needs ordering, delivering or fitting as they seem unable to complete anything.

My son recently purchased a flat to rent out. It needed some decorating so my husband and I helped them out along with a professional decorator who was quite expensive so we ditched him after some initial work. We needed to buy some extra paint for the walls which was Dulux emulsion, 'almond white' we sent our son & his girlfriend to b&q but they didn't have this colour so they went off to an independent supplier. They ended up paying £68 for a 10 ltr pot of paint, absolute extortion! When they returned to the flat I obviously questioned the cost, but realized they cannot return a mixed pot. We telephoned the number on a receipt left from the decorator, which is where he got his supplies from but not local to us, and they quoted £42 for the same paint, such a massive difference in price. I actually cannot believe the price they were charged & feel there should be some comeback from this? Please advise. Kind regards Frances Dewitt

the store advetised in the national press there would be a clearancs sale of (Work trade name) electric Drills and electric Srewdrivers I went to my local b&q store for three consecative days afteri was told they were waiting for a delivery and to day i was told the would not be getting any of the items! onFriday when i was in the store there was some Work tm tools but they have disapered when i went back today (saterday) some this makes me think its all some type of scam to get people into their store

We purchased a bath which was delvered damaged in July, but we did not discover this until we installed the bath some time later. It is clear to us that the damage was caused because the product was not secured properly in transit from the branch to our house. The representative at the branch rudely dismissed our complaint, and accused us of dishonesty. We will not be back.

Having read some of the archived comments about the B&Q service received by other customers, I was keen to add my own comments regarding the ongoing saga of my bathroom installation.

The story so far...
February 2007 - visit local B&Q store to arrange a home design consultation. Agree date for consultant to visit. 5 minutes before due to arrive, receive call from store saying consultant has phoned in sick - arrange another date for a visit. No show from the consultant, storm down to the store where I am told "oh yes, he's let someone else down today as well". Arrange another date with a different consultant. Consultant arrives! Happy with design, place order, fitting will be within 12 weeks (in retrospect I should have seen the warning signs at this point). Agree finance - details will follow in the post.

March - no information received in the post. Visit store to ensure finance is OK and order has been placed. Everything OK, expect a call from the Installation Centre.
Wait a couple of weeks, no call from installation centre, call 0845 number - order is OK, expect a call from the fitter for prefit survey
Delivery company want to arrange delivery - how can I without an installation date?

April - no call from fitter, phone 0845 number - don't worry fitter will be in touch. Still no call, phone installation centre - fitter has decided he doesn't want job, new fitter assigned. No news from new fitter, call installation centre - he's lost the paper work, this is resent and he will be in touch.

May - further calls to installation centre to chase up fitter. Finally have prefit survey, installation will be 24th July (16 weeks after initial order). Installation centre will be in touch to confirm delivery.

June - store want to arrange delivery, arrange suitable date

July - call to installation centre to confirm delivery, waiting on paperwork, but someone will phone me back. Follow up call to installation centre, bath hasn't been sent off for jetting and won't be back in time for installation, fitting will now be 16th October.

Having not received the promised phone call from a team leader today, to discuss extending my finance agreement (I refuse to pay before it is fitted and current agreement runs out in August) and to make a formal complaint, I called the installation centre again. No-one available to talk to me, will call back tomorrow...

One way or another the saga will end - either I will get the service I require, or the order will be cancelled and I'll try again with another company. Never again!

We paid for a vanity unit in the farnborough store. £360, pounds paid with the understanding out furniture would be delivered within 4weeks, however seeing everyone elses complaints this sounds like the beginning of the lies. I rang after 4 weeks to enquire after the product and was then enlightened I wasn't dealing with b&q any more but a PJ holdings! When I rang them I was informed the unit was out if stock and was expected in at the end of sept, another call I was told mid oct.. But mist likely end of oct.. I rang again at the end of oct and I was then told it was unknown when the product would likely to be in. I was seeing red at this point and realised I was being scammed by a well known company. Plenty of futile phonecalls to staff who where clueless except in the art of taking payment. Following many calls to various depts I was put through to b&q home.. I eventually got my unit on 10th oct.. Turned out product was I'll suited and needed to be returned.. Que more pathetic customer service .. I eventually got a refund on 10 th November, it remains to be seen if money has made it into our account... Never ever will I buy anything from b&Q I would rather gouge my eye out with a muddy stick.

Do you know how much a complete toilet in a sealed box should weigh?
I don't. All I know is I bought a toilet to go in a big heavy sealed box. It was heavy and I needed help lifting it. It never occored to me to open the sealed b&Q box to make sure everything was in it. 4 days later, the plumber arrived to install said toilet only to open it and discover the cystern was missing.
My husband got a taxi to exchange it for a complete toilet, only to be informed that they wouldn't return or exchange it as it was missing parts. When we explained that we wanted the missing piece, we were told we should have known the box wasn't as heavy as it should have been. My husband pointed out, that a toilet weighed nearly 3/4 of my weight and anything over 30% of my weight I classify as heavy.
Their advise was to buy another toilet. I at home told the plumber what the delay was, and he being paid to do nothing went down to the shop, and bawled a lot of people out. When they finally decided that as a "gesture of goodwill" they would exchange it.
Our plumber opened the box on the spot, to find a handwritten note on the inside of the box that there were missing brackets. In the end, we had to take it and buy separate brackets as all the toilets in the Greenwich shop was missing various pieces.
He pointed out he had never encountered problems like that from other stores. Our plumber was kind and didn't bill us for the entire time wased, but we did have to pay out a bit.
Stupidly, I thought this would be a one off problem and am currently fighting to get another order corrected and delivered... resolved before the plumber arrives again? Probably not.

Bought a discounted toaster by reserving online to collect at the York outlet. Drove 80 miles in the snow to collect; decided to call and ask them to put to one side to hurry things through.

Was then told the item was out of stock, and someone should have called me.

160 mile round-trip for nothing. No recourse or promise of rectifying situation. Hopeless.

I purchased a kitchen from B & Q on 01.06.09. I was told I would be informed of delivery date as I wanted it to be delivered on a Thursday. I was told if all items were in stock it would come direct from store, if not it would come from a depot. On Friday 19.06.09, while I was not at home, the kitchen was delivered. On 27.06.09 my fitters came to fit kitchen, they found 2 out of 3 work surfaces were damaged, a post was broken, pieces were missing from the assembly parts and 15 pieces of the kitchen were missing from order, including drawer fronts, door, end panels, cabinets etc. The manager told me that he would not give me the missing pieces or a refund until he had investigated matter. I took all pieces in my possession back to store and was only offered partial refund, for bits i had returned, not the missing pieces. I complained to complaints department, only for them to be so incompetent I had to add them to complaint. On 29.06.09 I was told I would get a full refund, but not because they agreed that pieces were missing, just for customer goodwill. I have a bill for £200 from my fitters for starting to fit kitchen, but B & Q refuse to pay saying that all items were delivered. By 01.07.09 B & Q admitted that 2 of the missing pieces were never delivered, but that all the other pieces were, and I am entitled to nothing. I was not prepared to let the fitters fit a kitchen, without me knowing that B & Q would give me the missing peices, as I had no intention of paying for them again. The kitchen was not fit for purpose and trading standards say they are in breach of contract, but still they won't pay my fitter's bill. B & Q are useless and couldn't care about customer service, and are quite happy to call their customers liars and thieves. I cater from home and not only am I out of pocket £200 to my fitters and about £25 in petrol to and from store, and phone calls, my business has suffered and I have lost earnings and goodwill of my customers.

Having read some of the archived comments about the B&Q service received by other customers, I was keen to add my own comments regarding the ongoing saga of my bathroom installation.

The story so far...

February 2007 - visit local B&Q store to arrange a home design consultation. Agree date for consultant to visit. 5 minutes before due to arrive, receive call from store saying consultant has phoned in sick - arrange another date for a visit. No show from the consultant, storm down to the store where I am told "oh yes, he's let someone else down today as well". Arrange another date with a different consultant. Consultant arrives! Happy with design, place order, fitting will be within 12 weeks (in retrospect I should have seen the warning signs at this point). Agree finance - details will follow in the post.

March - no information received in the post. Visit store to ensure finance is OK and order has been placed. Everything OK, expect a call from the Installation Centre. Wait a couple of weeks, no call from installation centre, call 0845 number - order is OK, expect a call from the fitter for prefit survey Delivery company want to arrange delivery - how can I without an installation date?

April - no call from fitter, phone 0845 number - don't worry fitter will be in touch. Still no call, phone installation centre - fitter has decided he doesn't want job, new fitter assigned. No news from new fitter, call installation centre - he's lost the paper work, this is resent and he will be in touch.

May - further calls to installation centre to chase up fitter. Finally have prefit survey, installation will be 24th July (16 weeks after initial order). Installation centre will be in touch to confirm delivery.

June - store want to arrange delivery, arrange suitable date

July - call to installation centre to confirm delivery, waiting on paperwork, but someone will phone me back. Follow up call to installation centre, bath hasn't been sent off for jetting and won't be back in time for installation, fitting will now be 16th October.

Having not received the promised phone call from a team leader today, to discuss extending my finance agreement (I refuse to pay before it is fitted and current agreement runs out in August) and to make a formal complaint, I called the installation centre again. No-one available to talk to me, will call back tomorrow...

One way or another the saga will end - either I will get the service I require, or the order will be cancelled and I'll try again with another company. Never again!

Mid-August, I wanted to build a simple carport and went to the neaest biggish B&Q. Amazingly they did have all the bits and pieces in stock, but promised me delivery within 3 or 4 days. Well, it took close to a month.
I phoned in repeatedly and was given the runabout each time.Eventually, they got their act together and delivered; but they could not even tell me more or less what time to expect the stuff. Wasted 3 weeks of perfect weather+1 Saturday waiting for the delivery man!
A letter of complaint to B&Q head office in Renfrewshire went answered - not even the courtesy of an acknowledgment.
I need not add what I think ofB&Q.

We recently bought a shower enclosure from B&Q with an integral wooden drying board. We had it fitted by our own builders but within one month the board had warped and gone moldy. In addition the enclosure does not enclose water so it sprays across the bathroom when we are showering. We have spent the last 2 months trying to get the store to listen to us. They sent 2 men to the view it who wrote a one line email stating the shower head was in the wrong place - this is a lie. We gave them pictorial evidence and delivered a letter stating the 'Sale of Goods Act' as the product is not fir for purpose. The manager of the store refused to read it and has refused to do anything more. We have stated that we do not want a new wooden board as a replacement as this will need to be done on a monthly basis for the rest of the bathrooms life - we have been ignored. We are now about to send the letter to the MD and then we will have to go to the small claims court. I am wondering if we should do a mass action against the company? Can this be done? There seem to be a lot of unhappy people out there who have dealt with B&Q.

i ordered a new kitchen from b&q and they came last mon 4th may to install it, 4 days i was told
its now 13th may and still waiting for appliance to come, walls to be smoothed down w, machine to be plumbed in as f/f too dish washer also which they sent wrong one and had to have units moved. given stories about coming tues then when rang them was told wed, today
told they have own workmen still they forgot things, saw not big enough and even broke hob in process, which is being replaced diferant plumbers came no proper connection with then and told my wife to go to shop and buy a extention am waiting to see if they come today i have photos here but will as i said seee what happens today i told them i spoke to trading standards woman didnt seem to care and e mailed watchdog too

I had a new kitchen out in in June 2007. Ever since the beginning bits have been falling off. Now, one of the cupboard doors is hanging at an angle and there is a hole appeared in the back of one of the cupbpards.
I need someone to come and fix it ASAP, otherwise, it's just going to get worse.
Yours,
Mary J Moss. Mrs.
I don't hear very clearly on the phone so, the phone No I have given you is that of my friend who takes calls for me. Otherwise, you can reach me on my mobile (Text only ). The number is...
[protected]

Bought a shower bath and glass door with side panels in the so called sales - supposedly had 50% off the original price - well that was written on the price ticket at the time. Had lots of problems with delivery (too many to mention). On one of our many revisits to the shop concerning these problems we noticed that the bath and glass door had (only a few days after the end of the sale) gone unbelievably down to a price lower than we paid in the sales (when we had a so called 50% off). Has this happened to anyone else? I am sure it has, but whether or not they noticed I don't know! We paid around £350 and were led to believe this was half price! In fact we consider ourselves conned and now realize we paid higher than the actual price! There were loads of these particular shower baths in the sale and there still loads now. Can't believe B and Q would do this. Not only this, but the bath was delivered damaged and all the parts missing!