Bella Cucina

Yes, I am aware of the website you mention and have

to say I find it one of the most impressive kitchen selling sites I’ve come across.
They have an extensive range of products many of which I can vouch for as quality items.
The list of appliance options is impressive and according to their terms and conditions they offer reassurances should things go wrong, and they do, with every company. It’s how they

respond that is a measure of how good they are and unfortunately I’m not privvy to any customers using their services for me to comment on this.
The great advantage of buying goods over the internet is that a company cannot hide behind terms, conditions, payment options, quality of goods etc. because they are evident in text

for you to scrutinise before making a decision.

The installation service is one they don’t try too hard to promote and with the shortage of good quality installers this is understandable. They do however offer a service that seems

to encompass most elements of installation at the going rates.

The cabinets, which I consider of great importance, are of quality construction with a protective ABS edging, colour-co-ordinated, fitter friendly rear void, 18/19mm board and quality

drawers/hinges.

It isn’t clear from information given over the site whether the units arrive rigid or whether you have to construct from flat pack once delivered and you may need to clarify this as

it will affect the charge for installation if using your own installer.

All in all I am extremely impressed with the range and quality of what they display and the ethos of fairness they convey to attract customers.

As a footnote, I did contact them some time ago to ask their permission to utilise their innovative “design grid” for the benefit of visitors to http://www.kitchensfitted.co.uk

and, as is their right, they declined.

Perhaps if you do go ahead with buying your kitchen from them you might remind them of this in order that they reconsider (After all, we are primarily a reference site

and pose no threat re: sale of goods- yet!) but before that please report back with your opinion on the service you recieved.

Well I contacted Bella

Cucina.
The man was very polite (as you’d expect). The door and handle will take up to two weeks to arrive.
I asked about your query on the cabinets Tim. The cabinets are rigid on arrival. Which is great and as you say should decrees the cost of fitting. He also said a few people have

phoned to ask this and the website will be updated to make this clearer.
Apparently the info is on the cabinet construction section

The ordering timetable goes something like this:-
Once you are happy with the door, handle etc, you call to book a design consultant (DC). The lead time is about a week and they visit in the evenings (a god send).
The DC will visit with a selection of cupboards, doors and handles to show you the quality etc. Then they’ll take measurements and do a basic design. If you are happy they will fine

tune the design and create a 3-D CAD image (this will cost £50). All the information (measurements etc) is then uploaded to their website to be accessed by you.
Once you place the order it’s four weeks for delivery. Delivery charges depend on where you live (£200 for Birmingham).

So that’s it. So far so good. But as Tim said it’s how a company responds when things go wrong. Hopefully they won’t.

Oh I did mention your website. I subtly slipped it in to the conversation.

It’s the 19th of January and as of this morning I

hadn’t had my sample from Bella Cucina (ordered on the 2nd January). I contacted them and the sales rep said he’d misplaced my address details which is funny as he didn’t misplace my

payment details and the money was taken from my account on the 13th. He says he was sent the wrong sample and that mine was due in this week but he could send his sample for me. So I

should receive the sample tomorrow/Wednesday. I’ll post when I receive it.

The next instalment.

It’s become increasingly clear that Bella Cucina is a one-man band.
Michael is your sole contact. Which wasn’t a problem at first but now it is.
We sent off our design in 2-D form as Michael requested and information on which cart on the website had our items for the kitchen. We awaited a reply. Nothing came so I contacted

him. He said he would check the contents of our cart and put anything in extra we may have missed. Fair enough I though. I received an e-mail (last Sunday evening) saying he had

uploaded what he thought to be an accurate itemised plan. But once we checked cart 3 we concluded he couldn’t have looked at our inventory. So I contacted him again (6th February) I

explained what we’d done and what he’d done. He said he’d update his cart with the corrections, and we are still waiting. He has a very well designed web site, which has

understandably drummed up a lot of business I presume. And I think this is his problem. I think he may be snowed under. He can’t visit us to do a full design for about 3 weeks.
As we are not using him for fitting and we are not in a rush, this may not be a problem for us but others be warned. Hopefully he can get it all sorted as we’ve seen a kitchen we like

(finally!) and it comes well within our budget.

Tim,

To be honest i had reservations about doing my previous post. I will
give him the benefit of the doubt. As you say he is delivering a quality product so it is worth waiting for. The reason for posting was to make people aware of the timescales which

may be involved. Hopefuly the next phase will go without a hitch and we can then move from the design to preperation phase.

How refreshing to hear of a kitchen story in praise of both the service and quality of the products.
It seems that the many manufacturers who are still suspicious of the internet would do well to read posts like this before dismissing it as a sales tool that upsets their terrestrial

retailers – a constant and boring response from the many dinosaurs we speak with.

Look forward to the next installment.

Brian,

Good to see you’ve resolved any issues you may have had and that the show is finally on the road.

You worktops are from a reputable manufacturer who I won’t disclose the name of on the forum, suffice to say that what they offer is both innovative and protective in as far as

laminate suraces can be. If you wish to discover more then let me know and I’ll send you a private message with further details.

With regard to istallers it may interest you to learn that we have recently moved into premises in Coventry specifically for the purpose of training and assessing installers in line

with the forthcoming initiative on training.

More information can be found at my latest thread on the following post.
http://www.kitchensfitted.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11

Again, keep us updated on the progress of your kitchen.