Dolfin Bathrooms
Discussion
Hi all!
Looking to re-decorate and replace the aging (and broken down) suite in the family bathroom. Took advantage of Dolfin's free in-house design service with no obligation quote, and they came out to us yesterday to size everything up.
At first, all looked fine, they seemed to know what they're doing, were quite quick with measuring, and they came up with some good ideas. Then came the quote....£6900!
Needless to say, the missus and I were quite taken aback by this astronomical amount, but the designers kept saying it's a "complete" price with all the fitting costs included and is a very good deal.
I'm not talking about a luxury wetroom here, it's your basic, standard size bathroom in a 3 bed terrace. To me, that seems a bit steep. Alarm bells in my head started ringing when:
1) they balked at providing me with a breakdown of the costs. How do they get a figure of £6900?
2) they explained when Dolfin fit out a new bathroom, it's standard practice to essentially gut the room and refit everything, inlcuding the piping. Seems a tad excessive if the piping's already in perfectly good working order.
3) you're left with no bathroom for about 7 to 10 days while all the works are carried out.
4) the designers dodged the question of the suite & fittings being up to British Standard, saying they import nothing but the best from Europe. This is of particular concern to us, as the current main toilet's flushing mechanism is bust and can't be fixed because the fittings aren't up to British Standard, so our plumber can't get the parts.
5) we weren't entirely impressed with Dolfin's range anyway and felt pressured into making a desicion on the spot. We're well and truly leaning toward telling them to go forth and multiply as there's no way I'm shelling out that amount of dosh.
I just wondered if anyone's had a bathroom fitted by this lot and is £6900 a realistic quote for a new bathroom? Never had one done before, so I don't know. We don't want state of the art, just a good quality, functional bathroom.
Cheers.
Looking to re-decorate and replace the aging (and broken down) suite in the family bathroom. Took advantage of Dolfin's free in-house design service with no obligation quote, and they came out to us yesterday to size everything up.
At first, all looked fine, they seemed to know what they're doing, were quite quick with measuring, and they came up with some good ideas. Then came the quote....£6900!
Needless to say, the missus and I were quite taken aback by this astronomical amount, but the designers kept saying it's a "complete" price with all the fitting costs included and is a very good deal.
I'm not talking about a luxury wetroom here, it's your basic, standard size bathroom in a 3 bed terrace. To me, that seems a bit steep. Alarm bells in my head started ringing when:
1) they balked at providing me with a breakdown of the costs. How do they get a figure of £6900?
2) they explained when Dolfin fit out a new bathroom, it's standard practice to essentially gut the room and refit everything, inlcuding the piping. Seems a tad excessive if the piping's already in perfectly good working order.
3) you're left with no bathroom for about 7 to 10 days while all the works are carried out.
4) the designers dodged the question of the suite & fittings being up to British Standard, saying they import nothing but the best from Europe. This is of particular concern to us, as the current main toilet's flushing mechanism is bust and can't be fixed because the fittings aren't up to British Standard, so our plumber can't get the parts.
5) we weren't entirely impressed with Dolfin's range anyway and felt pressured into making a desicion on the spot. We're well and truly leaning toward telling them to go forth and multiply as there's no way I'm shelling out that amount of dosh.
I just wondered if anyone's had a bathroom fitted by this lot and is £6900 a realistic quote for a new bathroom? Never had one done before, so I don't know. We don't want state of the art, just a good quality, functional bathroom.
Cheers.
Avoid like the plague. The reason its a "complete service" is exactly so that you can't see the unit cost of anything, which is ruinous.
My parents recently used Dolphin for a family bathroom and the cost was stratospheric. Just how bad was highlighted when they made last minute design changes and could actually see the difference a tweak here or there made to the end cost.
Even for stupid things such as tiles, any spares are carted off by the fitter (unless he's a decent bloke and leaves you a few agaist company policy) so that you have to get them back in to replace any you damage later on.
TBH £7k seems like a bargain from them. As Plotty suggests, take the design to a local tradesman and source the same or similar fittings yourself and the price will probably be a tiny fraction of that.
My parents recently used Dolphin for a family bathroom and the cost was stratospheric. Just how bad was highlighted when they made last minute design changes and could actually see the difference a tweak here or there made to the end cost.
Even for stupid things such as tiles, any spares are carted off by the fitter (unless he's a decent bloke and leaves you a few agaist company policy) so that you have to get them back in to replace any you damage later on.
TBH £7k seems like a bargain from them. As Plotty suggests, take the design to a local tradesman and source the same or similar fittings yourself and the price will probably be a tiny fraction of that.
A colleague of mine is getting a new bathroom, and she's after reccomendations. She's had lots of feedback: Doplhin didn't score very highly at all, and B&Q even worse. I think her conclusion was to contact a respected local fitter, then order the stuff herself (or via him) then he would fit everything.
Recently had a complete new bathroom for around £1600 :
Suite/taps/shower 450 from plumbers merchant (Ideal Std.)
tiles 300
fitting 300 (plumber )
tiling 350 (tiler )
floor and celing 200
No way would I use a "Bathroom Co. " - they will just sub out the work to a local plumber anyway.
Suite/taps/shower 450 from plumbers merchant (Ideal Std.)
tiles 300
fitting 300 (plumber )
tiling 350 (tiler )
floor and celing 200
No way would I use a "Bathroom Co. " - they will just sub out the work to a local plumber anyway.
You can get a basic bathroom suite (wc, sink, bath, taps and wastes) for a little over £200.
You can get something really really nice (www.bathstore.com) for £1k. Lets assume £500 to plumb and fit.
Go on treat yourself, have limestone on the floor and all the walls, thats £30m2 so assuming about 25m2 thats £750. Lets assume your tiler wants £500.
The Mrs thinks a lovely heated towel rail will look the business so thats £500.
A few nice sundry items, towel rail, toothbrush holder, bog roll holder etc £250
There you go, top quality bath, sink, WC and taps, stunning limestone floor and walls, all fitted for £3500
You can get something really really nice (www.bathstore.com) for £1k. Lets assume £500 to plumb and fit.
Go on treat yourself, have limestone on the floor and all the walls, thats £30m2 so assuming about 25m2 thats £750. Lets assume your tiler wants £500.
The Mrs thinks a lovely heated towel rail will look the business so thats £500.
A few nice sundry items, towel rail, toothbrush holder, bog roll holder etc £250
There you go, top quality bath, sink, WC and taps, stunning limestone floor and walls, all fitted for £3500
We had this sort of nonsense with a kitchen "specialist" The first price he came up with was £17,000. No way. So then he started on this stupid charade of "phoning his manager" and "if you order tonight" and other such ploys, by the end of which the price had dropped by something like £10,000. It's an utterly self defeating tactic because as soon as they start cutting you these huge "discounts" they reveal the extent to which they were prepared to rip you off. Shown the door. Used a local tradesman, very happy.
Yep, i had a quote from Dolphin as well. Just don't trust 'em to be honest.
They wanted £7000 for a basic job, and i'm sure that the salesperson took a £2k cut out of this (to fund his shiny new X3 no doubt). Agree with the other posts, find a decent local plumber/builder, and i reckon they will do it for £4k-£5k. In the end i got a plumber mate to fit a new top-of-range power shower unit & tiling for £2k. If you live near Kingston, Surrey i can forward your details on to him.
>> Edited by fido on Monday 23 January 12:04
They wanted £7000 for a basic job, and i'm sure that the salesperson took a £2k cut out of this (to fund his shiny new X3 no doubt). Agree with the other posts, find a decent local plumber/builder, and i reckon they will do it for £4k-£5k. In the end i got a plumber mate to fit a new top-of-range power shower unit & tiling for £2k. If you live near Kingston, Surrey i can forward your details on to him.
>> Edited by fido on Monday 23 January 12:04
Not that I'm questioning your naievety here (okay I am) but you get a quote for £6900 for a new bathroom in a 3 bed terraced house, the company won't give you a breakdown of costs, you think it's expensive but have to ask whether to proceed?????
Perhaps it's just the way you worded your thread, but if someone quoted you £150 a tyre for your car would you happily pay up, or would you shop around? Chances are you would shop around and not ask on here if it was correct.
[Beadle]On the other hand......[/Beadle]
Can I sell you a new bathroom?
Perhaps it's just the way you worded your thread, but if someone quoted you £150 a tyre for your car would you happily pay up, or would you shop around? Chances are you would shop around and not ask on here if it was correct.
[Beadle]On the other hand......[/Beadle]
Can I sell you a new bathroom?
I have heard a lot of bad things about them, think they where featured on watchdog a while ago.
Think you would need a barge pole before you touch them, find a local bathroom shop they will probably do it a whole lot cheaper better and if they couldnt do it themselves recommend a good local plumber (worth weight in gold!)
Think you would need a barge pole before you touch them, find a local bathroom shop they will probably do it a whole lot cheaper better and if they couldnt do it themselves recommend a good local plumber (worth weight in gold!)
I got a complete new bathroom (bath/shower screen/pedestal sink/close-coupled loo) with tiled walls and a tiled floor all fitted for £2500.
Now, true, I know a bloke down the pub, but that was a complete rip and replace including plumbing work.
I doubt The Bloke Down The Pub was giving me a £4500 discount, even if I did pay cash.
Now, true, I know a bloke down the pub, but that was a complete rip and replace including plumbing work.
I doubt The Bloke Down The Pub was giving me a £4500 discount, even if I did pay cash.
yertis said:
We had this sort of nonsense with a kitchen "specialist" ....
I had that they were "in the area", so I thought pop in, as I'd be interested, but not spending. No problem they said since it was no obligation. After it was all done I repeated that I was never interested and said it was a shame he had to drive for over an hour when they were "in the area". What the salesbod really didn't like was my line of "look, I'm a single bloke, do you think I'm going to buy a kitchen rather than a sportscar",
Kept getting follow up calls (from India?), took great delight telling them the money was spent 
Tyre Smoke said:
Not that I'm questioning your naievety here (okay I am) but you get a quote for £6900 for a new bathroom in a 3 bed terraced house, the company won't give you a breakdown of costs, you think it's expensive but have to ask whether to proceed?????
Perhaps it's just the way you worded your thread, but if someone quoted you £150 a tyre for your car would you happily pay up, or would you shop around? Chances are you would shop around and not ask on here if it was correct.
[Beadle]On the other hand......[/Beadle]
Can I sell you a new bathroom?
lol - Perhaps it was the way I worded my thread.
Decided after they left the house that I'm not paying that amount of money. Don't get me wrong, we have done our homework and are going the local tradesman route. We wanted to see what ideas Dolphin came up with and then nick them. I just wanted to gauge what others thought of these extortionists, and it seems we're all on the same page.
And no, I would not pay £150 for a new tyre. I can get a decent brand named one for between £70-£80 fully fitted using www.blackcircles.com
T5-R said:
And no, I would not pay £150 for a new tyre. I can get a decent brand named one for between £70-£80 fully fitted using www.blackcircles.com
...who, in turn, charge a markup on the actual cost! Any local fitter that does work for BC will be able to beat the BC price simply by not having to pass anything on to BC...
I had a similar waste of time with these jokers myself.
After a visit to last years Ideal Home Exhibition, we recieved a voucher for 50% off any quote.
Sounded like a good deal to me. Happy Days
So to totally re-style my bathroom and fit new units etc. A local fitter quoted me about 4k. With Dolfin being topend I thought that including their 50% voucher it may still come in close or just a tad more.
Anyway, I set up an appointment with the 'designer' and we sat down a went through what I wanted in the bathroom. Tiles, units, equpment etc.
He then spent an hour and half drawing the spec up and pricing it. ZZZZzzzzzzz
So, he turned up at 7.30pm and finally gave me a quote at 11.15pm , by this time I just wanted to get rid of him. There's being thourough and then there's being a pain in the 'arris.
OK here's the best bit. My quote, INCLUDING the 'special' show discount of 50% off, was £13,500. So basically he was building me a barthroom worth £27,000 !!!!!!!!
I just pissed myself laughing and said , look I know it's Comic relief night but YOU are having a laugh. He said what was I expecting, i said arounf 5 or 6k.
He then babbled on about the units they use a far superior. I think it was the German stuff by Grohe.
I then showed him a quote also I got from the show from a suplier for parts only, and the exact SAME parts cost £2000
These guys are a complete rip off !!
After a visit to last years Ideal Home Exhibition, we recieved a voucher for 50% off any quote.
Sounded like a good deal to me. Happy Days
So to totally re-style my bathroom and fit new units etc. A local fitter quoted me about 4k. With Dolfin being topend I thought that including their 50% voucher it may still come in close or just a tad more.
Anyway, I set up an appointment with the 'designer' and we sat down a went through what I wanted in the bathroom. Tiles, units, equpment etc.
He then spent an hour and half drawing the spec up and pricing it. ZZZZzzzzzzz
So, he turned up at 7.30pm and finally gave me a quote at 11.15pm
, by this time I just wanted to get rid of him. There's being thourough and then there's being a pain in the 'arris. OK here's the best bit. My quote, INCLUDING the 'special' show discount of 50% off, was £13,500. So basically he was building me a barthroom worth £27,000 !!!!!!!!
I just pissed myself laughing and said , look I know it's Comic relief night but YOU are having a laugh. He said what was I expecting, i said arounf 5 or 6k.
He then babbled on about the units they use a far superior. I think it was the German stuff by Grohe.
I then showed him a quote also I got from the show from a suplier for parts only, and the exact SAME parts cost £2000
These guys are a complete rip off !!
Plotloss said:
Swerve.
Take the design to a local tradesman, select the bathware and fittings yourself and it will be a LOT less than £7K
I'm budgetting the Following -
3 peice suite from Focus £399
Taps £100
Copper, solder and some new gas for my blow torch £40
New Soil Pipe 8 meters with some bends £40
Floor Tiles £80
Wall Tiles £250 (if the wife goes for the italian one's
Oh and the electric shower cost me about £100 just before christmas.
I was going to do it myself, I'm not a plumber, but I'm fairly handy. I was thinking 2 days to get the old bathroom out and the new one in and then 2 days of tiling. Say 5 days if something goes tits up. I was also going to borrow a chemical loo off a mate with a caravan for the duration so at least I don't feel obliged to bodge anything.
Now I'm told by the maintenance manager at work that I should budget £400 for a plumber to do his bit and £400 for a tiler to do his bit should I decide I don't have time. That comes to less that £1500 ? even IF I get someone to do it all. As the man says Swerve. 3 quotes as a minium. And remember MY parts prices are retail.
Gassing Station | The Pie & Piston Archive | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff