THE COLLEY'S GRAND DESIGN

At the end of 2011, Ian was invited to the home of Lynda and Rob Colley in Milton Keynes, who were exploring the possibility of having a kitchen refurbishment.  I now know I should have packed him off with sandwiches, as Lynda and Rob didn't just want a refurbishment - oh no - they wanted a Grand Design, and nothing less.



The kitchen is clearly Lynda's realm and domain and  Ian loved the level of creativity and involvement he shared with Lynda, as it gave him an insight into what was really wanted and needed from their space: we're all about asking what you'd like, rather than telling you what you can have.

Lynda and Rob's patio doors are directly opposite a doorway leading into their lounge, with the former dining room in between.  Lynda's vision was to widen both the patio and living room doors and install bi-fold doors that would open right back, to create one huge inside-to-outside space.

Lynda loves to cook and bake and create gorgeous little chocolately thingys that linger forever on the hips!  However Lynda is not the tallest chocolateer and finds working at conventional worktop height uncomfortable; so Ian designed this central seating and working area.

The Colley Grand Design took approximately eight weeks to complete, but the results were worth waiting for.  From widening the patio door and lounge door recesses, to replacing ceilings and plastering walls. There was miles of new electrical wiring and Building Control liaison/certification to ensure. Obviously there was the kitchen installation itself, complete with all the appliances, wirework, recycling and storage solutions, in addition to the plumbing and decoration work. Rob requested a bespoke Sky box housing, whilst Lynda requested a purpose built, fully co-ordinated dog bed for the VIP's (i.e.: her dogs!).  This was all done with the endless laughs, generous refreshments (and cake!) and tireless patience of Lynda and Rob Colley - we had a blast, thank you, and we're so glad you like it.

On Sunday 22 April 2012, Lynda posted the following on her Facebook wall:

Ian's dedication and pride in his work is second to none.  He was here until seven last night tinkering, just wanting to make sure every little detail was "just so".  It is.  It is GORGEOUS.  We both love it, it's a total joy just to stand in the kitchen/Deck Room and admire the completed project - which I have to say just grew and grew from a new kitchen to walls coming down, ceilings being skimmed, renovations moved to the lounge too.  So practically the whole of our downstairs has had the Ian Dennis touch.  Thank you Ian (and Karan for her patience and enthusiasm).

And finally there there was this, a beautiful hardbook photobook, stuffed full of gorgeous glossy photos of Lynda and Rob's kitchen and Deck Room, by way of thank you for our contribution.  This, quite simply, is the best testimonial we have ever received, and by far the most generous, by every definition of the word.

HOTPOINT CUSTOMER SERVICE

Well, who'd have thunk it?  Our (not cheap!) 24 month-old Hotpoint WDD960 washer dryer decided to die in its sleep the weekend before we were due to take a family holiday.  This is the stuff of nightmares; well, my nightmares at least.  We have an 8 year-old daughter who chooses to change her attire several times a day, and a 3 year-old son who has to change his attire several times a day!  How do little boys get that dirty so quickly?!  Answers on a postcard please.

You can now understand how I might be horrified at the prospect of lugging car fulls of laundry to friends, relatives and laundrettes all across Northamptonshire, or even worse....[dramatic pause]....hand washing it all.  Makes you shudder, doesn't it?  I need not have worried.  Whilst Ian activated and deployed his Mum in the first instance, I contacted the Hotpoint Customer Service team and reported the fault.  Whilst they couldn't get an engineer out to us before we went on holiday (because this isn't a fairy story!), they did bend over backwards to have an engineer attend the fault on the day after we got home. 

We were advised an engineer would visit between 12 noon and 6pm, but he would phone two hours prior to his estimated arrival, so we didn't have to sit at home contemplating the fluff in our navels for the entire time.  My inside voice said "...yeah, right!" at this point, as I continued to pile laundry bags into the fleet of waiting Stobart lorries; but I was pleasantly surprised.  Whilst on holiday I had a text to confirm the engineer's visit.  On the day of the scheduled repair we got another text to confirm the engineer's imminence and then we actually got the call.  The engineer phoned to confirm he'd be with us at 12 noon - and he was!

The rest all gets a bit technical for me, apparently we had a faulty PCB-mumble-mumble-whatsit-thingy, but it was all replaced, repaired and working within 20 minutes; now you can't say fairer than that can you?  It was one of the happiest days of my life.  I need to get out more.

So, it gives me enormous pleasure - and relief - to be able to personally recommend the excellent after sales customer service we received from Hotpoint, which is handy given that we sell a gazillion of their products every year.  It could so easily have got awkward, but it didn't.

There now follows a couple of bleeding obvious Handing Hints:

1) Fill in your warranty registration forms (either written or online) before you fully install your appliance, because you can bet - as sure as God made little green apples - that the serial number you're really, really going to need is right at the back and right at the bottom of your dead (built-in) appliance.  With a little forward planning you can save yourself the time, agony and expense of visiting the Chiropractor, straight after a fault report.

2) Kicking, praying, swearing at or pleading with a faulty washer dryer doesn't make it start working again.  This is true of dishwashers and most other essential electrical equipment in my experience.  Sad, but true. 

3) Always - ALWAYS - complete your warranty registration cards, and either post or submit them online immediately, else you'll forget - and you know you will.