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Another inferior kitchen company
Our correspondent writes ...
I want to warn people about another COWBOY kitchen company operating in Essex.
I worked for CONWAY INTERIORS for a couple of months but I knew nothing about them as I hadn't lived in the area long. I was soon to discover just how shoddy their product was and how poor their service was ... hence the reason I no longer work for them.
The company starts by advertising their trade at car boot fairs in and around Essex - Dunton, Ardleigh, Boreham and others. Please beware of this company as you will get ripped off by MR SMOOTH TALKER himself - SEAN CONWAY.
Problems start as soon as he takes your money which is nearly always in CASH. That way he has your money and you have to take him to court to get it back ... if you're lucky!! You have to pay 40% up front when ordering your kitchens, then 40% the day he starts your work. The remaining 20% has to be paid in cash to the fitters or tilers. If that's not bad enough, the doors are usually wrongly measured thanks to Trevor, the ex-alcoholic. Your kitchen design is done on GRAPH PAPER. When you phone to complain (assuming you can get through as they usually disconnect the phone in the office) you get excuse after excuse why the right doors haven't been delivered.
You've then got so-called fitters who have little experience in the building industry. They try to make do when they fit your kitchen (which costs THOUSANDS), they PLAY with electrics and water as no one who works for the company is qualified to touch any water, gas or electrical work. I know this as I've had to go back to jobs that other fitters have done. I've seen the standard of work and the condition they leave customers' kitchens in.
"TAKE THE PUNTER'S MONEY AND RUN" should be their slogan.
Operating their business from car boot sales, some local people may know all about Conway Interiors CRAP kitchens but others could be caught out. I've a few letters from customers who are more than willing to tell people how they were treated, some left with no cooker, sink and hob for 5 weeks due to a long list of errors. I have photos taken from the jobs these COWBOY fitters have done and the dangerous conditions they left like electrical works with no face plates or earth wiring, even waste pipes from the sink running back towards the trap rather than the opposite direction.
The company deals mostly in cash as they have to pay some of their fitters in cash - one of their men signs on the dole, one is retired and paying no tax, another was declared bankrupt.
The list of problems and complaints is endless...
M Allen, Essex
Editorial comment:
Our correspondent is not alone in warning people about Conway Interiors. Many others who have fallen foul of this company have written to Blogger. You can read their comments on http://www.blagger.com/db4/company_id/616/companyname/Conway-Interiors.html.
We were lucky to find out about Sean Conway prior to proceeding with a kitchen. We had paid him a £100 holding deposit but became suspicious when he reluctantly provided us with a written quote - which he felt was unreasonable. I informed him that we did not want to proceed at which point he became very rude and offensive. He refused to return the £100 deposit yet I have it in writing that it is refundable. He told me to "take him to court" to get it back.
We were lucky but, until there is some change in the law to prevent these cowboys from trading, there will be a lot more people duped by Sean's smooth sell, particularly pensioners who are using their life savings to pay for the kitchen.
Sean is also now trading under a different name - Interior Design Centre. The website is www.interiordesigncentrebraintree.co.uk. DO NOT be fooled and DO NOT pay him a holding deposit.
Mark B, Essex
Yep, I also had a poor experience with this clown. I am still dumbfounded. I can't actually be bothered to go into details but it's the same as above. All I want to know is how can we make this page more public so everyone can easily read these reviews.
Fuming, Essex
Well, Conway Interiors currently Googles at #1 with Blagger.com (another feedback forum) and at #6 with us. Word must be getting around. Ed.
I was working in a house where Conman, sorry Conway, was fitting a kitchen. To cut a long and sorry story short, it ended with the client almost coming to blows with Conway in the street. This happened ten years ago so he has obviously not changed. He is certainly someone to steer clear of. Cowboy is too nice a word for him.
Fred Pepper, Braintree
Conway is now operating from Sible Hedingham under the name
Interior Design Centre. I agree with all of the above, a total con man. Fitters are worse than useless leaving jobs dangerous to the public. they must be avoided at all costs!
Total cost for me being involved with this company was over £10,000 loss.
W Blake, Braintree
How Conway has been allowed to get away with trading the way he has for so many years amazes me. I had the pleasure of watching him nervously twitch and squirm in court when the judge had the audacity to order him to pay me my money back. And then, as we left court, he shouted to me in true schoolboy cowardly fashion "Yeah - but ya gotta get yer money back now ain't yer..."
Well we did get our money back - and expenses. Every penny. I believe Conway most probably had a childhood trauma which has affected his self-esteem in later life. He has a hearing impairment and wears a hearing aid which makes him very self-conscious.
His body language is very interesting when dealing face to face. He becomes very nervous and insecure when he's rumbled and exposed. He clearly feels he has a something to prove to the world and this manifests itself in this ego driven attitude towards customers. I suspect the man is full of fear and just
wants to be looked up to.
A very sad man indeed.
Avoid trading with him at all costs. Watch out for his yellow van and little trailer at car boot sales across Essex and the south of England....selling dodgy kitchen sinks and units, etc.
R Hollingworth, Braintree
Met this Guy at Weeley Car Boot Sale when looking at sinks. He insisted he came to see us
despite us saying we did not want to waste his time.
We had Sean here last night....no samples...out of date computer imaging....no asking what type of units we wanted, style etc. Quoted £9,900 and said he could not reduce the price. Then reduced it by £900 when we said we wanted time to think about it. We wanted quotes from other companies first. High pressure salesmanship then ensued. He asked for £100 refundable deposit then £50. He tried to shame us then went off in a huff!
All we had was a telephone number, no business card, shop/office address. Oh we had some pamphlets from an unknown company and that is all we shall have from him. A wolf in
sheep's clothing.
David Conner, Wix
I'm pretty certain I met this man at the Marks Tey Boot Sale when I enquired about a kitchen and made an appointment.
He turned up and was quite nice. Bloke with a tan, gold bracelet and driving a silver pick-up truck. He did a plan of the kitchen and it sounded pretty good. However, when I said that I would have to think about it, it all started to go wrong. The kitchen
price was much higher than I thought. Even when he reduced it I wasn't sure and asked for 24 hours to think about it.
He basically demanded £50 for nothing. When I was reluctant and asked for the address
of his shop it really turned nasty. He told me to stuff it and called my 3-year-old a brat and tried to wind my
husband up by calling him pathetic because he asked him to leave. He snatched his leaflet, ranting on, getting really nasty and said we should get psychological help for my
son, obviously wanting a fight.
Quite scary actually. I thought about calling the police. He even had the audacity to knock back on the door and say he was trying to help people.
What a laugh!!
I thought maybe I did something wrong but then I read these reviews. Phew! Lucky escape. Now it worries me if he gets to someone
who is vulnerable.
Rogue Trader definitely!!!
Andrea, Colchester
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