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The Shaker Workshop Ltd - DO YOUR RESEARCH!!!

Home Bug
4 years ago

This is just a rebrand of the old The Shaker Kitchen Company. We have been a customer of both and it's the same old shambles. Do your research, as well as reading the reviews of The Shaker Kitchen Company, or be warned. Terrible service and they have washed their hands of any of the previous commitments made to customers. I wouldn't wish anyone to have to go through what we have been through.

Comments (20)

  • Home Bug
    Original Author
    4 years ago

    @Nick Bonney All of the above sounds so very familiar. From what I have read there are so many people in the same position / consdidering legal action etc.


    It really is the worst company I have ever dealt with.

  • oysterpots
    4 years ago

    So glad I googled reviews of this company as they seemed like a good option initially. Does anyone have any decent alternatives to recommend please? Affordable Shaker style kitchens seem hard to find! Thanks.

  • Ellie
    4 years ago

    diykitchens online are fab!! Quite a few on here ordered from there.


    You do need to plan and order it all online yourself though.

  • PRO
    OnePlan
    4 years ago

    @Ellie - there are some of us on here who design independently with clients and who don’t sell furniture - so ideal for buying from DIY kitchens as they then price and order from our finished design PDF’s - we do loads for people buying from them and shopping around lots of places !

  • Andrew Donovan
    4 years ago

    @oysterpots we had similar problems and ended up using a company called Fable Kitchens. I would absolutely recommend talking to them

  • Ribena Drinker
    4 years ago

    I just think it is mildly interesting that Mr Grunfeld set up another kitchen company (and one other) the same week as Shaker Workshop acquired/bought some of the trading assets of the old business (which incidentally isn't yet showing as being in liquidation with companies house).


    I do wonder how Barclays with their fixed and floating charge on the original business from 2018, are impacted by that acquirement?


    Just idly pondering.

  • Sam Carter
    4 years ago

    Does anybody else think the influx of positive reviews on trust pilot is a bit suspect?


    "All my various questions and requests were answered promptly and with professionalism. Installation was on time and efficient.
    Thanks so much. A very happy customer."


    Doesn't sound like the Shaker I've dealt with....

  • Home Bug
    Original Author
    4 years ago

    Possibly asked a bunch of friends and family to try and cover up the bad reviews? Always a bit embarrassing / obvious when negative reviews are met with a load of absolutely glowing ones all within 24 hours of each other!


  • HU-337539055
    4 years ago

    I used these guys recently who provided a great service at an affordable price. If anyone is looking for a shaker, they're really good. https://www.oliveandbarr.com/

  • Ben Pennington
    3 years ago

    My name is Ben Pennington and my wife Maria and I are the directors and majority shareholders of The Shaker Workshop Ltd. It is very hard to respond to the accusations on a thread like this when we don't know many of the customers involved or the experiences they had. These comments which all relate to The Shaker Kitchen Company Ltd (not The Shaker Workshop) are now over a year old, but we still get cancelled orders because of them, it really is unfair and Houzz refuse to talk to us about them, so I have to write replies in this way. The threads relate to existing customers of The Shaker Kitchen Company Ltd, when we took over some of their trading assets in October 2019. My wife Maria and I took over the running of the business in January 2020 and have never had a bad review against our company, The Shaker Workshop Ltd. Please check this out on Trust Pilot.


    The Shaker Workshop Ltd Reviews | Read Customer Service Reviews of www.theshakerworkshop.com (trustpilot.com)


    It has not been easy and every installation is not always hassle free, but we have ensured that every customer has been left satisfied. The vast majority extremely so and have let us know. Without going back over old ground too much, the accusations above are totally false, unfounded and have been proved so in a court of law. I have massive sympathy with some of the customers of The Shaker Kitchen Company, I was one, but to blame our company is simply unfair. We don't and never had any involvement in that company apart from as customers. They expanded too quickly and encountered production difficulties which took the company down. To insinuate that people took money and rode off into the sunset is simply not true. I have since got to know one of the former directors quite well, he lost his house trying to keep the company afloat. It was a great shame that some customers were left how they were and we have done our best to sort out any unresolved issues and our main focus has been on customer service and communication.


    The reason I am now writing this reply is because we have lost two orders this month with people citing this thread as the reason. The dates on the reviews have changed from 'oct 19-jan 20' to 'last year', which makes them seem far more recent. I have also tried to contact 'Home Bug' to see how we can help or at least find out who it is, but have had no joy. Please get in contact if you read this, it so unfair that this is still damaging our business without any right to respond. my email address is ben.p@theshakerworkshop.com


    If anyone has any concerns please contact my wife Maria or I so that we can address them, we will not and have never shied away from doing what is right and necessary to keep our customers happy.

  • Ben Pennington
    3 years ago

    Dear Homebug,


    Please, please get in contact me via email: ben.p@theshakerworkshop.com

    Your post is severely damaging our company and orders are being cancelled because of it. If there are issues with your kitchen then we would be happy to see what we can do. It looks like you were a customer caught up in the liquidation of The Shaker Kitchen Company ltd. There was a period of nearly 6months with catastrophic delays, missed orders etc. as the The Shaker Kitchen Company got into serious financial difficulty from April-May 2019 onwards. I know all about it, because I was a customer at the time. Just a quick look on any review site will show that, that is not the company my wife and I run. A quick check on companies house will also show that My wife and I, Ben and Maria Pennington, were nothing to do with TSKC as some of the comments suggest. The thread is entitled 'please do your research' and I am asking, please, please do your research into the points i'm making. Please contact us, I can assure you we want nothing more than to sort this out to the satisfaction of all. Anyone reading this note this thread is from December 2019, 14 months ago.

  • Stwph Means
    3 years ago

    Hi Ben- I have recently come across your company via Pinterest - we have been in contact with one of your designers and have been very happy with the service so far. We have seen your kitchens in the flesh and are very impressed. One of the reviews mentioned how 100% payment was made upfront is this still the same or is there a deposit and then a balance payment once installation has taken place? If so I think this would reassure a lot of people. I wish you success as you certainly have a great product.

  • Ben Pennington
    3 years ago

    Thanks for your note Steph. I understand your concerns, however pre-payment is the industry standard for bespoke furniture. Once we receive the final order and the design has been fully signed off we put your order through to the factory. That order is unique to your kitchen space and becomes unusable for any other clients, it is fully bespoke. The only companies that might not use this approach are some of the companies that sell off the shelf products. If you cancel an order with these companies the products are simply sold to the next customer. We take a 50% deposit once the design is agreed and then the remaining 50% four weeks before delivery. I'll get your designer, I believe it's Caroline, to give you a call on this and please ask her to put me in touch with you if you'd like. I can absolutely assure you we will not leave a customer until they are entirely happy with their kitchen. There are sometimes unforeseen issues that occur with client's kitchens, this is a hand built product made from a natural material. We don't sign off the finished article, the customer does.


    With any large value purchases there is always the option to pay by credit card. Your purchase is then fully insured against the company, the product and the delivery. I can also assure you that is not going to be an issue with our business! Please do get in touch if you have any concerns or would like any further clarification on any of this. I'm glad you like the kitchens, we're very proud of them and have been working very hard for the last 16-18months to make sure the customer experience matches the product. The reviews we have been receiving reflect this and we are extremely grateful for them. Thanks again and I look forward to hearing from you soon.

  • Stwph Means
    3 years ago

    Thanks Ben. I understand the position and how it is all bespoke. As you say a payment via credit card protects the customer. You are correct it is Caroline who has been helping us and she has been great to work with and we wouldn’t hesitate to recommend shaker workshop on our experience so far. Thanks for the reply. Steph

  • HU-658160232
    2 years ago
    last modified: 2 years ago

    We have just had our kitchen installed by this company after a significant amount of research (understanding what happened historically). I have no affiliation to the company at all. I did want to say we are thrilled with our kitchen and they have clearly spent a lot of time and effort sorting their customer service out which we found brilliant throughout. Our designer was thoughtful had great attention to detail and was exceptionally patient whilst we dithered on colours. installation and aftersales were fantastic and a small error was communicates and recified immediately with above and beyond efforts to make it happen on the same day. I would really whole-heartedly recommend them now.


    PS - I’m a real person just technically stunted and so cant work out how to create a proper user name on here 🤣

  • Sarah L
    2 years ago

    It's easy to change your user name. Click on your profile, then edit (pencil).

  • Sarah B
    2 years ago

    Thanks! I have changed it on my profile, but still appears with a weird user name?

  • Sarah B
    2 years ago

    Ah! New comment has it, but it hasn’t changed my previous comment one… Thanks Sarah L!

  • Ming C
    last year

    Hi there! Just to give my personal experience with The Shaker Workshop, we ordered a new kitchen with them Aug 2021 as part of a ground floor extension project. Everything went smoothly and the quality of the kitchen units was superb. They are still looking and feeling like new after over a year of heavy use. Our build had some pretty tight tolerances as it was an L shaped kitchen with the door on one end and a beam on the another but the units were spot on with the measurements and our builders had no trouble fitting. I left a review on trust pilot at the time, but having stumbled upon this thread it would be a shame if people get scared off because of comments from over three years ago. I can't imagine that our overwhelmingly positive experience was a fluke!

Ireland
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