Non-recommendation: Kenwood

[PoppyParry]

I was recommended Kenwood by the estate agent when purchasing my property as they offer a free damp and timber survey, which was a recommendation of my initial structural survey.

They sent out a very professional looking multi-page (and undoubtedly expensive) damp survey that suggested pulling back the plaster and damp proofing one side of the living room. They quoted ?2,000 for the job. They didn't do a timber survey because they couldn't get access to the floor because of the current owner's furniture. Once I took possession of the property I called Kenwood about the timber survey. They said I'd have to pull up the vinyl floor covering and floor boards myself as they don't do that. (I found this a little odd as in my previous property, when I had someone in to assess the floorboards they pulled them up themselves quickly, easily, with no problems and put them back again.) Once I had pulled everything up myself, I called Kenwood again and they said I'd have to remove the fitted cupboards myself before they could do anything, which I started doing. I was beginning to not get the best feeling about Kenwood they seemed so reluctant and unhelpful. Then they started calling me frequently about when I was going to book in the work, all of a sudden they seemed very keen that I get the work done as soon as possible, which made me a little suspicious so I decided to get a second opinion.

I saw that Dave (07932505589) was recommended on here so I called him and he came to the house the following day. He was in and out within 15 minutes and didn't charge me a penny. It turned out that I didn't need any damp work done, the readings for the living room ranged between 0.1 and 12 and Dave explained that he wouldn't worry about anything under 20 or so for an older property and that his own home read at 18. I have now pointlessly removed a number of built in cupboards when I didn't need to. This was time consuming and will be costly to put right. This was my own fault but I wanted to let people know to avoid Kenwood. They were not helpful, honest or competitive. Dave by comparison was quick in his assessment and to the point. His honesty saved me a lot time and money, I would highly recommend him.