englishandorientalcarpets 

Always good service, fitters are really good, no hassle and local

This was a god-awful experience from start to finish. We paid a lot of money excited at the prospect of a premium finish. What we experienced as about as shabby and amateurish as it gets.
- A very poorly laid (high-quality) flooring product
- Not finished to factory standards
- Covered in glue
- Shambolic service
- Lazy and apathetic workmen
- Rude and messy
- Chased and intimidated for final payment…. before the job was complete!
- Avoid at all costs!

The detail
There was 5 days allocated for the job. The fitter (let's call him M for this purpose) did about a day's work in the first 4 days and then called in his mates for a rushed finish on Friday. The result is overwhelmingly poor. I understand the need for preparation etc – but that wasn’t this. This was neglectful.

There are several strips cut to the wrong length with gaps at the edges of the rooms. The workmen were messy too. We had blue dye all over our newly fitted kitchen units. after sweeping up, they dumped all the bits near our front doorstep (why when the bin was only a few metres away!?!).

The imbecilic M tried to charm/ smarm his way into our good books several times. A feeble-minded attempt to appease given his continual disappearing and never doing more than 30 minutes' work at any given stretch. Graft? He didn't!

My wife was phoned at breakfast time on Saturday unexpectedly. The caller, demanding immediate payment, despite the job being incomplete and us raising concerns with the firm earlier that week. He seemed utterly truculent and disinterested in providing any sort of service.

As a final ‘help’ M destroyed the plinths under the cupboards of our newly fitted kitchen. This was apparently done as a favour. Frankly a chimp with a buzz-saw would have made a better job of it. The firm did ultimately agreed to meet the cost of replacing these – but only after fairly intense challenge.

Having used English & Oriental for some carpeting, I was very pleased with the outcome. I then decided to use them to get some kitchen flooring. Instead of sending a fitter to measure, they sent the man in the shop. He asked me what lay underneath my lino but I did not know. Without bothering to check he said they would lay plywood under the new vinyl.

When the fitters arrived they discovered there were tiles underneath. The then laid the new vinyl over the old tiles. No plywood was delivered. The fitter looked at the invoice and said none had been ordered! They laid the new (very thin) vinyl over my tiles and I could feel the lumps of ridges underneath. It felt uncomfortable and I said I was not happy. It was wrinkling as it lifted away from the tiles as there was nothing below to adhere to. The fitter suggested I ring the store owner, Carly, and he would pass on my dissatisfaction.

I called Carly next day and asked her to come and look. She came and said it "looked OK" to her ignoring the validity of my complaint. She said "that was what you ordered" and I said that was not what a new floor should look like. She refused to offer any refund and told me to pick something else and I would have to pay for it. I was not going to trust buying anything else from them and asked for a breakdown of what I had paid, £480, for what was a substandard floor! I had to keep asking for the breakdown and eventually it turned out I had been in fact charged £108 for the plywood which was not provided. They have now refunded the £108 but with no apology.

As a result of this firm's "service" I am now £372 out of pocket. I immediately went to a reputable company to replace the unsuitable flooring who, on seeing the state of the floor, said I should have demanded a refund and that the fitter should not have continued to fit the vinyl when he saw how it would lay.

I am now very pleased with the new company's service and attention to detail and proud to show my friends, who were horrified to see how English & Oriental think is OK to treat customers. Absolutely no customer care or loyalty offered to me, seeing I had spent a great deal of money with them for my carpets to be fitted previously. BE WARNED never to step foot in their shops.

Do not buy from this company. We paid £1300 for a carpet from them. Within 4 months looking as if been down for years. Pile reversal they advised. Not their concern or Victoria Carpets the manufacturer. Neither want to know. No warnings that this may happen. They are not members of Carpet Foundation nor listed as this name at Companies house. Beware. Go to a company who give advice and who are prepared to accept that a misrepresentation has occurred and this carpet and such like it should not be marketed.

English and Oriental Carpets acknowledge that there were 2 'independent' inspections. However they do not state that both reports were made by the same company both instructed by Victoria Carpets. Not exactly 'independent'. Both Victoria Carpets and English and Oriental Carpets instructed the same company to inspect the carpet. In fact English and Oriental requested Victoria Carpets to arrange the 2nd 'independent inspection by the same company. This is what they call INDEPENDENT inspections and of course their reports were very similar. Also we contacted English and Oriental 4 months after the carpet was laid not a year later. The first inspection was in August bot the carpet looked bad 4 months after being laid. Every person I have asked have never heard of pile reversal. The money we have expended means a great deal to as a couple in our 70s. But these 2 companies have taken no responsibility whatsoever. I want this carpet replaced and hope that other consumers take heed.

Couldn't fault English and Oriental - competitive price, very helpful and flexible in a fairly complex installation. The fitter, Mitchell, was excellent, great attention to detail, hard working and very positive. The floor looks great!

Just completed my whole ground floor in Karndean and the stairs & landing in carpet. looks stunning, nice guys who fitted it, happy customer

Terrible and rude. Helped themselves to the balance from our debit card before finishing the job, despite me emailing them offering them a date to come around and finish. They had kept our card details from when the deposit was paid. They justified taking the money because 'I didn't answer the phone' when they called. After a very rude conversation with the individual in the store someone came around and finished the work.. A most unpleasant experience. Furthermore, there are gaps everywhere where you can see the concrete underneath, unevenly cut tiles and glue seeping through - the job was rushed and a total mess. In all likleyhood this will need completely pulling up and redoing. Waste of money

A company to avoid. Poor workmanship and poor customer service.
I purchased Karndean LVT flooring for Kitchen Diner from the Surbiton Branch, at a price of £2500. Was told there was a 6 week lead time. I placed the order by phone, and paid half. No written contract or terms were provided. I was told I would receive a fitting date about 2.5 weeks after the order.
3 weeks after ordering I had heard nothing back so contacted the store and was told that the product had not yet arrived. I was given a suggested date of installation which was 9 weeks after placing my order. I told the manager that the wait was too long as it would set back my build project and other trades, and asked about getting my deposit (half of cost) back. Strangely, he told me “not to go down that road” and refused to discuss getting a refund.
I was then put in contact with the director Ms Whiting who works at Chessington Branch. From my first contact with her, I found her to be abrupt and lacking in an appropriate customer service style. I had numerous contacts with her by phone in relation to an installation date and each time I had to prepare myself for the blunt way that she communicates. (I have seen other reviews concerning her manner, but they have now been deleted from their Facebook site).
In relation to the long lead time, after raising my concerns I was told that they did not believe my screed subfloor was not dry and would send someone to test it. He was in the house no more than 30 seconds and showed us no moisture readings. Following that, again, no communication from the shop. I called them a few days later and was told my subfloor was “very wet” and therefore would have to wait longer for my Karndean to be fitted. I took this up with my builders and experienced project manager, who disagreed that the floor was wet. English and Oriental Carpets were unable to keep the 6 week lead time for fitting so we reluctantly waited 9 weeks. Strangely, after the first test of the floor, no one was ever sent from EOCarpets to retest it, which they said would be done, so I took this to be a ploy by the company to fit the floor on the day they wanted to from the start.
Fitting the flooring took two days. The fitters worked for 5 hours on the first day and 3 hours on the second with numerous breaks. This should have been a 1 day job. The quality of finish was absolutely shocking. There were large holes left around pipes, planks were cut shoddily and to different lengths, in one area there was a 10cm gap between the wall and the planks of karndean, the interlocking system of the planks was left visible in some areas. I cannot attach photos on this site but have on Google reviews.
I contacted the director, there was no apology, no acceptance of how bad the workmanship was. I highlighted how bad the whole process with the company had been, she appeared to take it personally and became very angry, and said that her workers would attend the next day and take the floor up, and she would give me the money back. I was so surprised by her attitude that I was silent, and she shouted “well, is that what you want?” And so I agreed to her suggestion. I then went to the Surbiton branch, very upset, to speak to the manager with whom I had placed the order. He was unwilling to provide me with any help but stated that if the director had said workers would remove the floor the next day, then that is what would happen.
The next day, workers did not arrive, but I received a long email from Ms Whiting threatening legal action if I did not pay the outstanding balance and stating that she was under no obligation to remove the floor (her suggestion?! Clearly made in anger). She also sent the company’s terms and condition which she stated I was bound by having paid the deposit. This was the first time I had even seen any t’s and C’s.
She also stated that I was legally bound to allow them to rectify the issues and I was assured that new planks would be cut to make the floor good. In reality, they cut a minimal number of new planks, and patched over some problem areas with sealant. I paid the outstanding balance in full (considered withholding half due to the poor workmanship, but did not want to continue with the stress of dealing with the company). One area still looks particularly bad. I contacted them about 3 weeks ago about the area that is still sub-standard, and although they acknowledged my email they have not returned to rectify the problem, yet this company bombarded me with daily emails when their money was owing. During a full renovation of the downstairs of my house, this was the only company that caused me any problems. For a service and product costing £2500 I expected so much better. I wouldn’t recommend this company to anyone.