Yahoo News Customer parks tank outside Wickes in protest at ‘poor quality’ £25,000 kitchen
A disgruntled customer has parked a Cold War tank outside a branch of Wickes in protest against what he says is a “poor quality” kitchen.
Paul Gibbons, 63, from Kingsclere in Hampshire, had looked at various retailers before settling on the Wickes branch in Basingstoke to carry out the work on his home in February.
The £25,000 kitchen was reportedly meant to be fitted to a high-quality standard within two weeks but Mr Gibbons says he is still experiencing problems 10 months later.
He claimed that the drawers and doors do not close, storage is unusable or falls out of place and mould has begun growing underneath his sink.
Mr Gibbons has now parked the green Abbot SPG tank used by the British Army during the Cold War in the car park of the branch. He has placed a white sign on the side of the tank built in 1965 spelling out the letters of the retailer’s name and stating: “Warning Incompetent Complacent Kitchen Supplier” alongside an angry face emoji.
Mr Gibbons told the Basingstoke Gazette: “The finish throughout is so poor, and half of the kitchen doesn’t fit as it should. I agreed to the contract and what I was told would be two weeks of work, and 10 months later I am still left with a kitchen which I can’t even use as you should.”
‘I’m making a stand’
He claimed that Wickes was refusing to accept the kitchen did not meet the standard promised.
“The worst thing about it is that Wickes refuses to accept that the quality of the kitchen is nowhere near the standard it should be.
“They should deal with these issues when they arise rather than palming people off, and I’m making a stand simply to say that it’s not right.”
A spokesman for Wickes said: “We are aware of the situation at the Basingstoke store and would like to apologise for any inconvenience that has been caused to shoppers visiting the store today.
“Our customer relations team is in contact with the customer to discuss their installation and help to resolve the issue.”
