Kitchen offers without price indications - is this common?

Hello dear ones,

So far I have been following the topics here mostly in the background, but now I thought maybe I could ask for your experiences :)

We are building with Schwörerhaus and our current task is to plan our kitchen so that we also get the planning for the connections. So we thought we would get 3 offers, compare them and decide. But it’s not as easy as we thought.

We have already been to two kitchen studios. Both told us that they only plan and sell the kitchens with the electrical appliances, and we could only say during the conversation which functions are important to us for the appliances.

After all the planning, we were able to look at the finished picture on site and were given a price. You are not allowed to take pictures or prints of the finished kitchen. Also, no model names of the appliances or anything like that are given. We were told the brand, but a supplier doesn’t have only one device in their range.

It all seems very unprofessional to me. The consultants’ argument each time was that they make the effort and then I might run off with the plan somewhere else and have it done there. Ultimately, I determined the arrangement, the number of cabinets, etc. at both, and of course chose the same for both. I want to be able to compare.

But without the details, I can hardly compare. In the end, I don’t know what appliances are included, etc. If company 1 says it costs 25,000 EUR and company 2 says 15,000 EUR, then I can’t understand at all what the difference actually is. Both kitchens are roughly identical in arrangement and number of cabinets. So it must be the appliances? But it would be nice to have that listed so that maybe I can have cheaper appliances in one kitchen or more expensive ones in the other if something “is missing” or whatever.

What experiences have you had here? Does anyone maybe know a good kitchen studio in Berlin/Brandenburg where you can also get everything listed once?

I am currently a bit insecure... I would rather not just “throw away” such an amount without knowing in the end what I am actually paying for.

Thank you very much in advance for your experiences.

Best regards Ela

Yes, that seems quite normal. But there are also studios, or carpenters, who handle it differently. Honestly, I would prefer to pay a small fee for the planning rather than this fuss about not giving anything out :rolleyes:

...

Welcome to the forum. :)

Does it have to be a kitchen studio? It is precisely because of this business practice that we have avoided kitchen studios.

I cannot understand the argument of the kitchen builders. Am I ignorant if I hold the opinion that a first rough plan, showing which cabinet with which depth is placed where, does not cause that much trouble, or am I actually underestimating the work involved?

So, my kitchen planner (small kitchen store in the neighboring town) discussed everything with us and gave us pictures of the renderings after each appointment. Installation plan, of course, only after signing the contract, but in principle, you could reconstruct it anytime from memory more or less like that. As for the price, our kitchen builder asked about the budget and also clearly communicated that he understands it as a target and will stay just below it. In between, it was repeatedly communicated what amount the kitchen currently stands at. I consider a planning without a budget to be unprofessional and offers without a price as well. I would look for another kitchen builder and state the conditions right away when you make the appointment. Otherwise, you can save yourself the effort.

We knew exactly what we wanted and specified the desired appliances ourselves. For the refrigerator, we sought advice and each of the two kitchen studios recommended a different one. We then asked both studios for a quote with the same appliances. One studio provided a detailed breakdown by item, the other only gave the total price. When we said we wanted a detailed quote, they hesitated at first but eventually did it. In the end, this studio was awarded the contract because we liked their fronts better and their chosen manufacturer was more flexible with the cabinet solutions than the other’s. The total sum was roughly the same in the end. Both studios emailed us the current planning status with pictures. We went to local smaller studios, not a big furniture store. I also find it strange and unprofessional not to name prices and appliance types. When you buy a standard oven, it’s a different price than a combination unit with microwave and steam function; even a standard oven with or without pyrolysis already makes a difference. You don’t just go to a car dealership and blindly buy whatever they configure for the desired price! I would keep looking and ask how they handle this before you schedule an appointment.

We visited 2 kitchen studios and received both views and drawings from each. In one offer, the specific models of the electrical appliances were withheld and not disclosed even upon request. In the other studio, all appliances were specifically named and I was able to change them freely.