Nolte Kitchens: Battersea - London

Vlad K.

UPDATE 19.05.22:
there were no reviews for 6 months, the company has 10 new reviews from brand new accounts in the space of last week, after I posted. Google, should investigate the authenticity. Leicht refuse to own up to their mistakes on our project fully and do not appreciate an actual honest review.

In response to owner response: Battersea showroom was visited as well to choose the finish of the Kitchen and worktop, and Victoria did amendments to our plans, which she didnt discuss with anyone in the team / customer, which caused issues during installation.

ORIGINAL REVIEW: Leicht Kitchen Design Centre / The Kitchen Group (Nolte Kuchen GMBH)

Visited showrooms in September 2021 and liked the finish. Zach did the designs, but there was some lack of initiative to finalise everything.

We had 3 site surveys to get the measurements correct.

Manufacturing was c. 10 weeks and delivery was flexible to accommodate our timeline. Initial kitchen assembly was done in 1 week by Dom - who is pleasant to deal with.

However this is when the issues started to pile up:

1/ kitchen is 13.5 cm longer on bottom run and 9 cm longer on top run vs signed plan, which causes limited usability of our dining table. The explanation was “it is normal to have tolerances”. 1-2cm maybe, 13.5cm is a large mis-measurement. And “it is because of angled walls”

2/ The fridge door was not opening more than 87 degrees, and was unusable. We ended up having to compromise on the location of units and design. The fridge and Quooker tap both came faulty (only 2 appliances supplied by Leicht). We had to resolve everything ourselves - and incurred extra costs for plumbing

3/ Leicht represented that kitchen would be 5 cm from the wall. We arranged 2 extra days of plumbing work to accommodate piping and extending time without old kitchen as a result. Leicht / TKG kitchen is 12 cm from the wall. No explanation / cost reimbursement

4/ 1 unit had completely wrong internals. Was replaced

5/ Fridge had wrong sized doors and no handles. The reason - Veronika changed the details of the order, without telling anyone

6/ We chose Dekton stone. Manufacturing and installation was done by LBS Stone LTD.

a. Dave has tried to pass off an unparallel installation of splashback vs the hob as “normal, we always do it this way, and I have done 100s of jobs where no one complains”.

b. during second installation the team managed only a chipped and frittered finish, claiming that “it is impossible to do it any better”. This was a lie, as it was achieved elsewhere in the kitchen on the dropdown.

c. For third remedial, Cameron and Ryan (retail operations) completed the install matching the quality as on the dropdown, despite prior claims that it was “impossible”. Q.E.D.

d. Unauthorised parking by LBS on a communal pathway, resulted in oil stains for our development. They have tried to clean up 3 times, with no success. We are looking at replacement costs now, as neighbours are complaining

All the issues escalated to Leicht / TKG after the initial February installation. The current acting manager is Richard. He visited the site post initial installation but was overall not very interested to resolve any issues, rather the stance was to try and make it go away as soon as possible

We complained at the overall lack of coordination by Leicht / TKG and nothing improved

Ultimately the kitchen finish is indeed nice, however:

1/ we compromised on initial design

2/ wait 2+ months extra to achieve completion

3/ daily engagement and chasing, and close to zero initiative and engagement from Leicht / TKG

4/ no compensation for mis-representations and mis-measurements resulting in extra actual costs of plumbers, electricians etc, and reduced usability of adjacent space

5/ disruption, inefficiencies, unprofessionalism has been above and beyond what we expected

Leicht / TKG suggested we emailed their general email box with any left over issues / complaints, as they believe that "kitchen is complete … and they have done everything in their power to assist with our defects".

Ladan S.

I always wanted to have a German made kitchen, and hence I chose Nolte. What a big mistake. If you need competency, professionalism, accuracy, honesty and promptness, please avoid the Battersea branch. Tristan, Daisy and Rehana have been a nightmare to work with.
These are the problems I have had with them,
1) Tristan came to my flat to measure my kitchen, but he forgot to bring his tape measure
2) Daisy could not understand the concept of contacting my project manager, instead of myself, for the first few weeks and this caused me a lot of headaches, due to interruptions to my own job
3) The drawing of my kitchen was done by Lucy, who had just been working there for 6 months, and had mistakes in it. My kitchen was the easiest as I was replacing like for like, with no changes to the design.
4) Wrong appliances were ordered without my knowledge and had to be given back to Nolte
5) I had to wait 3 months for the breakdown of the invoice and in the end, I had to inform them that I was going to take it further, which is when they eventually emailed it to me
6) One of the cabinets has glass shelves, instead of wood that I had ordered, so they had to reorder it
7) My extractor fan was laid bare behind the door, which was meant to be shelved,
8) My washing machine integrated door was not initially installed as it was the wrong door
9) My dishwasher’s integrated board was 2 different colors,
10) The filter for the tap was missing
11) The wrong drawer size was ordered for one of the cabinets
12) My empty flat door was left open by the fitter and anyone could have walked into my flat and stolen my packed belongings

The stress of working with the staff in Battersea made me put in a formal complaint to the regional manager, Kristian Rolston. You would think that he would help and be a bit concerned about the staff’s lack of management and transparency, but you are wrong. He was the worst of them all. He would regularly ignore emails addressed to him and let Tristan deal with the situation. It took him 2 days to give me his phone number. I have asked him 4 times to send an after sales person to look into the product that I have bought and the ongoing problems that I have had. After the 4th email he informs me apparently they don't have this facility. He reassured me that he is in the background and in direct contact with Tristan regarding my project, but it is as badly managed as before his involvement. I complained about my flat door being left open, he said he had dealt with it, but the person that had left it open, denied that Kristian had ever contacted him.
I have spent a lot of money on my kitchen and have received a terrible customer service from amateurs and I regret ever setting foot in that shop. My nightmare still continues as they have installed a wrong-colored cabinet and they need to come and change it.
They all say the right words that they are sorry this has happened and that has happened but this at the end of the day they are bunch of amateurs working together. Please think twice before setting foot in that shop, or choosing Nolte for that matter.

steven C.

Very highly recommended. We were delighted with Veronika's creative, affordable and practical design which we appreciate more and more each day we use the kitchen. The installation was also extremely well carried out, on time and with very helpful, friendly and competent fitters. The materials and components are, as might be expected from a German company, of the highest quality and almost two years after installation still look brand new. You may pay slightly more for Leicht quality but this is more than compensated by the creative design - making best use of space - and the quality of the finished product.

Fang F.

We had a kitchen project with Veronika two years ago, it was a fantastic collaboration experience. She provided many practical options for us and quality is also maintained under our budget. The project went very well and on time. We also had other parts refurbished with other builders, but the kitchen part is really outstanding in terms of quality and what we paid. Really appreciate Veronika's professional service and effectively help us get the new kitchen in time.

Wided O.

We have used Leicht Kitchen Battersea to design and fit our new kitchen as part of a side extension project. Veronika has been an incredibly professional designer, she provided a fantastic design and ideas, was very patient with my numerous questions and tried her best to provide the best package in terms of value, quality and cost. The end product has been stellar - I am very happy with my kitchen and everyone visiting loves it. We ended up buying everything through Leicht including appliances and the counter top etc. I won't hesitate recommending Leicht and Veronika to anyone. Top notch professionalism, quality and service. Thanks very much Veronika!

Barbara A. G.

I've contacted Nolte as I was looking for a kitchen for my new extension, and I've been assisted by Natassia. She was extremely professional and very helpful. She put together a kitchen plan for us, and helped us to choose the most cost effective appliances and finishes. The only reason I didn't go ahead with them was because I found a more traditional shaker style kitchen elsewhere, the exact one that I was looking for.
I definitely will keep Nolte in mind to recommend to friends and family, if you have a chance, definitely speak with Natassia as she was so so helpful, professional and friendly.

Wen-yu T.

We had very good experience with Veronika from Leicht Battersea branch. She always replied the emails very quickly and sometimes even reply late night or weekend. She was down to detail and very good at following up through the process. There was a bit hiccup before the kitchen installation. Just few weeks before planned installation I was told there was a shortage on integrated fridge so we won’t get our fridge for couple weeks or months. Veronika quickly come out some solutions which have save me a lot of time and trouble. In the end everything went really smoothly. So far we really enjoyed our kitchen.

Camilla B.

Highly recommend. I specified Nolte for a client's renovation project and could not speak more highly of them. Tristan went over and above to meet the design requirements and has been a joy to work with. The team of installers were meticulous in their work and even pointed out a slight defect which they weren't happy with so ordered a replacement (despite the fact it wouldn't have been noticed otherwise). I can't thank Tristan and the team enough for making the whole process so seamless. I look forward to hopefully working with Nolte again on future projects!