Avoid – Poor Quality Product, No Accountability, and No Consumer Protection We purchased the Matt Black Handleless Hockley range kitchen from Howdens in May 2025 and have been extremely disappointed—not only with the product quality but also with the way our complaint has been handled over the past 12 months. From the outset, this kitchen has been completely unfit for purpose. The matt black finish doesn’t just show fingerprints—it shows every single mark, including water. The surface is so sensitive that maintaining it has become a full-time job. Despite using the approved products (later provided by Howdens), the cleaning process is ineffective, time-consuming, and constant. The finish is wholly unsuitable for a kitchen environment, and at no point prior to purchase were we warned of the high-maintenance nature of this style. Worse still, 13 of the 22 doors were found to have rough or unfinished edges. These defects should clearly fall under Howdens’ commitment to customer satisfaction and 5-year guarantee, but our complaint was dismissed without proper consideration. Both issues have been independently reviewed by the Furniture and Home Improvement Ombudsman, who concluded that the doors had a manufacturing fault and that the matt finish frontals require excessive upkeep. On top of that, we’ve discovered that because our order was processed under a third-party trade account, our name appears nowhere on the documentation—even though we paid Howdens directly by credit card. This lack of transparency means we have no consumer rights and no protection under Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act. We were never told that our contract would be with someone else, nor that this would strip us of any legal recourse if something went wrong. After a full year of frustrating correspondence, Howdens offered to replace the doors but wouldn’t cover the labour costs—and only as a full and final settlement, without admitting any fault. Their response has been consistently dismissive, evasive, and unprofessional. We urge anyone considering a Howdens kitchen—particularly the Matt Black Handleless Hockley range—to think twice. The product is not kitchen-appropriate, and if anything goes wrong, you may find yourself with no support, no rights, and no accountability from Howdens.