Freedom Kitchens Questions & Answers

I was a customer of Freedom I don't work for them

Hi Zed D. I can only tell you about my experience with Freedom Kitchens. The designer came out & redesigned my old kitchen into a super modern kitchen with butlers pantry & plenty of drawers & a study nook. The quality of fittings is excellent & was fitted with precision & not one hic up. The office staf are wonderful & kept me up to date at all stages. I would not hesitate to recommend Freedom Kitchens, they are a totally organised professional company. My Kitchen was Designed & fitted in Brisbane. Love it. Good luck with yours. Y P

Hi Zed
In regards to our kitchen, we love the design, the bench tops and the quality of the cabinets, the installation was very good and as Yvonne said quality of fittings is excellent & was fitted with precision. Our main problem was with the INALTO accessories freedom installed as part of their package, the DWI62CS-Inalto dishwasher is not very easily loaded has flimsy runners and not very practical for tall gasses and pot and pans, the INALTO cook top only lasted 2 months and the AIH90W integrated ranch hood is nosy (it does do the job just nosy), we are happy with the sink (SREG2015LBW-S Regal One & One Half Bowl)
In short we are happy with the kitchen and like it very much, it just if we were to do it again we would install our own accessories
I hope this helps
Regards
Peter C

We finished our kitchen mostly end of September in Melbourne. Still waiting on the kickboard to be installed in front of the stove and still needing dispute resolution on electrician invoicing 60% higher than quoted by freedom installer. I would not recommend. Pay the extra few thousand and go with a kitchen company that does it all themselves.

J Gibson
Did you go with Freedom Aspley? After reading the reviews I am bit concerned.

I don’t know the answer to this. We only just got our kitchen and haven’t had any maintenance issues.

let us know how you go with a manager visit, We have only been requesting a visit for 3 weeks and trying to get our kitchen finished.

When you find out the answer, can you please let me know too?

I ordered the INALTO oven from them it was not delivered .. after me following up to see where it was they advised me that it was out of stock and would take a 7-10 days to deliver ! I ended up sourcing my own oven . So Charlie I did not use this product .. I cannot comment on this product .

We did and regret it to many problems to mention

Thanks Sam and Christine. Sam which appliances have you have trouble with and what kind of problems?

No I haven't just get other quotes before hand, and have a design in your mind. As they will pressure you into it when the designer comes out, so be prepared and have quotes before hand.
I personally would go a small company if there is a next time as then you are dealing with the same people.
Good Luck
Anita

Yes, I used them, all I can say is do not use freedom kitchens, go elsewhere. Agree with above comment by Anita, use a small company. I have just been through an 18 month nightmare with freedom kitchens. I cannot recommend strongly enough to stay right away from this company. I plan to put my review on this website when I get time as its a 63 page (A4) book!!!

na

Matt3855, From our experience with Freedom Kitchens you have described them perfectly.

na

Hi Ronnie, I haven't used Freedom Richmond, but it's important to remember that the store only provides the initial consultant service for the Freedom Essentials range (the DIY, cheaper version). All the other steps in the design/manufacture/delivery are outsourced - a Freedom office on Central Coast NSW does design and coordination, a company called Hafele does the manufacture in Victoria, and a courier does delivery. This is where Freedom falls down hard - in my experience the initial consultancy was good, but everything thereafter is a shambles. Design errors, delays, poor communication from Freedom, the cabinetry was made incorrectly, the delivery was made in two parts, and the delivery was a disaster. Freedom, for me, was a major headache. If you can do basic DIY (like measuring and planning correctly), just go to IKEA - you can pick everything off the shelf, manage your own delivery, and be the master of your own destiny. Seriously, avoid the Freedom Essentials range - the service was terrible, and I really regret having chosen them.

Ronnie, Tom has git this correct. If I had my time over I would have gone IKEA

Go to IKEA and then hire your own trades. Much easier as Freedom take no responsibility for the installation and make you take it up with the trade even though they actually recommended and arranged the trades. Stay away it is not an easy process in NSW>

Hi

Thank you!

FQSP17040, the last I heard they were reviewing our complaint and would call back that week. I've emailed my rep, left messages, emailed the generic line re not being able to access the survey, left a message on Facebook, been into my local shop where they said they would have the state manager call me and I still haven't heard anything.

Regards

Antonia Buckman

Call Steve at Currumbin cabinets they do a great job

Be scared! I'm currently having problems with them and have written to management tonight. I wonder if they will respond? .

As Matt3855 points out there are better options than Freedom

Stay right away from Freedom at all costs.

not on the Gold Coast. Don't do it! Freedom just get your money and then they don't care. they don't project manage and all their sub contractors are dodgy in our experience.
They also pressure you for upfront payment. Unfortunately we have now realized exactly why they demand this.

save your self the hassle and go to a different kitchen supplier

I don't know what is going on on the Gold Coast, as we live in Sydney.
The installer was a lovely mas and was very good at his job. Freedom kitchens management are not to be trusted. They ask you to pay the full amount of money upfront and then forget about you. It took a lot longer to complete pur kitchen than the time stipulated in our contract.
You are right, the sub contracted are not to be trusted as they stole one of my husband's bonsais worth $800 !!!, when they delivered the cupboards at night. Of course we can't prove it as we only noticed it the following morning. We reported it to the police who couldn't do anything. The department of Fair Trading didn't help either.
The whole thing was very stressful, upsetting to say the least.
Yes, find another company. Good luck... GGJJ.

HI Ray
Did you end up going with Freedom? We just had our sales visit via Southport store and already have concerns.

Yes....definitely steer away from Freedom with the kitchen.....was one of my worst decisions yet to use them. The appliances are very basic, range hood has already been thrown out. Hot plates are just OK....oven is very basic and controls are a little questionable. Not the appliances I would use again given a choice. We have just done another apartment up and used Harvey Norman for the appliance package and got quality products for $1,300.....and the entire kitchen in a much larger apartment has come out better than my smaller one at 3/4 of the price that I paid for my Freedom nightmare.
Good Luck

Sorry to hear of your troubles! Such a shame and disappointment Freedom is so terrible with their kitchens- their homewares are gorgeous. Luckily we are building the whole house so we are just making our appliance selections. Thanks so much for your reply I really appreciate it, as I was only looking at these ovens due to their sleek design, I think I will definitely go with a higher quality appliance and stick to the good well-known brands. Thanks!!

The kitchen designer who came to our home and styled the kitchen to our needs and price was only referred to about halfway through the design process. At that stage he asked us for a ballpark figure on what we were prepared to pay as materials i.e. bench tops and backslashes vary greatly in cost. From our experience we weren't asked for our budget upfront, which we think is normal not to.

You absolutely do NOT have to tell Freedom what your budget is before they give you a price. I was asked the same question and did not give them that information. You can clearly see the pitfall of doing it their way can't you ??? If you go and buy a new car or a couch, the salesman doesn't ask you what you are prepared to pay before giving you the price, does he ? Freedom Kitchens, you really need to 'up ' your game and become way more professional. Looking at your reviews the figures are not good so I think those at the top of your company really need to look at their customers (dis)satisfaction !! Tina B.

I was also asked how much I intended to pay :( They charged me the double of the value and I was not happy with the work.... I will never buy anything from them again.

That is a very bad experience. I think it must come down to the individual contract manager. Mine was very good, so were the sub-contractors he used. I found customer services pretty useful when I contacted them about a small thing. I guess you have tried that. This is bad PR for them since it is a competitive business. They should vet their contractors more carefully. Reputation in this area is everything and I am surprised that they have not got on top of this for you.

Check your list of services/costs and confirm that you have paid an amount for removal of rubbish, if so, it is for the installer to do so. Tell Freedom if the installer won't come back to get it or won't return your call. They are very slow, but should get to it. In the meantime, contact www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au and advise Freedom that your are doing so. I agree that it should be pay on completion, but they catch you out by subcontracting services like electrical and plumbing.

Hi Sandy, we didn't use portofino so unfortunately I can't answer your question. Have you tried asking Freedom? Given there is a warranty period I would assume there's a service number to call.
Thanks

I can not answer that question either as we still have not got the bench top installed after two months..... more hassles and delays