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A new kitchen is one of the most complained-about home improvements in the UK. Supply and fitting are often split, deposits are large, and "snagging" can drag on until you give up. This guide sets out how London homeowners can handle kitchen fitting disputes: what good snagging looks like, which consumer-law remedies apply, how to use TrustMark and card protections, and when to escalate. Sources were checked on 28 October 2026.
Prevention still beats a brilliant complaint letter
Before you argue, check you did the boring things: Companies House match, TrustMark check on the scheme register, a written contract that separates supply and fitting, staged payments, and photographs of the empty room and of every delivery. Citizens Advice advises deposits as low as possible and not more than 25 per cent. Checkatrade's kitchen fitting cost guide (table updated October 2026) illustrates labour averages around £3,500 with a wider band of roughly £2,000 to £6,000, and day rates often cited around £280 to £360 - national guide figures that help you spot an outlier, not a substitute for a fixed quote against your drawings.
Snagging done properly
Agree a practical completion and snagging process in the contract:
- Walk round together with a written list - doors, drawers, alignment, sealant, chips, appliances, splashbacks, flooring junctions.
- Photograph every snag with a date.
- Set a clear deadline for remedies.
- Hold a sensible retention or final payment until critical snags are closed.
Distinguish cosmetic chips from defects that affect use (drawers that fail, leaks, unsafe electrics, units not fixed). Unsafe electrical or gas connections need registered trades immediately - do not "wait for snagging day" on a live hazard.
Your rights under the Consumer Rights Act
Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015, services must be performed with reasonable care and skill (section 49). Goods must be of satisfactory quality, fit for purpose and as described. Remedies can include repeat performance or a price reduction. For goods, short-term rejection and repair/replacement rules may apply depending on timing. Put every request for a fix in writing and keep proof of sending. If supply and fitting were sold as a package, say so; if they were separate contracts, you may be pursuing two traders.
Card payments, Section 75 and chargeback
Where you paid by credit card and the cash price is over £100 and not more than £30,000, Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act can make the issuer jointly liable with the trader for breach or misrepresentation - even if only part was paid by card. Debit-card chargeback is a different, often stricter route. Contact the issuer early with the contract, photos and complaint timeline. Cash and unprotected bank transfers leave you weaker.
TrustMark, trade bodies and mediation
If the fitter is TrustMark registered, use the scheme's complaints process. Some deposit-protection products and insurance-backed guarantees have their own claim forms - read them before you accept a vague verbal warranty. For deadlocked disputes, Citizens Advice may point you toward mediation or the small claims track. Keep claims proportionate: a tidy bundle beats a furious novel.
When the company disappears
Check Companies House for insolvency filings. Contact your card issuer or escrow provider immediately. Unsecured customers often recover little from an insolvent kitchen company, which is why staged payments and scheme protection matter more than a glossy showroom promise. Never pay the full balance before appliances are fitted, sealed and working.
Red flags during fitting
- Pressure to sign a satisfaction note before you have inspected.
- Requests to pay the final invoice to a different account.
- Missing certificates for electrical or gas connections.
- Units delivered damaged with "we'll sort it later" and a demand for the balance today.
- Subcontractors who cannot name the main contracting company.
Appliances, gas, electrics and water - the silent snags
Many kitchen disputes are not about cupboard doors. They are about a hob that was never commissioned, a dishwasher drain that leaks into the unit below, a socket inside a cupboard that fails Part P good practice, or a gas bayonet left for "the client to sort". Insist that gas connections are by a Gas Safe engineer, electrical connections by a registered electrician where notifiable, and that you receive the certificates before the final payment. Photograph model numbers of appliances on delivery day so substitutions cannot be argued away later.
If the supplier and fitter are different firms, write down who owns each defect class: manufacturing faults versus installation faults. Joint meetings on site with both present save months of finger-pointing. Citizens Advice's home-improvement complaint statistics show fitted kitchens among the larger complaint categories - you are not being difficult by insisting on a completion checklist; you are being average in the best sense.
What to do if things go wrong
Pause further payments that are not due, write a numbered snag list, set a deadline, and escalate through TrustMark or your card issuer if needed. The Citizens Advice consumer service on 0808 223 1133 can help you map options. For fraud, use Report Fraud. Call 999 if someone refuses to leave or you feel threatened. A kitchen dispute is miserable; a documented dispute is winnable far more often than a verbal one.
What to do if things go wrong
Keep a single folder - digital is fine - with the contract, every quote, every variation, photographs with dates, and every payment reference. Write to the trader clearly setting out what is wrong and what you want fixed, and give a reasonable deadline. Under the Consumer Rights Act 2015 you can ask for a repeat performance of a service that was not carried out with reasonable care and skill, and in some cases a price reduction. If the firm is TrustMark registered, use the scheme's complaints route. For suspected fraud or intimidation, contact the Citizens Advice consumer service on 0808 223 1133 or Report Fraud; call 999 if you are at immediate risk. Card payments should be raised with the issuer promptly while evidence is fresh.
Finally, do not sign a satisfaction note under time pressure on fitting day. Take an evening to use the taps, open every door and run the appliances through a cycle. A short delay before the final payment is reasonable; a signature you regret is expensive.
Sources checked on 28 October 2026: Checkatrade, Kitchen fitting cost (October 2026 table); Citizens Advice, Before you get work done on your home; Citizens Advice, card refunds; Consumer Rights Act 2015; TrustMark. Prices are national guide figures. Nothing here is legal advice.
Quick answers
How much does kitchen fitting labour cost?
Checkatrade's October 2026 table illustrates average fitting labour around £3,500, with a wider band of about £2,000 to £6,000 and day rates often around £280 to £360. These are national guide figures; always get a fixed quote against your drawings.
Should I pay the final invoice before snagging?
No. Agree a snagging walk-round, keep a retention or final payment back, and collect gas and electrical certificates before releasing the balance.
What if the supplier and fitter blame each other?
Write down which contract covers goods and which covers fitting. Hold a joint site meeting. Pursue each under the Consumer Rights Act for their part; Section 75 may help where you paid by credit card.
When is a satisfaction note dangerous?
When you are asked to sign before you have inspected properly or while the fitter is waiting for the final payment. Take time to test appliances and open every unit first.