There was no way I was letting Kitchens Direct fitters back into my home. After eight breaches in the wiring regulations were discovered by an independent expert (that's just the electrical work, and after Kitchens Direct's own H&S inspector had already discovered in a "random visit" that the fitters had failed to earth the cooker - remember the press story about the woman killed by just such an error?), all remedial works were carried out by my own, local contractors. The disruption and destruction required were only partly recompensed by the settlement Kitchens Direct agreed with my lawyers just one step before we would have taken them to court.

Four and a half years after initial installation, the room now requires final repair and complete redecoration (again), because damage and scarring were unavoidable when removing the worktops and chasing out the walls to access circuits.