A couple's made-to-measure kitchen was installed with parts missing, with different colour panels, ill-fitting drawers and gaps where there should have been none, a court heard yesterday.
Karl and Natasha Fallon won their case against Kieran McDonnell and Glen Kelly, trading as Budget Kitchens, Park West, Dublin, over what a judge said was "a shambles" of a kitchen.
They sued the company for what the Dublin Small Claims Court heard was a litany of defects and broken promises.
Ms Fallon told the court she paid Mr McDonnell €3,000 for the kitchen in May 2005 and was told it would be delivered two weeks later. Mr McDonnell also arranged for a fitter, who measured the space for the kitchen before it was built, and he was to be paid an extra €500.
When the kitchen was delivered - four days late - at the Fallon's Naas Road home in Clondalkin, Dublin, "half of it was missing", Ms Fallon said.
"There were handles missing, some of them were the wrong type and the colour of a press was different from the door."
The kitchen was due to be installed the next day, but the fitter arrived late, saying he had trouble finding the house, although he had previously been out to take measurements. He later admitted he had been in McDonald's having breakfast.
The fitter did what he could with the materials but among the more obvious defects he left behind was a press beneath the sink without backing or a shelf. The counter top was the wrong type and was not sealed where it met the wall and electrical fittings.
Mr McDonnell told the court his company was not responsible for the work of fitters. He claimed he only supplied a list of fitters to the Fallons, and it was they who chose and hired him.
Judge Patrick Clyne, having seen photographs of the kitchen, said it was "a shambles". He ruled that Mr McDonnell had appointed the fitter and was therefore responsible.
He awarded the Fallons €1,269.