I'm singing Dolphin's praises! (Dolphin Bathrooms in General)

Member Name: i_am_joy

Product:	Dolphin Bathrooms in General
Date:	01/09/09 (220 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Excellent service, fabulous end results, friendly workmen

Disadvantages: ----------

It seems almost fashionable these days to criticise Dolphin Bathrooms. Even people I've spoken to who have never had dealings personally with the company seem to have a poor opinion of them, although when pressed they could never quite come up with enough proof of their poor service to convince me not to use them.

So when I decided to give my bathroom a revamp recently I decided to ignore all the horror stories and approached Dolphin to initially take advantage of their free bathroom design service. I was so impressed with both the design I was given and the price that I immediately signed on the dotted line and agreed a convenient start date to my work to commence.

Let me tell you now, I have nothing but good to say about Dolphin Bathrooms so if you've clicked on this review expecting to hear about how they have scammed another pensioner than you'll be sorely disappointed I'm afraid. Of course, such a large undertaking didn't go without a number of hitches but I was impressed with how Dolphin solved any problems that arose and the level of customer service I experienced went above and beyond my expectations.

Let me give you a brief run down of what I needed doing to my bathroom and then I'll talk you through the various options and services that Dolphin provided me with. I am disabled and over the past six months or so have realised that getting myself in and out of the bath was rapidly becoming beyond my stamina, even with an electric bath seat I was always in a state of fear that one day the inevitable would happen and I would become stuck in the bath. Oh, I can hear all you young things sniggering now but it will come to you eventually! I wanted my bath taken out and replaced with a walk in shower, and while I was at it decided to replace my toilet and pedestal sink.

I booked a time for a Dolphin Bathroom Design Consultant to visit me in my home and he arrived at the exact time of his appointment armed with several folders, a laptop and a completely unassuming demeanour. I had worried about this initial contact actually as I have heard so many stories relating to this company where they turn up at your house and refuse to leave until you have signed up to have work done, for this reason I arranged for my son in law to attend the design consultation with me but I honestly think I needn't have worried as the chap who visited me seemed pleasant enough and worked through the options with me until we were both completely clear on what I did and didn't want. I feel if I'd decided at the end of it that I didn't want to go ahead with it then this decision would have been respected.

All of the designing is done using a rather clever programme on the designers laptop, he inputted the dimensions of my bathroom and this allowed his to make changes as we went along and also meant I could instantly see how the finished article would look. Between us we decided that a wet room would be ideal for my personal health problems and also would add value to my bungalow should I decide to sell in the future. Eventually my ideas of simply installing a shower where the bath was and having a new toilet were greatly expanded and I ended up signing up for a complete new bathroom from top to bottom, this decision was certainly not forced upon me though and I was happy that the skills and professionalism of the consultant allowed me to make such a big decision and know it was the right one for me.

After agreeing a date for work to commence he left me for a brief cooling off period during which time it was explained that I could change my mind without incurring any financial penalties. I was pleased with this attention to detail but had already decided there was absolutely no chance of changing my mind as I had already fallen in love with the wonderfully modern designs he had picked out for my rather dowdy looking original bathroom.

I was kept informed through the post regarding the provisional start date of my work, unfortunately Dolphin Bathrooms did have to put it back by a week but I wasn't overly concerned by this and a new date was agreed.

On the day of my work commencing the three workmen arrived and showed me proof of their identity, they explained what they were going to be doing over the course of the next few days and advised me it would be rather dusty in the bathroom so if possible could I arrange to use the bathroom of a neighbour when the need arose. This was explained for my benefit as I audibly wheeze thanks to chronic asthma and one of the workmen who has a mother with the same health problems asked me to tell him should the level of dust cause any real problems with my health at any time. One of the three members of the workforce was Ukranian but forget now all the jokes about foreign builders as he was the epitome of courtesy and spoke English which was probably better than my own! I mention this because I had heard Dolphin Bathrooms were employing foreign workers with extremely poor English which obviously isn't ideal when you are trying to explain what you want, but I honestly had no problems at all with any of the workmen and found them to be pleasantly friendly but not overpoweringly so.

In short they got on with the job for which they were being paid, which is all I could ask for really. The dust issue was solved after a quick telephone call to wherever the workmen had been dispatched from and an industrial strength vacuum was provided for them to keep on top of it as much as possible.

My entire bathroom was completed to schedule within seven days, this included time waiting for the tile adhesive to set and a short wait for the shower cubicle I had decided upon to be delivered as it was not with the original delivery of items. This wasn't a problem however as I was quite prepared to wait, the apologies from Dolphin were genuine and profuse while the workmen simply got on with other jobs in my bathroom while awaiting this delivery.

The finished result is absolutely wonderful, I simply cannot stop going into my bathroom to admire it! The tiling and grouting has all be done to the expert standards I expected, the materials used are all of the top quality and the finish is beautiful. There are absolutely no rough edges or signs of bad workmanship at all and I am honestly 100% impressed with how it has all turned out.

There's no point me giving you details of the price of my bathroom as obviously the costs will depend upon how much work needs to be done and other deciding factors. I will however state that for a complete refit I was absolutely impressed with the cost and after making subsequent enquiries of other companies I believe that even if Dolphin weren't the cheapest, they were certainly among them. For the quality of my bathroom I was more than happy to pay the price I was given and am absolutely thrilled with what I got for my money.

If you fancy getting your bathroom fitted but haven't got the money to lay out all in one go, Dolphin Bathrooms offer a variety of finance plans including one where you have nothing to pay until 2010. Workmanship is guaranteed for twelve months and certain items you may have fitted could have a longer guarantee, ask your designer if you are unsure and I'm sure he or she will be able to help with any queries you may have.

Summary: I personally received excellent service from Dolphin Bathrooms and recommend them highly.