Ripples Reviews 

We visited the Reigate showroom for our new bathrooms and met with the designer Jo. Beautiful showroom, great inspiration and very knowledgeable staff. We had a few issues during installation with pipework and structure which was solved during a visit by Jo and the installation team recommended by Ripples. Few issues with delivery but we had the same with other bathroom companies before so hasn't put us off recommending as really impressed with all other aspects of this company.

Went with Ripples for design and install of two bathrooms in an older, listed house. Initial designs were pretty good and the price was comparable to other design firms (a lot more than doing it a bit at a time ourselves, but we figured we paid for convenience). We got a quick installation date which matched our timetable and it was, mostly, stuck too.

The good: tiles look great, bathrooms do have a premium feel to them, everything was delivered on time. Received a very small refund for an error they made.

The bad: massive over-estimate on tiles, leaving us with a full 600 more than required. Despite having a refund / restocking clause in the contract, in turns out this is no good for tiles (nor most anything else). Shower design horribly flawed to the extent that it would have soaked our very old timber framed house had I not spotted the issue. Quoted £1k + (with install) for a shower door to put the error right. Ended up buying that component elsewhere. Install went on too long, so whilst the bulk of work was done in 4 weeks, I was left waiting 12 weeks for it be finished. Zero Comms in that time.

I wouldn't say we regret choosing Ripples but it's a fine margin. Certainly you can get every component, from tiles to bath, dramatically cheaper from a cursory glance online. That is certainly what we will do next time.

HORRENDOUS EXPERIENCE!

Unfortunately I had an experience identical to the others described on here. Having paid thousands of pounds for a bathroom and ensuite renovation at the Ripples branch in Chelmsford, I was given numerous false promises as to when the products would arrive. There were constant delays in delivery, and when deliveries did happen, the items were either missing or incorrect.

We were told on numerous occasions that the owner was "loading the van as we speak". The delivery would turn up and one item would be handed over - we were always asking "wheres the rest of it?!"

Communication was non-existent - emails were written daily with no response, and phone calls were made chasing the items. When I attended the showroom, both the designer, Kimberly, and the company owner, Chris, had "just popped out"!!

It would seem that despite taking a 50% deposit upfront, nothing is ordered until the full balance is paid. By which time items are out of stock and excuses like "there was a problem with the supplier" are commonplace.

After chasing the designer daily and becoming more and more exasperated, the remaining items for the first fix arrived onsite 2 months later. This experience whilst managing my own business and a full time job caused me so much stress and anxiety that I had no option but to cancel the rest of the order. I then had to reorder all missing items to ensure they arrived onsite ready to install in time for Christmas. The delay in the first fix delivery meant I had to install a portaloo onsite for far longer than planned - the toilets arrived separately at a later date and we are still missing a flush plate (according to Ripples, there are none available in the UK)!!

The brassware was not what I ordered, the control panel for the shower was out of stock and therefore had to be changed, and the wall-hung vanity units chosen in the design did not fit in the rooms. The whole design of both the ensuite and the bathroom had to be adjusted and reconfigured by both the builder and I - the design did not work in reality.

I am still chasing a refund of £3k for all missing items.
I am very fortunate that I chose to order items such as the bath, radiators, basins, tiles, and stone myself, reducing the total cost dramatically. Had I not done this, I would have lost far more than £3k.

I have never experienced such poor customer service and non-existent communication. They are so far from the 'luxury' bathroom company they claim to be. There is a suggestion on here that they may be a well-organised scam, and I would be inclined to agree.

Having researched all first fix and brassware items, it would seem these can be ordered elsewhere at a hugely reduced price in comparison to that charged by Ripples. Not only are they cheaper, they're in stock and arrive within days of the order!!

Where do i start! What an awful experience. Premium prices, basement customer service. Ordered and paid 50% in June, the remaining 50% 3 weeks before commencement of the work in early August. July 29, the delivery date given by Ripples TW. Nothing arrived. Was told my ensuite shower, sink, vanity, tiles and all the plumbing would be delivered early August. Again virtually nothing arrived. The installers starting working and the stuff arrived in dribs and drabs over the next 3 weeks holding up the installers and turning my hallway/kitchen and basement into a semi-building site for weeks and weeks on end. I had to chase Ripples several times a week for an update on where items were and when i wanted to speak to the owner, was told she "was probably to busy to speak to me". The problem is that when you pay Ripples they don't order the items and when they do get around to it, if there is a problem with a product, fault in the supply chain or a need to order a different sized product then the job is delayed and delayed and delayed. I had to chase them all the time and only when chased would something be actioned. The final items arrived in early October and the small bathroom was finally finished mid October. Just appalling service. Take my advice, avoid them unless you are happy for a 14 day job to take nearly 3 months? They get 1 star for recommending the installer, who were very good, but also became frustrated by the delays caused by Ripples. Have heard that other customers have been left in a similar situation to me. I'll be going elsewhere for my next bathroom project.

If you are expecting to pay a premium in return for a high street premium service, look elsewhere. Our experience has been a dreadful odyssey of delays, wrong or defective items, excessive quantities delivered and charged for and a total lack of project management from Alexis and Lisa. Our complains were each time answered by transferring the responsibility to their suppliers (as if they had not charged us their 30% over list price to actually manage our project). Unreturned calls became the norm, promises of refund and compensation went over for months and never met. It is a pity as the items they trade are beautiful (once you get to receive the one you have ordered and it is not defective), but this franchise on England Road casts a dark shadow on Ripples’ name and trustworthiness.
As a final surprise, when after months we finally managed to corner them into providing a reply to our requests of compensation, they entered into a point-by-point justification to, in summary, declining any financial responsibility. For a long time we thought it was a case of negligence and lack of skills, I now fear this shop is a well organised scam. Stay away.

Decided after 15 years our two bathrooms needed replacing. Hard to envisage the ‘possibility’ but went to Ripples in Reigate and Jo rose to the challenge spectacularly. She suggested moving the bathe from our main bathroom to the other which freed up space for a fantastic war room walk in shower. The twin heads work well in paralell and I have a grin on my face every time I shower. The bath with shower over works well and is ideal for children. All the other components work very well and all in all both bathrooms are the envy of friends and family who have seen and/or used them. Ripples prime/project managed what was a significant project end to end without hitches and everything was completed on time and in line with the original estimate. Well done Ripples and our grateful thanks.

Our designer Mags at Ripples in Hassocks has done a fantastic job and today our 2 bathrooms are complete. We are delighted. She had listened to us and the rooms are everything we wanted and more. Highly recommend.

What an awful company. I can only agree with the other reviewers as we have suffered a similar experience with the franchise in Reigate.
We paid Ripples a significant sum of money in full for a new ensuite bathroom which should have been finished by the end of July. Suddenly goods stopped being delivered with little or no apology or explanation. The shop manager/designer was next to useless and seemed to know nothing. We had to contact the owner of the franchise and threaten to sue the company before some of our goods were delivered. We finally received the basin/vanity unit (worth £2,000) on 4/09/19 but only after we commenced legal action. There is little or no customer care and you are fed a pack of lies.

One of the worst experiences with any business I have ever had! Interested until they have your money. It took not 4-5 weeks to finish a small bathroom project, but over 3.5 months and a different builder to complete the project!

We chose Ripples because of the quality of the initial design, excellent products and the Ripples promise of a smooth experience. In reality, the sales pitch could not be any further from the very disappointing - exhausting, frustrating and shambolic - installation process that we’ve experienced.

We experienced a range of issues with the bathroom design and installation which needed to be resolved by us (an exemplary rather than exhaustive list):
• Wrong measurements for an alcove in the installation plan.
• A number of items and their location in the bathroom was not specified in the installation plan.
• A myriad of items needed to be sourced by us at an ad-hoc basis (quite often at very short notice). This would have been fine had we actually been aware we needed to do that – but this was not discussed or pointed out during the design process.
• A valve for our bathtub was missing and we ended up with water running in our bathtub in our absence – for over 8 hours.
• Walls inside and outside (hallway) the bathroom were left with holes and were not preferred for decoration.
• The marble – again, at no point in the process was it mentioned that the marble could only be measured once the rest of the bathroom was installed, and that we would have to wait extra 2 weeks (or in our case, 5+ weeks) for that.

As mentioned by other comments, Ripples did not provide proper aftercare services. At times, our emails were answered with uninterested, bordering on rude, replies; the word “apologies”, shockingly, never featured! Please see example below (email from 28 February 2019): “I recall saying to you your room will be a likely 4 week fit. Which, trust me some installers would complete in that timeframe. …” If other installers could have completed the bathroom project in such a timeframe, we struggle to understand why we were left with a Ripples recommended builder, Jon Kelson, who promised to complete it in 5 weeks but hasn’t delivered this promise?!

Below a summary of key issues with Ripples' recommended builder:

We have had numerous issues with Jon Kelson’s work throughout our bathroom project. He came recommended by Ripples in Bath. Jon’s work was often of poor quality (e.g. grouting between tiles had huge gaps; walls were left unfinished and needed further preparation before decoration). Please find below a couple of exemplary issues:

Complete lack of respect for us and our home - Jon has failed to show any regard for the fact that he was working in a flat in which we live or pay any attention to a range of things we did point out throughout the bathroom project. His hearing seemed selective and he once even admitted that he was not listening when we discussed a point! To illustrate his lack of respect for our home: he, for instance, used our roasting tray (kept in the oven) to catch some water as part of his work and put it back in our oven dirty. He did not mention this to us, and we were frankly shocked to find the tray both wet and dirty. His words the next morning were literally “I thought you might wonder….”!

Keeping the flat even vaguely clean was also not at all on his agenda. Porcelain tiles for our bathtub were cut in our flat with the main entrance door open! This not only disturbed our neighbours and left the staircase dirty (which we had to clean after we came home from work at 7pm), but our entrance hall and kitchen were covered in a thick layer of black dust. When we asked that any more tiles be cut downstairs in the street, the response was “It’s too far to walk”.

It took over 4 months to complete a simple en suite. We paid in full early, and then found that goods were not available (and Ripples did not know where the goods were despite endless chasing) and this led to endless delays and excuses.

The quality of their products is poor and they really don't care once they have your money.

I would strongly recommend that people do not use them as it has been one of the worst experiences that I have ever had.

We dealt with Tunbridge Wells Ripples.

Ripples of bath .Total waste of time !!, take your money then wait & wait & wait for delivery only to keep letting you down but always the suppliers fault ?? Every time you call them the person dealing with it is on holiday how convenient, please don’t make the mistake of using this company in the bath area

This was the most awful company I have ever dealt with. Paid in full for 2 bathrooms and a cloakroom. We were left without working bathrooms for months as the products were not ordered. They ended up supplying and fitting the wrong shower tray and enclosure. Fed nothing but lies; no apologies, and no one cares. I had to take over the management of the projects myself. Very nearly had to take them to court. I honestly cannot emphasise enough how much to avoid this company.

Really awful experience with this so called prestige company. They over promise and under deliver. They may look the part but don’t be fooled by this franchise. So many errors made by the Hassocks (Brighton) branch. Amongst other things we experienced problems and errors with the design (we were recommended a shower which wouldn’t physically fit in the small space), incorrect calculations of tiles (they over ordered and refused to refund the £300 due to their error until I queried it and was told they didn’t refund and that was there policy and they under ordered on the floor tiles too, wrong products delivered, massive delays in deliveries despite having 3 months before our fit date having huge implications for tradesman booked for the fit, no individual responsible for owning the project so lack of continuity. And there were many many more. No apologies or acknowledgement of all the issues when they occurred and blame was passed to the tradesman fitting the bathroom. Failed to deliver all the products. All the delays and errors meant our 10 day project took 3 months. Would steer clear at all costs - just wish I had known how incapable they were before they got me to sign on the dotted line. We naively thought paying a premium would equate to high customer service and this was far from the truth. Once they have your money the service levels drop. Feel free to pm me for any more details. I wouldn’t want anyone else caught out

Poor service post sale and fitting. Newbury branch
We have a few issues that are taking a long time to resolve.
This is a shame as the Bathroom looks great and the finish is excellent.
Work team recommended by Ripples to fit the bathroom did an excellent job even though it took 6 weeks to complete!
There are just a few annoying issues that are taking a long time to resolve and i have to keep chasing them. Get the impression we are forgotten about.

Jo in Reigate offered a bespoke service that delivered the Most beautiful
bathrooms, quite outstanding and delivered to the highest professional standards, and all this with a lovely sense of humour and charm. She listened and anticipated exactly what was wanted - I am truly delighted with the result and couldn't recommend her more highly . There were no issues in timescale or with delivery. It was ordered, arrived, was fitted and is beautiful - fabulous! Quality is definitely worth going for!

Delighted by our experience with Ripples. Wouldn't hesitate to recommend and will definitely be returning to get our ensuite bathroom designed.

Badly finished and uninterested in putting right. Too many issues to list.

Complete lack of customer care.