Refresh Renovations - South West London

"As someone who is new to both homeownership and renovations, I’m beyond pleased with my experience of Refresh Renovations. I worked with Sam from SW London who led the refurb of my bedroom. It was a full gut of the room (with the exception of the floors). Sam ensured that I had a broad overview of what was required throughout the entire process and helped me get organized with timelines and materials. He essentially acted as the project manager for all trades throughout the building works and supported me with trusted suppliers. I’d highly recommend Sam and his team for whatever it is that you’re looking to tackle. You won’t be disappointed."

"This is the most dishonest, incompetent and unprofessional renovation company I've ever encountered, especially "director" Saleem Jalil. Stay away from them. If you don't have a time to read through this review just take a look at the pictures done at the "end of 2nd fix" (so they claimed). Take a look at other five star reviews as well - at least one of them is written by Saleem's employee (EDIT: quite predictably they have removed Sam's review after I posted mine so I've included screenshot of that review in the pictures). During the first meetings they were talking about how they will prepare this detailed cost report, detailed drawings and everything will be done on time without a need for additional visits. All of this, as many other things they said, was a lie. The cost report contains items which are then substituted for cheaper ones. They still demand the payment for the more expensive ones though, and when this is pointed out they resort to abusive language. The drawings are just "concept drawings" and, to quote one of the employees, "the bathroom always looks different than the drawings". What they don't tell is the reason why the drawings look different - in this case they supposedly forgot to check how wide the toilet is. In reality they didn't want to move the pipes for the sink to the new place. They also could not admit to any delays. They claimed everything will be done on time through the project. This resulted in us moving in to a house without running water or heating in the middle of the pandemic. We had to find place to live on the spot for the same night, because Saleem lied that the project will be finished and didn't even bother to pick up the phone when we called. You may think that you have a safeguard of contacting the head office. However, the "Refresh Renovations Head Office" is a fancy name for two people with the exact same last name (Smith). They started with a thinly veiled xenophobic remark about us having a foreign accent and advised us to not put anything in writing. After some convincing they tried to "solve" the conflict. Their "solution" was to pay most of the remaining project cost upfront and then Saleem and his team will continue the work they were contracted to do at some point in the future, without giving any deadline. During this whole conflict resolution process they lied through their teeth that they used the same parts as in the cost report. Fortunately we had pictures of boxes, shipping notices and the products. They were clearly cheaper and of lower quality. Finally, at the end, the contract was terminated. Following the termination they threw a fit like a 5 year old and they refused to clean up the tools and refused to send us invoices for the parts they bought. Both Smiths from the head office supported them in throwing a tantrum. Stay away from them. Go with someone honest who knows what they are doing. Update with regards to the response: Refresh Renovations is no longer a member of the Federation of Master Builders. As for when the pictures were taken that's very obviously and provably a lie too. The pictures were taken after, to quote their own email, "all second fix items made available have been fitted" and their teams went dark and didn't show up or respond for a week. They also insisted that there's nothing wrong with it."

"I did not actually progress to the build stage but I will say that Sam who I dealt with when getting a quote was courteous, thorough, and did a great job explaining and communicating. They identified previous projects they had done that were similar to what I was asking for a quote on, and showed photographs and drawings, which was a nice touch. Can't speak for the quality of work, but 5 stars for customer service and communication."

"Refresh renovations did some work fixing tiling and grouting in our bathrooms. Sam had good communication and gave a reasonable quote. The work was carried out very soon after we agreed on the quote to a very high standard. Peter who did the work worked hard and communicated well with us. We are very happy with the result. One star removed because mid-work they told us that the tiles were loose and we would have to pay more to inject adhesive behind them. It was clear they were loose before the quote. The 'variation' wasn't too expensive though."

"We were looking to add an outbuilding to our rear garden to allow for a home office, extra lounging space and an en-suite and had no clue where to start. Upon researching local service providers, we found and reached out to Refresh Renovations in South West London as they were quite local and offered a complimentary initial consultation. Sam came out to visit us at the property, listened attentively to our needs and requirements, and knowledgeably laid out the roadmap our project would need to take covering design, planning & consents, documentation and costings to be well positioned when the time comes for the build. Based on our experience, I can confidently say that we are now much better equipped to make an informed decision on the way forward. I highly recommend Sam & the team for anyone at a very early stage who could do with some guidance!!"