Surrey woman in 'living nightmare' after being left without bathroom for five months

A woman from Surrey claims she has found herself in a “living nightmare” and has been forced to shower at the gym, because her new bathroom has not been completed almost five months after work began.

63-year-old Lorraine Williamson from Guildford says she purchased a bathroom package from Wickes in September 2022 which included product supply and installation.

She waited until May 2023 for her preferred installation team to become available, but says since then, multiple baths and toilets have needed replacing, problems fitting taps, and a number of recommencement of work dates are said to have failed.

Ms Williamson says she now wants to warn others to be aware of the issue which has had a “massive impact” on her life.

“I’m concerned that people are being sold the Wickes story as it were, and I’m not alone,” she said.

“Nothing’s easy at the moment. I work full time and these matters are obviously very time-consuming. It’s a nightmare, a living nightmare.”

Lorraine says due to not having a fully fitted bathroom, she can no longer have her elderly mother to stay, something she used to do every other week prior to the work. Instead, Lorraine said she now regularly drives more than 50 miles to visit her mum's house in Hertfordshire instead.

Work on the new bathroom began on May 9 and by May 10 she said her old one had been ripped out. The first days of the job went well, but when workers came to install the bath it was found to be damaged.

“There was quite a deep scratch on the bath so the installer suggested it was rejected,” Lorraine claims.

Lorraine adds that she is “still without any bathroom facilities” and that “nothing has been installed”. She claimed the job should have taken two weeks or less but said she is “getting nowhere fast”.

She also said she sympathised with contractors who will have other scheduled work and paid jobs to work around. “In fairness to the installer, I had faith in him and I stuck with him because I understood his issues.”

A spokesperson for Wickes said: "We are very sorry to hear of Ms Williamson’s bathroom installation issues as we aim to complete all of our installations to a high standard.

"Our Customer Relations team is in contact with the customer to confirm a date to complete the installation and will continue to work with Ms Williamson until the matter is resolved with the best possible care."

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