Guildford Fireplaces Reviews 

Do yourself a favour and avoid doing business with this Company. We were sold a stove and installation package, including a TV wall mount by the owner during a home visit. As it happened we were glad that the transaction happened that way as our consumer rights had been breached and we were able to withdraw from the contract and claim a refund - but only after much letter writing with the support of citizens advice. Our suspicions were aroused after there being no contact from the Company so we arrived at their showroom to view the exact stove and chamber we had selected. The owner appeared to have no recollection of us or the order, eventually telling us that our order had been mistakenly sold on so had to be reordered. Following this, we undertook the due diligence that we should have done beforehand and knew that we needed to get out. Ironically he did us a favour - we now have our ideal fireplace and not the compromise alternative that in our naivety we accepted from Guildford Fireplaces. I strongly suggest you heed this and other warnings on this site.

Took 4 weeks and constant phone calls, promises of call backs etc to get somebody out to view so they could quote, 6 weeks on and many phone calls despite promises that it was being done still no quote - now going with another supplier. If their lack of service, call backs etc is mirrored in their actual delivery/work I am glad i have done so

Installation process was terrible. Fire is unreliable and stopped working within a year. I've spent 6 months trying to get them out to investigate and they just give me the run around. They never return phone calls (10 calls in past 2 weeks - not one call returned). Booking made for an engineer but he never showed up. Absolutely do not do business with this company.

Avoid at all costs!

Stephen Bolden visited our address back in June of 2022. I’m so disappointed with myself for not finding the reviews on this website. It’s not my normal thorough approach to placing an order for a substantial amount of money, but I have learnt my lesson.

The managing director is a complete plonker, who clearly has no ability to actually sell, but is able to rely on the products and the simple fact that there is little competition in the area. I ended up placing an order and was told 10 weeks until installation. I explained that my wife and I work and so would need to be given some notice to Get the time off and be at home. I received three emails in very quick succession, chasing a large deposit which we eventually paid. After a week or so I chased Stephen asking for the installation date, but I still heard nothing back.

Several emails later and Stephen called me, and appeared almost slightly irritated by my request. He claimed to have responded but this wasn’t true. We still hadn’t received an installation date. He was actually rude and quite aggressive. Keep in mind, he hadn’t been like this prior to us paying the deposit.

We waited until august and I then called and spoke with Tim who eventually gave us a date in September for installation. The installer (Sam) arrived and made quick work. Unfortunately, it appeared that our stove was damaged and this led to a number of issues. Additionally, it was the wrong one. The stove I pointed to in the catalogue was not the one Stephen had actually ordered. He had written down the wrong model.

I must say, Sam was very helpful and did his best to get a resolution however on the faulty stove we had received however, I still felt slightly frustrated that after the wait, we had received something that was delivered faulty and not actually the stove we wanted.

Regardless, the installation process went on but was spread over a week rather than 1-2 days.
On the weekend, I made the first fire in the stove but unfortunately smoke started to leak from the flue. I called the office and spoke with someone who informed me that the owner, Stephen was away and they couldn’t advise what to do. I made my feelings clear but was told it would have to wait until Monday. To my surprise I received a call from Stephen who seemed very unhappy with the work of his employees and apologised.

About 5 days later, Sam returned and checked things over. He had to tighten the door (which was faulty) due to a build up of carbon. I was really grateful for him picking this up but again, frustrated that it had happened in the first place.
Before paying the remaining balance I wanted to have a couple more fires to make sure it worked properly.

I have now received a phone call from Stephen who has lied and told me he has been chasing me for weeks and has sent numerous chase ups for the balance. My wife spoke with him to inform him that the installation was only completed 3 days ago and he appeared to not know what on earth was going on.

Please, avoid this company. They really are terrible and don’t deserve your business.

Please take notice of these reviews of Guildford Fireplaces. I ordered a stove July last year from the owner. He chased and chased me for a 50% deposit saying he had already ordered the stove,this was £2250.00
( deposit for parts and labour) I paid it but then did not hear form him for months. He said the chimney parts had not arrived.Then I did not hear from him for ages I kept emailing and calling and visting the Bagshot branch which is near me. When I asked for my money back as I had not reicved the stove or services,
he was rude , aggressive and threatening.
I still have not had the Stove or refund. Its the courts next.Save yourelves a lot of hassle aviod this company like COVID.

Shocking company. Steer well clear of these cowboys. It's a shame you have to give 1 x star on here because that's one too many. Just about the worst experience I have ever had with a trades company. Inline with everyone below, I had to pay a deposit then chase to get a date after waiting 2 months to be told by the pompous MD someone should have ordered it but hadn't. The product took 5 visits to fit in a ready made fireplace, wrong frame, missing bits, wrong flue, wrong bracket just hopeless. Then it needed touching up so the imbecile spray painted it in situ without masking the wall. Now I have to redecorate. After telling me it was finished the frame fell off. They then said the bolts didn't fit, ridiculous, they just hadn't done them up. Additionally we had 2 x aborted visits after I waited in all morning to be told at noon they couldn't make it. I could write a book on the incompetence of this firm. To cap it off they had 3 x goes at getting the invoice correct, the email address on their paperwork is wrong it just goes on and on. Heed the advice on here and steer well clear

Our experience of this company is shocking. What should have taken 2 days to fit a new fireplace extended to 5 weeks. After problems with the first burner unit the company ordered the wrong replacement and then lied about the reason for the delay to cover their own incompetence. A few weeks after the fire was installed to their satisfaction an emergency call out to the Gas Board ended with the fire being condemned due to leaking gas. Finally today after we had to circumvent the failure of the installers to register the gas fire an engineer from the manufacturer fixed the problems and we now have a safe and correctly functioning fire.

We didn't even get as far as ordering a fire due to the rudeness of the managing director.
We had purchased our fire surrround from this company several years ago and were perfectly happy with the whole process, so didn't question returning for a replacement fire.
We visited a few weeks ago and were not impressed by the attitude of the managing director, Stephen Bolden. However we were still prepared to order from the company and returned this morning with a couple of questions and the intention of placing our order. However, on this occasion, Stephen's rudeness was intolerable. His unwillingness to let us leave with a breakdown of the costs also raised concerns.
Having only now read reviews on Trustpilot we consider we have had a lucky escape and the reason for his unwillingness to let us have a copy of the prices makes more sense.

I have been contemplating writing this review for a while now. I must start by saying that even giving this appalling excuse for a business 1 star, is to be kind. They deserve nothing more than 0. The issues started with the manager, Stephen. He is rude, ignorant, pompous and unbelievably short in knowledge on the industry he owns a business in. He arrived over an hour late to my home visit, claiming when he arrived that a fellow co-worker of his had fallen ill with Covid. I let this pass. Until said fellow co-worker showed up the following day. The prices of the quote from each worker varied by a significant amount. For some ungodly reason I chose to proceed. After completing the installation, Stephen demanded I pay the remaining balance on his quote, he mysteriously couldn't find the other quote. This is not what I agreed. After refusing to pay, I received threatening emails from Stephen demanding payment or he would 'see me in court'. After 6 months, my fire now does not even work. What a surprise. If you have read this far, I commend you and I ask you not to use this company as I fear your experience will be as disappointing as mine. Having read other reviews since, the issues are all to similar amongst customers.

We have now had two fireplaces from this company - at our previous house and at our new one. Our experience has been entirely satisfactory. On each occasion the end to end process was managed very professionally, and the installation team could not have been more helpful or efficient.

If we could give no stars we would, as this is the worst company we have ever dealt with. Following the development of a fault, we were subjected to a string of false assurances and broken promises.
I'm sure the company don't care as they have very little competition, but we'd suggest potential customers take careful note of this and all the other negative feedback.

Damaged ridge tiles and a lot of roof tiles while installing my log burner in Oct 2019. Promised to repair but 9 months later still waiting. Charged the full amount the day after fitting and since have been almost impossible to get hold of. Lied about having replacement ridge tiles because professional roofers now told me they will have to specially made. I dont want them anywhere near my roof again as I dont trust them not to make more damage.

Additionally they never sealed the register plate so we have a constant layer of chimney debris on top of the stove.

DO NOT USE !!!!!

Still no fireplace, 3 months now, always it’s coming ‘Friday’, then ‘Monday’. Do not use this company, please go somewhere else.

If my stove is fitted on the third attempt this Wednesday 4th March, I'll amend accordingly

this is the worst company i have ever dealt with in my life.
never once returned a phone call execpt when they wanted payment.
very rude, they should have swept the chimmey when they installed
the fire but that was not done. then told it it would be ok even though
it was part of the deal.never phoned us to say we could not have the
fire we ordered only found out when we phoned for a update.
this list goes on and on.
very stressful ordeal we wish we had never walked through there front door.

I'm sure some are satisfied with the service this company provides but our experience has been very poor; after a number of administrative errors that we had to sort out ourselves, general incompetence, us as clients doing all of the chasing & late the evening before cancelling the appointment to fit our stove we finally had enough & demanded our deposit back that we'd paid 10 weeks previously. The owner is rude, disorganised, unreliable & blames everyone but himself for the poor service - including his customers for not making themselves available on a date that's convenient for him to do the work! I now have a better understanding of why he finds it hard to retain his employees if he talks to & shouts at them as he has to me & my wife. They have spoiled for us what should have been an exciting process, it's been an unhappy & unpleasant experience in the end & if it wasn't for their incompetence we could have our wood burner fitted by now. We would have chosen a different company had we known then what we know now.......