WHY AFFORDABLE DOESN’T SIMPLY MEAN CHEAP

I wish I had a dollar for every time a customer has said one of the time-honoured phrases. “I hope you are as affordable as your name,” “That doesn’t sound very affordable”, I thought you were going to be more affordable!” and the rest. Our name has become a real brand identity. Other companies plaster their websites with the words “affordable granite” so often that we know that we are doing something right. But our name can also be a liability – when people think that “Affordable” translates direct to “lowest price.”

We can all spot situations where cheap isn’t worth it. We can see the false economy – the socks or bra or ten for a quid lemons down the market, the ebay dress from China, the second-hand car whose price is just too good to be true. The fact is that we cannot afford to always buy the cheapest – it is no saving in the long run.  As the saying goes: Buy cheap – buy twice!

It’s true with so many things. The cheapest wine is no joy – we all know that there is a “sweet spot” where the good stuff starts to kick in, and where you know that the extra you have spent has gone on the things that make a difference. “Life’s too short to drink cheap wine” – and kitchens are too big an investment to chance a bodge. We know – because we are often asked to take the bodge out and start again. 🙁

You suspect that the people who hire the cheapest builders sometimes regret the decision.

The champion of “doing the job well” was the great 19th century artist and thinker John Ruskin. His comment about buying the cheapest is worth pondering:

“It’s unwise to pay too much, but it’s worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money – that’s all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot – it can’t be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better.”

So often, you can’t afford to accept the cheapest quote – in the long run, paying more is more affordable!

Dekton- famously heat resistant – but are there drawbacks?

Affordable means honest info

One of the most important services we provide is information. And it isn’t just cheap – it’s free! Every single day we handle dozens of phone calls and emails from customers wanting to pick our brains. What’s the difference between quartz and granite? What’s the problem with marble? Is Dekton really the best thing since Marilyn? Many other people don’t call us because they have already found the answers to those and other questions on our website. Our FAQs page especially is a real resource for the industry in terms of materials, procedures and best practice.

That kind of information comes free, but it has real value. All the more so when you feel that it really is honest – where a material has a problem, we will tell you. And buying from people who know, and people who will tell you what they know with honesty, makes the whole process very different right from the start.

From your first contact with us we want you to feel that you are dealing with people who take you and your requirements seriously, and who will work hard and efficiently to deliver what you want for your kitchen. We think that our office professionalism is second to none, and we believe that the same dedication runs right on through the company. That means investment – in people, and also in serious kit.

Slab inspection trolleys – we can tilt these to any angle under strong flood-lighting

Affordable means quality control from the start of the process

Up close and personal: Cass uses a hand held lamp to painstakingly check the surface of a quartz slab

Affordable means US making sure we are not selling YOU a turkey

Ben – workshop manager – working with a customer to get the best possible layout of granite pattern for her kitchen

Affordable means choice and customer service throughout the project

Our two massive CNC machines, for accurate and high-quality cutout production.
A man with a van CAN do a great job; we have invested in ALWAYS doing a great job

Affordable means our investment to get your kitchen right

We often transport hob slabs with the cutout incomplete – to avoid breakage in transit.
Here our fitter carefully cuts through the final lines of stone in a customer’s drive

Affordable means avoiding breakages – and if they do occur, paying for them ourselves, not gazzumping the customer

Seb, our most experienced lead fitter, is unsurpassed in getting silicone and caulking exactly right

Affordable means quality and consistency

From a properly written quotation through to a paper trail of deposit and balance receipts, we are a serious and professional company. If you are after the absolute cheapest, then the cash deal, with no paperwork and no warranty is the way to go – but can you afford to? If you want the kind of guarantee and customer service after care that gives peace of mind, Affordable Granite is for you. Believe me – if you have issues after installation, you WILL be able to get hold of us, we will NOT disappear in our van, and we WILL be round to put things right.

Affordable Granite doesn’t claim to be the cheapest. But we claim to offer the best value – for a serious, reliable, legally above-board and on-goingly helpful company , we can’t be beaten. Why do you think so many of our customers come back to us when they move and do the new kitchen? 🙂

Andy Phillips, our MD, personally seeing to it that one detail of a customer’s installation was got absolutely right

Affordable means guarantee and aftercare