ᐅ Kitchen deposit, fixed pricing – price increase after expiration?
Created on: 27 Jun 2025 10:49
M
Merle123
Hello everyone,
we purchased a kitchen with a 2-year fixed price guarantee. Unfortunately, we were only able to place the final order one year later.
Now we are being asked to pay nearly 3.5% more because the price guarantee has expired. This is not a problem in itself, but we also made the down payment 3 years ago, and the lost interest represents a similar amount.
My idea is that we pay the difference between the lost interest and the price increase, since the kitchen company was able to use the money for 3 years. The kitchen builder’s argument is: "I couldn’t use the money because I had to cover my ongoing costs." It is worth mentioning that nothing was ordered in advance by the kitchen builder.
The contract does not specify what happens after the price guarantee expires. At the moment, I simply feel doubly disadvantaged because I couldn’t invest my money for 3 years and now have to bear the price increase alone. We’re talking about nearly 3,000 € in total.
What do you think about this situation?
I am very frustrated that we signed the contract so early and also made the down payment, but I cannot change that anymore. My first impulse was to just let them keep the kitchen, but I’m afraid the down payment would be lost then, which would mean a loss more than four times as high.
we purchased a kitchen with a 2-year fixed price guarantee. Unfortunately, we were only able to place the final order one year later.
Now we are being asked to pay nearly 3.5% more because the price guarantee has expired. This is not a problem in itself, but we also made the down payment 3 years ago, and the lost interest represents a similar amount.
My idea is that we pay the difference between the lost interest and the price increase, since the kitchen company was able to use the money for 3 years. The kitchen builder’s argument is: "I couldn’t use the money because I had to cover my ongoing costs." It is worth mentioning that nothing was ordered in advance by the kitchen builder.
The contract does not specify what happens after the price guarantee expires. At the moment, I simply feel doubly disadvantaged because I couldn’t invest my money for 3 years and now have to bear the price increase alone. We’re talking about nearly 3,000 € in total.
What do you think about this situation?
I am very frustrated that we signed the contract so early and also made the down payment, but I cannot change that anymore. My first impulse was to just let them keep the kitchen, but I’m afraid the down payment would be lost then, which would mean a loss more than four times as high.
N
nordanney27 Jun 2025 12:31Merle123 schrieb:
Previously, no proactive information about price increases or next steps Why should the planner be proactive? YOU wanted to buy something and didn't make a move for 2 years. There are reasons for that. But the kitchen fitter doesn’t need to worry about them.
Merle123 schrieb:
At that time, I was pregnant and simply did not assert my position strongly enough and didn’t want to argue with the local kitchen fitter because I didn't want to sign the contract. You don’t argue if you don’t sign a contract. If the kitchen fitter was pushing hard, I would already be suspicious, especially if I don’t need the kitchen right away. And on top of that, a kitchen costing almost 40,000 euros (about 40,000 USD)!!! Crazy to order so early, and even crazier to pay such a large deposit so soon...
I also only buy my things when I can roughly foresee the timeline.
Merle123 schrieb:
In small villages people tend to trust too quickly, but that was a lesson for me. The trust was justified. He hasn’t gone bankrupt. He can still deliver your kitchen.
AND: This is only an 8% price increase. Roughly matching the general inflation of the past 24 months. I think it’s more than fair that he is not trying to increase his profit on top of that.
For you personally, that’s unfortunate. But it’s a problem you (unfortunately) created yourself, and were warned about.
H
hanghaus202327 Jun 2025 14:52Merle123 schrieb:
Hello everyone,Hello Merle123
Merle123 schrieb:
We bought a kitchen with a 2-year fixed price guarantee. Unfortunately, we were only able to place the final order 1 year later.In this case, the kitchen supplier is not at fault.
Merle123 schrieb:
Now we are supposed to pay nearly 3.5% more because the fixed price guarantee has expired. That’s not a problem in itself, but we made the deposit 3 years ago, and the lost interest amounts to a similar sum.3.5% is, in my opinion, a fairly standard rate for 1 year. The deposit was surely contractually regulated. That means you had no problem when signing the contract. The delay in the order has nothing to do with this. The increased costs only arise after the original contract period has ended.
Merle123 schrieb:
My idea now would be that we pay only the difference between the lost interest and the price increase because the kitchen supplier was able to use the money for 3 years.In my opinion, this idea is neither covered by the contract nor usual practice.
Merle123 schrieb:
It should be mentioned that NOTHING was ordered in advance on the kitchen supplier’s part.They can only order now. So the additional costs really only arose after the final order was placed.
Merle123 schrieb:
The contract does not state what happens after the fixed price guarantee expires. At the moment, I simply feel doubly disadvantaged because I couldn’t invest my money for 3 years and now have to bear the price increase alone. We’re talking about almost €3,000 in total.That means the price guarantee has expired. The parties can negotiate a new price.
3.5% of €40,000 is €1,400. Why €3,000?
Merle123 schrieb:
What do you think about this situation?In my opinion, the claim to the 3.5% increase is justified but nothing more. Negotiate a new agreement. Only commission the additional work once you have reached an agreement.
Merle123 schrieb:
I’m very frustrated that we signed the contract and paid the deposit so early, but I can’t change that now. My first impulse was to just let them keep the kitchen, but I’m afraid that would mean losing the deposit, and the loss would be more than four times higher.I understand your frustration. But you have also handled your money somewhat carelessly.
Whether you can simply exit the contract like that is questionable. What does the contract say about termination conditions? Otherwise, building law applies. The contractor is entitled at least to reimbursement for services already rendered and lost profit.
W
wiltshire27 Jun 2025 16:44Hello Merle123,
Your kitchen supplier is acting completely correctly and within the agreed terms. And the agreement is not "wrong" either. The fact that it has taken so long for you is not their fault. That you may have purchased too early and made a down payment is also not their responsibility. Of course, the kitchen supplier does not invest the down payment somewhere to generate interest, and a down payment is not a loan—so why would there be interest? On the other hand, the supplier took on the risk of price fixing and would have had to cover any interim price increases from their margin. Why should they still do that now?
You are not alone with this experience—we were even in a situation where we bought the kitchen before we had the building permit/planning permission. That’s not something the much-cited "one" would do.
Regarding the utility connection box, just consider it as an unfortunate mishap and look forward to a great kitchen in your new home. Admitting your own mistakes doesn’t hurt. To what extent you allow a €3000 (about $3200) price increase to affect your quality of life is entirely your decision. As long as you try to shift the blame onto your kitchen supplier with ideas of out-of-contract offsetting, you won’t find peace. It’s not worth it.
Your kitchen supplier is acting completely correctly and within the agreed terms. And the agreement is not "wrong" either. The fact that it has taken so long for you is not their fault. That you may have purchased too early and made a down payment is also not their responsibility. Of course, the kitchen supplier does not invest the down payment somewhere to generate interest, and a down payment is not a loan—so why would there be interest? On the other hand, the supplier took on the risk of price fixing and would have had to cover any interim price increases from their margin. Why should they still do that now?
You are not alone with this experience—we were even in a situation where we bought the kitchen before we had the building permit/planning permission. That’s not something the much-cited "one" would do.
Regarding the utility connection box, just consider it as an unfortunate mishap and look forward to a great kitchen in your new home. Admitting your own mistakes doesn’t hurt. To what extent you allow a €3000 (about $3200) price increase to affect your quality of life is entirely your decision. As long as you try to shift the blame onto your kitchen supplier with ideas of out-of-contract offsetting, you won’t find peace. It’s not worth it.
G
Gerddieter27 Jun 2025 17:13I would pay it and consider it a learning cost to save myself stress.
If you hadn’t signed in 2022 but only today, the price increase would have been more than 3.5%...
What remains unclear to me somehow: if a 3.5% price increase equals 3,000 euros, does that mean you ordered a kitchen for around 100,000 euros?
GD
If you hadn’t signed in 2022 but only today, the price increase would have been more than 3.5%...
What remains unclear to me somehow: if a 3.5% price increase equals 3,000 euros, does that mean you ordered a kitchen for around 100,000 euros?
GD
The 3000 euros likely refer to interest loss and price increases.
I have to disagree here; you probably attended several meetings, visited the showroom, maybe even tested some appliances, etc. All of this costs money. Of course, not 40% of the contract value, but you basically bought a 2-year price guarantee. Especially since 2022, kitchen units and appliances have increased significantly in price. With the current extra 1600 euros, you have actually come off quite well.
Merle123 schrieb:
We’re talking about nearly 15,000 € down payment = 40% of the purchase price. Over 3 years, that would mean more than 1,300 € in interest plus almost 1,600 € in additional costs that we are now expected to pay.
Merle123 schrieb:
It’s worth mentioning that NOTHING has been ordered in advance from the kitchen builder yet.
I have to disagree here; you probably attended several meetings, visited the showroom, maybe even tested some appliances, etc. All of this costs money. Of course, not 40% of the contract value, but you basically bought a 2-year price guarantee. Especially since 2022, kitchen units and appliances have increased significantly in price. With the current extra 1600 euros, you have actually come off quite well.
W
wiltshire27 Jun 2025 17:59Gerddieter schrieb:
What remains unclear to me: if a 3.5% price increase equals 3,000 euros, did you then order a kitchen for roughly 100,000 euros?I had the same thought and roughly calculated 85,000 euros in my mind. Boffi starts around that level. Then I saw the 15,000 euros as a 40% down payment. According to that, the purchase price would be 37,500 euros.
A price increase of 3.5% would then be 1,312.50 euros.
Anyone turning 15,000 euros into 3,000 euros through interest over 3 years achieves an average return of just under 7%. That is satisfactory but not achievable with an investment classified as “low risk.”
The figures are not entirely consistent, but that does not matter since it is all theoretical outside of the contractually agreed terms anyway.