Disappointed - Sid Cooke - Silver Jubilee

[whippet-gal]

Good Morning all,

I've just bought the Silver Jubilee & basement, costing me about £630, and I must say I'm very disappointed with the standard of the kits.

In both kits, some walls are plywood & some are MDF and ALL the windows are plastic - only molded on one side & non-opening. There's no interior trim for the windows, at all! No acetate or perspex glazing.

I've previously built DHE, Corona, Greenleaf & Woodcraft houses & always been happy with the standard of the kits & value for money.

Have I been spoilt by the architectural details & finish of my Grosvenor Hall kit?

I dry-fitted the Silver Jubilee basement, yesterday, & the base panel is either 3mm too deep or the front assembly sides are 3mm too short! I e-mailed them & await their reply .....

Great website,

Whippet xx

[Dolly donut]

i was always led to believe they were of superior quality, especially for the price they charged. how disappointing for you to recieve plastic windows, and then for the main carcass not to fit together properly.......i shall keep an eye on this post, i would be intrigued to see their response

[jeanmtweddle]

Welcome to the forum Whippet. I agree with everything that Sal has said. I have often been tempted by Sid Cooke's properties but the price has always put me off. Hope you get everything sorted out.

[kayjay]

I've been following this blog and the lady building hers has had a few problems with it, which - when you think of the cost - isn't really on imo. I'm sure yours will be lovely in the end but you may need to fiddle a bit to get it right

Diary of an Edwardian Dolls House

[St.Vale]

Welcome to the forums Whippet, sorry to hear of your disappointment, I too would expect a perfect house for their prices, if you aren’t happy with it you can return it of cause, will be interesting to hear what they say!

[Creativelc]

I have a Sid Cooke shop box which i got from a car boot sale and its really good quality even though its old. Maybe the quality which was once there has now gone due to prices rising? Not sure but in your situation i would also be very upset, thats a lot of money and if the quality's not there, then thats very bad.
I hope you get a reply and they can sort out the situation for you.

[coodencat]

Hi I must say when visiting the Dolls house fairs have seem some of their houses and was not that impressed although had been told otherwise.
It was the designs, I did not look at the work quality or material.
It maybe like many other firms in different lines cost cutting but at that price I would expect better .
Like the others would be interested in their response
tc carol

[whippet-gal]

Thank you for all your replies. I'm still waiting for Sid Cooke to reply - maybe they're trying to dry-build a basement

I was interested to read Julie's blog about building her Empire Stores - thanks for the link.

As soon as I've time, I'll do a dry run of the house & see if that all fits as it should.

I don't really want to return it, as I've been months looking for the right house for my Victorian-style ideas. The only reason I didn't buy this one in the first place was because the inside is pretty much the same layout as Grosvenor Hall, but looking around, I've come to the conclusion that's it's probably the best layout for someone like me, who likes staircases & halls.

I'll follow up, when I'd heard from them.

Jackie (I thought we may have to use our forum names, hence the 'Whippet' tag!!)

[Shelagh]

Hi Jackie, Sorry your having problems with the house. I have to say , for the price you paid I would expect wood windows at least. Hope they reply to you soon.
Shelagh

[kath]

Oh what a shame you're do disappointed with your Sid Cooke Silver Jubilee. I have a few of their properties and I love them (see in my profile/albums) I have the forerunner of yours which was just called Jubilee House. I understand what you say about the windows, I was disappointed with the lack of trim for the inside too and it would have been nice for them to have been moulded on both sides - yes they are plastic but I like the detail and they paint nicely. Sometimes I find the 'opening' type windows are too bulky and prefer the scale of these Sid Cooke ones. All my properties from this company were bought prior to the change of ownership and I've been happy with them and chose them because of the architectural detailing. I saved up for ages to buy all mine as they don't come cheap so make sure you are happy and I really hope you can manage to get your kit together ok and enjoy it. Let us know how you get on....