My husband and I had dinner at Garfish Manly. It was a special occasion so we decided to give it a try. The food was great but just as importantly the service was fantastic. Our waitress knew her wine list inside out, made some great recommendations and was very attentive. It made the special occasion even more special!

UPDATED AS AT 19 AUGUST 2009 -

We ordered a kitchen from Marquardt in November 2008 and it is STILL not finished!! If you read my original review, we chose Marquardt's kitchens because they looked like great quality in the showroom and what we have had installed in our place to date does also appear to be good quality. And that's where the positive feedback ends with this company.

To say the service we have received from staff at the company over the last 9 months has been APPALLING would be an understatement!! I cannot even conjure up the words to describe how completely unreliable and unprofessional the staff there have been.

When we signed the contract with them we were told that our kitchen would be delivered and installed in late February/early March 2009. We were also told that we would be contacted in late January, when they would give us a specific date for delivery/installation. I cannot remember how many attempts at contacting them we made in January before they finally returned our calls/emails in mid-February. At that time we were told that the kitchen was delayed until the first week of April. And so the saga began - in April we were told mid-May, in mid-May we were told late May, in late May we were told late June - 3 months late at that stage.

22 June 2009 - the kitchen, or part of it, finally arrived. One visible wall of the cabinetry was the wrong colour, the tap was wrong and so had to go on upside down (what the??!!), the granite sink was a different colour to the granite benchtop and one of the granite benchtops was cut too short so there is a gaping big whole in our benchtop.....the list goes on.

On 26 June 2009 - I contacted the ACCC and they suggested we send them a final demand letter listing everything we needed to be done, and giving them two weeks to agree to the requirements, which they did. On top of that we gave them a further 6 weeks notice to fix everything - so in total 8 weeks to get everything resolved. They agreed they would complete everything by the end of the 8 weeks, being 21 August 2009.

So, after my 3rd attempt to reach them in the last week to confirm that everything will be done by 21 August as agreed, I received an email from Frank John, the director of the company, yesterday telling me YET AGAIN my outstanding kitchen parts would be delayed. Apparently the ship with my kitchen parts on it won't arrive until at least 8 September but they cannot be certain of that date so it could be later. And even once it arrives it still needs to clear customs which could be many days!

Words cannot express my frustration with this company. As it stands now, its been 41 weeks since I ordered the kitchen and it still not complete.

As such I have lodged formal complaints at the ACCC (they keep a record of all complaints against companies and will take action where there appears to be a pattern of complaints against a particular company) and also the NSW Office of Fair Trading, who have said that they will contact the company.

So who knows when this kitchen will finally be done - I will update my review accordingly. I am hoping legal action might actually spur them to do the right thing and finish my kitchen. Its unfortunate though that it has had to come to this.

Please note: I would give the service a zero star but the system does not allow it.

Approximate cost: $12000 (cabinetry and benchtops only)