The owner of the kitchen price comparison website that has set DIY chains at loggerheads has now weighed in to the fight itself, answering criticisms that the site is misleading and biased towards B&Q.
The row broke out after research by kitchen-compare.com found that in the 15 weeks before Christmas B&Q had maintained the lowest prices in the market on comparable kitchens. However, in the story run by diyweek.net last week, Homebase suggested that consumers were being misled by the comparisons, saying in a statement: "Kitchen-compare.com does not give an accurate picture of kitchen comparisons, as it excludes regular promotional packages and does not always compare like-for-like kitchens."

Now, speaking exclusively to diyweek.net, Steve Collinge, commercial director of Insight Retail Group which launched the website, stated that kitchen-compare.com was unpopular with retailers because it was, in fact, being transparent when they were not, and added: "That's where I get cross about accusations of being misleading."

He said it was very difficult for consumers to make accurate comparisons of kitchens in stores and to get a true idea of their prices. "The retailers are all doing a model kitchen, and the consumer might get a quote of £1,800 and think they can have that kitchen for £1,800. But it's just for a carcase and nothing else - it doesn't even include a worktop or handles."

He said that for the comparisons done by his website: "We took three new model kitchens and included everything you need apart from the kitchen sink and the taps, and then got all of the retailers' price lists. And every day we checked the website to make sure we had the right promotional activity on top of that."

Mr Collinge - who also recently launched bathroomcompare.com - went on: "We tell the consumer what the price is every day. We check every single day, every website and every kitchen and bathroom page to make sure we're absolutely spot on. That's why the retailers don't like us - because we deliver transparency.

"What we're not doing is direct comparisons. But if you take the core ranges there is very little between those. You'd struggle to tell the quality difference between them."

And, he added, the kitchen website would soon be adding a new feature that would enhance the comparisons, scoring kitchens out of 10 on a range of factors from the inclusion of soft-close hinges to length of guarantee.

Mr Collinge also answered critics who accuse kitchen-compare.com of bias in favour of B&Q.

"At the end of June last year we went to B&Q, Wickes and Homebase and told them about the idea [for the website]," he said. "All three acted differently, but B&Q said, this is really interesting, how do we work with them. So we sold them a licence, which is non-exclusive - it can be bought by Wickes and Homebase - but it allows them to use www.kitchen-compare.com in B&Q advertising."

And he said that B&Q did now make reference to his website both in their television and radio campaigns.

"That's extended our relationship with B&Q, but we don't favour them," he said.

In diyweek.net's January 10 story we incorrectly said that www.kitchen-compare.com compares the cost of kitchens from just three retailers, B&Q, Wickes and Homebase. In fact, it now also compares kitchens from John Lewis, Magnet and Ikea.