Astracast ROK sink - Avoid like the plague

[jenniferwhite]

And they are are still making these sinks and I am on my third one in ten months and am now needing a fourth one...If I had known what rubbish they were I would not have bought one. We have just started the process of trying to get Astracast to replace yet another one and if and when we do get the replacement I will have no confidence in the product at all. Was rather hoping there might be a stainless steel one that might fit. Will keep you posted as to what the outcome is......

 

[andygo]

We are on our 2nd rok sink.

The one originally supplied was raised by 4mm at one corner, leaving a gap between the sink and the worktop. I managed to get it replaced. That one had a similair, though smaller defect.

What I have noticed though is that whilst the vertical sides of the sink are smooth and glossy, the majority of the horzontal surfaces are rough, rather like the effect of overspray. You can see the grey base material underneath as white topcoat is not dense enough.


Has anyone else noticed this defect. It makes them a pig to clean, and even when cleaned, the top still looks dirty and grey.

 

[jenniferwhite]

And they are are still making these sinks and I am on my third one in ten months and am now needing a fourth one...If I had known what rubbish they were I would not have bought one. We have just started the process of trying to get Astracast to replace yet another one and if and when we do get the replacement I will have no confidence in the product at all. Was rather hoping there might be a stainless steel one that might fit. Will keep you posted as to what the outcome is......

I did eventually get them to replace it for a fourth time and we are now in 2013 and it still seems to be OK....Finally!! I'm touching wood as I write that.

 

[eddark]

I too have had a problem with this third rate company. The sink has developed a large crack after 5 years. They have tried to wriggle out of the warranty with a BS summary

"In our opinion the damage shown is indicative of third party damage this could be caused by impact or a load bearing weight and is not covered under the terms of the Astracast guarantee, therefore we are unable to proceed with a claim in this instance."

I am an Engineer by education (not trade) and understand how materials behave. What is more, i treat my sink in a reasonable manner and it should not fail like this. Astracast didn't give a monkeys balls on the phone and attempted to fob me off with cod-engineering speak. Big mistake.

The case continues.

 

[andygo]

Are your rok sinks shiny/smooth all over or do they suffer from a 'textured' insufficient top coat on horizontal surfaces?

 

[jenniferwhite]

I too have had a problem with this third rate company. The sink has developed a large crack after 5 years. They have tried to wriggle out of the warranty with a BS summary

"In our opinion the damage shown is indicative of third party damage this could be caused by impact or a load bearing weight and is not covered under the terms of the Astracast guarantee, therefore we are unable to proceed with a claim in this instance."

I am an Engineer by education (not trade) and understand how materials behave. What is more, i treat my sink in a reasonable manner and it should not fail like this. Astracast didn't give a monkeys balls on the phone and attempted to fob me off with cod-engineering speak. Big mistake.

The case continues.

We were told the exact same thing but as we actually ran our own kitchen design, supply and installation company at the time we put a lot of leverage on them and managed to keep getting replacements. As I said in a previous post the latest one seems to be OK. I researched the product online and we told them that most comments online were not favourable about their sink. They must get no end of returns if the amount of dissatisfied customers I've seen online are to go by. You would have thought they would have rectified the problem by now wouldn't you.

 

[jenniferwhite]

Are your rok sinks shiny/smooth all over or do they suffer from a 'textured' insufficient top coat on horizontal surfaces?

They are not really shiny smooth. The very first sink out of the four that we have had was a pig to clean. Think they recommend cleaning with Bar Keepers Friend. That's what I use now and it seems quite good. What do you use.

 

[andygo]

Same sort of stuff I think. My wife tends to do it I'm afraid to say.

My issue is that you can see the grey base layer underneath the white topcoat. If you have ever used a spray can of paint its the same effect. It's rough and you can see the base layer underneath.

It's not a cleaning issue really.

 

[eddark]

1 very angry email later and they offer a replacement. I won't be dealing with them again!

 

[szaitsev]

@eddark, what sort of email have you wrote to them as i'm in the same boat.. have Astracast sink and it cracked on one of the sidewalls. Raised the warranty case with them and got back the

"In our opinion the damage shown is indicative of third party damage this could be caused by impact or a load bearing weight and is not covered under the terms of the Astracast guarantee, therefore we are unable to proceed with a claim in this instance.

We test all our sinks to BS EN 13310 : 2003 Kitchen Sinks - Functional requirements and test methods and it is from following this standard that we have made our opinion regarding your claim."

any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[graham greenslade]

I too am the owner of a rok sink the bottom of the basin has roughened up,it is nearly 8 years old.so far a letter with photgraphs and an e mail have gone unanswered.any ideas?

 

[muggles]

I expect if the bottom has gone rough they'll tell you it's due chemicals/too much cleaning/too little cleaning/magic

 

[longdogs]

I notice that this old post has over 25,000 views. Is that a record? Hopefully it has put a few people off buying a rubbish sink.