Wren Kitchens - My Review

timetogetreal

Avoid this company like the plague. I have been dealing with the numpties at their Darlington store for 5 months trying to get a fault rectified (white doors and panels have gone cream). The tale so far..

June 2013:
Fault reported
Rep inspects and agrees the fault and says it will be rectified including the drawers incase the new doors and panels dont match (kitchen is 2 years old). They confirmed their fitter would undertake the work
Nothing else heard from Wren

July 2013:
I chase up Wren after 5 weeks and was told the matter is in hand and the doors and panels were on order and would be subjected to quality control before being despatched to the fitter.

August 2013:
Receive a call a couple of weeks later to advise the doors and panels were in. Went through the list and found that only 1 panel ordered (needs 5), 6 doors ordered (needs 12) and of the 6 they ordered 5 of them bore no relationship to my kitchen

September 2013:
I write to their MD explaning what a shambles the staff at Darlington are.
Receive a phone call from the area manager offering profuse apologies and he arranges for a fitter to come out and inspect (why this was needed when they had already inspected God only knows)
Fitter calls to inspect and agrees the fault and says he will report back to Darlington following day recommending replacement of doors, panels and drawer fronts
Didnt hear another thing from Darlington

October 2013:
I ring the area manager and he says he is digusted with the lack of response from Darlington and will follow it up. Half an hour later I receive a call from the Darlington manager who tells me the parts are due in the store in a few days and they will call me.
Receive a call the following Monday to arrange for the fitter to call and fit the panels and doors (no mention of drawer fronts). We agree the work will be done in the October half term

Fitter calls as planned on 28th October and says panels and doors are on their way. He walks into the kitchen and says he can't do the job as he isnt insured to do work with granite worktops (the store knew they need removing to fit the replacement panels). Fitter calls the Darlington store at 9.30 and leaves.

Parts arraive at 3.45 (some 6 hours after the fitter has left). No panels included, 12 doors of which 5 are not mine, 3 white plinths (mine are black gloss).

I call the Darlington store and tell them wat a debacle it is and said I was going to contact their MD again. They went into panic mode and wanted yet another chance to put matters right. Told them no way. Over the next three days I received 6 calls from Darlington virtually begging me to give them a final chance and not contact head office.

Have written again to head office but no reply yet.

Whatever you do dont get a kitchen from this bunck of cowboys. They are over priced, poor quality and absolutely hopeless at arranging anything.

LookingForADecentService

When our kitchen arrived, the unit quality was the first thing we noticed.... very poor chipboard cases. The oven unit facia was fitted incorrectly, and wren told us to get our fitter to correct the situation. The corner unit design did not match what we asked for, what they delivered meant that the doors on the corner units would not fully open. Again it took two trips to wren to explain their mistake, and again wren told us that the solution was to get the fitter to refit the corner units. They said we would be compensated ... one month later still waiting. When ordering the corner units, ensure you confirm with their salesman where the handles will go and how much the doors will open. Luckily i had just fitted a wicks kitchen in another part of the house and the design of their corner units i could copy and replicate.
There were no instructions on how to hang the corner units, i had to download them from teh website. There were no screws to hold the individual units together, again another cost.
The extractor fan vent pipe is too small, another additional cost to us.
My in-laws ordered their kitchen from howdens, and i fitted one recently from wicks, all seem to be of a better quality, with the wicks' kitchen costing a lot less.
All in all, we are still not out of the woods, it is a month later, Sunday morning, and our fitter is still here. Luckily for us we had pre arranged the fitting price, else wren would be costing us even more.

mycontactemail

Hi

This is a genuine post in response to some of these comments even though they are out of date, simply both in the
event it might be read in the future and to add some details.

I am, as some of the cynics say 'a newbie defending Wren Kitchens' even though I had not heard of them until recently and have no
personal attachment to Wren at all.

The reason however for this is simply that after discovering Wren Kitchens I was trying to reach Mr Sanchez for something and in trying to
get his details ( I don't do Linkedin) I came across this forum last week.

I used the telephone number yesterday and was amazed at how fast it answered and at the voice that said 'Hello Armando'
I told him where I had found his number and before I had time to say much else this very polite, high profile at Wren, man humbly told me they are really
genuine about wanting consumers to have fast and direct contact to him with regards any issues.

We had our own conversation and he asked me if I would also add the email address which I had found elsewhere which is why I am here posting the email.

I just want to say 2 things.

1. Perhaps there doesn't seem to be any 'gripes' for the past year due to this amazing practice of Wren of giving direct contact to the top guy.

2. Have you ever tried contacting even customer services at many of the giant corporations let alone not having a remote chance of contacting the top guy.

I think therefore instead of gripes praise is in order.

Again I say this is a genuine post and is exactly as I state.

I just want to add now the emails he asked if I would add if I could remember the forum which I did.

These are (I hope I have this right as I didn't have a pen)

asanchez@wrenkitchens.com

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Ruthern

Having worked for Wren I would advise people to visit their showroom, have a look around, experience their hard sell attitude, their "Selling Plan" which involves dissing other manufacturers, and standing in a drawer (there is normally only one drawer in the showroom that is used as the others may not be fitted properly)

Once you have been there you can then go any buy a quality kitchen from somewhere else that actually gives a darn about their customers !!

This company must have one of the highest turnovers of staff on the Planet, anybody who dares question Armando or interrupts him during one of his "moral boosting" rants is mysteriously sacked a few days or weeks later.

May I point out, I left of my own accord and was not under any warnings or disciplinary action, so I have no axe to grind on that front. However I had heard rumours that some staff who were sacked who were allegedly given Hush money to not discuss their dismissal or their time at Wren !!

The product itself is not too bad, not the best quality but reasonable, but its the service and non-existent aftercare that sucks.

Please cut the poor guys who work there some slack. they are under constant pressure to meet high sales targets or they are sacked, and therefore any after care or service takes a back burner, and complaints are handled on a who shouts loudest and longest basis

All I could advise is that you go into store at a busy trading time, Saturday or Sunday, and kick off big time. They can get replacements next day by collecting from Head office at Howden, but are all S*** scared to ask Armando for authorisation (anything like that has to be authorised by him, thus putting the erring party on his radar)

Also take into account the ridiculous hours staff have to work, (we had to be in store at 6.00am Boxing day), the bullying and putting top sellers on a pedestal even though they usually made biggest mistakes, inexperience of the designers (ask yours how long they have been designing kitchens)

Basically its not the poor old staff at fault, its the fear from above for their jobs, so they concentrate on making the next sale, and stuff and aftercare or complaints !!!

Al_Ross

As you said "but its the service and non-existent aftercare that sucks."

Got to agree after waiting 6 months and numerous chase up calls to the branch I eventually got my complaint resolved by calling Armando Sanchez.He quickly got the problem resolved.

But why should a customer need to have to contact the M.D to get a fairly small complaint rectified Armando ?

You need to appoint a person at every branch to handle customer complaints ,and make sure they have a follow up system to ensure the work gets done quickly and the customer is happy.

Having a branch ,Manager who refuses to speak to customers or call them back as Emma Bailey (Aberdeen Manager) does is not the way to drum up new business.

I have strongly advised my friends,family work colleagues not to go to Wrens for a new kitchen.

cddc

Al_Ross wrote: »

But why should a customer need to have to contact the M.D to get a fairly small complaint rectified Armando ?

The culture of the company is the reason....Sell at all costs, stuff the complaints at branch level, but before you think about slagging us on sites such as this let us give you our MD's email so you don't, because that would be bad publicity for us.


If a company is properly run, the MD should not need to get involved, except as an absolute last resort. He should be furious that he has had to. He should be fostering a culture amongst his staff that puts his customers first.


So far from being impressed by his attitude, I actually think that it shows that he is fully aware of the culture of his sales staff as he has created it, and rather than wanting to change it, wants it to continue.

prometheus1

I'm sorry but you expect us to believe you are not Armando?
I mean come on! a few threads back you had tried to post
under his name and was blocked!

You are telling us all that you are some guardian angel for a company that constantly lets down customers and treats its staff shockingly!

I am an ex employee of this company and it is shocking!! FAR FAR too undermanned and with one of the highest turn-a rounds I have ever seen. People are in and out before any kind of relationship can be built

Your management is shocking and the support given to both customers and staff is equally as bad.

I would invest in your staff give them the correct training and support and in turn this will be echoed out to the customers.

Happy staff = hard working staff = customer satisfaction.

I tried and failed here, too many people stuck in their ways

Your staff is the key!!

Thank you

mycontactemail wrote: »

Hi

This is a genuine post in response to some of these comments even though they are out of date, simply both in the
event it might be read in the future and to add some details.

I am, as some of the cynics say 'a newbie defending Wren Kitchens' even though I had not heard of them until recently and have no
personal attachment to Wren at all.

The reason however for this is simply that after discovering Wren Kitchens I was trying to reach Mr Sanchez for something and in trying to
get his details ( I don't do Linkedin) I came across this forum last week.

I used the telephone number yesterday and was amazed at how fast it answered and at the voice that said 'Hello Armando'
I told him where I had found his number and before I had time to say much else this very polite, high profile at Wren, man humbly told me they are really
genuine about wanting consumers to have fast and direct contact to him with regards any issues.

We had our own conversation and he asked me if I would also add the email address which I had found elsewhere which is why I am here posting the email.

I just want to say 2 things.

1. Perhaps there doesn't seem to be any 'gripes' for the past year due to this amazing practice of Wren of giving direct contact to the top guy.

2. Have you ever tried contacting even customer services at many of the giant corporations let alone not having a remote chance of contacting the top guy.

I think therefore instead of gripes praise is in order.

Again I say this is a genuine post and is exactly as I state.

I just want to add now the emails he asked if I would add if I could remember the forum which I did.

These are (I hope I have this right as I didn't have a pen)

asanchez@wrenkitchens.com

Thanks for taking the time to read this.

Ruthern

Well Said Prometheus1

All Wren staff get is the Week of "WRENDOCTRINATION" at Howden by a couple of big breasted bimbo's who have never designed a kitchen in their life !! They have now allegedly been joined by a little Hitler who I am sure would bleed lime green (wrens colour)

There is virtually NO PRODUCT TRAINING, just sales training, and NO CUSTOMER SERVICE TRAINING !!!!

Paulstu

After shopping around for a couple of months we settled on a Wren kitchen based on price, quality and availability of finance. We asked for a design consultation at the Southampton branch, no pushy sales tactics.

We met our designer Ben on a Monday evening at the store. I had already prepared a basic layout using the online design tool. The B&Q version is actually much better and allows you to view the kitchen from different angles, so I had used that first. I'm not sure if the B&Q version still exists as I couldn't find it recently online. Ben did a good job of refining the design although I was surprised that he used the same online software that I had access to.

It took a couple of hours to complete the design including us choosing worktops and handles etc and debating the various options on pull outs etc. The discounted price came to about £900 more than we had budgeted for and we managed to haggle it down by £800. We then paid half the deposit and went back at the weekend to pay the rest of the deposit and sign the paperwork for the finance deal.

Over the next week I had a few queries about the design so emailed Ben and got a response when he was next back on shift. He was very helpful and in one case added an extra decorative panel at no extra cost to deal with a tricky corner detail. He also updated our design to show the larger hob that we have ordered from currys!

I then came across MSE reviews and couldn't sleep that night worrying about what I had done! So many bad reviews and I had already paid my deposit!! I messaged wren on Facebook with my concerns and they messaged me back with the mobile number of the MD. I called him and he reassured me that the order would be fine and if anything did happen then I could call him and he would sort it out.

Our delivery came today, as planned and as confirmed by Wren 7 days in advance. Everything has arrived and the packaging is all intact. The units are very well packaged and the delivery drivers were very good, even though they had to truck the units down the back alley and through the garden. They called an hour in advance to let us know they were on their way.

I've yet to open the boxes and inspect the units but so far so good. The only disappointing thing is that we've been let down by our installer who is a friend. We had hoped to get the kitchen in before Xmas but will now have to wait until mid Jan. thank god we've got a large conservatory to store all the units, they take up a lot of room!!

I know there have been a lot of negative reviews but so far I seem to be one of the lucky ones, unless there's something damaged inside those boxes.

I will update if anything goes wrong between now and having the units installed after Xmas.

adamg

when you will start opening boxes and find its not your doors on and just a piece of chipboard as a temporary door. I would suggest opening every single box to check