Wren Kitchens - My Review

Conmenandwomen

Absolute cowboy company. I bought my kitchen at the Aston under lyne store. I had a great experience up until the point I paid my deposit then the service just went from bad to worse to disgraceful .

The designer was great and did exactly what I wanted . There manager came over to offer me some extra discount , and after saying how nice she thought my hair was and then my handbag she then gave me the " we are low on sales this week so I can give you extra discount today only " although the deal did seem great at the time, if it hadn't of been for the designer I would of gone elsewhere. The manager made me loads of promises that they we look after me etc. with the kitchen and fitting my kitchen was a little over 12k I was promised a fitter would come to the house to check the designers measurements and make sure the design would fit. It took almost 4 weeks to do this, then the fitter who came told me that he wasn't being paid and is thinking of leaving wren and there service and staff were the worst in the industry. Any way afew weeks later I got a call of a new designer who said the designer that did my kitchen has left and now he will look after me. I told him what the fitter has said and he just laffed. He then said that fitter is no longer with us and he had arranged a new fitter. I asked would he want to visit again before it was delivered but he said it will be fine.....shock horror when delivered lots of parts didn't arrive to what I thought I was getting. And worst of all 14 doors were missing from the units. I rang the manager and she several promises of a call back she finally rang to say they have been having problems at the factory and that I would have to wait until they are delivered to the store. This was six weeks ago and now after threatening legal action they have finally been delivered. This is a very short version to what has happened but personally I think the company is ran by cowboys and girls who just want your money. I wished I had read the reviews on here before I went in... Hard lesson learned . Trust me when I say . Buy elsewhere

Legaleagal

This is my experience of getting a kitchen from Wren Ashton Under Lyne.




My parents have had a nightmare with wren. After a house fire Wren were contracted to install a kitchen. Firstly Wren installed the wrong kitchen. Then they took 40 visits to remedy all their substandard work and to replace all the items they damaged during fitting. I had to instruct a Surveyor. I used up all my annual leave supervising all their works and meeting with a series of silly managers who failed to get the job done. The deadline for installation was June 2013, the kitchen was finished in January 2014. The market value of the kitchen is about £3,000 to £4,000. Armando Sanchez promised a reduction of the £9,700 purchase price for all the distress, inconvenience, loss of function etc over many months. Now Mr Sanchez has instructed Rollits Solicitors of Hull. Wren insist on customers taking out finance so that they get paid regardless and the customer is pursued aggressively by the finance company. My parents received a bill today for £16,000 for this kitchen from Hitachi Customer Finance. Last time Rollits wrote to my parents my Dad had a stroke and has been in hospital for a long time since. As a 78 year old these sorts of things are very stressful. Wren is a four letter word in our family for all the wrong reasons. They are an utter nightmare. No scruples Mr Sanchez will promise you one thing and do another. Wren breached their contract with my parents in myriad ways and made their lives hell for over 18 months…….and the nightmare continues….They have lost out on 18months of their lives to Wren and been caused ill health as a result. Steer clear- this company are very bad news.


An ex-employee of Wren has posted a detailed account of Wrens practices on Mumsnet. This raises many questions about the legality of Wrens advertising and allegedly permanent 'sale'. The high staff turnover seems to support this account.

tofwig

We ordered the Autograph Cream Gloss kitchen for £6150.


Started installation on 14/5/14 and we are still waiting for our half finished kitchen to be completed.


We must have had 3 deliverys of new doors most sent back because of poor quality.


Would i recommend from Wren? Not on your life


Im in the process of giving them a couple more weeks before i dispute the sale with american express.

NeverForgivingWrenLiving

I see that Wren have deleted all of the negative comments - of which there was hundreds - from their Facebook account.
Would you believe that they are STILL selling that handleless gloss kitchen even though every customer who purchases it is having serious quality issues.
I'd be interested to hear how other peoples experiences with Wren are unfolding. Replacements, compensation etc.

NeverForgivingWrenLiving

Potential customers, and those already unfortunate enough to be in possession of a Wren kitchen, should be aware that the spec of Wren kitchen on display in their showroom is not what will be delivered to you. The gulf in quality is astonishing. Whatever way you look at - that's illegal. Fraud perhaps? Or perhaps not. If you highlight this to them they will simply refer you to their T&Cs that state that they reserve the right to change the product and what you will receive may have slight differences. They have you over a barrel and you have unfortunately been well and truely ripped off.

jaffab

All, going to add to the Wrens issue list. We ordered a kitchen last November (2013) and we arranged a fitting for April (wrens kept suggesting to us Spring was a better time for a new kitchen). Since Feb, we have been in a cycle of trying to get this organised - with Wrens NEVER calling us back. EVER. I call their showroom (Reading) and am told a manager will call me, and he never calls me back. When I call and speak to him, he makes promises and after promises, which never come true.

We were on the fence about going ahead or cancelling, but reading all the posts here, the decision is made - I have left another message for somebody to call me, and if/when they do, will bne cancelling. If they dont call me by the weekend, I will be going into their branch and causing a stink until I get a deposit refund.

So frustrating.

handyhuk

I do not really know where to start. My wife and I arranged for Wren to quote for our kitchen, after we booked the home visit we thought we would read the reviews online and found them to be extremely poor. We called Wren Chelmsford and cancelled the appointment. A few days later I had a call from one of the many branch duty managers. She convinced me to go back into store and discuss our kitchen with them. Whilst in there she said she could not promise that we would not have any issues but stressed that all the problems Wren had been having were now resolved and a thing of the past, she confidently said she was 98% sure that everything would be fine, but if we did have issues she would sort them without delay or hassle and she would see the order through from beginning to end.
Well to start with I was impressed by their speedy delivery, whilst checking through the items I noticed that a corner post was on my invoice but was not on the delivery note. I called the manager and sure enough she arranged for one to be delivered a couple of days later from another branch. This arrived twisted and bent but I managed to get over it as I didn’t want any further delays.
When unpacking the units I noticed that 8 of the base units were not pre drilled for the feet, which does not sound like much but the lugs on the feet locate and should position the feet perfectly for plinth to be located in the correct place, they also add to the strength of the feet. I called Wren to discuss this and was told to cut the lugs off and just screw them to the base, I tried to explain that it’s not that straight forward and was told it was. I asked to speak with the area manager and he advised me to do the same thing, I explained that it means I have to measure all of the units / feet to ensure they go in the correct place and he said it wouldn’t take very long. He offered me £50 compensation for my time and I told him it’s not enough, he then increased it to £75 and we ended up settling on £100. During the conversation he told me it would take 5 days for the cheque to arrive, that was over a week ago and still waiting.
When ordering our kitchen we also ordered the sink from Wren, I think it was about £450. When unpacking it I noticed it was bent, Wren collected about 10 days ago and when I chased the refund yesterday they advised me that the refund has been processed. But I do not know how as the money is not back in my account and I do not even think they have my bank details.
Whilst unpacking the filler panels some of the paint on them was damaged, I managed to use them but was frustrated that they were damaged to start with.
Our designer had designed our kitchen to house a 260mm service gap behind our row of sink units, this was because we have underfloor heating pipes and a pump which we did not want within our units. On the plan it showed that we had to cut the service gap off the 5 drawer unit so the cupboards were able to go back far enough to accommodate this. Now he must have got the measurements wrong somewhere because even though we have cut the service gap off the gap behind the units is still 375mm which means we have had to use a 900mm worktop and my wife can’t reach the back of it.
On the same run of units there is a corner unit which sits next to the 5 drawer unit, once the drawer unit was cut down the corner unit protruded past it which also meant it also had to be cut down. Now this corner unit has high gloss panel and door. When I called Wren to discuss this I was told by a manager to cut it down, I tried to explain to him that you can’t just cut it down because the panel may splinter and leave a rough edge plus you will have to actually cut the carcass down because there is no service gap on it. He said he will visit to have a look, whilst he was at my home he said just cut it down I told him I was not prepared to cut the high gloss panel and he replied and said he would take it away and arrange for it to be done. A couple of days later he sent the cupboard back with a driver, my wife asked the driver to put the door on so he did. At this point she burst into tears as the side panel had not been cut and the door stuck out way past the unit, she called me at work and I called him to ascertain why it had not been cut and he told me I had to do it! I took the decision to cut the panel and sure enough it splinted, I had to make up another panel to go in its place.
During all of these issues and making several calls to the branch it became evident that Wren had supplied too much product, 2 extra filler panels and 2 extra cornices I think the value was about £300-£400. I asked both the guy who visited my house and the duty manager to collect them and refund, both told me to leave them until I had finished and they would arrange for them to be collected and refunded. I have since been told "In the terms and conditions it states that it is your responsibility to check that you have the quantity and conponents you require."
So their designer gives me too much product and they will not collect and refund.
So to the next problem, our island, the designer designed our island over 910mm wide, the problem being is that Wren only do a 900mm worktop so by the time you have added 20mm either side for the worktop over hang the work top should be min 950mm. On the drawing it does clearly state that I had to once again cut the service gap off the back of the corner unit to be able to use the 900mm worktop. BUT there was an issue with that, and that is there is NO service gap on the back of Wrens corner units. So I once again called Wren and they ONCE again told me to cut the high gloss panel and carcass down to accommodate their errors. I told them I’m not doing this and I was going to order new larger replacement work tops and required them to collect the ones they had supplied which are too small. Their response has been they will not credit or collect, even though this is their error they are not doing anything about it. So the upshot is Wren say if it doesn’t fit "CUT IT DOWN", if we have supplied you too much stuff, "TUFF NO REFUND" if we get our measurements wrong "CUT IT DOWN" If you want a refund "we won't refund" if we have forgotten to drill the holes "Do it yourself" See my You Tube video Search Wren Kitchen Review.

handyhuk

Today i have spoken with the MD of Wren living, to be fair to him he was very helpful and opologetic and has resolved my issues within hours. I do recommend that if you have issues with Wren get in contact with the man at the top of the Nest, he will resolve your issues quickly. Well done Sir and thank you very much.

cxxr

I am currently in the process of buying a Wren Kitchen.

Since visiting the store (Staples Corner) initially 2 or 3 weeks ago and having been measured up, I revisited a second time to finalise the designs and place my deposit.

I'm currently in the middle of making a change to one of the cabinets, and making sure all the measurements are accurate, so I want to get the designer to come back and re-measure.

So far so good customer service, depends who you get probably. The original designer was polite and friendly, the bench manager (who has taken over whilst the other one is on holiday) was also very calm and communicated well, and I have spoken to him a few times, he seemed to be experienced with customers so treated me well. I realised I needed another cornice/pelmet, which he rectified without charge.

After reading all the posts I was getting a bit worried, but most people complaining about missing or damaged parts but this can happen everywhere with any kitchen supplier. Its how they deal with it that counts I believe.

Anyway, just so I have got everything in order, I'm pushing back delivery another week (w/c 29th Sep) before I commit, I want to be 100% happy with the order and inventory.

Anyone got any other advise before I take delivery?

mommarto6

To install the cabinet you will need to take out each drawer box by pulling drawer all the way out and lifting upwards towards you in a swift movement. we were sceptical but it does actually work it feels like your gonna snap something but it dos'nt

rabthejab wrote: »

well I had a lot of problems 2 worktops scratched, 2 wrong size worktops, dish washer crumpled, missing plinth plus damaged plinth two doors, Had a lot of help from sales people but one in particular is just a waste of space and is very uneasy with people always interested in an arguement, dont get me wrong the kitchen looks great but I would like to be able to take out a drawer which seems impossible and I would also like to fit the dish washer door which also appears impossible, there are no instructions at all to fit the door you get a large chart which is no help at all It points to where to drill but no measurements, there are plastic plugs to go in the door where is the question there are 10 screws when it shows 12 and the screws have different numbers but are the same horrendous.
anyone with any info to help please reply. as I have tried all the info on wren and there is no info for theser two items apart from the drawer which is released from the front I would love to know where exactly.
any help greatly appreciated