Wren Kitchens - My Review

NeverForgivingWrenLiving

cxxr wrote: »

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.

It's how they deal with problems that is the issue. I personally have been waiting 5 months to receive what I paid for. I've read about customers in even worse situations. I think it's safe to say that Wren don't deal very well with problems. They are a shambles.

I hope your new kitchen works out well and you don't have to endure anything like a lot of Wren's customers do. Good luck.

cddc

NeverForgivingWrenLiving wrote: »

It's how they deal with problems that is the issue. I personally have been waiting 5 months to receive what I paid for. I've read about customers in even worse situations. I think it's safe to say that Wren don't deal very well with problems. They are a shambles.

I hope your new kitchen works out well and you don't have to endure anything like a lot of Wren's customers do. Good luck.

This is the real issue with Wren. It is not that they do not get things right and it is not as if all Wren customers have problems, but when they do, it is the length of time that it takes to get those problems resolved and the amount of time and effort needed to resolve them that beggars belief.

If you are one of the unlucky ones, as suggested by other posters, it seems the way to go is to talk to the MD. Ridiculous though that is that you should have to do that, it may well see you compensated or your problems solved.

I spoke to a couple today who bought a gloss handleless kitchen from Wren and have had the same quality issues described by many posters on here....they ended up getting over 1k compensation from Wren on a small kitchen because of the nightmare experience they had...so I guess, at least they ended up with a cheap kitchen! Which in some way makes up for the shambles of a service they had received....

Mccted

Check everything very careful, i mean each item, also check for damage. Also if you made any changes to what you've ordered double check they haven't sent the old part.

My honest recommendation is not to buy from Wren, and thats a shame as the people are helpful and the product good. Just the incompetence of dealing with issues is unbelievable. :mad:

We've had so many issues and repeat mistakes that still haven't been sorted.

They are nice kitchens, if you have any issues don't expect an easy time. I hope you didn't have any issues.

Be nice to know how you got on?

Anyone suggest the best way to complain to Wren, our sales rep is getting the part re-ordered promptly but they send the wrong part, talking the 4th time now. They don't seem interested in getting it right, just an i will get the receptionist to reorder that response.


QUOTE=cxxr;66379789]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?[/QUOTE]

brennand1

Do not buy a kitchen from Wren. Quality is poor and customer service awful.

After all the problems reported about the Handleless gloss kitchens they are still selling them. 3 months after having my kitchen delivered with broken and damaged doors (approx 80% of the kitchen) I still do not have a completed product.

Delivery after delivery more damaged doors arrive and are rejected.
Poor quality and a lack of communication between wren staff.

The product you see in store is not what you receive. Infact the showroom kitchen is made by a different kitchen supplier/warehouse. What you receive is a poor quality kitchen made in house by wren.
They had failed to mention this when ordering the kitchen.

Save yourself money and a lot of aggravation and purchase else where. I do not recommended Wren!!!

Al_Ross

I second that !

cxxr

Took delivery of my Linda Barker Gloss Kitchen today.

Everything on the order was there and I was personally there to check off the boxes.

The designer has kindly agreed to meet my fitters this evening to help co-ordinate any installation issues.

Prior to delivery (3 weeks) and all the minor adjustments I made, my designer - although sometimes hard to get hold of, made the order changes and sent me updated PDF's, so I could verify that bits were indeed on the order list.

I was also quick to check the order each and everytime something was adjusted, and when I noticed changed quantities of items, I made sure these were rectified prior to delivery. Also at no extra charge.

I also decided to order a new bosch dishwasher last week thursday which they said would take 2-3 weeks, but now we are getting it on 6th October - also free delivery and cheaper than John Lewis/Curry's.

So far everything has turned out as promised, the delivery came bang on time and took 30 minutes to unload and store.

I just have to make sure the fitters are perfect at what they do now!

Today I'm having my floor tiles done before they can put the units in, which will be tomorrow.

cxxr

Ok, the problems begin!
1. Missing oven drawer - spoke to designer, no quibble and ordered it for me.
2. Supplied a wall unit with wrong opening - Right hand supplied instead of left hand.

Builders broke a part on one of the units, and botched a cut on another unit - promised me they would remedy them both!

Builders are effing nightmare - they cant follow simple instructions!

maxipool

"Wren Kitchens" is not associated or has anything to do with the old now defunct "MFI". It is manufactured near one of the ex MFI owned factories in Howden ,East Yorkshire ,(just of the M62).
The old Hygena factory at Howen which is about a mile away manufactures for "Howden Joinery" a very good product.
The owner of "Wren Kitchens" is Malcolm Healey who up to 1986 owned the Hygena Factories which he sold to MFI for a bucketload of money and went to USA doing the same thing for"Home Depot" the american B & Q. He returned years later and opened the new Wren factory (with old second hand Italian machinery). From endorsing Flat pack to ready assembled ,its amazing how people change to suit business opportunities.

frostycat_2

stella10956 wrote: »

As an ex-employee of Wren Living, formerly known as Wren Kitchens I feel duty bound to expose some of the dirty tricks practised by this company.
I am an experienced kitchen designer with a good few years experience, but even I was sucked in by the gloss of the Wren showrooms and the promise of exceptional earning potential etc.,.
I suppose the old adage of whatever glitters is not necessarily gold, and boy is it not gold at Wren.
Alarm bells should have rung for me when I attended their “training course” and found myself practically the only one with ANY knowledge of kitchen planning let alone sales. This leads to catastrophic errors such as measuring errors, health and safety issues etc., Remember, these are the people you are entrusting your dream kitchen ideas with. In the majority of cases you’ll get a dream alright but it is more likely to be a nightmare rather than something pleasant
During this course the emphasis was on the Wren Selling Plan, yes, they really call it that. The main drive is to make the customer place a deposit that day, whatever it takes, even if it means lying to the customer and telling them that the sale ends today etc., the sale never ends at Wren. The highly inflated List Price is never charged and is a number generated at random to make the so called Sale price look good. I am by no means naïve when it comes to sales and I know that when targets have to be met there is always the drive to get that last sale to meet target, but this happens with every sale at Wren.
The reason for this is that the sales staff are under so much pressure due to the fact that they have to sell to a threshold before they earn any commission. Currently that threshold is £25,000 per month, if you sell £24,999 – no commission! Just in case you do reach that threshold there is the opportunity to claw back money from the designers in any number of ways, costs for random problems are passed back to the designer at up to 50% of the list price. Designers can sell ridiculously well and still end the month on basic money!
As for the fitting service, it is absolutely ridiculously expensive and likely to be carried out by completely ill equipped, inexperienced fitters at an exorbitant rate. That rate however does not go to the fitter – you guessed it – straight into Wren’s pocket. So as so often happens, you pay peanuts you get monkeys.
Many customers have recently experienced major quality problems with the handleless range. They are sitting with half finished kitchens, missing doors and drawer fronts. A short while ago Wren decided that they could cut costs by manufacturing these doors themselves, previously they bought them in, contrary to the blurb put out that they manufacture their own, this cost cutting was not to give the customer a better deal but to put more money into the companies pocket. This has spectacularly backfired on them as they are now so snowed under trying to put right all the quality issues. that they can’t keep up with the current orders.
The situation is so bad that no designers were paid any of the commission they earned for March, and as a consequence there has been a mass of resignations throughout the company.
Any company that cannot pay any of its staff correctly might appear to be in trouble. You need to ask whether Wren will go the way of all the other companies that those at the top have been associated with, down the proverbial!!
Anyone thinking of buying a kitchen from Wren, do so at your own risk.
At least read ALL the review sites before you do and go in with your eyes wide open, barter ruthlessly and get your own fitter.
I could go into so much more detail, all of which, unfortunately, would be negative, but hopefully I have said enough to warn you off. If you would like any more info I would be happy to respond regarding specifics.
I am one of the lucky ones, I left of my own accord and am now working for a reputable kitchen company. There are many less fortunate than me who live daily with the fact that they could walk in tomorrow and be got rid of, something that Wren find easy due to the appalling contract they give their designers, which is not worth the paper it is written on and amounts to no more than a zero hours contract.

was a fitted for this appalling company but there was no respect for customers and fitters alike and i am now awaiting payment for work carried out...customer very happy with job done but cannot get them to pay they keep stating its been authorised but no money received no been 3 months any inside info at how to tackle them made so many calls they do not respond and keep saying its being done...many thanks

june2014

I wish I had read these posts before we purchased our Linda Barker kitchen. Our kitchen was dekivered 3rd june and our (hopefully) last delivery was 3rd October. Right from the offset doors were damaged and pieces missing and yes thet replaced them, again and again!!!! I choose the designer kitchen which was supposed to be the best (most expensive) and I chose grey doors but almost every door had a mark and you could see white underneath (I counted and took photos of 32 such marks) they eventually sent someone to look who 'touched up' the marks with a coloured pen and told my husband (I was at work) if I wasnt happy they would replace the doors....excuse me NO I definately dont want touch up on kitchen I paid thousands for. I would never recommend this company. We have had much cheaper kitchens off the shelf that have been much better. My kitchen may have a 20 year guarantee but at this rate it will be replaced 10 times over....oh and it was a good job my husband fitted the kitchen as we couldnt afford to have to bring a joiner back every time. My advice go somewhere else