Wren Kitchens - My Review

ppegoraro

The_Bargain_Hunters wrote: »

We are currently in process of looking for a kitchen, with a budget of £20,000 for everything, our 1st quote from Norwood Interiors was £28,000 :eek: 2nd quote from local bespoke kitchen supplier £13,000 for same job!! (the company has been going for 40yrs but is small so you never know these days...)

We have 2 more quotes to come - Intoto who we are going to see tomorrow and last of all, Wren the day after. Wren were the only ones who didn't send a designer/salesman - they sent a joiner, builder & plumber, to check out and measure everything in detail - so until I started reading reviews I was almost convinced they will do a good job - now I'm not so sure :undecided - did anyone else have tradesmen come round and spend a couple of hours going through every detail??

The other thing is Wren had the cupboards I liked best - but I don't want it to start/end in disaster - does anyone have a good experience with them?

Stay away, if your spending that sort of money I would find a reputable company with a good service history, I have been and still am trying to sort out my kitchen a year on tomorrow (18th Feb). They take you cash up front then you have to spend soo much time chasing and chasing etc you don't want the hassle

ppegoraro

birdfeedersfull1 wrote: »

Has anyone got problems with paint chipping off their Linda Barker handleless gloss doors/ panels? This would be useful as we have had to resort to the small claims court due to the quality and lack of meaningful response from Wren kitchens.

Yes I started to see some chipping also, the finish is soo poor it's soo frustrating, we should all club together and get onto watchdog or alike.

thegerbil_2

Ok, so we've put down a deposit and then found all this negative feedback... but there are quite a few success stories so we're hoping that we end up in that camp!

We ordered from the Erdington, Birmingham branch and wouldn't have done so had we not felt comfortable, the chap we spoke to was great... quick to add stuff but fair and not pushy. We had appointments booked at a couple of other places but since it's all done now we'll cancel them - we knew what the costs where there anyway so no big loss. And I should say that the independent retailer was hard work! "We'd like to keep the cost down..." so he starts with the expensive books, and also pencilled in costs for appliances that were either way out or too expensive - we weren't his type of client!

One thing that I would note for anyone starting the process of looking, Wren use a paper form/questionnaire at the start to "give a guide price" and gauge whether there's any point going through the process of planning it on the computer. At the end of the whole process, our salesman pointed out that he "wasn't far off" after a managers discount... my advise to anyone starting out would be question the paper cost and get that down first, that's ultimately their method of working out how far they can push you before it even gets to the negotiation.

But that said, we weren't looking for anything outrageous and our independent quotes were double so win win.
We also visited Ikea and have to say were very underwhelmed by their choices. Considering they make a big noise about being the place to go to get the most from small spaces they only offer 3 sizes of units, 600/400/200 so no way of making the most of a 300 or 500 bit of space!

Just need to swat up on cutting the worktops!! Oh and should say that their fitting cost was about 40% of the kitchen cost with no extras so swerved that one - especially due to the fact that the units are pre-built, not sure what you're paying for? Unless they know that stuff will be missing and won't fit so don't want the work?!?!

Here goes.... I'll update at Step Two - Delivery

tomb1

youll never get the top quality furniture and service from the sheds no matter who you got to. They cant physically do it, They take up a lot of storage/warehouse space and once carcases are damaged they become firewood. Also look at overheads of the big stores, they make up the money in the poorer quality furniture and aim to sell buckets of it! Kitchens are a big expense and why anyone would look to trust a large firm is beyond me. Try the high street small specialists, they're not all bad guys and a lot of them have been going for years. As for the trade warehouses- heres a secret.. your builders getting one price and youre getting another!

Openandhonest

Openandhonest wrote: »

Can anyone explain why Mumsnet & MSE has lots of negative reviews regarding Wren Kitchens whilst the 'Review Centre' & 'Trustpilot' has lots of positive reviews....!

There has been a recent surge in positive 5 star reviews on the Review Centre. 128 in the last 6 months, as compared to only 4 in the 6 months prior... (as of the end of Jan 15).

By contrast to the surge in positive reviews, the negative reviews for Wren on the Review Centre site have been remarkable stable over the same period...!

As of today;
Wren has had '187' five star reviews in the past 6 months.
That compares to '2' five star reviews in the prior 6 months....

I have contacted the Reviewcentre, who suggested that maybe the company had improved its service.....

controller1

ppegoraro wrote: »

Stay away, if your spending that sort of money I would find a reputable company with a good service history, I have been and still am trying to sort out my kitchen a year on tomorrow (18th Feb). They take you cash up front then you have to spend soo much time chasing and chasing etc you don't want the hassle

Totally agree! We ordered the Linda Barker handless kitchen and we are awaiting our 10th set of doors! Yes 10th! The spray finish is shocking and the lacquer is peeling off! Stay well clear!

controller1

Sherlockspal wrote: »

I am not surprised to come across yet another forum with multiple complaints about Wren!
The Oxford store has been failing us for the last 13 months.
We are off to the small claims court soon to obtain redress and compensation for the faults and our wasted time.
Fortunately we, and I would advise anyone to, have a full record of every email, phone call, non reply, conversation, visit and broken promise since this saga began back in 2013.

Good luck! We are going down the same route, let me know how you get on! We are awaiting our 10th set of handless gloss doors from the Linda Barker range today! I'm not full of confidence!

lindleberry

Uh-oh, I wish I'd read this forum before ordering and paying for my kitchen from Wren. The delivery process has been painful, with poor communication, drivers 'running out of hours' on the agreed delivery date and then arriving 4 hours later than the agreed delivery time the following day. Also the store failed to implement the modifications requested by the fitter in his pre-fit visit so we'll be waiting another 2 weeks for the final units. I'm already regretting my decision and now reading others' traumas regarding the poor quality of their Linda Barker kitchens has taken the excitement out of it all together. I'm dreading the finished result rather than looking forward to it. Lesson learned about pre-purchase research!

Ramos1965

I must admit that our experience from Wren has been mostly positive.

We ordered from the Lincoln branch, and whilst realising that the discounted price was still a premium, we ordered the kitchen because we liked it!

The designer Adam came and he provided an excellent design and took away the stresses, especially since we had to knock down a wall, and reposition the patio door.

We had our builder do all the major work, and employed our own electrician and plumber. We decided to use Wren approved kitchen fitters which was also a premium cost but we were reassured about the warrantied work.

Everyone kept up to their schedules and performed their jobs well. Even the tricky hob extractor was fitted with eventual understanding between our electrician and the Wren fitters. There were no damaged units, although Wren did replace two doors slightly chipped by the fitters, and a fridge shelf.

We were very impressed with our customers service manager Patrina, who sorted out all our queries efficiently and in a customer centred manner. We were reassured to know that there was always someone there at the end of the phone, who would always ring back to deal with any outstanding items.

I must admit that the nightmare stories in this thread did not thankfully materialise for us, and we are completely happy with the kitchen which was a little more expensive compared to other companies, but we saved up for this and our dream kitchen is now a reality.

rani2258

Ordered kitchen from Huddersfield. The man to measure came to measure. On 3rd Oct kitchen arrived few items missing. They are now ordered. On 6th Oct our joiner came found out that the kitchen was incorrectly measured one base unit less . The order for worktop, oven, hob and units was £6,971 . Not cheap. The manager said it was our fault as the joiner should have checked within 21 days after order. We were away till 27th Sept. The joiner has 30 years experience.
On 6th Oct The Manager at Huddersfield store asked for a further payment of £250 for the base unit wall unit and worktop. It was their error.
The joiner removed gas and oven anticipating no complication. We are without any cooking means. After many calls to the duty manager as the Manager failed to notify us he was on holiday for 2 wks even though he promised he would ring us on the 7th.The guy that measured the kitchen is also on holiday!.
We asked for additional base units for other wall. We were informed to wait till kitchen fitted and then we could order at same price. Few days later we were emailed that was not the case the price would be lot higher.
We paid £250 on 7th Oct 2014 as we wanted the kitchen completed ASAP. Our joiner is now booked so we have a problem as we are told the base unit etc will be delivered on the 17th Oct. Then the template for worktop will be organised. After that it will be up to 10 days for it to be fitted. The whole experience has been a nightmare. We will be without a fitted kitchen for at least 6wks. Wish had gone to [Ext.Ref.] or else where. We have had to pay extra and have all this inconvenience and stress when [Name] measured it incorrectly. It is not fair. We will not recommend wren.
Update the wall unit came was again incorrect measurement 600 instead of 900. our joiner charged us £300 extra for his time wasted. 10th Dec. we were told that their representative would come to inspect the faulty tap and unit.after a month. informed that this would not be the case as we didn't have it fitted by their joiner, even though Deputy manager has been to inspect the kitchen facilities in Nov. They could not even get my phone number correct even after I informed then on numerous occasions causing further delay . The initial mistake was they [Name] measured the kitchen incorrectly we wanted a bigger kitchen but it was a metre short . They say we should have checked his measurements. When a "reputable " company cannot measure correctly why should we be liable for their errors. The answer is that it states so in the terms and conditions. firstly we were not given the opportunity to read the same. merely asked for a signature. and secondly the terms and conditions are written in such small print makes it nearly impossible to read. We completed the complaints form in Nov and they have the audacity to offer us £100 compensation. 6 weeks of stress and inconvenience. consequential losses to joiner and the electrician. take- aways, (I am a diabetic) journeys to the store numerous calls. as they did not call back when promised.
I will be pursuing this until a satisfactory outcome is obtained. They have given us 14 days to accept the offer. I have contacted Barclays as Under section 75 The tap is not fit for purpose. The sale of goods Act also applies. All I want is matter to be rectified asap. I do not deserve this terrible ordeal. I will be contacting the Ombudsman also. It is a matter of principal . I have paid £6943 for a kitchen that does not meet my standards .
In response to Wren. The tap is faulty not the fitting. All I am asking is that someone comes to inspect the tap as was promised in Dec. your excuse for not doing is feeble . All I want is to resolve this dispute amicably and be compensated for the consequential losses as informed by the trading standards. In your email you are requesting invoices for costs . I have already forwarded the joiner's additional cost due to your companies incompetence. I did not save receipts for meals as I was not informed at the time to do so. I have submitted a breakdown of expenses etc.
Firstly you measure the kitchen incorrectly then send the wrong wall unit. light and other items missing. it's been one mistake after another. I have recordings of the conversation taken place which I will forward to Barclays etc, Awaiting a response from them. I have proof that the manager did not wish to speak to me and refused to try to resolve this dispute, It is not merely about the finance loss but a matter of principal.
I have given Wren the measurements for the damaged cupboards awaiting their response. They have refused to replace them except one. Barclays stated that the tap if quality issue and to go the manufactuer .We paid wren for it.
The whole experience is making me unwell It has been on going from Sept 2014. I have now emailed Wren to accept their offer as I want closure on the matter as Financial Ombudsman have said it will take 6 weeks even to start the investigation.! There is no justice .