Wren Kitchens - My Review

mphamilton99

Despite having paid Wren a sum of £15,000 in December 2014 in respect of a kitchen to be installed in January 2015, I am still without a functioning kitchen 70 days later. I've had an appalling experience with Wren and would suggest that any potential customer avoids them at all costs.

Their selected and approved kitchen fitter was totally and utterly incompetent. From the outset, they failed to understand the basic requirements and specification of the job. After their pre inspection survey (where I detailed the job and extras in full), they turned up on day 1 of the job and loaded their quote with £100s extras despite no change to the original specification. They demanded upfront cash payment and when I questioned this, they slandered both myself and my partner. They proceeded to "dry fit" the kitchen and then disappeared from site after 6 days leaving an entirely botched job. It took Wren a further 10 days to confirm that the installer was not returning to site. I was effectively left with a trail of destruction - live, exposed & dangerous wires are hanging from the walls, numerous cabinets have been destroyed with large unsightly holes cut out, the carcas of the main tower has been positioned incorrectly having an adverse affect on the layout of the entire kitchen, doors have been hung back to front, the plumbing of the sink and taps is utterly incompetent and due to the problems regarding layout, the prepaid & specifically designed Corian worktop is now redundant. I've been left with a dangerous building site through entirely no fault of my own.

At my own cost, I've had to commission an independent third party expert report. This report confirms that the installers were hugely inexperienced and its likely that "they've never installed a kitchen before". It will cost thousands of pounds to rectify the incompetent work - this doesn't include completing the job, replacing the botched cabinets & Corian worktop or compensating for the personal stress & expense incurred.

Throughout this experience, Wren's customer service has been appalling. I'm desperately trying to resolve the matter but keep getting passed from pillar to post - no one will take responsibility for the situation. Its evident that Wren's fitters are not vetted or indeed managed. There is no communication between them and the designer in the shop. I have contacted their MD, but he's failed to revert to me - if he deems this acceptable customer service, I really do question the companies standards and ethics.

For 70 days I've had no hob, oven or washing machine. I hold an important position in a large property consultancy and the undue stress caused by Wren is affecting both my health and my ability to carry out my day job. Please learn form my experience and do not give your hard earned cash to Wren. If you value your sanity, avoid at all costs - PLEASE, PLEASE AVOID WREN - DO NOT USE

By way of an update, Wren have still not resolved this issue. I've been fobbed off with a number of emails from their customer service department. Despite a representaive of Wren admitting liability for the incompetent & faulty work, Wren still refuse to acknowlegde the issues. I'm astounded by the frequency of dissatisfied customers on this forum. Given how competitve the retail market is and todays focus on custmer service & experience, I really don't see how Wren can survive. Wren have obviously lost sight and see pricing as their No 1 priority, not customer service. This is NOT a model for survival - see MFI. PLEASE PLEASE DO NOT USE WREN - AVOID AT ALL COSTS.

SkyeFWP

Absolutely the worst customer experience I've encountered dealing with any company in any industry.

From the very beginning there have been mistakes that Wren take no responsibility for that you'll be left trying to resolve.

That means the store not being able to help and passing you onto Head Office, then holding over 15 minutes every time you call, being cut off while on hold after explaining why you're calling, being told you can't be transferred to complaints and to redial (wait another 15 mins) and discover there is no complaints option and then be transferred to complaints by someone else in the same team!

We ordered a kitchen from Wren in March and asked the designer to come to the house to measure up to ensure the design would fit. He clearly didn't do this as upon delivery we found that the units were incorrect and wouldn't fit.

To avoid a delay in waiting for replacement units (5-6 weeks!!) we agreed to use the incorrect units we could adapt (incurring additional cost and time) and asked Wren to provide the correct units. The designer spent two hours on site, admitted they had been delivered incorrect and promised to get the right units.

2 weeks later and after chasing for an update we're told that we need to call the claims line ourselves as he can't help us - complete lack of responsibility and a waste of 2 weeks (while we pay for alternative accommodation plus the full bills for our new house).

After speaking to the claims team we're told we have to wait more than a week for the replacement units and there's nothing that can be done. We pay an additional cost and Wren refuse to take back some of the other units which are not needed (even though they're completely unused and in the packaging) as they state "you signed off the plan and we don't take units back".

BEWARE - Wren will treat you as an expert kitchen designer who must know the exact measurements and where all the screws and nuts go.
Don't expect a kitchen expert as they portray - They'll design it on their in-store computer guessing the sizes of the units etc and when they come round to "measure up" they won't even check that what they've designed will fit.

Imagine buying a loft conversion and you sign off the plan to say you want it to look like the designs they've provided and then they supply the wrong parts and have a faulty plan and then they tell you it's all your fault!

The units finally arrive and we pay the tradesmen to come back in on a Sunday because we need to move in and they then open up the 1000 wide unit (delivered on day 1 and checked by the kitchen designer when he was on site) and surprise, surprise - ANOTHER WRONG UNIT.

The design clearly shows a unit which opens vertically but the geniuses and Wren send a regular two door cupboard.

After an eternity on hold, dropped calls and speaking to the complaints department and lots of "There's nothing we can do" I find myself here. Being told we have to wait another 10 days because they can't ship the correct units and can't do anything to speed it up EVEN THOUGH IT'S WRENS MISTAKE!

Bottom Line - Read the reviews here and this one and you'll find that Wren won't do their job when they design your kitchen, will abdicate all responsibility to you (as if the general public are expert carpenters!), will do next to nothing to help rectify their own mistakes, will make you jump through hoops to get anywhere, will cause the cost of your kitchen to be a lot higher because of additional delays, labour costs and time wasted. Will deliver incorrect items regularly and will ultimately take your money and run with it.

This review is my last resort. I've spoken to Wren on multiple occasions and been very reasonable and overlooked much of these problems in order to arrive at a solution - all we want is what we paid for - a kitchen so we can move into our new house. Unfortunately Wren are unwilling to cooperate in anyway and so I write this review.

Cue the sanitised "your complaint is being looked into" nonsense response from Head Office in order to preserve their online reputation. Don't been fooled by it - Avoid Wren at all costs and save yourself the hassle.

Cornish_Kitchen_Designer

I was a Duty Manager for Wren, I worked for the company for 3 years and will say there are some really good things with their products and ranges.

However, when it comes to the customer service the head office hog ties the showroom staff so that they cannot do anything to help a customer. If a mistake is made by a designer they are charged for them, this causes designers to hide problems so that they don't get fined. Once a manager gets involved they are at the mercy of the bods in head office, each store gets one delivery a week and anything going to store must be authorised by head office, there is a cut off for these deliveries a week in advance so if you just miss this even by a minute you will have to wait for nearly 2 weeks and even then it is not guaranteed. The number of times I had to call customer because things had not been delivered and would be another 2 weeks, even calling head office to confirm an item is booked for delivery does not mean you will actually get it!

The showroom staff are under huge pressure to perform and the threat of losing your job is ever present, they have recently taken on staff from the highly successful Phones 4U - this includes some regional managers that are trying to sell kitchens like mobile phones and expect managers to go out into the street and coax customers inside. Bloody ridiculous!

The staff in store are treated like dirt by the senior management if the store is not performing to the extremely high targets - Even if you are in one of the top stores in the company you are still treated like a mud so that you know where are on the Wren corporate ladder!

The company is full of people terrified to speak up for fear of losing their job or yes men that follow the owner and MD around like lost sheep, the head office is drastically under staffed and under skilled.

The showroom staff are treated little better than slaves and berated at every opportunity "To let them know who is boss", the area managers have to deal with constant complaints and issues that are made worse by the pathetic bureaucracy and mini Hitlers at head office who will not think outside of the box to help anyone in the showrooms.

The fitters are drastically under paid and the vetting is a joke, it usually goes along the lines of "are you available"?.

I could go on but I think I have said enough.

Just to confirm I parted from the company on good terms and am free to go back to them if I ever have a mental breakdown!

cddc

Wren can now proudly boast "As featured on Watchdog" on their list of credits.

The stories in the short feature on last night's episode mirror many of the experiences on this thread and others spread far and wide across the net.

The above post by Cornish explains many of the reasons for the poor customer experience received by the bulk of posters on this thread.

niamhtuite

Worst customer service experience ever- and we have only been dealing with them in this way for the past 3 weeks - I can see people on this site who are waiting years for resolution and compensation.
Wren are a shambles of a company, really do take heed and avoid using them for supply or fit.
Disgusting in this day and age that a company should think so little of their customers and their own staff.

Merlin35

I'm 13 months into my complaint with wren now. It's been horrific from the moment we paid our deposit. Missed delivery times, broken/damaged or missing parts of the kitchen, wrong work tops ordered (2 months we had no work tops) we are still waiting for replacements for damaged door fronts. customer service has been non existent, we were promised compensation but we're still waiting. Impossible to speak to anybody in charge, the directors are well defended by the staff.
I just want to throw the whole kitchen in the bin or move house. I hate looking at it.

You have been warned.

Buy from someone else.

So so angry.

zappster

It's really weird how Wren consistently under perform with kitchens but seem OK with bedrooms & furniture (is that a fair assessment ?) ... we've now taken delivery of our second Wren bed, fair enough it's self assembly but my Brother put it together within about 10 mins, solid oak with an oak veneer. The delivery guys phoned us twice to say they were on their way, they negotiated a twisty narrow staircase to get it delivered.

All in ... great service. Wouldn't hesitate to recommend them for bedroom furniture !

So sorry to read about the kitchen problems everyone is having.

Money_Muppet

Another victim of Wren here.

We tragically ordered our kitchen from them before reading these reviews. It turns out their "in-house expert designer" can't use a tape measure, and that his incompetence is our fault. Thus we are stuck with a carcase we can't use, a fridge that won't even fit in the supplied carcase and a sink that will have to be fitted straddled between two units. Mistakes I can handle, incompetence and hand wringing are hard to take. They have offered to sell us more units for £850, but won't take anything back or exchange anything - as obviously all of this is our fault, even though we used their "Home Measurement Service"

Avoid like the plague .

705DB

My mother is 86 has paid £14500 for a kitchen which is sat in her lounge waiting for an installer. . Dear Mr Armando Sanchez - can you involve yourself in order number 22509354, my mother uses a mobility scooter and cannot live in her bungalow as Cardiff cannot find a fitter. I don't see Wren have had a complaint on this site since July so hopefully you will have time . What is really annoying me is the number of calls I've made on this and the breach of absolute assurances that installation would be done to an agreed date. My family worked solidly over the bank holiday weekend to prepare the room for new kitchen which was to be put in the next day . Since then its sat in boxes
It would be great if you would speak to me directly and Clive Williams , Newport road branch will have my mobile number

anacleto

Bought a kitchen from Wren and had it"fitted" last June. The fitting was appalling and I had missing goods, damaged goods and a tumble dryer that is not fit for purpose. Their customer service department does not reply and I am shocked at the way that they just blame each other but resolve nothing. I would not recommend at all!!!