Wren Kitchens - My Review

Kby

I bought bedroom furniture from Wren, delivered in April. Delivery correct with an amended order.

They still owe me £150 which should have been credited on 31st March. This wasn't done so I called them on 9th May and was told a cheque would be sent out. I still haven't received the cheque.

Quite concerned as someone I work with is having the same problem.

Is this the way Wren always works?

Sicard

Write to them recorded or special delivery stating the facts and you will give them a reasonable amount of time to pay you (14 working days?) or you will take the matter to the small claims court. If they don't respond they will have to pay your costs, plus the amount owing and have a CCJ against them.

Kby

Thanks Laurie, I rang them again a couple of days ago and was told a cheque would be with me in 7-10 days (again).

If I don't receive anything then I'll definitely follow your advice.

Mojosunset

We bought a bathroom/wet room in February 2016 and paid in full to Samuel COVENTRY BRANCH who left wren about a month ago (various reports from delivery men and others from the store state he had all his customers pay in full. HOPE YOUR ENJOYING YOUR COMMISSION SAMUEL. We were told fitting would commence in 8-10 weeks and has only just been finished yesterday! June 22 2016......Ok here we go no contact until I rang them in May to be told a fitter will contact me. Fitter from Coventry rang to say it would be end of July maybe August before they could get to me as they were new and there was only 2 of them !!! After calling various people one of who was MR DALVINDER manager of Coventry branch who hung up on me then denied it when I rang back I finally lost the plot and demanded our money back. Suddenly a call saying bathroom would be fitted beginning of June which was date originally agreed in one of many phone calls. Could not fault my fitter from Birmingham (private company) not Coventry wren fitter. When finishing floor there was enough adhesive to cover Buckingham palace but lacking in 3 tiles fitter rang Friday, Monday and Tuesday to order these tiles. Finally I rang LOUISE my advisor (who is always away or having dinner) from customer service, now LOUISE I really feel you need to go into training as your customer service skills and attitude are seriously lacking especially the bit when you LOUISE OF CUSTOMER SERVICES told me to and I quote "LISTEN TO WHAT I AM SAYING" and "I HAVE SORTED THIS WITH YOUR FITTER HE SAID HE WOULD DEAL WITH YOU" well LOUISE it's wren I paid 6 thousand pounds to not the fitter so you should keep me informed at all times NOT my fitter. I don't know who you think you are but the shop floor lot think you act like mini gods and said so on the many occasions I had to speak to them. AVOID WREN AT ALL COSTS, IM NOT AT ALL SURPRISED THAT WATCHDOG INVESTIGATED THEM IN 2015 I think they should take another look.

Visiter44

I couldn't agree more with Abicmc1991. My experience more or less mirrors theirs entirely except My purchase was for myself and my wife to enjoy. The customer service in the Liverpool branch is truly shocking and I only wish I had read these reviews before purchasing a kitchen from this company. As soon as they are in possession of your money they are not interested in you as a customer. I had the exact same problems in terms of the kitchen being measured and a fitting job which should have taken 4 days maximum is still incomplete.

Wren advertise as being cheaper than Magnet, Howdens etc but I can now see why. My experience with Wren is you get what you pay for:- shabby customer service (and that is being generous) and poorly measured units ( those pieces that arrive) .

Anyone thinking of purchasing a kitchen, I would strongly suggest that you look elsewhere and avoid Wren at all costs.

Bailey007!

26,400.00 paid to wren before they even started, 2 weeks late.

4 weeks programme of works

25 weeks later just about an acceptable finish

the "best" fitters that we had were not experienced kitchen fitters hence when we snagged the job it had over 150 number snags that took another 4 months for wren to close out with 3 different sets of fitters who are trained or skilled to install the different ranges

The dream kitchen made out lives hell of nearly six months including the collapse of my wife due to the stress and wrens inability to address or keep to their promises.

we are arranging a legal picket near to Xmas outside hayes very soon with national newspapers if anyone wants to join.

do not be mugged of the sales because once you hand over the money wren employee suddenly disappear behind emails and no calls are answered.

fitters are sub standard cheap labour and there is simply no management during, before or any aftercare

They are much better companies out there

cunctator

Where to start?!

If you use Wren be prepared for:

• Poor paint finish on doors/pelments (blooming, orange peel, matting)
• Cupboards/doors made to wrong size
• Overspray and stickers on inside faces that are visible
• Chips and scratches
• Replacement parts that are a) wrong spec b) poor quality
• Replacement parts aplenty to dispose of
• Lots of extra recycling at your expense
• Disinterest from your local branch, post design/payment
• Stress and exasperation as you explain your situation multiple times to different members of the Wren team (none of whom will be familiar with your case).

We bought the kitchen and fitting service from Wren. We wanted to support a UK design and manufacturing company. Time had been booked off work and the dog booked (paid in advance) into a sitter (he doesn't like tradesmen). We wanted to ensure everything was on track with the fitters so called the Wren Gloucester branch two days prior to the install date and were assured that everything was arranged and confirmed.

When installation day arrived (24th Oct) THE FITTERS DIDN'T :mad:

We called Wren and they said we had to call the fitters (thanks Wren!). We tried the fitters and they said they no longer worked with Wren:rotfl:. We called Wren Gloucester again and they told us they could reschedule fitting for the following week but offered no apology for the fitter no-show. When we told them we couldn't re-schedule due to work commitments, (and everything had been confirmed two days ago) they said there was NOTHING THEY COULD DO and offered no further help:mad::mad::mad::mad:

I then had to make frantic calls to local fitters and after much stress and explaining managed to find fitters to start next day. Wren should have done this as that's what they had been paid to do.


And that's far from the end of it. Weeks later we are still living with an unfinished kitchen from Wren Kitchens. My wife and I have an inquisitive 2 year old daughter and it's a battle to keep her safe among the pile of parts and boxes.

Why not tidy up you may ask? Well, we receive almost daily (it seems) deliveries of replacement parts from Wren as it seems they are incapable of supplying parts that are fit for purpose.

The problem is that when replacements are sent they are either the wrong part or the quality is worse than the part they are intended to replace:rotfl:. If we charged Wren for the fuel and time taken to take all the extra packaging to the council tip we would be able to replace our bathroom as well! I will soon be able to start my own cupboard door supply company (albeit a poor quality one).

My 2 year old daughter could probably do a better job spraying and finishing the 'mirror gloss' finish on the unit doors. Wren evidently do not have a QC process that works. I digress...

Joking aside (and it's really not funny), Wren gladly accepted our money up front, but have failed to deliver a kitchen that is fit for purpose. The worst thing about Wren however is trying to communicate with them. They never call you back. You always have to speak to a different person and explain everything from scratch. Their internal systems are not integrated, meaning that information is not shared. Despite the showroom spiel, when they've had your money they treat you with the smiling corporate contempt that is sadly so common.

When we asked for a refund for the fitting element of the job we were told by the branch manager at Wren Gloucester that the money would be "in your account in 3-5 working days". He asked that we email a refund request but gave me an incorrect email address (purposefully I believe). When we chased this after 5 days we were told that he had not yet put the refund through, but the money would be "in your account in 3-5 working days". We had to chase again and again with return calls never materializing. It was only when we asked for email proof of the refund order from their system that miraculously it appeared. It took 3 weeks to get the refund promised for 3-5 days, and Wren couldn't give a damn about the fact the alternative fitters I was forced to source need paying!

There is so much more to the story and I currently have little time to share it, but I wish I had done more research into Wren before using them. Hopefully by posting a little of our experience I can help others who may be considering them - please don't do it - you will regret it I have had a few poor customer experiences in my time but this is so far at the top of the pile - and the worst thing is that it's not over yet _pale_ as our kitchen is unfinished. Wren cannot supply parts that are fit for purpose and even if they do eventually manage this they have not agreed to supply a fitter to install them.

I'm planning to visit the Gloucester branch with some of the bad quality parts I hold to show potential customers outside and share our customer experience. I don't want to go down this route but trying to resolve the issue through Wren's head office in Yorkshire is proving impossible.


UPDATE 06.12.16
A Wren representative has just posted on TrustPilot to suggest that a 'senior member of the team' is now looking into this for us. This is misleading as she fails to recognise the problems we have encountered TO DATE in getting someone at Wren to take proper responsibility for our unfinished kitchen. Wren have actually been very slow to assist and are only trying to make themselves appear efficient with this online response - don't be fooled!
The 'senior' customer services agent I spoke with on Friday stated that we are a 'supply only' customer!! A 'supply only' is a customer who only buys the kitchen, not Wren's installation services, yet WE DID PURCHASE INSTALLATION FROM WREN. We only BECAME a 'supply only' customer BECAUSE WREN'S FITTERS DIDN'T TURN UP and we were FORCED TO FIND ALTERNATIVE FITTERS!!!!!!!!!!
So, rather than rectify the situation, Wren's totally inflexible 'customer service' response is to throw more parts at us and let us get on with it (if the parts are even usable)! When I said this was not helping the situation (customer services had actually made things worse), I was told we could have a derisory 10% of our money back and they would 'look into' reimbursing us (subject to quote) if we got our own fitters to replace the parts. Thanks again for the help Wren! I'll just get on the phone again to more local fitters (the original ones I had to source are all booked up) and do your job for you!!
Nobody is capable of showing any initiative or imagination in solving our problem and "our system won't allow that" is a regular statement.
Wren will only issue compensation BY CHEQUE, and I have read many stories online of Wren's cheques failing to materialise. I questioned why Wren can't make a BACS payment and whether Wren ACCEPT CHEQUES AS PAYMENT (I suspect not!) but customer services "couldn't help with accounts queries but would look into it for me".
Despite being escalated (after many attempts from us I may add, not from Wren) they are still failing to grasp the fact we need someone to come and fit the replacement parts for us and for Wren to honour the initial CONTRACT between us and them - we kept our side of the contract, but Wren just don't seem to care. Frankly I just want our money back and if they want to come and rip the kitchen out they are welcome to it.

cunctator

I think you must work for Wren .
I've had more contact with Wren Kitchens since my last post and 'customer services' have made matters WORSE :wall:
See my update today. Have a good day in the Wren PR office :rotfl:

copperjar

Paid deposit on a Wren kitchen 2 weeks ago and now seriously thinking we need to pull out. We luckily have our own installer and also a family member with lots of high end kitchen experience who has measured everything and checked all specs. Has found one fault on the design that we will ask them to change - before we sign the contract. So I'm thinking most of the complaints I've read about fitting and measuring won't apply to us - but extremely worried about incorrect delivery and poor customer service.

Literally every site and forum where I have seen Wren discussed is negative. Surely if they were this bad they wouldn't be expanding?! So stressed!

Rustyneedle

cunctactor:
We are having a very similar unfortunate experience to yourself.
Kitchen should have been fitted in November 2016.
Wren Showroom sales suggested we get our own fitters,we did,but he couldn't start because of so many parts missing.
We also have damaged parts,wrong items and boxes everywhere in what should be a finished kitchen nearly 2 months later.
Last week 2 items should have arrived,we got a small envelope with some brackets,with no explanation as to when we may get the 2nd item.
We are having another delivery on January 17 with more 'to follow parts',I'm not confident they will all arrive.
Looks like I'm back on the phone to 'Wren Customer Care' today!

Copperjar:
Seriously don't go to Wren.
Everything will be fine until they get your money.

I wished we hadn't and I think we are going to regret it for a long time yet,having read ,cunctactor experience.