Wren Kitchens - My Review

LAS0707

I am a teacher and have been saving up for a new kitchen for a while only to find that WREN did not offer the customer focussed, family focussed approach to kitchen installations as advertised on their website.
I have experienced a range of issues between August and October 2017 for a small flat kitchen which was only supposed to take 2 weeks to install.
In addition, I feel there might be an insider scam going on stolen because they are claiming a cooker hood was delivered to my property when it fact it never was and I had to pay for a new one (from another retailer of course).
I have contacted their Uxbridge sales manager, complaints departments and CEO Mark Pullan , who is refusing to comment.
After having sought legal advice I have been advised to pursue the matter further as there has been a breach of consumer rights.
This is the first time in my life I am posting publicly about a company and is the first time I have experienced such a poor approach to dealing with unsatisfied customers.
I would love to know if other people are experiencing similar issues or any advice on how issues were resolved.
It is a real shame WREN prefers to operate in this way as the issues could all have been so easily avoided.
People should be made aware of the risks involved with dealing with such unprofessional companies.

photome

LAS0707 wrote: »

I am a teacher and have been saving up for a new kitchen for a while only to find that WREN did not offer the customer focussed, family focussed approach to kitchen installations as advertised on their website.
I have experienced a range of issues between August and October 2017 for a small flat kitchen which was only supposed to take 2 weeks to install.
In addition, I feel there might be an insider scam going on stolen because they are claiming a cooker hood was delivered to my property when it fact it never was and I had to pay for a new one (from another retailer of course).
I have contacted their Uxbridge sales manager, complaints departments and CEO Mark Pullan , who is refusing to comment.
After having sought legal advice I have been advised to pursue the matter further as there has been a breach of consumer rights.
This is the first time in my life I am posting publicly about a company and is the first time I have experienced such a poor approach to dealing with unsatisfied customers.
I would love to know if other people are experiencing similar issues or any advice on how issues were resolved.
It is a real shame WREN prefers to operate in this way as the issues could all have been so easily avoided.
People should be made aware of the risks involved with dealing with such unprofessional companies.

If you haven’t already done so please join the wren kitchen disaster Facebook group, there are many more people in the same situation

Mars99

Be very aware of this company. Do not let the glitzy showrooms fool you. Behind the scenes is an organisation in chaos. Customer service is virtually non-existent. If you have to complain you will be asked to write to a rather fanciful sounding complaints department called the “Directors Office” – where there are no Directors of course.
Quality of their products is mediocre at best and the quality of the running gear on drawers and pull out units will simply not stand the test of time.
We purchased a Linda Barker kitchen from the Bristol store and were promised installation would take a week. A year later it was still not complete. We had everything thrown at us – incorrect measurements, wrong items, damaged items, unskilled fitters, poor installation and worst of all zero response from Wrens. You name it we suffered it.
There is far too much detail to explain everything except to say earlier this year I ultimately decided to take them to Court under the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982. As you can imagine they were not best pleased and their solicitors threw every word of small print in the contract to deny liability and responsibility. Their constant intimidation tactics did not phase me in the slightest but made me even more determined as I knew they were in clear breach of the Supply of Goods and Services Act and the Sale of Goods Act.
On the day of the court hearing they had appointed some high-flying barrister who again decided to intimidate me into settling for a ridiculously low compensation figure which I refused.
The judge was clearly not impressed with Wrens and issued them with a County Court Judgement (CCJ). The Judge found Wrens to have acted in breach of the term (implied under the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982) in failing to provide a service, namely the fitting of a kitchen, with the necessary care and skill required and within a reasonable time frame and failing to demonstrate a duty of care. Wrens were also found guilty under Sales of Goods Act for the supply of poor quality materials not fit for purpose. The Judge proceeded to award well in excess of a thousand pounds in compensation.
If Wrens have failed you, do not be afraid to take legal action. This is a truly vile organisation.
Some advice and warning to anyone still thinking of buying their dream kitchen from Wrens.
Firstly, DON’T, go elsewhere!
Secondly, if you really have been taken in by their sales patter then beware they will not entertain any complaints until you have signed the completion certificate (where you have used their fitters). The minute you sign the completion certificate, your finance agreement will commence (if you have bought on finance) and Wrens will receive full payment from Barclays. From that point onwards, you are on your own. Good luck with resolving any complaints.
You have been warned. DO NOT under any circumstances sign the completion certificate or anything unless you are 100% satisfied and make sure you read ALL the small print BEFORE you enter into the agreement.

photome

Mars99 wrote: »

Be very aware of this company. Do not let the glitzy showrooms fool you. Behind the scenes is an organisation in chaos. Customer service is virtually non-existent. If you have to complain you will be asked to write to a rather fanciful sounding complaints department called the “Directors Office” – where there are no Directors of course.
Quality of their products is mediocre at best and the quality of the running gear on drawers and pull out units will simply not stand the test of time.
We purchased a Linda Barker kitchen from the Bristol store and were promised installation would take a week. A year later it was still not complete. We had everything thrown at us – incorrect measurements, wrong items, damaged items, unskilled fitters, poor installation and worst of all zero response from Wrens. You name it we suffered it.
There is far too much detail to explain everything except to say earlier this year I ultimately decided to take them to Court under the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982. As you can imagine they were not best pleased and their solicitors threw every word of small print in the contract to deny liability and responsibility. Their constant intimidation tactics did not phase me in the slightest but made me even more determined as I knew they were in clear breach of the Supply of Goods and Services Act and the Sale of Goods Act.
On the day of the court hearing they had appointed some high-flying barrister who again decided to intimidate me into settling for a ridiculously low compensation figure which I refused.
The judge was clearly not impressed with Wrens and issued them with a County Court Judgement (CCJ). The Judge found Wrens to have acted in breach of the term (implied under the Supply of Goods and Services Act 1982) in failing to provide a service, namely the fitting of a kitchen, with the necessary care and skill required and within a reasonable time frame and failing to demonstrate a duty of care. Wrens were also found guilty under Sales of Goods Act for the supply of poor quality materials not fit for purpose. The Judge proceeded to award well in excess of a thousand pounds in compensation.
If Wrens have failed you, do not be afraid to take legal action. This is a truly vile organisation.
Some advice and warning to anyone still thinking of buying their dream kitchen from Wrens.
Firstly, DON’T, go elsewhere!
Secondly, if you really have been taken in by their sales patter then beware they will not entertain any complaints until you have signed the completion certificate (where you have used their fitters). The minute you sign the completion certificate, your finance agreement will commence (if you have bought on finance) and Wrens will receive full payment from Barclays. From that point onwards, you are on your own. Good luck with resolving any complaints.
You have been warned. DO NOT under any circumstances sign the completion certificate or anything unless you are 100% satisfied and make sure you read ALL the small print BEFORE you enter into the agreement.

Have you received the money from Wren

Mars99

photome wrote: »

Have you received the money from Wren

Yes, they paid.They had no choice as there was a CCJ against them and this could easily have been enforced via bailiffs.

MothballsWallet

Wren are regular advertisers on our local independent radio station, Free Radio.

And I'm not surprised the customers' Facebook group has been closed at least once before - Zuckerberg (specifically) buckled to pressure from the Turkish government after declaring Facebook a free speech site where people could post comment without fear of censorship.

fossil1

My partner and I bought a kitchen from Wren and it was delivered on in October 2017. We sourced our own fitter to install it, which took 3-4 days (he's worked on friends and families houses, so we know how good he is) and he advised us that he didn’t think the quality was up to much. So upon hearing this we removed all the protective plastic that was on the cupboards, drawers and panels covering the kitchen, and discovered issue after issue. These included chips, shoddy paintwork I.e. white lines of paint showing on the edge of the dark matt grey paint colour we went for, bobbles in the paint etc. But the last straw was when we went to clean the kitchen and paint literally wiped off a panel.

(Oh, and in the midst of all this we discovered that the brand new oven was faulty, and they tried to get us to repair it instead of replacing it, which we told them was not happening as we had not used it and we were within 28 days. Only when we quoted the consumer rights act did they replace it.)

Long story short, we have given Wren umpteen opportunities to replace the substandard goods, we are now onto delivery number 11 (I think? I’ve seriously lost count), day 94, and we still don’t have a kitchen free from fault.

We have rejected the kitchen under the Consumer rights act 2015 for a full refund due to substandard goods and goods not fit for purpose in some instances, and we originally requested the rejection within 28 days, but they sent out an installation manager to try and 'rectify' the situation (we now realise this was a delay tactic.)

However, we went on to issue a formal rejection mid December as they continued to send out damaged goods with QC inspected plastered all over it to try and replace the original damaged goods, but they are saying we are unable to reject it. They change what the reason for this is, which has ranged from:

• Us accepting the kitchen because we installed it - though we pointed out that we were not aware of these issues until after installation.
• Us accepting the kitchen because we fitted our own worktop. However, we did not anticipate the issues we have experienced and got this fitted within a week of the kitchen being fitted. But regardless of this, us accepting another contract has no bearing on the kitchen contract - which we have advised Wren of.
• The claim is disproportionate to the remaining issues. So they are saying because we only need 2 more items and then the kitchen will be complete, that we are not allowed to reject it. Which is absurd because we rejected it long before we got to this point. Plus, we don’t actually feel like we can use the kitchen because we don’t feel confident in it after seeing paint coming off!

In the midst of all this we opened up a section 75 claim through Barclays as we got the finance through them, who we feel have seriously failed us. We have had 3 different claim handlers due to staff leaving the department, and we have basically been forgotten about as a result.

We opened the section 75 claim with them in November 2017, and we are led to believe that they have 8 weeks to deal with this claim. We are now past this 8 week mark, but they are not providing us with a decision nor a timeframe as to when this will be.

We feel we are at the mercy of Barclays making their decision, but they have advised us over the phone that they have other claims open with Wren that have gone on a lot longer than ours, so we’re not sure on what are we meant to do with that information. Oh, and it's also become apparent that Barclays have a whole department to deal with Wren claims, which says it all really.

We are unable to move into our first home together as we can’t lay the floor until the kitchen is fitted, and we feel that Wren are in breach of the consumer rights act as well as trading standards, and are purposely delaying us past the six month mark so as to make this refund process more difficult for us.

Has anybody else had this kind of situation and managed to get the refund? I now realise how many people have had issues with Wren and I am kicking myself for not researching them better, but it would be good to know if anyone waited for the section 75 claim, or just went through the ombudsman?

Barclays have advised us that if we go to the furniture ombudsman that they will no longer deal with the claim, but then I feel like I should be reporting Barclays to the financial ombudsman for how they have dealt with our claim, or lack of.

I can honestly say this has been the most stressful thing I've ever gone through.

photome

fossil. I know i keep reating myself but have you joined the wrenkitchendisasters facebook group where there are many people in the same situation as you

fossil1

I'm not on Facebook

photome

fossil1 wrote: »

I'm not on Facebook

It maybe worth joining there are over 1000 members (there were many more in the previous group that wren got facebook to shut down) many in same position as you and many have posted their experiences of writing to their MP and going to court