Wren Kitchens - My Review

davewilliams59

Had a quote for an 'Owen' oak kitchen from Wren last week. On their website it gives an estimate of price for a kitchen based on size - ours will be fairly large and the estimated price for that is £2500. We were quoted over £9000 for ours, and that's without fitting!!! I appreciate we'll be having built in appliances, but the difference is ridiculous and nearly 4x as much as the advertised price.
We obviously haven't agreed to that price as it's too expensive. We love the kitchen though - any tips for getting the price down??

Al_Ross

Had a new kitchen supplied and fitted from Wrens last Year many.many problems,got it finished eventually

But several months later we noticed the 2 curved cupboard doors were not closing properly.This gradually got worse and when closed there is now a gap of nearly an inch on both doors.

We contacted Wrens and after many calls to them over a period of 4 months they eventually sent their fitter back.He tried adjusting ,but this did not help. He said their was a manufacturing problem and to speak to Wrens,

Spoke to Wrens manager 5 weeks ago, he said he would order 2 new doors and this would take 2 weeks.

Waited 4 weeks and called the manager but he could not remember this ,he said he would call me back,forward 1 week still no call back from him.

It is over 5 months and at least a dozen calls since I first reported this problem.Is this acceptable customer service.

I feel I should now name and shame the Store !

Wrens Kitchens,Boulevard Retail Park Links Road, Aberdeen.

andy060181

WOW. I joined this forum to specifically look into Wren kitchen reviews and am so glad I did. After visiting their showroom in S!!!!horpe we had a designer come to our house to do a design and give us a quote. Well I may as well have designed it myself. This guy really had no idea whatsoever how to design a working kitchen. I won't go into all the errors but placing an integrated dishwasher in front of the stop tap isn't the best idea. But what made me join this site was to see if other people had been shocked by the price. I originally looked at prices on their website and expected approx £4000. Well it turned out to be £8500. I nearly fell off my chair. We'd had quotes from a local independent supplier for much less than that. And this wasn't even including fitting which was a ridiculous £3000.
I'm sure when this company first came out they made a big deal about exposing the pricing tricks other DIY stores used and now they seem to be doing exactly the same.
I won't be going near WREN after my experience and reading what I have on this forum. I've decided to go for the local supplier as have heard really good things about them.

wealdroam

andy060181 wrote: »

WOW. I joined this forum to specifically look into Wren kitchen reviews and am so glad I did. After visiting their showroom in S!!!!horpe we had a designer come to our house to do a design and give us a quote. Well I may as well have designed it myself. This guy really had no idea whatsoever how to design a working kitchen. I won't go into all the errors but placing an integrated dishwasher in front of the stop tap isn't the best idea. But what made me join this site was to see if other people had been shocked by the price. I originally looked at prices on their website and expected approx £4000. Well it turned out to be £8500. I nearly fell off my chair. We'd had quotes from a local independent supplier for much less than that. And this wasn't even including fitting which was a ridiculous £3000.
I'm sure when this company first came out they made a big deal about exposing the pricing tricks other DIY stores used and now they seem to be doing exactly the same.
I won't be going near WREN after my experience and reading what I have on this forum. I've decided to go for the local supplier as have heard really good things about them.

But surely that is what getting a quote is all about?

The idea is that you ask a number of people to quote and you choose the most suitable.
Clearly you have decided, maybe reasonably, that Wren are not for you.

Also, I am quite surprised that elsewhere you tell us that you are a kitchen installer...

andy060181 wrote: »

As a kitchen installer I would...

A competitor of Wren perhaps?

andy060181

Wealdroam I am actually a joiner, perhaps stating kitchen installer wasn't a broad enough description in my other post. I've fitted a couple of dozen kitchens for most of the DIY stores in the past but it's not my bread and butter. I did genuinely go to Wren for a quote for my kitchen as a friend of mine had one a couple of years ago which she purchased online, and the price was unbeatable. Obviously with their expansion they have increased their prices so they are more in line with other large retailers.
I understand what you're saying about that's what getting quotes is for, but the point I was making was regarding the poor design and the pricing tricks which they are employing, as originally they were going to expose the tricks other suppliers use. I forgot to mention in my original post that the price included a 60% discount.
However, I understand what you were saying and am sure people will make their on minds up where to purchase their kitchens.

sandie0

So it would seem I am another person who has entered into this nightmare. I ordered an OWEN kitchen from Wren Aintree in May 2012. The kitchen arrived on time on the 4th July, with a number of doors missing and replaced by temporary doors ( with stickers stating the proper doors will be with me in 2 weeks), not sure why they couldnt just wait and send the correct order. The dishwasher arrived without the integrated door. Due to the poor design (by the Wren Kitchen Designer) the wall unit was too big for the room, the side opening corner unit could not be used as it was "designed" to open onto a step!. The wrong sized integrated fridge freezer unit was delivered. My fitter has been onto them and had a go at both Manager and Designer who suggested he cut the units down to fit ! he told them that he was a professional fitter and couldn't believe they were suggesting he acts unprofessionally. I have been told the missing units will be with me by the end of the week, but based on others experience I doubt it. I deeply regret going into their showroom but would have hoped with so much negative comments they would have improved. Initially I recommended them to friends but I will now be advising them to stay clear.

dave_dogma

And a slightly different experience...

April 2011 we went to see what they had on their "open day warehouse clearance sale". Didn't expect to buy anything, dragged by wife to have a look. She worked out what units we need by using online ikea kitchen application the night before.
Ended up buying a full kitchen with a sink + taps, box full of door handles (still got these), hob and oven... £450. Units all assembled and in boxes, ceramic sink (franke by villeroy and boch). Oven was a display unit.
After asking nicely, they delivered it all in their van (they didn't have to do this) as we live 2 minutes away from their warehouse.
Oven didn't work... returned it to the warehouse and got a refund straight away.
We wanted some extra units, spoke to Customer services who said no problems at the same price as warehouse clearance... they didn't have to do this.
I'm told, by wife, that she was amazed how good the customer service was (i think she called them 3 or 4 times) and how helpful the warehouse staff were. It was a very "personal" experience (ie they were not robots/drones) and they will go out of their way to sort things out.
This was Howden warehouse. Did not go to the showroom and did not deal with sales. Didn't deal with fitters, did it myself.
The best (but stresfull, bit of a mad dash everyone grabbing everything) kitchen buying experience + by far the best after-sales experience. My previous kitchen was from B&Q and that was alright as well.
Thank you

irenenurse

just had a wren kitchen fitted & its great, from the planner/salesman to quality & delivery went exactly to plan & we live up a wee private road so they could't deliver using their usual lorry & arranged delivery by white van man in 2 trips. even got a bouquet ! sorry to hear problems others have had but sure thats not the norm

socrates

And 2 more new posters praising Wren

That reminds of a thread that ran a couple of years ago

Al_Ross

Looks like Wrens Head Office have logged on to praise themselves.

I had many ,many problems during instal and 6 months later 2 cupboard doors had to be replaced.

Took over 7 months to get these doors replaced with satisfactory ones - no apology - no bouquet of flowers !