Kitchen Help - howdens, wren, Betta Living or Homebase

Mrs_SK

I hope someone can help me out here.

We been looking for a kitchen lately andwould like to know if any one has any experience of these companies that wehave short listed. what people think of these companies - quality of kitchens,price, customer service etc

Your help and advice would be much appreciated.

Ionkontrol

Try doing a search for the names you have mentioned. They have all been covered before.

katejo

Mrs_SK wrote: »

I hope someone can help me out here.

We been looking for a kitchen lately andwould like to know if any one has any experience of these companies that wehave short listed. what people think of these companies - quality of kitchens,price, customer service etc

Your help and advice would be much appreciated.

Don't contact Betta Living at all. I requested a brochure by email last August. The brochure took about 3 weeks to come and meanwhile they rang me 3-4 times a day on my home and mobile phones for several weeks. You had to supply phone numbers on their online form to get a brochure. There was never anyone there on the occasions that I did pick the phone up and they never left messages. I made an official complaint about them and did not consider using them after that.

There are lots of complaints about Wren customer services on MSE.

I am currently in the process of getting a quote from Howdens.

caringa

We refurbish properties and always use Howdens. In our opinion their products are well made and look good without costing the earth. You will need a trade account with them (unless they have changed their policy!)

katejo

caringa wrote: »

We refurbish properties and always use Howdens. In our opinion their products are well made and look good without costing the earth. You will need a trade account with them (unless they have changed their policy!)

You can find a fitter who will order from Howdens for you. I am in the process of getting a quote from them.

CKdesigner

Dear Mrs SK

Please have a look for a local independent kitchen specialist as I am sure you would find them to be more design and customer service lead than sales lead. I am also sure you would find a better quality of kitchen that would represent much better value than the national retailers you have listed.

Recommendations from family and friends is always a good place to start or look on quality appliance manufacturers (Miele, Siemens and Neff) websites for local suppliers of their products as generally the retailer would have to be of a reasonable standard to have an account.

Also have a look for a kitchen specialist in your area that does German kitchens like, Schueller, Hacker, Pronorm etc.

Good luck

CK

cddc

Lord knows there are enough threads along these lines on here,but out of those listed, Wren for product quality (though service and delivery accuracy can be a bit of a lottery), Howdens for the greatest likelihood of ease of experience (though get someone else to design it).

I cannot think of any reason or possible grounds for in any way recommending either of the other two.

I think if you use the search function on here and type in the company names, you will find most of what you wish to know.

My real answer to the question would probably be, in the true tradition of multiple choice......None of the above.....;)

andy060181

Mrs SK

As a kitchen installer I would have to agree with CK Designer. Whilst these large companies do have a place in the kitchen market you really cannot beat using a local family run business that has been established for many years. They rely heavily on recommendations so customer service is very important to them. The problem with the big stores is there are too many people to deal with. From sales staff, to designers, to fitters. If problems arise then you are stuck with an 0845 number and the process of having problems rectified can be very hong and drawn out. Ask around your friends and family and try to get 3 quotes from local suppliers. I also find that smaller companies can more than compete with prices from the big stores.
Out of the companies you named Howdens would be the best and I would personally stay as far away from Wren kitchens as possible. Poor designers, poor sales staff, poor organisation. Shame because their product is actually not bad. A kitchen needs a personal touch and is not something in my opinion that can be done successfully on a national level.
Look at MFI, MOBEN ETC.

cddc

Nothing wrong in saying local independent is good, they mostly are..but the idea that you cannot get a personal service from a national chain is erroneous. I work for a national chain and my fitting teams are local independent installers who are subcontractors and I know all of them personally.
Any problems that may arise are normally sorted out between myself the customer and the installers, and the service is as local and personal as that of an independent.

Not saying this is true of all sheds and all branches of my company even but it is more common than you might think.

Where independents do have a big advantage is in their ability to supply a greater variety of cabinets sizes or styles than a shed for those rooms that do not conform to the norm. Different heights of wall cabinets for example. If you have low ceilings for instance you would be far better off going to an independent. I, and most sheds can only offer shorter wall units in one or two widths, whereas an indy would be able to offer a much larger variety of sizes.

However you would not neccesarily be getting any better of quality of product for the same money, or in all cases a better service........

mariaeli33

CKdesigner wrote: »

Dear Mrs SK

Please have a look for a local independent kitchen specialist as I am sure you would find them to be more design and customer service lead than sales lead. I am also sure you would find a better quality of kitchen that would represent much better value than the national retailers you have listed.

Recommendations from family and friends is always a good place to start or look on quality appliance manufacturers (Miele, Siemens and Neff) websites for local suppliers of their products as generally the retailer would have to be of a reasonable standard to have an account.

Also have a look for a kitchen specialist in your area that does German kitchens like, Schueller, Hacker, Pronorm etc.

Good luck

CK

fully agree with this, ive done my kitchen as well as helped do my parents house up and found smaller/ local companies to be more helpful, the big firms just want your money and are interested in sales