Howdens / Benchmarx / Wren / DIY kitchen

n8i5

Hi all,

I need to get a new kitchen and had several quotes. I still can't decide and feel like I don't know enough about the business/technical details, hence why I'd appreciate any advice.
I went and opened trade accounts with Benchmarx/TP and Howdens thinking there's a standard trade discount, but I've been told that the discount depends on your account history. Is that right?

The Wren design is exactly as I want it and the designer is a very nice guy listening to everything I ask and finding solutions for me. The range is Infinity gloss, 18mm. Price £7300. Bonus that they offer interest free over 3 years as we're doing a very big renovation and any credit facility is welcomed. However I'm put off by the stories I hear about anything missing taking weeks to arrive or poor after sales customer service.

Benchmarx quoted £8900, Holborn gloss range.

Howdens quoted £8400, Clerkenwell gloss range.

DIY kitchens come up at £8150, in Luca gloss range, 22mm. 

They all say that price is going up in Jan and it doesn't help that Howdens and Benchmarx are now closed for another week.
Shall I ask for a reprice from Howdens/Benchmarx under my builder's account? Do I have a chance of better prices? 
Why is DIY's price so high? Thought they are the cheapest compared to big ones? Any way I can get them down? I am shocked that a walk in larder is £1500 at DIY but the others have it at around £650!
Is there really any difference between the quality of the Wren/Benchmarx/Howdens ranges?

How should I make my choice and get the best price please? Any advice greatly welcomed. Happy New Year and thank you!

scottiescott

Can only speak for Howdens. 
Repeatedly ignored my request for breakdown of costs (sink, hob, door handles etc).
If buying from them again would only take the cabinets and source the rest myself.
Much cheaper that way, in my experience at least.

chrisw

scottiescott said:

Can only speak for Howdens. 
Repeatedly ignored my request for breakdown of costs (sink, hob, door handles etc).
If buying from them again would only take the cabinets and source the rest myself.
Much cheaper that way, in my experience at least.

My experience as well. However, I did go and get a quote from B&Q which was about £2000 cheaper and Howdens agreed to match it. 

The key advantage of Howdens for me was.that it was very easy to pop in to swap any damaged pieces or make changes such as swapping a large cupboard for a slightly smaller one. I've still no idea what I paid per unit though.

n8i5

scottiescott said:

Can only speak for Howdens. 
Repeatedly ignored my request for breakdown of costs (sink, hob, door handles etc).
If buying from them again would only take the cabinets and source the rest myself.
Much cheaper that way, in my experience at least.

Thank you; that’s the plan, to only buy the units. I’m sourcing all appliances separately.  

n8i5

chrisw said:

scottiescott said:

Can only speak for Howdens. 
Repeatedly ignored my request for breakdown of costs (sink, hob, door handles etc).
If buying from them again would only take the cabinets and source the rest myself.
Much cheaper that way, in my experience at least.

My experience as well. However, I did go and get a quote from B&Q which was about £2000 cheaper and Howdens agreed to match it. 

The key advantage of Howdens for me was.that it was very easy to pop in to swap any damaged pieces or make changes such as swapping a large cupboard for a slightly smaller one. I've still no idea what I paid per unit though.

B&Q didn’t even bother to come back to me with the quote! Plus they don’t do the corner larder I need so the others wouldn’t price match as it’s not like for like 😔. 

Wickes were also atrocious and gave me the highest quote surprisingly. 

Racky_Roo

Check if they come ready built or flat pack. Saves so much time they come ready to fit. I have friends who have had Wren kitchens and the kitchens are fine, it's the fitters they have had issues with so if you're fitting it yourself then it should be fine. 

Worth checking out John Lewis too, their kitchens aren't too dissimilar in price to Wren and come ready built. I got one of their value range ones a few years ago and it was fantastic quality.

n8i5

Racky_Roo said:

Check if they come ready built or flat pack. Saves so much time they come ready to fit. I have friends who have had Wren kitchens and the kitchens are fine, it's the fitters they have had issues with so if you're fitting it yourself then it should be fine. 

Worth checking out John Lewis too, their kitchens aren't too dissimilar in price to Wren and come ready built. I got one of their value range ones a few years ago and it was fantastic quality.

Thank you, I hadn’t considered John Lewis. 

I’m only looking at ready built options. B&Q was the only outlier but they haven’t come back to me anyway and it’s been 4 weeks. 

casper_gutman

Check the specifications of the kitchens you've received quotes for. Based on quotes we had (admittedly for a very different style of kitchen - shaker-style with solid wood doors), my feeling is that the DIY kitchen may well be of higher spec for the prices to be so similar to Howdens and Benchmarx....

n8i5

casper_gutman said:

Check the specifications of the kitchens you've received quotes for. Based on quotes we had (admittedly for a very different style of kitchen - shaker-style with solid wood doors), my feeling is that the DIY kitchen may well be of higher spec for the prices to be so similar to Howdens and Benchmarx....

Yes, that is correct, DIY have them in 22mm doors, Howdens and Benchmarx 19mm, Wren 18mm but none of them have another option. My impression was that they’d still all do price match (except Wren). I don’t have to have 22mm doors but DIY don’t offer anything else. This still wouldn’t justify a price more than double for one unit, which is why I’m confused. 

BUFF

n8i5 said:

Thank you, I hadn’t considered John Lewis. 

. 

J Lewis kitchens used to be made by Mereway. If they still are it's a good manufacturer.

targaid

Please, please, please, don't touch Wren.

We have had six months of misery (so far) with Wren. Not one delivery has been right and we've had enough replacements to do another complete kitchen. Replacements are often in worse condition than the originals. Have discovered that Infinity gloss is prone to de-laminating after a few years. They lie about everything and their design resulted in integrated fridge freezer that didn't match the doors so needs to open fridge and freezer every time. According to them that's our fault for wanting high cabinets.

See "Wren Kitchen Disasters" on Facebook to see the issues many, many people have suffered with them.