Wren kitchen issues

zahidf

I'm hoping you will be able to help!

We bought a kitchen from Wren in Dec 2021 to be fitted middle of Feb 2022. We got a quote from their installer in 2021 which we agreed with as it was under 3000 pounds. 

The contract says we can cancel up to 28 days before the original fitting date

At the end of Jan 2022 , less than 28 days before the delivery and installation date, they tell us the original installer can't do it do to 'personal reasons '.They tried to fob us off with a dry fit, which we rejected as we didn't want the faf of getting gas or electricity people. Also, we specifically said when we signed the finance agreement we wanted Wren to deal with all the installation to include electrics. A fridge without electricity is useless.

They suggested a couple of other installers. There quote were 3 times as much as the optical installer, which we simply could not afford. One of them also invited us to pay in cash to avoid VAT

We eventually got a new date end of May for the original installer. 

However, we simply do not trust Wren now. And we are worried about their business practices. There were a number of things the showroom said as to fitting and costs (the brochure guide prices are much lower for installation than the installers they get to us) to get us to sign, and there attitude post signing is very different

Is there a way out of the contract? I was going to go through the complaints and ombudsman, but time is tight. I want to ask for a restoration of the cancellation period within the contract, as the delay was not our fault but theirs and their contractors.

pinkshoes

Read what your contract you signed says. They often have the cost of the kitchen and the fitting separately so if you get messed around by the fitter (happens a lot at the moment) then you are still stuck with their kitchen.

I think I'd be telling them that end of May is NOT acceptable and you want your original fitter to fit the kitchen in February as agreed, or one of their other fitters to fit it ASAP and they can pay any extra.

Why are you using their fitters? You'd be much better off using a local independent kitchen fitter who comes with a good reputation.

TELLIT01

'Why use Wren fitters' is really irrelevant at this point.  There is no way the OP will be able to get a good, independant fitter at short notice.  They really are stuck with Wren.  They need to press the point that they either get installation at the date and price originally agree or they want to cancel the entire contract.

zahidf

TELLIT01 said:

'Why use Wren fitters' is really irrelevant at this point.  There is no way the OP will be able to get a good, independant fitter at short notice.  They really are stuck with Wren.  They need to press the point that they either get installation at the date and price originally agree or they want to cancel the entire contract.

Yeah we basically wanted it as smooth as possible and they've put a massive spanner in things. The installations team was super useless, just saying 'we are only obligated to do a dry fit' . They did not say that in the showroom!

pinkshoes

zahidf said:

Yeah we basically wanted it as smooth as possible and they've put a massive spanner in things. The installations team was super useless, just saying 'we are only obligated to do a dry fit' . They did not say that in the showroom!

Well they clearly put you on the spot and under pressure to accept an unfair alternative, so I would be on the phone to them saying you want it fitted in February for the price agreed otherwise you would like to cancel the entire order, as waiting until the end of May is unreasonable.

I would then look elsewhere for a kitchen. We bought from DIYKitchens and installed it ourselves, then their quartz worktop fitters came and measured up and fitted the worktop. Lots of YouTube videos showing you how to do it, and it took us about 3 days to fit a "medium" size kitchen.

We paid £11,000 in total for an entire kitchen including worktops, double oven, dishwasher, induction hob, electrics (new consumer unit needed), radiators, plumbing, flooring, plastering, taps, cupboard handles, sink etc... 

We got a quote from Magnet for an almost identical kitchen and it came in about £5k more.