Can I get compensation for poor service and mental distress

RSD7a

We purchased a Wren kitchen in March 2022, paid in full, (almost £20k) at their insistence prior to installation which began on 2nd May 2022.

The installation was poor and sloppy. (Wren selected the installer) leaving over 20 issues to be rectified. The rectification dragged on for 7 months. New electrical goods were damaged due to faulty installation. The doors of a corner unit proved to be incapable of being adjusted to stop the doors clashing with each other and eventually had to be replaced and rehung by a more competent fitter. 

It took almost 7 months of persistence to get Wren to fully respond to these issues. The initiative always coming from us. Our phone calls and emails were mainly ignored. 

After signing off on the kitchen on 24th November 2022 we sent a very detailed complaint to Wren, (30 pages including ignored emails, site reports etc) asking them to make good on some promises, notably a 50% refund on value of microwave and oven due to damaged doors on installation, and a refund for unused end panels which we had paid for. (Over £1300 in total).

We also requested a 15% refund (almost £3k) of the total paid for the kitchen  as compensation for poor service our mental distress plus a full apology.

We have had no written response from Wren to this. They have however returned over £1300 to our credit card which corresponds to the refund promises that they made.

The compensation element of our claim/complaint has been ignored. The poor/dismissive/non existent customer service is in fact our main beef. They promise a Dream Kitchen. Ours was a nightmare from beginning to end.


I'm assuming Wren will not now voluntarily offer any more money.

My questions are

1. Is my claim for compensation for poor service justified in law?
2. How to proceed now?

Thanks for reading all this 

powerful_Rogue

RSD7a said:

We purchased a Wren kitchen in March 2022, paid in full, (almost £20k) at their insistence prior to installation which began on 2nd May 2022.

The installation was poor and sloppy. (Wren selected the installer) leaving over 20 issues to be rectified. The rectification dragged on for 7 months. New electrical goods were damaged due to faulty installation. The doors of a corner unit proved to be incapable of being adjusted to stop the doors clashing with each other and eventually had to be replaced and rehung by a more competent fitter. 

It took almost 7 months of persistence to get Wren to fully respond to these issues. The initiative always coming from us. Our phone calls and emails were mainly ignored. 

After signing off on the kitchen on 24th November 2022 we sent a very detailed complaint to Wren, (30 pages including ignored emails, site reports etc) asking them to make good on some promises, notably a 50% refund on value of microwave and oven due to damaged doors on installation, and a refund for unused end panels which we had paid for. (Over £1300 in total).

We also requested a 15% refund (almost £3k) of the total paid for the kitchen  as compensation for poor service our mental distress plus a full apology.

We have had no written response from Wren to this. They have however returned over £1300 to our credit card which corresponds to the refund promises that they made.

The compensation element of our claim/complaint has been ignored. The poor/dismissive/non existent customer service is in fact our main beef. They promise a Dream Kitchen. Ours was a nightmare from beginning to end.


I'm assuming Wren will not now voluntarily offer any more money.

My questions are

1. Is my claim for compensation for poor service justified in law?
2. How to proceed now?

Thanks for reading all this 

What quantifiable losses do you have? Why did you sign off when some items were damaged such as the microwave and oven?

Small claims court will be the way forward.

user1977

Did your 30 page complaint include medical reports about your mental distress?

RSD7a

Thanks. What do you mean by quantifiable in this case please? It took almost 7 months for them to install the kitchen. Should I count the number of emails sent?  Estimate the hours spent on chasing them? That kind of thing? Anything else you can you suggest please?

powerful_Rogue

If going to the Small Claims Court, you will need to place a monetary value on the claim and justify it.

eskbanker

RSD7a said:

We also requested a 15% refund (almost £3k) of the total paid for the kitchen  as compensation for poor service our mental distress plus a full apology.

How exactly did you calculate this?

sheramber

We purchased a Wren kitchen in March 2022, paid in full, (almost £20k) at their insistence prior to installation which began on 2nd May 2022.

You could have gone elsewhere. You did not need to buy from them.

pinkshoes

RSD7a said:

Thanks. What do you mean by quantifiable in this case please? It took almost 7 months for them to install the kitchen. Should I count the number of emails sent?  Estimate the hours spent on chasing them? That kind of thing? Anything else you can you suggest please?

Yes! You need to prove that you have lost out on £XXXX due to their poor service.

So 50 emails sent at say 10 minutes per email = 500 minutes. Charge them at say £12/hour (not sure what the acceptable rate is).

Same for any phone calls. Add up the total time spent phoning them and bill them for the time.

Also any time having to take off work for things to be redone.

You can't claim for mental distress unless you have a doctors report proving it. This is not America. 

PS - Wren are awful!

Wonka_2

pinkshoes said:

RSD7a said:

Thanks. What do you mean by quantifiable in this case please? It took almost 7 months for them to install the kitchen. Should I count the number of emails sent?  Estimate the hours spent on chasing them? That kind of thing? Anything else you can you suggest please?

So 50 emails sent at say 10 minutes per email = 500 minutes. Charge them at say £12/hour (not sure what the acceptable rate is).

Seems a sensible calculation - not sure c.£100 is the level of compo the OP's looking for though 

TELLIT01

No help to the OP but Wren do not have a great reputation.  A family friend is a builder, was due to install a Wren kitchen the following day and had a call about 6pm from the house owner to say Wren had just called to say the kitchen wasn't being delivered and they couldn't say when it would be.

RSD7a

Thanks for the time taken writing these helpful replies and pointers. 

As I understand it, the consumer Rites act, when purchasing services says suppliers should offer

reasonable care and skill, 

within a reasonable time,

at a reasonable price. 

Surely a  seven month timescale to install a kitchen is by no means reasonable.

Aside from calculating time spent chasing them up to finish the job, which while it adds up isn't going to be that significant, is there no other way of prising an ex gracia payment out of them in recognition of their truly appalling service and the disdain with which we were treated once our money was in their pockets?