Warranty issues

turbotash

Had the kitchen installed 5 years ago with a 25 year guarantee, we have 30 doors in chalk white an island with 4 doors and two curved doors in dark grey and another slim unit with 2 doors in dark grey.
the door finish is now delaminating and so need replacing, Wren have said that they will replace them but they don’t do the same colours anymore and they don’t do curved door’s anymore, this means an awful lot of work and a total redesign of the island with curved doors, they have said they will contribute up to £920 for the kitchen to be ripped apart and rebuilt with colours that we don’t like. The cheapest quote so far is £1300. So after weeks of design and choosing colours for our very expensive dream kitchen we now have to have something that is barely a compromise, any idea how to get compensation ? How should I threaten or bargain with them ?

HillStreetBlues

To know what you are / aren't entitled to under the 25 year guarantee would need to see that guarantee.

If they don't do curved doors  or the colour  then you need to pick something, you can't have what they haven't got.
Hopefully you can find a new colour that you do like.

DullGreyGuy

turbotash said:

Had the kitchen installed 5 years ago with a 25 year guarantee, we have 30 doors in chalk white an island with 4 doors and two curved doors in dark grey and another slim unit with 2 doors in dark grey.
the door finish is now delaminating and so need replacing, Wren have said that they will replace them but they don’t do the same colours anymore and they don’t do curved door’s anymore, this means an awful lot of work and a total redesign of the island with curved doors, they have said they will contribute up to £920 for the kitchen to be ripped apart and rebuilt with colours that we don’t like. The cheapest quote so far is £1300. So after weeks of design and choosing colours for our very expensive dream kitchen we now have to have something that is barely a compromise, any idea how to get compensation ? How should I threaten or bargain with them ?

Warranties are above and beyond your statutory rights and can cover as much or as little as the provider wants. Its not uncommon for things with long warranties to explicitly state that colours, parts etc may become obsolete during the warranty and what they will do in those circumstances. For many it will be as simple as giving you the cash equivalent of the last sale price for the item and so by the sounds of it they are being more generous than the majority.

First step is to read your warranty docs and see what they say.

With the kitchen being 5 years old you are pushing up against the limit of your statutory rights (or may be over them if oyu are in Scotland). It would certainly be a bit of an argument if your rights were in relation to individual parts bought or the whole invoice.

MattMattMattUK

turbotash said:

Had the kitchen installed 5 years ago with a 25 year guarantee, we have 30 doors in chalk white an island with 4 doors and two curved doors in dark grey and another slim unit with 2 doors in dark grey.
the door finish is now delaminating and so need replacing, Wren have said that they will replace them but they don’t do the same colours anymore and they don’t do curved door’s anymore, this means an awful lot of work and a total redesign of the island with curved doors, they have said they will contribute up to £920 for the kitchen to be ripped apart and rebuilt with colours that we don’t like. The cheapest quote so far is £1300. So after weeks of design and choosing colours for our very expensive dream kitchen we now have to have something that is barely a compromise

When you say delaminating, do you mean that the layers of the doors are splitting apart, or do you mean that the paint is coming off? 

turbotash said:

they have said they will contribute up to £920 for the kitchen to be ripped apart and rebuilt with colours that we don’t like. The cheapest quote so far is £1300. 

How much did the whole kitchen cost? Have they quoted for doing the repair work themselves or expecting you to sort it? Are they supplying the parts FOC and the £1,300 is just for the works?

rubbishwren

Hi, I’d like to comment on these posts. I’m livid with Wren. We bought a kitchen 10 years ago and I thought we had a 15 year guarantee. We bought tall units and bases etc in high gloss. After about 5 years they started to ‘delaminate’, the coating peeling or coming away from the doors and everything you could physically see. Side panels split when coating come away etc. I had a shaker kitchen, so the corners inside the door pattern bubbled and lifted. After a strong conversation with Wren, they offered to send all the panelling, doors, fillers etc free of charge but only offered to ‘maybe’ help with fitting costs as we didn’t use their fitters. We accepted the fittings they offered. Now we’re in 2023 and it happened again. We were told the original doors were wrapped and the second replacements were painted. On delivery of the 1st replacements the delivery guy said it was a known issue in the trade and B&Q had the same issue. So this time I sent a VERY strong complaint. I received a call to give me 2 options. 1- receive all the items for the kitchen again and £200 toward fitting or 2- buy me out of my guarantee for £290 and leave them without any more guarantees.  I since found the doors only had 10 year guarantee and they run out this month. Oh by the way they don’t do my kitchen style anymore. They do it in Matt, so I have chosen different doors altogether but they are still finishing guarantee this month. We had tried to just replace the doors the first time but the panelling had got very bad, we were trying to replace them bit by bit. All my kitchen is fitted together eg, no spaces. All spaces are filled with their wood panel fillers, which have separated. They are also attached to the ceiling by their wood fillers. I do not trust this company, their customer service is horrendous. I wish I’d took it further but my kitchen looks like a bomb  site and I wanted it fixing. I’ve warned anyone I know to think twice or check their kitchen closely and complain early.

born_again

 I since found the doors only had 10 year guarantee and they run out this month. Oh by the way they don’t do my kitchen style anymore. They do it in Matt, so I have chosen different doors altogether but they are still finishing guarantee this month.

Guarantee does not reset when any work/replacement is done.
It is from the point of purchase/fitting.

rubbishwren

Guarantee does not reset when any work/replacement is done.
It is from the point of purchase/fitting.

When it’s a problem their end it should reset the guarantee for so long. I’m onto my 3rd replacement. If this happens again, I have to get a new kitchen and it certainly won’t be Wren. Waste of a business

born_again

Why?
In that case you could end up with someone finding a small fault of having a warranty that is never ending.

Remember warranty is over & above your consumer rights (6 years). Companies do not have to provide one. 
So that 10 years is very generous 👍

rubbishwren

In my case, my whole outer kitchen ( all you can see) peeled away twice. I’m talking  40 doors, drawers etc. This is a massive fault of manufacturing and I’m out of pocket to redo kitchen and all the cosmetic repairs. All I did was buy my kitchen from Wren, I didn’t ask/want any of this

sheramber

You are claiming under warranty  which is supplied by the manufacturer.

Look into your Consumer Rights.which are against the retailer, which will be Wren if you bought direct from them.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/contents/enacted

Alderbank

sheramber said:

You are claiming under warranty  which is supplied by the manufacturer.

Look into your Consumer Rights.which are against the retailer, which will be Wren if you bought direct from them.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/15/contents/enacted

Fair point, the OP doesn't actually say they bought from Wren.
However I don't think Wren sell via retailers, only direct (hence their strapline 'We cut out the middlemen!')

Any refund under consumer rights will be minimal after 9 years use of a product (wrapped MDF kitchen cabinet doors) which is considered by the trade to have an average life of less than 10 years.

The OP received a full new set of doors at 5 years and is now offered 'all the items for the kitchen again and £200'. That is far more than they would get under Consumer Rights.