Wren Kitchens - have they improved?

JHoney · 10 November 2018 at 12:19AM

My Mum is very keen on a Wren Kitchen she's seen in the showroom, but I've read the terrible reviews - and saw the Rogue Traders about them and I'm having terrible misgivings. I'm just wondering, in the 6 months since RT, have they made changes? Has the customer service improved? We have a kitchen fitter lined up that isn't Wren, but there were problems reported with both supply and customer service as well as fitting issues. Any recent experience/feedback would be appreciated.

photome · 10 November 2018 at 8:34AM

there have been many facebook groups with hundreds of horror stories, but Wren keep getting them closed down.

I would stay away

what kitchens does your fitter normally fit, fitters can usually get discounts from their normal supplier

Browntoa · 10 November 2018 at 8:46AM

Friend had a wren kitchen fitted

Units delivered on time , no missing parts

Their own fitter was impressed with the very detailed installation drawings.

Couple of issues with door defects but pictures supplied to wren and replacement supplied with no quibble.

Only delay was the custom built worktop supplied by Rotherham worktops as they don't come and measure until all the base units are installed . They say the survey will be done with 3 days and installation with 10 days. Was more like 10 days before survey and 18 before installing. Wren do supply a temporary worktop , sink and tap that you can use in the meantime. I'm assuming if it's not a custom worktop then this is not an issue as your worktop arrives with the main delivery

Must say the kitchen looks good now finished.

I'd probably have no qualms using them .

Howdens are also very good for supply only

pinkshoes · 10 November 2018 at 11:01AM

My aunt had a Wren kitchen fitted very recently. They used their own fitter.

The kitchen looks lovely BUT... they had lots of issues with faulty units, missing parts etc... and found the customer service a little like getting blood out of a stone, so the whole thing took forever to complete.

We used DIY kitchens who were amazing. MUCH cheaper and superb quality. The only negative is they don't offer as many bright colours as Wren so it depends what they want.

bris · 10 November 2018 at 11:17AM

Wren kitchens are the biggest supplier of kitchens in the UK.

There are always going to be problems but you can say that about every kitchen supplier.

For every bad review there are 100 happy customers but you never here about that. Reviews tend to swing far more to complaints than praise.

That said there are a lot of good suppliers, look around first, it's easy to go into a showroom and be impressed, just don't pick the first one you like.

Local builders and timber merchants often have kitchen ranges and there are a lot of good ones with competitive prices out there. Aimed at the tradesmen so you wont often know about these suppliers.

photome · 10 November 2018 at 11:47AM

bris wrote: »

Wren kitchens are the biggest supplier of kitchens in the UK.

There are always going to be problems but you can say that about every kitchen supplier.

For every bad review there are 100 happy customers but you never here about that. Reviews tend to swing far more to complaints than praise.

That said there are a lot of good suppliers, look around first, it's easy to go into a showroom and be impressed, just don't pick the first one you like.

Local builders and timber merchants often have kitchen ranges and there are a lot of good ones with competitive prices out there. Aimed at the tradesmen so you wont often know about these suppliers.

agree about the bad reviews but its how problems are dealt with when issues arise and from what I have read Wren are not very good at that

JHoney · 10 November 2018 at 2:08PM

Hmmm, I think we still need to shop around by sounds of it. Hard when she's fallen in love with a kitchen already, but it doesn't sound like Wren have improved with the problems identified in Rogue Traders. I'm going to give DIY Kitchens a closer look, thank you for the heads up on that. We're only about an hour away from the showroom, so I think it's worth a visit to get the right kitchen from a good supplier.

Tony_Streeting · 8 December 2018 at 8:49PM

My recent experience was a neighbour having a Wren kitchen installed.
On the day of delivery the lorry was too large to get onto their drive so drove over our front garden.
We complained to the driver and all he could say was that he couldn't help it as it was the only way to get onto their drive to unload. Obviously he hadn't considered parking up and carrying the units a little further!
I e-mailed Wren Kitchens Customer Services and suggested that as they survey the property to check the kitchen will fit then they should also survey the access to use the right size of delivery vehicle. Eventually I got a reply that they had passed the complaint to their local transport department who would investigate. I replied with the registration number of the vehicle which they hadn't asked for!
I have had no response from the transport department and one week later they sent another, albeit smaller vehicle which also drove over our front garden! Again I e-mailed a complaint to Wren kitchens but this time they have ignored me!
I have told them that they are totally inconsiderate and don't care what impact they have on the neighbourhood they deliver to. We are planning a kitchen replacement in 2019 but Wren Kitchens will definitely NOT be on our list! To me they seem a totally uncaring Company and only interested if they can sell you a new kitchen. They pay lip service to any complaints but obviously have no intention of taking any action.
I certainly wouldn't give this Company any business.

canadel1983 · 12 December 2018 at 12:14PM

We have had untold amounts of trouble on an £18k kitchen which includes warping worktops, poor fitting and today they doors have started to bubble and i have been advised that the colour i have i no longer stocked so will be replacing the whole kitchen in a coulour i dont want. STAY AWAY

LTait · 7 December 2019 at 5:35PM

I’m a current wren customer. We were told our installation would take a week, the fitters started a week late, ripped out all our kitchen in one day then left us with a cooker/oven for nearly two weeks and no water for over three weeks. Several missing parts, which have been reordered twice upto now by the fitter and they keep sending out incorrect parts. Integral microwave has been replaced twice, in the end I got refund and got one elsewhere. In all honesty I would look elsewhere if I were you. They promise you the earth till you give them your money.

DoaM · 7 December 2019 at 5:44PM

We have an order in progress with Wren ... however it's supply-only - we have a builder planned to do other upgrades to the kitchen/dining room and he'll also fit the kitchen. The only fitting Wren will do is the quartz worktop.

Wren Kitchens - have they improved?

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