Howdens/Wren Kitchen advice...

[Deleted User] · 25 June 2019 at 1:47PM

So my last room in the house is the kitchen, been thinking long and hard how to do it so I'm dealing with Wren and Howdens at the moment, I'm only getting the units from them, I'm buying my own appliances, getting another company to do the worktops and have my own fitter lined up.

First off went to Wren and they came up with a plan which was ok, nothing inspiring tbh and the price came in at £6180.

Next Howdens came round to measure and I then went to see them, he came up with a very good plan and something I'd never thought about, anyway their quote came in at £7500.

Back to Wren to see if they could change the design, they did and it increased to £6800 and absoultely no money off 'the price is the price' from the Wren designer (he did also miss something off the design which would potentially mean cutting an angle out of one of the wall units, something I'm not prepared to do, so asked them to alter it, still waiting).

Anyway I asked Howdens to re-think the price saying Wren were much cheaper, and Howdens have now come back with £5300 (absolute best price he said).

I'm going in to see Howdens tomorrow and now starting to think about Wren and their approach and not bothering with them, plus the fact I can't get into seeing the Wren designer now for more than a week as he has no slots available?

I have specced up a design on the DIY Kitchen planner but struggling with one corner and although I have used a laser measurer I'm not convinced I'll of done it right, they come in at around £4000.

Do you think I'll be able to squeeze more out of Howdens?

Clive_Woody · 25 June 2019 at 2:14PM

I've seen a lot of threads on here about Wren, very few (if any) saying anything positive about them. Do a search for on here for more info.

I thought Howdens only dealt directly with people with trade accounts and from what I've heard different traders can achieve different levels of discount. It might be worth contacting a kitchen fitter to see what price they can get from Howdens for the same spec kitchen.

[Deleted User] · 25 June 2019 at 2:18PM

Clive_Woody wrote: »

I've seen a lot of threads on here about Wren, very few (if any) saying anything positive about them. Do a search for on here for more info.

I thought Howdens only dealt directly with people with trade accounts and from what I've heard different traders can achieve different levels of discount. It might be worth contacting a kitchen fitter to see what price they can get from Howdens for the same spec kitchen.

Yes you are correct Howdens only deal with trade, I have a fitter who has a trade account and who will be doing the job.
I'm going in with my plan and quote from DIY Kitchens and will see if that gets any more off the price.

I think I'm done with Wren to be honest its miles from where I live and a faff to be going back and forth, high prices tbh and I've had to push along the way for the design etc etc...

fezster · 25 June 2019 at 2:23PM

What discount are Howden's applying on average to your units?

[Deleted User] · 25 June 2019 at 2:24PM

fezster wrote: »

What discount are Howden's applying on average to your units?

I don't know yet as it's only been prices over the phone, so I'm going in tomorrow to have a look through it all.

fezster · 25 June 2019 at 2:31PM

Just as an example -

£400 rrp unit.

70% discount = £120
80% discount = £80

I.e. a 10% additional discount results in a 50% price reduction.

You should be aiming for 70 - 80% discount.

[Deleted User] · 25 June 2019 at 2:33PM

Wow, guessing I'll be looking hard at their list tomorrow then and see how much they have dropped by...
I think I'd be happy if I get it all for under £4500 so I reckon they need to reduce by another £800 for me to sign on the dotted line...

Like I said DIY Kitchen comes in at around £3800...

cattie · 25 June 2019 at 3:38PM

When my kitchen was being refurbished the best price I got was from Benchmarx, neither Magnet or Howdens were willing to bring their price down enough to tempt me to buy from them instead & I've been delighted with Benchmarx service & my kitchen. I'd definitely buy from them again.

[Deleted User] · 25 June 2019 at 3:49PM

cattie wrote: »

When my kitchen was being refurbished the best price I got was from Benchmarx, neither Magnet or Howdens were willing to bring their price down enough to tempt me to buy from them instead & I've been delighted with Benchmarx service & my kitchen. I'd definitely buy from them again.

Not sure I’ve heard of them before but a quick read up shows them to come across as a good company to deal with. I’ll see what Howdens do tomorrow and if they don’t reduce further then I’ll give Bemchmarx a call and take it from there...

Doozergirl · 25 June 2019 at 4:12PM

Just take your DIY kitchens quote to Howdens. If they're like for like then they'll price match it.

There's literally no point dealing with Wren. If someone supplies your kitchen from stock and gives you the ability to make last minute changes or quickly rectify any wrong bits, then that wins hands down over waiting for Wren.

Our great friends used Wren last year. I warned them but they needed to buy on finance.

They were without a fully working kitchen for three months and had to wash up in the garden.

Howden's pricing is a PITA but in every other way their service is completely hassle free.

[Deleted User] · 25 June 2019 at 4:17PM

I will, just need to add the handles on the DIY Kitchen plan, it might not be exactly the same design, I don’t have the Howdens sizes but it looks exactly the same layout wise everything in the same place but it can clearly be done for around £4000. If Howdens can match or get close to that I’ll be a lot happier.

Howdens/Wren Kitchen advice...

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