Prices for Howdens kitchen units

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  • jess1974
    jess1974 Posts: 1,019 Forumite
    I have just had the Howdens Haworth white kitchen fitted along with a solid wood worktop, the units are all framed and the colour is a creamy white, it looks stunning.
    The list price was £14,000, we paid £5,000, we have a huge kitchen and this included oven, hob and extractor, local guy fitted it all for £600, very happy, will use Howdens again.
    We also bought and paid right at the end of October aswell....
  • vanilla8
    vanilla8 Posts: 656
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    jess1974 wrote: »
    I have just had the Howdens Haworth white kitchen fitted along with a solid wood worktop, the units are all framed and the colour is a creamy white, it looks stunning.
    The list price was £14,000, we paid £5,000, we have a huge kitchen and this included oven, hob and extractor, local guy fitted it all for £600, very happy, will use Howdens again.
    We also bought and paid right at the end of October aswell....

    Could i ask how much roughly for a unit, we are looking through a howdens brochure and like the Haworth white!
  • I've just bought a kitchen from Howdens via my builder. He went to see them on 23 January and came back with an estimate. 5 days later he went back armed with additions and alterations to our plan. When he returned, I noticed that ALL the prices had increased adding over £200 to the original figure, that is WITHOUT taking the amendments into consideration. When challenged, Howdens simply said they had had a price increase during the intervening period, which included a weekend and would not revert back to the estimate given out only 5 days earlier.

    We made final amendments to the plan a week or so later and blow me down if the builder didn't come back with different prices for the appliances, the prices for which were on the previous estimate and AFTER the alleged price increases.

    At that, I said "enough" and removed the kitchen appliances from my order. I was going to chuck out my existing machine, tumble dryer and dishwasher and buy all new integrated equipment. Well, I have saved over a grand and I'll make do with my existing machines until they actually do need replacing, whereupon I shall certainly not be using Howdens.

    I had a microwave grill fitted and could see that it wasn't branded, which caused me some puzzlement as obviously I would need to know who made the blessed thing for warranty purposes. After I had pulled it out, checked the plate on the back and researched the internet, I discovered that it was not NOT Howdens' brand but an Electrolux piece of equipment. Not only have Howdens charged me something like 37% more than I can get it for elsewhere but because it is unbranded, they will only give me a 12 month warranty instead of the 2 year warranty I would otherwise have had for a branded product.

    I also bought a built in oven but neither I nor my builder could locate a plate with a model number so I could find out who made it. Since the warranty is a manufacturer's warranty, how could I ever claim if I have no way of knowing who made it?

    I am most unhappy at the situation and Howdens have gone DOWN, DOWN, DOWN in my estimation. I am going to try and return the microwave grill for a refund as I feel totally misled as to what I was buying. If they had told me at the outset, or included it in their literature, as to who made the MWG I could have done my due diligence before splashing out the cash.

    As someone has mentioned previously, Howdens' estimate goes to great lengths to detail how much discount has been given off the LIST PRICE, which one can only assume is the Recommended Retail Price, but since they do not deal with the public, it's an exercise in justifying their prices and pointing out what "great deals" they are offering. They are no better than double glazing companies offering 50% discounts ... but 50% discount off what?

    I think I might have a word with Trading Standards (or whatever they are called these days) as I feel really misled.
  • newnhak
    newnhak Posts: 485
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    Hi

    I have been reading this thread with interest as I have also been to a few kitchen companies recently including Howdens and B&Q.

    One thing I will say is I have been having a problem with design layouts - one designer commented that my design from Howdens wouldnt be legal as there wasnt the required gap between the wall units and the gas hob. Now this might be similar to what Glenda had - the thing is I dont know.

    The designer who made the comment also said I wouldn't be able to have a extractor hood - but with the help of this site and others I have checked
    that and it appears he is wrong. My point is they all seem to get something wrong. I guess the moral is to check as much as you can yourself.

    I will be going back to Howdens and checking their price on this new design as well. But on the original design Howdens were the cheapest with B&Q nearly twice the price - £3.5k (and in the sale too ) for a similar spec but flatpack. I would try Homebase but I dont like their range.

    Btw I am looking for 14 cupboards including 2 800mm drawer units.
  • I can't thank enough the friend who reffered us to Howdens, they're just an amazing company, brilliant prices, next day dellivery, ready assembled units after being let down by homebase who sent us a letter informing us the kitchen we ordered is on 56 day delivery.

    Even the after service and been back and forth swapping items, they always served us with a smile, tried hard to accomodate and the kitchen looks absolutely stunning, everyone who's been around is amazed at the transformation, after 12 years of living here, they turned the kitchen into the heart of our home.
  • stagey_2
    stagey_2 Posts: 201 Forumite
    sdestinyp wrote: »
    I thought her post was very well put together and certainly not uncivil. Anyway, IMO, someone can be as rude as they want provided I get a great deal and after sales support. The deal is everything. And B & Q are definitely rip-off merchants as their 50% off sale is just as expensive as the quotes they gave me for a kitchen and bathroom 6 MONTHS AGO when there was NO sale. Their excuse is that prices had gone up. On units, perhaps they could get away with that but how could installation costs have doubled in 6 months. Mind you, they wanted to charge me £160 to plug in my own fridge and that was half price "installation". Yep, you stick with B & Q and good luck. Me, I'll only use them for buying fuses etc., provided I can't find them at Tesco.

    Interesting! I too had this issue with B & Q a about 18 months ago - I actually went to trading standards but it seems that newish legislation around then (?) has left some sort of loop hole which means they can get away with it.
  • I am in the market for a new kitchen , nothing amazing as our kitchen is well and truly ditched . I have 5 k to spend , I just wanted to find out , how i would get howdens to come and design a plan for our kitchen .Can anyone shed any light on this?

    thanks
  • sheslookinhot
    sheslookinhot Posts: 1,956
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    I am in the market for a new kitchen , nothing amazing as our kitchen is well and truly ditched . I have 5 k to spend , I just wanted to find out , how i would get howdens to come and design a plan for our kitchen .Can anyone shed any light on this?

    thanks

    You would need to be in a position to buy from them, they sometimes only sell to trade. One of the sheds will pick unit sizes to fit your room size. They will not design a kitchen for you, only you can do that with your personal choice of layout that suits you.
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  • sillywilly
    sillywilly Posts: 701 Forumite
    We are in the market for a new kitchen and have been round a few high street companies.like B&Q and Wickes and Homebase.
    Howdens were recommended to us so we got the guy round. The quote he came back with was ridiculous. £6600 including appliances.

    I have worked out that even if we got the Which best buy appliances, Fridge Freezer, dishwasher, oven, washer dryer, cooker hood - they would only come in at around £1800.
    So basically £4800 for carcasses and doors and accessories and worktops.

    Seems a lot. I have looked at Ikea and used their planner and I reckon we could do the kitchen with appliances for about half the price of Howdens.

    I am not convinced about them or their prices.Maybe the guy that quoted didn't take much (any) discount off the list price?
  • Viscount
    Viscount Posts: 27 Forumite
    I bought some Howdens kitchen units last year. I have a mid-1970's kitchen and I wanted to replace a couple of units to replace some which had broken. After a fairly short search I discovered Howdens make 1970's style kitchens, - I don't think anyone else does? I don't particulary like the style but at least it matched the other units and we couldn't afford to pay for a new kitchen.
    Then of course Howdens apparently are trade only, which is a right pain. How to be the most unhelpful possible!
    That said if you search on the net you can find someone who will sell Howdens units to you, which we did and put them up ourselves. They looks great too. If we could have, we would have bought a complete kitchen, but it was not an option. Why should you have to get a trade professional to install a couple of units? Complete nonsense of course.
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