Wren Living /Wren Kitchens !!!
Discussion
See a new company called Wren Living, seem to be doing a lot of TV adverts lately, never heard of them before, but stuff seems good and cost effective,
may consider a kitchen, as all bits made in the UK ??? according to there website, any PH members used them, did wonder if they where a offshoot of Howdens, getting into retail market ?
may consider a kitchen, as all bits made in the UK ??? according to there website, any PH members used them, did wonder if they where a offshoot of Howdens, getting into retail market ?
See my thread kitchen cancelled. Units seemed good for the money and price was miles under Tesco effort. Daughter suggested I cancel and try the people who fitted her own kitchen. (May end up going back to Wren for a re-worked plan and fit.)
Found worktop price and fit price high at Wren but they were happy for me to source my own.
Found worktop price and fit price high at Wren but they were happy for me to source my own.
Had a Wren kitchen put in before Xmas 
On the positive side - great price, and easy to knock it down further. Excellent prices on appliances. The units are above average, in that they have a fairly sturdy rear panel, but it's not perfect. I believe all doors are soft close.
On the negative side - they cocked up our worktop templating by not ordering it and threatened to leave us without a completed kitchen for Xmas. We sourced that locally and got it done!
Most review sites will warn you that their after service is appalling. We didn't need to witness this as it all arrived without problems.
Their factories are in Yorkshire (old MFI installations), so it's all UK based. I believe MFI owned Howdens and spun them off before (or as) they went under. As a result, one of the Wren factories is in Howden, but should not be confused with Howdens!
Thread: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
On the positive side - great price, and easy to knock it down further. Excellent prices on appliances. The units are above average, in that they have a fairly sturdy rear panel, but it's not perfect. I believe all doors are soft close.
On the negative side - they cocked up our worktop templating by not ordering it and threatened to leave us without a completed kitchen for Xmas. We sourced that locally and got it done!
Most review sites will warn you that their after service is appalling. We didn't need to witness this as it all arrived without problems.
Their factories are in Yorkshire (old MFI installations), so it's all UK based. I believe MFI owned Howdens and spun them off before (or as) they went under. As a result, one of the Wren factories is in Howden, but should not be confused with Howdens!
Thread: http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
Muncher said:
We just ordered our kitchen from them, having bought from DIY kitchens already and dealt with BenchMarx and Howdens. The units look good, the construction is good and the sales experience was good. We haggled quite hard and went from a "RRP" of £22k for carcasses to £6,600.
This is what I find heart-breaking. Imagine someone who is either no good at haggling, or is older or just a little naïve. 22K down to 6K ......... that's appalling. I'd almost call it dishonest.Wren is owned by Malcolm Healey who was the creator of Hygena, which was then sold to MFI a long time ago. After he left the UK market, he set up a massive operation in America which he subsequently sold and came back to the UK.
At the moment they are just aggressively gaining market share from Wickes/Homebase/Magnet/B & Q etc, I presume the business is being built up to be sold again in the future as this has been the owners modus operandi in the past.
The quality of the product is very good and, if it runs smoothly, they are a great company to deal with. One of the major issues is that their designers get paid full commission as soon as the deposit is taken, meaning the after sales is extremely slack, especially when you couple that with the fact that their designers will sell in a week what someone from Magnet may be expected to do in a couple of months, so the amount of admin they have to do on top of the actual selling is usually going to be neglected.
I do like the fact you can actually stand in their pan drawers!
At the moment they are just aggressively gaining market share from Wickes/Homebase/Magnet/B & Q etc, I presume the business is being built up to be sold again in the future as this has been the owners modus operandi in the past.
The quality of the product is very good and, if it runs smoothly, they are a great company to deal with. One of the major issues is that their designers get paid full commission as soon as the deposit is taken, meaning the after sales is extremely slack, especially when you couple that with the fact that their designers will sell in a week what someone from Magnet may be expected to do in a couple of months, so the amount of admin they have to do on top of the actual selling is usually going to be neglected.
I do like the fact you can actually stand in their pan drawers!
Wozy68 said:
This is what I find heart-breaking. Imagine someone who is either no good at haggling, or is older or just a little naïve. 22K down to 6K ......... that's appalling. I'd almost call it dishonest.
It is laughable, do people really believe in this day and age that being subjected to these 'drop selling' tactics is acceptable? I personally find it insulting and when we had people to our home for double glazing quotes I asked anybody who started that BS to leave immediately. We ended up using a local independent who gave us his best price first off which was competitive with the big boys and roughly where we had budgeted.We hear people bragging about 75% or more discounts from the likes of Howdens but armed with a calculator you can quickly show them how ridiculous and 'pie in the sky' their supposed RRP prices are.
Thankfully there are lots of mature and intelligent consumers who see through this nonsense and keep independent and honest companies in business.
Wozy68 said:
Muncher said:
We just ordered our kitchen from them, having bought from DIY kitchens already and dealt with BenchMarx and Howdens. The units look good, the construction is good and the sales experience was good. We haggled quite hard and went from a "RRP" of £22k for carcasses to £6,600.
This is what I find heart-breaking. Imagine someone who is either no good at haggling, or is older or just a little naïve. 22K down to 6K ......... that's appalling. I'd almost call it dishonest.I may go back for a re-design unless the Company coming out on Friday are more impressive in quality, design and fit service.
It is indeed one of Malolm Healey's businesses.
It is nothing to do with MFI nor Howdens, though it is based in Howden. There is a quite shiny factory there, along with a big showroom and it shares the site with another of his businesses, ebuyer.
The change from Wren Kitchens to Wren Living is very recent. Apparently he bought what was the Kimberly Clark site at Barton on Humber and is keen to build up a big presence in furniture and beds. Some big mate of his was involved with, IIRC, DFS (or one of the others) until recently and, through respect for that friendship, he has kept away from other rooms than the kitchen for a while. But now he is at it big time it seems.
It is nothing to do with MFI nor Howdens, though it is based in Howden. There is a quite shiny factory there, along with a big showroom and it shares the site with another of his businesses, ebuyer.
The change from Wren Kitchens to Wren Living is very recent. Apparently he bought what was the Kimberly Clark site at Barton on Humber and is keen to build up a big presence in furniture and beds. Some big mate of his was involved with, IIRC, DFS (or one of the others) until recently and, through respect for that friendship, he has kept away from other rooms than the kitchen for a while. But now he is at it big time it seems.
Jpjpjp is right about Wren. Nothing to do with Howdens (apart from same location)
As far as I'm aware, Howdens joinery was always the manufacturing (and profitable) arm of MFI. They had management but out few years ago from MFI but were tied into supplying them for few years, once that expired MFI went to the wall (never made any money) Howdens doing rather well
From an employee point of view, Howdens has great reputation. Wren has a revolving door
Off topic I know, apologies & happy new year!
As far as I'm aware, Howdens joinery was always the manufacturing (and profitable) arm of MFI. They had management but out few years ago from MFI but were tied into supplying them for few years, once that expired MFI went to the wall (never made any money) Howdens doing rather well
From an employee point of view, Howdens has great reputation. Wren has a revolving door
Off topic I know, apologies & happy new year!
Despite the discount the way it was handled was far more fair than the way someone like Everest trades. It was immediately discounted to a more sensible £10k and the further reductions were quite factual and to the point as I was making direct comparisons. They did say that a few people have paid full price before and they didn't quite know how to handle it.
Muncher said:
Despite the discount the way it was handled was far more fair than the way someone like Everest trades. It was immediately discounted to a more sensible £10k and the further reductions were quite factual and to the point as I was making direct comparisons. They did say that a few people have paid full price before and they didn't quite know how to handle it.
Out of interest would prefer to have to haggle, or just be given a fair price from the outset?I know I've quote Muncher, but I would like to hear all opinions on this.
Selling at the lowest price, if you're a large retailer, just doesn't work as customers need to feel like they've "got a deal" when purchasing a big ticket item like a kitchen/bedroom. Wren tried it when they first set out and it was a disaster, so they moved to an always-on-sale approach.
Neil - YVM said:
Muncher said:
Despite the discount the way it was handled was far more fair than the way someone like Everest trades. It was immediately discounted to a more sensible £10k and the further reductions were quite factual and to the point as I was making direct comparisons. They did say that a few people have paid full price before and they didn't quite know how to handle it.
Out of interest would prefer to have to haggle, or just be given a fair price from the outset?I know I've quote Muncher, but I would like to hear all opinions on this.
I would rather be told the actual price to start off with, DIY kitchens did. Though I think that might only work where the price of every component is explicit from the start, so as you add them all together you know where you stand. If the price is well presented and you believe it is reasonable I would be less inclined to haggle. If I think they are playing games from the start I will want to push them even harder.
However there is one school of thought that those who cannot haggle are subsidising the purchases of those than can do deals.
However there is one school of thought that those who cannot haggle are subsidising the purchases of those than can do deals.
Muncher said:
However there is one school of thought that those who cannot haggle are subsidising the purchases of those than can do deals.
I'm sure that's right. I expect the high initial price serves two purposes, the first is to be able to offer a BIG discount, making those that are impressed by such things impressed. The second purpose is a very good payday for the salesman and the company when someone doesn't haggle, and just gets their chequebook out.We've ordered our kitchen from them. Started at £24k, their discount made it £14k and a bit. Even more haggling made it £13k and a bit. The threat of walking out and then showing them a Magnet quote for £11.5k got us another 'reduction' to a straight £12k. We are very happy with the deal we have and the quality of the product.
However, we have already saved a further £1k by sourcing (trying to), our own appliances, sinks and taps. We are under no illusion that the RRP price is wildly exaggerated just to make the apparent discount seem even more amazing. We did go to all of the 'sheds' and the closest we got to, without solid quartz worktop, they could only offer laminate or MDF/Quartz worktops for £15.5k.
I suppose time will tell regarding the customer service etc, but right now, we are very satisfied and impressed with them.
However, we have already saved a further £1k by sourcing (trying to), our own appliances, sinks and taps. We are under no illusion that the RRP price is wildly exaggerated just to make the apparent discount seem even more amazing. We did go to all of the 'sheds' and the closest we got to, without solid quartz worktop, they could only offer laminate or MDF/Quartz worktops for £15.5k.
I suppose time will tell regarding the customer service etc, but right now, we are very satisfied and impressed with them.
singlecoil said:
Muncher said:
However there is one school of thought that those who cannot haggle are subsidising the purchases of those than can do deals.
I'm sure that's right. I expect the high initial price serves two purposes, the first is to be able to offer a BIG discount, making those that are impressed by such things impressed. The second purpose is a very good payday for the salesman and the company when someone doesn't haggle, and just gets their chequebook out.I couldn't work any other way
NickM450 said:
We've ordered our kitchen from them. Started at £24k, their discount made it £14k and a bit. Even more haggling made it £13k and a bit. The threat of walking out and then showing them a Magnet quote for £11.5k got us another 'reduction' to a straight £12k. We are very happy with the deal we have and the quality of the product.
However, we have already saved a further £1k by sourcing (trying to), our own appliances, sinks and taps. We are under no illusion that the RRP price is wildly exaggerated just to make the apparent discount seem even more amazing. We did go to all of the 'sheds' and the closest we got to, without solid quartz worktop, they could only offer laminate or MDF/Quartz worktops for £15.5k.
I suppose time will tell regarding the customer service etc, but right now, we are very satisfied and impressed with them.
They make sod all from their appliances so we're quite happy for us to buy elsewhere (we have already bought them apart from the dishwasher, fridge and freezer).However, we have already saved a further £1k by sourcing (trying to), our own appliances, sinks and taps. We are under no illusion that the RRP price is wildly exaggerated just to make the apparent discount seem even more amazing. We did go to all of the 'sheds' and the closest we got to, without solid quartz worktop, they could only offer laminate or MDF/Quartz worktops for £15.5k.
I suppose time will tell regarding the customer service etc, but right now, we are very satisfied and impressed with them.
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