Kitchens; any views on Wren?
Discussion
Just doing a full resto on a tiny two up two down cottage in East Anglia in a desirable tourist town. Looked at buying Wren again today.
Kitchen can only go in an 'L' shape. Includes appliances as listed
Long side is only 2.24m long so: 3 draw unit - hob and single oven, extractor above - full pull out corner unit
Short side 1.68m - single bowl and drain unit and 3/4 dishwasher.
Their quote: £3,000. I'll fit it.
I have no doubt Ikea will be cheaper but if I choose to rent the cottage, am not sure how long their kit will last.
Views welcome.
Kitchen can only go in an 'L' shape. Includes appliances as listed
Long side is only 2.24m long so: 3 draw unit - hob and single oven, extractor above - full pull out corner unit
Short side 1.68m - single bowl and drain unit and 3/4 dishwasher.
Their quote: £3,000. I'll fit it.
I have no doubt Ikea will be cheaper but if I choose to rent the cottage, am not sure how long their kit will last.
Views welcome.
skilly1 said:
Yeah, they have shyte fitting service but I fit my own so haven't had the disasters so many on the FB page have. Was curious what other people have fitted - bearing in mind the kitchen is more of a galley.The never ending budget kitchen supplier debate. From the hundreds of posts on the matter I've seen on these pages for every brand you could find vocal supporters and fervent decries.
Makes choosing your supplier that little bit harder, doesn't it?
There really have been dozens of threads on the topic so if you want to type "pistonheads budget kitchen" or "pistonheads [+ any kitchen supplier brand]" into Google and put the kettle on.
Best of luck.
Makes choosing your supplier that little bit harder, doesn't it?
There really have been dozens of threads on the topic so if you want to type "pistonheads budget kitchen" or "pistonheads [+ any kitchen supplier brand]" into Google and put the kettle on.
Best of luck.
Just coming to the end of a DIY Kitchens install, went with them following recommendations from here & they've impressed me. Considering it's all just chipboard boxes, they're well done, come ready assembled & out of everything, I had one damaged corner post, which they cheerfully replaced within 48 hours.
I also like the finish on the doors with the grey veneer & clear perspex-ish capping on ours. Yes, we still have quite a lot to do
I also like the finish on the doors with the grey veneer & clear perspex-ish capping on ours. Yes, we still have quite a lot to do
I run a kitchen company and we get quite a lot of work replacing Wren work surfaces because they scratch very easily, the doors however seem to be reasonably good quality but Wren's customer service has a shocking reputation
I have one customer who has decided to get most of his new kitchen from Wren but the surface from us, we cannot compete with Wren on price when it comes to doors but our surfaces are so much better that people are willing to pay a bit more for them.
I have one customer who has decided to get most of his new kitchen from Wren but the surface from us, we cannot compete with Wren on price when it comes to doors but our surfaces are so much better that people are willing to pay a bit more for them.
Wren are a shower of s
t,they have left a good friend of mine without a kitchen for nearly 4 months now, she has a sink and a bit of worktop left, after cocking up the measurements and then blaming her, apparently she should have told the guy who was measuring up that there was a boxed pipe across the top of the wall. She paid in full 
and they are not budging on returning any of her money. No one could get hold of the fitter and he arrived 2 days before the install date and quoted another huge amount of cash for extra works, £800 to move a few electrical outlets. Disgraceful firm.
t,they have left a good friend of mine without a kitchen for nearly 4 months now, she has a sink and a bit of worktop left, after cocking up the measurements and then blaming her, apparently she should have told the guy who was measuring up that there was a boxed pipe across the top of the wall. She paid in full and they are not budging on returning any of her money. No one could get hold of the fitter and he arrived 2 days before the install date and quoted another huge amount of cash for extra works, £800 to move a few electrical outlets. Disgraceful firm. £9k worth of Wren for us 2 years ago. No issues on quality, how fitter (self sourced) was only 80% good though, few snags I wish i'd got sorted at the time - my fault.
Found their customer service to be excellent, but then from placing the deposit to managing the snags I just went direct to the stores Duty manager. He was fantastic & made it all very easy. Hammered them on discount, then twisted their ear to include some additional discounts (15% off appliances) after we placed the order - pointed out their signs did *not* actually say new customers only - they didn't argue & just knocked off another £400. Not too shabby seeing as we had already paid the deposit & placed the order for it all.
Their design service were fantastic as well, all very easy.
In future I would probably lean towards DIY Kitchens, if I was happy being exposed to 100% risk of design, measurements and making sure everything was taken into account. Would worry the hell outa me until it was all fitted though.....
Found their customer service to be excellent, but then from placing the deposit to managing the snags I just went direct to the stores Duty manager. He was fantastic & made it all very easy. Hammered them on discount, then twisted their ear to include some additional discounts (15% off appliances) after we placed the order - pointed out their signs did *not* actually say new customers only - they didn't argue & just knocked off another £400. Not too shabby seeing as we had already paid the deposit & placed the order for it all.
Their design service were fantastic as well, all very easy.
In future I would probably lean towards DIY Kitchens, if I was happy being exposed to 100% risk of design, measurements and making sure everything was taken into account. Would worry the hell outa me until it was all fitted though.....
Andehh said:
£9k worth of Wren for us 2 years ago. No issues on quality, how fitter (self sourced) was only 80% good though, few snags I wish i'd got sorted at the time - my fault.
Found their customer service to be excellent, but then from placing the deposit to managing the snags I just went direct to the stores Duty manager. He was fantastic & made it all very easy. Hammered them on discount, then twisted their ear to include some additional discounts (15% off appliances) after we placed the order - pointed out their signs did *not* actually say new customers only - they didn't argue & just knocked off another £400. Not too shabby seeing as we had already paid the deposit & placed the order for it all.
Their design service were fantastic as well, all very easy.
In future I would probably lean towards DIY Kitchens, if I was happy being exposed to 100% risk of design, measurements and making sure everything was taken into account. Would worry the hell outa me until it was all fitted though.....
DIY kitchens will soon have an online design tool. it maybe working already.Found their customer service to be excellent, but then from placing the deposit to managing the snags I just went direct to the stores Duty manager. He was fantastic & made it all very easy. Hammered them on discount, then twisted their ear to include some additional discounts (15% off appliances) after we placed the order - pointed out their signs did *not* actually say new customers only - they didn't argue & just knocked off another £400. Not too shabby seeing as we had already paid the deposit & placed the order for it all.
Their design service were fantastic as well, all very easy.
In future I would probably lean towards DIY Kitchens, if I was happy being exposed to 100% risk of design, measurements and making sure everything was taken into account. Would worry the hell outa me until it was all fitted though.....
Evening,
A bit late to the party here but we've bought from Wren for our units (I sourced tops separately). Fitted myself as it was a simple run - and the 'ready built' feature does mike life much easier.
Looked at DIY kitchens but Wren came in slightly cheaper for the same thing. Didn't have to deal with customer service, but I did find the sales tactics annoying/dated: sign today/ speak to my manager/ will do you a special deal etc. I think we paid half (maybe less?) than the initial quote on both occasions - and we've been through it twice.
Good luck,
Phil
A bit late to the party here but we've bought from Wren for our units (I sourced tops separately). Fitted myself as it was a simple run - and the 'ready built' feature does mike life much easier.
Looked at DIY kitchens but Wren came in slightly cheaper for the same thing. Didn't have to deal with customer service, but I did find the sales tactics annoying/dated: sign today/ speak to my manager/ will do you a special deal etc. I think we paid half (maybe less?) than the initial quote on both occasions - and we've been through it twice.
Good luck,
Phil
hardcastlephil said:
Evening,
A bit late to the party here but we've bought from Wren for our units (I sourced tops separately). Fitted myself as it was a simple run - and the 'ready built' feature does mike life much easier.
Looked at DIY kitchens but Wren came in slightly cheaper for the same thing. Didn't have to deal with customer service, but I did find the sales tactics annoying/dated: sign today/ speak to my manager/ will do you a special deal etc. I think we paid half (maybe less?) than the initial quote on both occasions - and we've been through it twice.
Good luck,
Phil
Hi PhilA bit late to the party here but we've bought from Wren for our units (I sourced tops separately). Fitted myself as it was a simple run - and the 'ready built' feature does mike life much easier.
Looked at DIY kitchens but Wren came in slightly cheaper for the same thing. Didn't have to deal with customer service, but I did find the sales tactics annoying/dated: sign today/ speak to my manager/ will do you a special deal etc. I think we paid half (maybe less?) than the initial quote on both occasions - and we've been through it twice.
Good luck,
Phil
You must have had the same best-new-mate-salesman we had hehehe!
Gassing Station | Homes, Gardens and DIY | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff