Wren kitchen, best time to buy, now or post Xmas sale?

[Gareth79]

Freakuk said:

I know of two people who have had Wren kitchens, to be fair they were pretty good however the one thing that stung both was the wait times on worktops, something like a 2-3 week lead time after everything is installed to get your worktop, which means no hob or sink.

Something to consider maybe?

WTF? Couldn't they (Wren) have put in some MDF in the meantime?

[anonymous-user]

Gareth79 said:

Freakuk said:

I know of two people who have had Wren kitchens, to be fair they were pretty good however the one thing that stung both was the wait times on worktops, something like a 2-3 week lead time after everything is installed to get your worktop, which means no hob or sink.

Something to consider maybe?

WTF? Couldn't they (Wren) have put in some MDF in the meantime?

Known for their service they are not.

[ninepoint2]

I have to say we bought a Wren kitchen a few years (5+) ago and been very happy with it. Did the design myself and got local trusted tradesmen to fit it and bought Hob, oven etc from somewhere else. All we had to do was buy the units, the sales guy was OK, turned out to be a bit of a Petrol Head actually. Still looks good today. Suspect secret is getting someone who knows what they are doing to fit it. Quality seemed as good as others we looked at such as Wickes, Howdens etc. I am aware you can pay mega bucks for very very nice kitchens but TBH I prefer spending my money on cars and petrol..

[technodup]

alistair1234 said:

They have 25% off quartz at the moment and also 50% off units if you buy more than 5, but i'm wondering if this is a kind of permanent sale that some companies seem to do all the time and actually post xmas will be even better. Our quote came out at £14k originally (kitchen, quartz and appliances) and went down to £9,600 after discounts.

You've got to be an absolute mug punter to fall for that pish, because that's all it is. And if you're in the 'I know it's pish but it's still a good price' camp then why buy from somewhere that treats you like an idiot? Go somewhere local that will actually value your business and likely still be cheaper.

Everest double glazing have a 30-50% sale on literally every day of the year. Changes every month or so and is differently worded each time, but as people only buy once in a blue moon they think they're getting a deal. They're not.

If there's always 50% off, is there ever 50% off?

[EarlofDrift]

A few moons ago I used to work for a company that owned a big kitchen showroom. From the few years I was there you quickly realise that everything is marked up to be brought down again, so the consumer thinks they are getting a good deal.

When the units were on sale the appliances would be marked up. When the units were on regular price the appliances would be on sale. There is no good time to buy from a big shed the sales aren't sales at all.

Kitchens Direct or DIY Kitchens or something seemed to get good reviews PH. I remember few years back someone buying a kitchen through them from the same supplier as Wren and it worked out about a third of the price.

[sherman]

I used Wickes for a new kitchen last year. They couldnt of been better. From design to delivery to instalation they were perfect. A home visit followed by showroom consultation. Everything including worktops delivered on the day they said. 2 days before the start we had over 100 boxes in the house. Everything ready to go even the rubbish sacks.
Contracters were really efficient too. All turned up when they said every day for the week. Snagging was done within 1day.

[gtidriver]

Wren left my elderly friend(a very very stubbon woman who will never take other peoples advice, especially if its been given by a male) without a kitchen for nearly 10 months after they messed up the design of the kitchen, apparently it was her fault the 2 pipes ran across the top of a wall unit and the fitter/designer both missed them, it went to stalemate as wren wouldnt refund and the customer refused delivery, wren also wanted to charge her £850 plus vat to run a cable from the socket on one wall to the other side of the room in a 3mx3m room. The kitchen price started off at £32000, but she got a bargain at £16000
I know what your thinking, she's got a kitchen full of Neff,Samsung or Miele appliances, no its Hoover.

Edited by gtidriver on Tuesday 10th December 17:54

[Nickyboy]

Just removed a brand new Wren kitchen, doors were ok but cabinets were awful, almost identical to Ikea but much poorer quality. Little bracing, poor quality fittings.

Replaced it with an Ikea kitchen, much better quality, easily customisation. Total cost around £2k. The same from Wren was over £5k

[strath44]

We had a very positive experience with Wren in Dundee, still have that kitchen 4 years on and it looks great (Linda Barker range), however another branch totally messed up us buying extra items upon installation.

I would avoid using their fitters they don't pay them enough and charge you too much!

Watch out for hidden fees, our neighbours also used them and are fairly happy however they were charged £400!!! for a double freestanding oven delivery and installation to find out they had also been charged for gas installation of hob and oven separately. Ultimately they paid £400 to have a cooker delivered, unwrapped and lifted into position. In my opinion they just shift cost from one area to another to try and make it look like you got a bargain!

We visited and had a quote, pretty hard sales push on the day to commit and left to think about it, the initial quote was total fantasy but well held out and got a price we were very happy with.

[AGK]

Some light reading as you tie the laces on your running shoes,

https://www.facebook.com/groups/583631408428050/

[Trustmeimadoctor]

Fitters are the worst. Everyone i know with one is very unhappy with the fitting quality

Stupid thing is howden and wren kitchens are made less than 2 miles apart

Edited by Trustmeimadoctor on Wednesday 11th December 11:57

[anonymous-user]

Usual PH statement ...

Go to DIY kitchens and get a local fitter to fit it for you.

[Trustmeimadoctor]

The fitter is the issue though they can make a cheap kitchen look good and a really expensive one look st.

Its usually too late when you find out how good they really are! lad over the road had guy in to replace doors worktops.and other bits did such a job on it the house owner ended up redoing it him self and did a much better job and he was recommend etc

[bonerp]

I didn't have Wren fit it. My problem and the reason for taking them to court was poorly finished paint, damaged and scratched goods, and lack of quality checks which could've stopped 99% of the problems I faced.
I noted some of the replaced items were coming better packaged but the finish was still arse.
Also their hinges are crap and only after 2 yrs are dropping here and there.

[FarmyardPants]

If you’re not going to use the whole Wren “package” and opt instead to have someone fit the kitchen, I recommend you look at IKEA. You could save yourself a lot.

[Hashtaggggg]

Never.

It still amazes me that people actually think Wren and others actually offer a real sale.

I used to work for Sharps Bedrooms, similar sale offers. The price was the same all year, just advertised differently.

[alistair1234]

AGK said:

Some light reading as you tie the laces on your running shoes,

https://www.facebook.com/groups/583631408428050/

Wow!

Thanks for all of the comments so far. We were never going to use Wren for the installation, they quoted £4k and admitted straight away it was ridiculous, but we were not 100% happy on the design in the end, the colour we really wanted was in the premium range and so we've decided to give Wren a miss, being pointed in the direction of the above fb group was a bit of an eye opener also!

We'll use the layout we designed with Wren as we were happy with the changes we made in that respect, but buy the units from DIY kitchens.

Thanks again

[jackofall84]

DIY-kitchens is owned by Ultima furniture - As far as I know they also use Homag machines the same as Wren and Ikea...like I said it's not about who the supplier is, they're all much of a muchness, it's all about the installation fitters you use.

[Matt_E_Mulsion]

We naively popped into Wren kitchens when we were passing as we were in the market for a new kitchen. It was a very nice showroom and we were looked after really well. We made an appointment to go back another day with our measurements and have a design done.

All was well when we went back, the guy did us some designs and gave us some good ideas and it was looking really good. Then he came up with the price, the once in a lifetime discount if we signed up there and then, plus his hard sell was quite relentless. Needless to say I got up and walked out of the door, vowing never to go back again.

[Trustmeimadoctor]

when they designed us a kitchen they were quite happy giving us a gap between a wall and hob of about 600mm! not exactly very safe or easy to navigate through