Wren kitchen, best time to buy, now or post Xmas sale?
Discussion
Another ‘avoid Wren like the plague’ here.
Three people I know have had problems with product quality
Everyone I know had problems with piss poor subcontracted fitting.
We used a local indie for supply and fit. Far better quality than Wren and zero issues with fit or any Aftersales service.
Three people I know have had problems with product quality
Everyone I know had problems with piss poor subcontracted fitting.
We used a local indie for supply and fit. Far better quality than Wren and zero issues with fit or any Aftersales service.
sherman said:
Joe M said:
If not wren, then who? Not diy or independent, looking for a big name, all in one package. (glasgow)
Wickes/travis perkins -same companyThey were brilliant in edinburgh.
http://www.sncollection.co.uk/kitchens?gclid=CjwKC...
http://www.sncollection.co.uk/showrooms?gclid=CjwK...
There's a lot of hate for Wren on here but I've been happy with them and would use them again.
We screwed them on the price and they were considerably cheaper (and better all-round) than Wickes, slightly cheaper than DIY Kitchens and a lot cheaper than a couple of independent places.
They supplied the kitchen units only - we sourced our own worktops, appliances, fixtures and fittings (taps, sinks etc) elsewhere. I think whoever the supplier is, you're going to be able to get a better deal for all of these online. It was fitted by my step dad, who's a bit anal when it comes to kitchens and he was impressed with the quality and how it went together.
The kitchen has been fitted for a couple of years now and looks just as good now as it does when it was first fitted - no complaints on quality.
The design service was pretty comprehensive and highlighted some issues that had not been considered by other companies. The only issue that we had was one of the units was marked when it was unpacked. We spoke to Wren and they sent out a replacement, which only took two days.
I don't think the time of year makes a massive difference to be honest - just screw and keep screwing them on the price and they should match any quote that you have from elsewhere. Our kitchen started out at £12k or something silly and we paid less than half that in the end.
I'm not usually a fan of negotiating. I much prefer a company who quote a reasonable price to start off with but it would appear that starting with an over inflated price is common practice in the kitchen trade (DIY Kitchens excluded). But, we were happy with the design service, the quality of the units and the style/colours, so I decided to see how much they'd knock off.
In summary, get everything other than your units elsewhere to save a s
t load of cash. If you do go to Wren, go armed with some quotes from elsewhere and just keep screwing them on the price until they're competitive.
We screwed them on the price and they were considerably cheaper (and better all-round) than Wickes, slightly cheaper than DIY Kitchens and a lot cheaper than a couple of independent places.
They supplied the kitchen units only - we sourced our own worktops, appliances, fixtures and fittings (taps, sinks etc) elsewhere. I think whoever the supplier is, you're going to be able to get a better deal for all of these online. It was fitted by my step dad, who's a bit anal when it comes to kitchens and he was impressed with the quality and how it went together.
The kitchen has been fitted for a couple of years now and looks just as good now as it does when it was first fitted - no complaints on quality.
The design service was pretty comprehensive and highlighted some issues that had not been considered by other companies. The only issue that we had was one of the units was marked when it was unpacked. We spoke to Wren and they sent out a replacement, which only took two days.
I don't think the time of year makes a massive difference to be honest - just screw and keep screwing them on the price and they should match any quote that you have from elsewhere. Our kitchen started out at £12k or something silly and we paid less than half that in the end.
I'm not usually a fan of negotiating. I much prefer a company who quote a reasonable price to start off with but it would appear that starting with an over inflated price is common practice in the kitchen trade (DIY Kitchens excluded). But, we were happy with the design service, the quality of the units and the style/colours, so I decided to see how much they'd knock off.
In summary, get everything other than your units elsewhere to save a s
t load of cash. If you do go to Wren, go armed with some quotes from elsewhere and just keep screwing them on the price until they're competitive. TheOversteerLever said:
There's a lot of hate for Wren on here but I've been happy with them and would use them again.
We screwed them on the price and they were considerably cheaper (and better all-round) than Wickes, slightly cheaper than DIY Kitchens and a lot cheaper than a couple of independent places.
They supplied the kitchen units only - we sourced our own worktops, appliances, fixtures and fittings (taps, sinks etc) elsewhere. I think whoever the supplier is, you're going to be able to get a better deal for all of these online. It was fitted by my step dad, who's a bit anal when it comes to kitchens and he was impressed with the quality and how it went together.
The kitchen has been fitted for a couple of years now and looks just as good now as it does when it was first fitted - no complaints on quality.
The design service was pretty comprehensive and highlighted some issues that had not been considered by other companies. The only issue that we had was one of the units was marked when it was unpacked. We spoke to Wren and they sent out a replacement, which only took two days.
I don't think the time of year makes a massive difference to be honest - just screw and keep screwing them on the price and they should match any quote that you have from elsewhere. Our kitchen started out at £12k or something silly and we paid less than half that in the end.
I'm not usually a fan of negotiating. I much prefer a company who quote a reasonable price to start off with but it would appear that starting with an over inflated price is common practice in the kitchen trade (DIY Kitchens excluded). But, we were happy with the design service, the quality of the units and the style/colours, so I decided to see how much they'd knock off.
In summary, get everything other than your units elsewhere to save a st load of cash. If you do go to Wren, go armed with some quotes from elsewhere and just keep screwing them on the price until they're competitive.
Its not really a turnkey solution that many people want.We screwed them on the price and they were considerably cheaper (and better all-round) than Wickes, slightly cheaper than DIY Kitchens and a lot cheaper than a couple of independent places.
They supplied the kitchen units only - we sourced our own worktops, appliances, fixtures and fittings (taps, sinks etc) elsewhere. I think whoever the supplier is, you're going to be able to get a better deal for all of these online. It was fitted by my step dad, who's a bit anal when it comes to kitchens and he was impressed with the quality and how it went together.
The kitchen has been fitted for a couple of years now and looks just as good now as it does when it was first fitted - no complaints on quality.
The design service was pretty comprehensive and highlighted some issues that had not been considered by other companies. The only issue that we had was one of the units was marked when it was unpacked. We spoke to Wren and they sent out a replacement, which only took two days.
I don't think the time of year makes a massive difference to be honest - just screw and keep screwing them on the price and they should match any quote that you have from elsewhere. Our kitchen started out at £12k or something silly and we paid less than half that in the end.
I'm not usually a fan of negotiating. I much prefer a company who quote a reasonable price to start off with but it would appear that starting with an over inflated price is common practice in the kitchen trade (DIY Kitchens excluded). But, we were happy with the design service, the quality of the units and the style/colours, so I decided to see how much they'd knock off.
In summary, get everything other than your units elsewhere to save a s
t load of cash. If you do go to Wren, go armed with some quotes from elsewhere and just keep screwing them on the price until they're competitive. So you recommend that you should get lots of quotes from others and then take these to Wren and they will offer an inferior product and price match.
Seems a lot of effort to me to "prove" that they will do their best to overcharge you!
Hashtaggggg said:
Its not really a turnkey solution that many people want.
So you recommend that you should get lots of quotes from others and then take these to Wren and they will offer an inferior product and price match.
Seems a lot of effort to me to "prove" that they will do their best to overcharge you!
Yeah, I'll concede that. Some people are looking for a turnkey, one shop for everything solution but the kitchen buying thing is always going to be a pain in the arse, unless you've got a lot of money to throw at someone. So you recommend that you should get lots of quotes from others and then take these to Wren and they will offer an inferior product and price match.
Seems a lot of effort to me to "prove" that they will do their best to overcharge you!
We didn't get lots of quotes - just the usual shopping around and I don't think Wren offer an inferior product to be honest.
It wasn't really a lot of effort and I wasn't attempting to 'prove' anything. We were happy with the product and got it for a price that was better than elsewhere.
Hashtaggggg said:
TheOversteerLever said:
There's a lot of hate for Wren on here but I've been happy with them and would use them again.
We screwed them on the price and they were considerably cheaper (and better all-round) than Wickes, slightly cheaper than DIY Kitchens and a lot cheaper than a couple of independent places.
They supplied the kitchen units only - we sourced our own worktops, appliances, fixtures and fittings (taps, sinks etc) elsewhere. I think whoever the supplier is, you're going to be able to get a better deal for all of these online. It was fitted by my step dad, who's a bit anal when it comes to kitchens and he was impressed with the quality and how it went together.
The kitchen has been fitted for a couple of years now and looks just as good now as it does when it was first fitted - no complaints on quality.
The design service was pretty comprehensive and highlighted some issues that had not been considered by other companies. The only issue that we had was one of the units was marked when it was unpacked. We spoke to Wren and they sent out a replacement, which only took two days.
I don't think the time of year makes a massive difference to be honest - just screw and keep screwing them on the price and they should match any quote that you have from elsewhere. Our kitchen started out at £12k or something silly and we paid less than half that in the end.
I'm not usually a fan of negotiating. I much prefer a company who quote a reasonable price to start off with but it would appear that starting with an over inflated price is common practice in the kitchen trade (DIY Kitchens excluded). But, we were happy with the design service, the quality of the units and the style/colours, so I decided to see how much they'd knock off.
In summary, get everything other than your units elsewhere to save a st load of cash. If you do go to Wren, go armed with some quotes from elsewhere and just keep screwing them on the price until they're competitive.
Its not really a turnkey solution that many people want.We screwed them on the price and they were considerably cheaper (and better all-round) than Wickes, slightly cheaper than DIY Kitchens and a lot cheaper than a couple of independent places.
They supplied the kitchen units only - we sourced our own worktops, appliances, fixtures and fittings (taps, sinks etc) elsewhere. I think whoever the supplier is, you're going to be able to get a better deal for all of these online. It was fitted by my step dad, who's a bit anal when it comes to kitchens and he was impressed with the quality and how it went together.
The kitchen has been fitted for a couple of years now and looks just as good now as it does when it was first fitted - no complaints on quality.
The design service was pretty comprehensive and highlighted some issues that had not been considered by other companies. The only issue that we had was one of the units was marked when it was unpacked. We spoke to Wren and they sent out a replacement, which only took two days.
I don't think the time of year makes a massive difference to be honest - just screw and keep screwing them on the price and they should match any quote that you have from elsewhere. Our kitchen started out at £12k or something silly and we paid less than half that in the end.
I'm not usually a fan of negotiating. I much prefer a company who quote a reasonable price to start off with but it would appear that starting with an over inflated price is common practice in the kitchen trade (DIY Kitchens excluded). But, we were happy with the design service, the quality of the units and the style/colours, so I decided to see how much they'd knock off.
In summary, get everything other than your units elsewhere to save a s
t load of cash. If you do go to Wren, go armed with some quotes from elsewhere and just keep screwing them on the price until they're competitive. So you recommend that you should get lots of quotes from others and then take these to Wren and they will offer an inferior product and price match.
Seems a lot of effort to me to "prove" that they will do their best to overcharge you!
The differences will be on installers used, worktops and fixtures and fittings.
jackofall84 said:
Hashtaggggg said:
TheOversteerLever said:
.
Its not really a turnkey solution that many people want.So you recommend that you should get lots of quotes from others and then take these to Wren and they will offer an inferior product and price match.
Seems a lot of effort to me to "prove" that they will do their best to overcharge you!
The differences will be on installers used, worktops and fixtures and fittings.
A lot of the doors arrived with damage and marks UNDER their own film applied for protection, so they never even got to that process without being damaged.
I bought mine 2 years ago and maybe they've made some improvements, but their shoddy sales tactics mean I wouldn't ever recommend them. They made EVERYTHING difficult to resolve.
singlecoil said:
Some small players don't use particle board at all.
Yes this is true and to be honest not always that much more expensive, I was trying to show a like for like comparison though, coincidentally some of our friends had a carpenter do their whole kitchen for them about 4 weeks ago in hardwood and it worked out cheaper than the quotes from Wren, Magnet, Howdens etc. I'm just trying to get the point across that no matter where you go, you may get a perfect batch of boards or some might have defects as they're all manufactured in a similar fashion from almost identical materials. The most important part is the service you receive, so if you do get a damaged panel it's replaced swiftly without lots of chasing and agro. Someone I work with used Wren and unfortunately used the installers they recommended, it was a nightmare from start to finish but it wasn't anything to do with the quality of the stuff from Wren, but the incompetent installation team. They did have some panels turn up damaged but Wren were quick to send out replacements for these. All said and done they are now happy with the Kitchen but the hassle they had getting it completed was very stressful, if they'd used and independent installation team it would have been smooth sailing start to finish.
jackofall84 said:
I don't think Wren is an inferior product. All the big and small players source their particleboard from similar suppliers who all manufacture it EN BS 5669, from there it's then cut to size and the laminate glued on. Due to Wrens size, wealth and power their manufacturing machines are actually superior to some of the other smaller competitors. Nearly all the panels by all the manufacturers come off of either a Homag or Biesse machine so it doesn't really matter who you buy the units and doors from.
The main reasons to choose DIY IME is the massive choice of carcass colours - white, cream or oak doesn't cut it with a dark kitchen. Plus their lipping is far superior and the first failure on a kitchen is usually the lipping coming away.
They install the feet bases and doors which saves a lot of time too.
Really the only reason not to choose them is because you can't design it , you can't cope with their lead time or you want to spend far more for a "name".
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