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Wren Kitchen


Kim

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Hi

 

I have committed to Wren in the supply of both kitchens for my build/ renovation, bad/good move?

 

The price of the BIG kitchen with everything: cabinets, island/breakfast bar, quartz work top fitted and all appliances (price matched to AO.com) was £9700

 

The smaller kitchen (New build/ my house) is the same but £8600

 

We even left in some tolerances at all angles should the size of the kitchen change slightly (architect mess up or plastering thickness etc)

 

I had quotes from Wickes at 12500 & 11800 respectively and B&Q was cabinets and worksurfaces only but wanted £1250 per worktop installation and not consider whole thing at same time as one job.

 

Thoughts?

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I know a couple of people who had bad experiences with Wren but not sure whether they were just unlucky. DIY Kitchens often seems to come up as good value, although they don’t do installations I believe. Howdens also seem quite popular. 

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I went to Wren and various other companies who were all quoting around 20k. I decided to order our kitchen from DIY kitchens who will supply worktop and cabinets (including doors) and I will source all appliances myself. This has saved us around 5-6k

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B&Q already come up £8K for bigger kitchen plus i would have to get all appliances myself it will be about same as Wren. With Wren i got all CDA appliances with 5 years warranty.

 

It does seem like Luck with Wren though.

 

 

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1 hour ago, Kim said:

[...]

I have committed to Wren in the supply of both kitchens for my build/ renovation, bad/good move?

[...]

 

You like the kitchen: you would not have bought it otherwise.

The key thing is the fitter(s). Attention to detail? Careful? Experienced? Competent?

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Wren arnt Great 

But in saying that we spent £18000 on a German kitchen and quarts worktops Supply only 

While the kitchen looks great several items arrived damaged 

four weeks for replacements to arrive from Germany 

Somthing worth considering 

 

I’ve fitted quite a few Howden kitchens Very rate  to have anything missing and most things are stock items 

Though there sales technique for a one off requires a bit of patience 

 

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1 minute ago, recoveringacademic said:

 

You like the kitchen: you would not have bought it otherwise.

The key thing is the fitter(s). Attention to detail? Careful? Experienced? Competent?

I agree Ian

 

There are some really good fitters out there But it is pot luck who you get I fitted ours myself as I thought it was a lot of money to spend to have it messed up

Our last kitchen I fitted about seven years ago It cost 5k from BQ 

My wife assembled all the units 

and it looks as good today as when it was fitted

Fitting and more important the finishing are everything 

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We got the kitchen, bar and utility room from Wren. Didn't have any issues at all. Love the kitchen. I'm sure there are better quality kitchens out there but you might only know if you are the type of person to tap the backs of cupboards or inspect the sides of cover panels 

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5 minutes ago, nod said:

I’ve fitted quite a few Howden kitchens Very rate  to have anything missing and most things are stock items 

Though there sales technique for a one off requires a bit of patience 

Also had a Howdens - really hate the way they price and then discount by 80% but ultimately worked out really well. 

 

I agree with what was said earlier - the fitter is so important, our builder did ours and he used a new chippie that was hopeless we had to get so much re-fitted. As long as you like the look of the cabinets/interiors etc etc then do what you can to check that the fitters are experienced with Wren and that they read fitting instructions for each appliance.

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Maybe you could get the names of the fitters before they arrive and do a search to see if you can find any reviews? My husband fitted my kitchen (apart from the granite worktop) and whilst he wasn’t massively experienced (had just fitted one kitchen prior to this one) he did spend lots of time getting things right. A commercial fitter will need to work much faster so they’ll need to be pretty decent for it to look right. 

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25 minutes ago, newhome said:

Maybe you could get the names of the fitters before they arrive and do a search to see if you can find any reviews? My husband fitted my kitchen (apart from the granite worktop) and whilst he wasn’t massively experienced (had just fitted one kitchen prior to this one) he did spend lots of time getting things right. A commercial fitter will need to work much faster so they’ll need to be pretty decent for it to look right. 

Problem with that is that they all say we have our own fitters

But the reality is that they use whoever is available and pay a fraction of what you are being charged 

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5 minutes ago, nod said:

Problem with that is that they all say we have our own fitters

But the reality is that they use whoever is available and pay a fraction of what you are being charged 

 

Yep! And often those who are available are available for a reason. 

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To true 

 

if your employing a joiner for your build Who has good attention to detail

Get the kitchen supply only 

and ask him to fit 

Though Wickes and wren are not keen on supply only 

 

we called in Wickes over Christmas to match two replacement units to one of our rentals 

We were told that they couldn’t give prices for indidual units

Though there was a sign stating 50% of fitting

I asked if the fitters where on half money for January 

 

 

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I have bought DIY kitchens in the past and they were fine.  Units averaged out at £2,700 plus VAT per kitchen, £2,200 worktops, appliances sinks and taps from various £4,280 fitting £700.

 

Howdens are a PITA to deal with and do a double glazing style discount and endless telesales calls.

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32 minutes ago, nod said:

Though there was a sign stating 50% of fitting

I asked if the fitters where on half money for January

 

Had friends who had a quote for a kitchen in the Wickes Summer sale - kitchen was £3300 and fitting £1450. Had another quote during the January sale for same kitchen layout just with different doors, and the kitchen was £3600 and fitting was £2700, with "50% off" making it £1350....

 

Salesman didn't know where to look when they pulled the original quote out...

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19 minutes ago, Mr Punter said:

Howdens are a PITA to deal with and do a double glazing style discount and endless telesales calls.

 

Saw a Howdens designed kitchen a few months back - didn't fit, despite them coming and measuring twice for the design. And you sign off that you accept their dimensions and they aren't responsible if it doesn't fit ! 

 

The spec was for soft close drawers on all units, and they supplied the wrong soft closers 3 timed before finally admitting the provided drawer types couldn't have them retrofitted and they had supplied the wrong carcasses....

 

Has put me off for life !

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wow, thanks for all the responses all, its really interesting reading everyones experiences.

 

I have committed via deposits on each kitchen to secure all the January discounts even if i make changes in May it will apply and i will be entitled to any better discounts if/when they come out.

 

I have paid the Building Company to fit both kitchens and will be with there reputation and warranties obviously. Wren weren't bothered by this at all when i said that. The work surfaces are fitted by there Quartz company though.

 

 

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9 minutes ago, Kim said:

I have paid the Building Company to fit both kitchens and will be with there reputation and warranties obviously.

 

There be dragons.... check the small print in Wrens contract as I'm pretty sure the cabinet warranty is a limited cover if they don't install them.

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You know you can ask for your deposit back if you choose to do this.

 

I had a client recently who had paid a deposit for a £14k kitchen from Wren as a supply only job. The kitchen fitter she contacted for installation recommended she speak to us and we did the kitchen for a fair bit under. She had no problem getting her deposit back.

 

If anyone in kitchens ever tells you there is a discount - RUN. Its all made up and its smoke and mirrors. If there is a discount with a deadline, it will be available after the deadline. If it isnt, come and get the money from me.

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Wren also did buy now, pay later which we did. It was very very handy in letting us manage finances. Didn't cost us a penny more but let us push out repayment until after we finished the house. As long as you don't just iusb it out and forget, it helps keep cash for other things. 

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We have a Wren kitchen, supply only, which we fitted ourselves. Everything was delivered on time and for the price was good quality. Their kitchen 'designers' weren't much good in our case but everything worked out fine in the end. I had heard lots of horror stories but maybe we were just lucky.

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