Anyone used Wren Kitchens? Good or avoid??

[sidsgranny]

Looking at a new kitchen. It's not enormous - only about 8 units needed. Wren website looks good price wise with installation but would be keen to know if what any of you that have used them think? Ikea always look good but I don't think they install and we don't really have anyone we know who could do it for us.

Thanks!

Have a look at Howdens or Benchmarx. They might be able to recommend an installer.

IME of moving house several times and fitting kitchens, it always works out cheaper to get a local builder, then price up kitchen units.
Kitchen companies always wack up the price.
My first kitchen was B&Q, fitted by a locally recommended person. It came out at half the price quoted by Wren.

If you join your local Next Door online group you can find local professionals.

I used Wren a couple of years ago and they were terrible. It took months of missing or damaged parts for us to finally get the kitchen finished. Atrocious customer service too. They are militant on Trustpilot for getting bad reviews deleted too.

I would avoid and go with a local supplier or DIY kitchens instead.

We went to a Wren showroom and got the guy to work out a design and an estimate of price. It was within our budget so we were happy to go ahead until we were told the next stage. Apparently the showroom guy had given a price for a "dry fit" whatever that means, and we would need to pay 10% of the total cost for an actual fitter to come out and give us an exact estimate. If we didn't take the kitchen from them, the money would be refunded.

I wasn't going to risk (nor could I see the need for) giving them around £500. We got units from Howdens and got a local joiner to fit them. The total cost for units and fitting was a lot less and he did a great job.

2 friends used wren about 2 years ago and both had terrible problems.... One took them to kitchen ombudsman in end and won.
Another friend used before Christmas and they had just one issue...thry ard happy

I wouldn’t recommend wren or howdens.

DIY kitchens are cheaper, better quality and transparent in their pricing. Wrens even told me not to use their fitters if we did go with them as they’re extortionate. Friend had very similar howdens kitchen to our DIY one fitted at the same time last year and the quality is poor but it cost her a fortune - bits are literally falling off already.

You would need to find your own fitter though. Ask around for recommendations.

I looked into kitchens a few years ago. Went to a Wren showroom and some of the drawers were broken, etc. Didn't bode well. Concluded they wow with flashy designs but quality and customer service is poor. Looked on Which? for recommendations, Wren had terrible reviews. DIY kitchens came out the best, for quality and value. However, we ended up with a Wickes kitchen, but got builder to fit. Reasonable balance of quality and price.

I haven’t personally used wren but 3 friends did, all of them had issues with the finish (doors not hung properly, handles missing, cornicing not cut right etc) and it took months of back and forth before they would accept any liability and supply the missing parts and rectify their mistakes. I’ve heard really awful things about them and so would avoid them!

My neighbour used them and had an awful time. Would not recommend.

I can only tell you about my good friend who used Wren last year. A terrible and stressful experience and she doesn’t recommend. As someone said above, find a good joiner and look at the likes of Howdens online.

Went in to Wren, wanted to buy my dream kitchen. The designer wouldn’t allow time to choose exactly what I wanted. Kept trying to get me to sign and saying I could change things later. He got his manager over to put more pressure on.

I walked out. I liked the units, I would have paid the price but was completely put off by the hard sell.

I know a few who have used Wren and don't have a good word to say about them. We've had 3 fitted kitchens over the years. Every time we've used a builder and they've done a great job. First time the kitchen was from an independent retailer, 2nd time from Howdens- not cheap but not great quality. This time we bought a B&Q kitchen (which they designed) and had a builder fit it. Decent price, great job from the fitters, good service from B&Q ( you can get a trade card for extra discount).

I would highly recommend Wren

Their customer service was so good that when my useless kitchen fitter drilled holes on the wrong side of A door they just sent another free of charge

We used Blackstone Kitchens (two years ago) and would really recommend.

We used IKEA. Admittedly in Spain but it was very quick and efficient. You pay a refundable deposit for the plan. They sit for ages doing lists and pictures. You can have a complete strip out and replace service or have some done and they do the actual fitting. The only slow bit was waiting for custom worktops and splashbacks .

The thing to be aware of with ikea kitchens is that they don’t have the void at the back of the floor units for all the pipe work etc. Although that might have changed in recent years.