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Original poster

Kichen Wren anyone used before?

27 replies

WinginItAtDIY · 25/04/2023 20:55

Hello.
Looking at renovating our kichen. Had a quote from wren inc fitting. Price is good.

What are the fitters like. Do they do all the plumbing /electrics/plastering that may be needed etc. I completely forgot to ask

My last house, we had to get different tradesmen to do each part and it was a ballache and made things longer.

I also assumed the old kichen being removed was in the price but since seen online its an additional cost. Was it expensive.

OP posts:
ConcernedCatmother · 25/04/2023 21:00

I’ve not used but currently renovating our kitchen. The builders we hired said please do not get kitchen from Wren kitchens, they are low quality and always problems with the delivery times etc

Original poster
WinginItAtDIY · 25/04/2023 21:04

Thank you.
My 2 sisters both had wren, not the flat packed and were perfect but they fit themselves. Even 2 fault units were couriered within 48 hrs.

Were not that skilled to fit ourselves unfortunately so need to get fitting done.

Will look around some more though

OP posts:
RobinStrike · 25/04/2023 21:08

I've not long had a kitchen fitted by Wren. We took quotes and designs from several places including John Lewis. The design from Wren was far better. It was completed 4 months ago and we are delighted with it. The fitter had real pride in his job and the electrician and plasterer he brought in to work with him were also good reliable workmen. He checked every item before fitting it and ordered replacements with the couple that had marks on. Wren rang every other day to check we were happy with progress. I would happily recommend them. You may be unlucky if you get a poor fitter I don't know, but we had a JL kitchen 5 years ago (different house) and I'd say the experience was comparable and I'm just as happy this time around (plus a whole lot cheaper than the John Lewis quote).

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Lazyladydaisy · 25/04/2023 21:08

My kitchen is from Wren. I love it, its my favourite room in my house, although we did have a few issues (which were dealt with very quickly by Wren, without any problem). I am aware that if you Google they do not have the best reviews!
The fitters were lovely, did everything. Wren ony cover a dry fit, so we had to pay extra for the appliance instalation, plastering/electrics etc.
I will say that we couldn't have got our kitchen for the same money somewhere else, so we went for it. I don't regret it!

Conductpolicy · 25/04/2023 21:08

DIY kitchens

AlisonDonut · 25/04/2023 21:10

My old kitchen was wren, loved the kitchen but I'd never use their fitters again. Ours was a twat.

Original poster
WinginItAtDIY · 25/04/2023 21:49

Thank you. Will look around.

OP posts:
Tidsleytiddy · 25/04/2023 21:58

Our Wren kitchen fitter was lovely. He project managed the whole thing ie the electrician and the decorator. He advised me on popular and suitable flooring and splashbacks. He arrived on time every day. Kitchen looks amazing and Wren can do as much or as little as you like. They advised me to not buy their flat pack furniture as the construction of the units would take the fitter time and therefore add to the cost.

Berties · 25/04/2023 21:59

I have had a wren kitchen installed last year, as the delivery guys were delivering said kitchen and chatting they said they would never have a wren kitchen despite the discounts they receive. Parts arrived damaged missing incorrect, months later we are still going back and forth trying to resolve the issues.
Ive found over the year the kitchen hasn't held up well considering the cost of the thing in the 1st place. There's a Facebook page relating to wren kitchen which I wish I had discovered prior to purchasing.

OnTheRoll · 25/04/2023 22:01

We got a kitchen from Wren one year ago, extremely happy. We did shop around and got quotes from Howdens and Magnet but Wren looked and felt the best.

Our consultant did advise us not to use their fitters as he said they were more expensive than if we had it arranged our own fitters. So cannot comment on that aspect but very pleased with the kitchen itself. The best value out of the three too.

ScoopyDoo · 25/04/2023 22:25

I have a Wren kitchen (3 years old) and cannot fault it. Still immaculate. However I would never use any kitchen company fitters because it’s so random. Far better to get local advice/reviews on fitters, either a builder who can do everything or separate electrician, plumber etc because you are far more likely to get a better end result. It’s more effort but worth it.
Also means you can source worktops/appliances separately and often more cheaply. Wren price-matched our appliances apart from the range oven so we got them from there, but we got granite worktops from another company with better choice. That meant there was a two week delay after kitchen fit, because they wanted to template the worktop after the kitchen was in, but so worth it.

Rosiepeta · 25/04/2023 22:34

I absolutely love the look of our Wren kitchen, but there were so many faults /missing parts so had to wait for replacements, it's not aged well( 5 years old), lots of chips/ swelling / some of the doors really need replacing.
I'd avoid .

goingtotown · 25/04/2023 22:39

We found Wickes better quality than Wren. The fitters were good too.

billyt · 26/04/2023 11:07

AlisonDonut · 25/04/2023 21:10

My old kitchen was wren, loved the kitchen but I'd never use their fitters again. Ours was a twat.

This.

Had our Wren kitchen fitted about five years ago and still very happy with it. But the 'fitters' were shit and seemed to drag it our. They weren't that cheap, either.

I'm quite happy to do DIY and being an Electrician have picked up lots of relevant skills over the years. Salesman said that the benefit of using their fitters (who are all sub-contractors who don't seem to be quality checked) was that any issues would be sorted very quickly. He fucking lied. Wren had/have set days when they deliver to certain areas so tough shit if it's a long wait for you.

Kitchen was delivered exactly as agreed so thought a good start. But nope.

Examples - we have over 30 units. Only 10 doors arrived! Took two weeks for the rest. Some doors were marked, took over a week to replace. Other issues which took a while to sort to my satisfaction.

And they never take the old stuff away!

Also, the fitting cost only covers them fitting the units. Any other trades like electrical, plumbing, gas or tiling etc. you are supposed to ask the fitters about. Wren do give rough costs but down to you to negotiate. Ours were supposed to charge £60 mer square metre for tiling (not including the tiles). Didn't seem interested when I asked so I did that myself.

Long story short, I'm now very happy with the kitchen but would find my own fitters or DIY (not difficult)

CloseEncountersOfTheTurdKind · 26/04/2023 11:10

We love our kitchen from Wren but used a local fitter. The price Wren gives you is literally just to put the units in place, no electrics, plumbing, decorating, flooring etc

mylittleyumyum · 26/04/2023 12:14

I used them to design my kitchen. Their quote was hilarious. I took the plans and had my new kitchen fitted, with extras and some building work for less than half the price by a local joiner.

Walkerbean16 · 26/04/2023 12:18

You should be able to get a local builder who has access to plumbers and electricians etc You don't need to do it all yourself.

My husband has a building firm and he organises all other trades.

He never recommends Wren, he would advise to use DIY Kitchens.

Walkerbean16 · 26/04/2023 12:20

Also my cousin recently got a quote with Wren for 14k and after she haggled they got it down to 6.5k so if you go with them don't be afraid to ask for discounts.

(She lives in a different city which is why we didn't sort it out)

icebearforpresident · 26/04/2023 13:25

Got my kitchen from Wren about 6 months ago, I can’t fault them at all. Spoke to 2 builders about the job (we were knocking down a wall to go open plan) and one said don’t touch them, poor quality etc, and the second said it’s where he got his from and let us go see it. Because ours was part of a bigger project we didn’t use their fitters, and their planner said using our own would be cheaper, but as a result we waited ages for it to be done so suppose it’s a time/cost balance for you.

The one issue we had was the delivery of the fridge, we got an American style fridge freezer so it came direct from Samsung and not wren. At some point Samsung cancelled the order and we ended up having to buy
it again from Curry’s. After going around in circles for ages trying to deal with it ourselves we got Wren involved and had a refund within hours, plus a bit extra for the inconvenience. It wasn’t their fault but they were great at helping us get it resolved.

tailinthejam · 26/04/2023 14:00

We got Wren to do the design, and bought the units off them. But we used a local kitchen fitter to install it all.

I think Wren use contracted fitters so if you use them it might be variable depending on where you live.

ilikethewayyoumove · 26/04/2023 14:49

My advice would be look at trust pilot, it will tell you everything you need to know about wren kitchens.Blush

Unbridezilla · 26/04/2023 14:53

I got a quote for Wren for 6k, for their cheapest flat pack units. I actually bought the same design from diy kitchens for 3k. And diy kitchens units were thicker and ready built carcasses, so closer to the more expensive wren kitchens. And I think 6k was a "sale" price.

Beamur · 26/04/2023 14:53

Wren design was good and the fitter was great. However, every part of the job was subcontracted and as we weren't living in the flat it was being fitted in, there was a lot of messing about. Needed to get in plumbers and electricians too.
Wouldn't use them again.

OlderandwiserMaybe · 26/04/2023 14:54

I had a Wren kitchen fitted last year and very pleased with it. However - I used a local builder/contractor to do the fitting - all for a fixed price along with some other work i wanted doing.
The trouble with getting a fitting quote from Wren is that every single little thing is an extra... want to add extra socket = extra cost.... need to move a radiator = extra cost.....want new flooring = extra cost.... and so on and so on.
It might seem more convenient to get Wren to do everything but in all honesty you might be better off finding a local contractor.

ExtremelyDetermined · 26/04/2023 15:51

We had a Wren kitchen installed by our own fitter two years ago. The design was excellent, prices were similar to Howdens and Magnet, appliances were price-matched. One item was incorrect on arrival and they couriered a replacement out the next day. No quality issues whatsoever with any of it yet.