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Wren kitchens. Yes? No? Good? Bad?

297 replies

TheOneAndOnlyAlpha · 17/04/2013 13:52

That's it really. Has anyone had one fitted. It's either that or magnet. Any opinions would be fab. Thanks!

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itwasallsuchagoodidea · 24/03/2015 12:09

Dear Nest,

We have stalled again and I really am fed up - I just want this all over. I shouldn't be dreaming of ripping out my brand new kitchen and starting again.
I emailed store on the 20th March offering some possible dates as the date offered was incompatible. In that email I also advised I had found another bit of blown work surface (the up-stand has now blown - less than a year old). Luckily this area will have to be replaced when the original fault as reported in November gets resolved but it is concerning. Why is that I fear once replaced my problems won't be over and will just recur?

Please could you chase again.

Thank you

thenest · 24/03/2015 15:11

Dear itwasallsuchagoodidea,

The new upstands had been ordered via store admin and a remedial date was given which we now understand was not compatible with your requirements.

The store admin have consulted a fitter and is awaiting to hear what dates can be achieved mutually for this. The email was sent 2 working days ago and therefore she is still working on this and will be in touch as soon as a date has been finalised.

Kind Regards
Wren Kitchens

Munger · 24/03/2015 22:06

Dear TheNest

I remain dissatisfied with your product and service. As outlined in my prior posts - the Linda Barker kitchen you supplied is of poor quality.

The goods are not fit for purpose and in-line with the sales of goods act you should have either rectified all the faults or provided appropriate compensation. However you have done neither...

I still have a white line and numerous scattered paint chips.. You have blankly refused any kind of refund, however did promised to send "touch up paint", which would at least allow a DIY repair job...

Alas, the touch up paint has also failed to materialise...

I am fed up with chasing your company and would be grateful if you could resolve this without further delay or inconvenience......

Wren kitchens. Yes? No? Good? Bad?
thenest · 26/03/2015 16:29

Dear munger

We have taken a look at this for you and can only apologise that you have not received the parts requested. As per the email trial and calls that you had with head office the parts were sent via Yodel. Here are the Yodel tracking numbers: JD0002252883023284, JD0002252883023285.

Nothing has been communicated to head office who could have advised you of this.

The Yodel information advises that this was delivered to a neighbour for you.

Kind Regards

paulapantsdown · 28/03/2015 20:45

Im soooo depressed now after reading this thread! I spent an hour in Wrens today, and the rest of the afternoon planning and choosing. Not happy to use them now, I couldn't handle the stress if all these error happened with ours.

Such a bummer as the designs are so nice, and there are features that I've not seen available with Howdens, Magnets etc.

itwasallsuchagoodidea · 30/03/2015 14:00

Hey Becky,
How is it going? I have had exactly the same fault occur with my worktop. My original was fitted privately but then an earlier fault was replaced by Wren. My understanding would be if it had blown on a joint done by a private fitter that would quite rightly not be Wrens fault. However where is has blown where it has (a definite flaw in the design) - as has mine, then surely this has to be a design fault. I am about to get mine replaced by Wren - its taken 130 days to get to this point. It would be a great help if you could update how you go one?

megs22 · 05/04/2015 11:05

Extremely disappointed with Wren, so many damages in the delivery, slow to replace some of them.
A year later, they finally agreed to replace 3 sub standard doors, which they said were acceptable, if I had seen that standard in their showroom I would never have used them. Did eventually receive £150 in compensation, which compared to the grief and disappointment is an insult, I wish I could have started again and enjoyed having my new kitchen fitted.

megs22 · 05/04/2015 11:06

Extremely disappointed with Wren, so many damages in the delivery, slow to replace some of them.
A year later, they finally agreed to replace 3 sub standard doors, which they said were acceptable, if I had seen that standard in their showroom I would never have used them. Did eventually receive £150 in compensation, which compared to the grief and disappointment is an insult, I wish I could have started again and enjoyed having my new kitchen fitted.

mphamilton99 · 16/04/2015 10:08

Despite having paid Wren a sum of £15,000 in December 2014 in respect of a kitchen to be installed in January 2015, I am still without a functioning kitchen 70 days later. I've had an appalling experience with Wren and would suggest that any potential customer avoids them at all costs.

Their selected and approved kitchen fitter was totally and utterly incompetent. From the outset, they failed to understand the basic requirements and specification of the job. After their pre inspection survey (where I detailed the job and extras in full), they turned up on day 1 of the job and loaded their quote with £100s extras despite no change to the original specification. They demanded upfront cash payment and when I questioned this, they slandered both myself and my partner. They proceeded to "dry fit" the kitchen and then disappeared from site after 6 days leaving an entirely botched job. It took Wren a further 10 days to confirm that the installer was not returning to site. I was effectively left with a trail of destruction - live, exposed & dangerous wires are hanging from the walls, numerous cabinets have been destroyed with large unsightly holes cut out, the carcas of the main tower has been positioned incorrectly having an adverse affect on the layout of the entire kitchen, doors have been hung back to front, the plumbing of the sink and taps is utterly incompetent and due to the problems regarding layout, the prepaid & specifically designed Corian worktop is now redundant. I've been left with a dangerous building site through entirely no fault of my own.

At my own cost, I've had to commission an independent third party expert report. This report confirms that the installers were hugely inexperienced and its likely that "they've never installed a kitchen before". It will cost thousands of pounds to rectify the incompetent work - this doesn't include completing the job, replacing the botched cabinets & Corian worktop or compensating for the personal stress & expense incurred.

Throughout this experience, Wren's customer service has been appalling. I'm desperately trying to resolve the matter but keep getting passed from pillar to post - no one will take responsibility for the situation. Its evident that Wren's fitters are not vetted or indeed managed. There is no communication between them and the designer in the shop. I have contacted their MD, but he's failed to revert to me - if he deems this acceptable customer service, I really do question the companies standards and ethics.

For 70 days I've had no hob, oven or washing machine. I hold an important position in a large property consultancy and the undue stress caused by Wren is affecting both my health and my ability to carry out my day job. Please learn form my experience and do not give your hard earned cash to Wren. If you value your sanity, avoid at all costs - PLEASE, PLEASE AVOID WREN - DO NOT USE

By way of an update, Wren have still not resolved this issue. I've been fobbed off with a number of emails from their customer service department. Despite a representaive of Wren admitting liability for the incompetent & faulty work, Wren still refuse to acknowlegde the issues and have conveniently lost track of the correspondence relating to this. I'm astounded by the frequency of dissatisfied customers on this forum. Given how competitive the retail market is and todays focus on custmer service & experience, I really don't see how Wren can survive. Wren have obviously lost sight and see pricing as their No 1 priority, not customer service. This is NOT a model for survival - see MFI. PLEASE PLEASE DO NOT USE WREN - AVOID AT ALL COSTS.

BasinHaircut · 16/04/2015 10:19

mphamilaton99 ill be interested to see if 'the nest' respond to your post on this thread as they have others.

How can this possibly be justified?

Flowers for you, what a truly awful position to be in.

itwasallsuchagoodidea · 17/04/2015 12:39

Dear god mphamilton99 that is the worst story by far. I sincerely hope the Nest has got in touch with you privately. If not - try going on trust pilot - I have seen them offer help there and when the Nest on here see things they usually make someone jump in store.

Suggest you look up Section 75 credit card guidelines - if you paid even just £100 deposit you are protected via that with your credit card. A woman on Martins Lewis' Money program had a car dispute when the engine blew up after 3 months and the garage refused to help and she got her repair money back via that having bought the car on her credit card. Might need that if Wren don't do the honorable thing and get this mess sorted for you.

Come on Nest - please help this poor family.

Kieron79 · 22/04/2015 20:30

Just to redress the balance a little, we our currently having our wren kitchen fitted by our builder and I'm really happy (so far), we still need our white quartz worktop fitted, hob in island and also a false cupboard built in the gap on the pic, will post pics when complete
Also our builder is really happy with build quality overall (it's from Linda barker range)

Wren kitchens. Yes? No? Good? Bad?
Kieron79 · 22/04/2015 20:31

The shine in the pics is the protective film, cupboards are a Matt finish

HanHog123 · 20/05/2015 10:08

Unless you can say 100% that your kitchen will arrive with nothing missing and no snagging issues (which believe me you can't) then AVOID AVOID AVOID! I really wish I did. After sales service is like nothing I have experienced before and 3 months after fitting I am still chasing them to sort problems!

Dinosaurporn · 20/05/2015 11:31

BBC Watchdog had an interesting report on Wren last week...

Kieron79 · 20/05/2015 19:30

Well I'm extremely pleased with mine now it's all fitted, yes there are horror stories, but there are for all kitchen companies eg Magnet, B&Q etc.
All our units arrived on time, undamaged and arcade really pleased with the quality.

Wren kitchens. Yes? No? Good? Bad?
Wren kitchens. Yes? No? Good? Bad?
Wren kitchens. Yes? No? Good? Bad?
Kieron79 · 20/05/2015 19:31

Arcade?? Are!

thenest · 21/05/2015 10:04

Dear HanHog123

We have responded to you via another social media platform with the following:

Dear Hannah

Thank you for providing your details so we can fully investigate this. We would like to alert you to the fact that a call has already been made to yourselves regarding the issues that you have highlighted along with the Duty Manager.

Our customer query team advised in a follow up email that:
“Thank you for your email. Following on from our conversation with the Duty Manager of Howden, I wanted to put some details in writing for you.
The panels on the order should have been used to construct the wine rack by your fitter. The Duty Manager would like to have a discussion with the fitter regarding the use of the panels. Please ask your fitter to contact her directly. She will also discuss with him about the appliance door and the fitting and notching of the plinth. Please accept our apologies if these details were not communicated to you clearly at the point of sale. She is more than happy to discuss any details further with yourself and the fitter. “ She provided the Duty Managers direct contact number.

We then organised a home visit by the store manager and it was established that your fitter had not followed the plan and had used the panels either side of the oven which was not correct. If you get in touch with the Howden branch you will be able to purchase the two required panels for your fitter to carry out this work of constructing the wine rack for you.

Kind regards
Wren Kitchens

xoan · 22/05/2015 10:51

I can totally sympathise with mphamilton99. I bought my kitchen from Wren Kitchens in July 2014, yes 2014. Had it fitted by them, and I am still waiting for them to fit the dishwasher, It is still brand new, untouched, and also to repair the oven. I had to wait in for their fitters numerous times. Only to be told, “they were unable to do it”.
I would never, never, never, use Wren Kitchens ever again. I have written to them, including the Managing Director. I have never even received the courtesy of a reply.

As mphamilton99 said “avoid them at all costs...If you value your sanity, avoid at all costs - PLEASE, PLEASE AVOID WREN KITCHENS - DO NOT USE”

I totally agree I would never use Wren Kitchens ever again.

EstherClark2012 · 19/06/2015 11:27

Don't go near Wren with a barge pole. They are wonderful up to the point they get your money and then the showroom no longer care, the fitters are all on contracts and don't care, the management don't respond to messages and well over a month from fitting I am still without a sink or working hob.

wowfudge · 19/06/2015 13:10

In mphamilton's shoes I'd be instructing a solicitor. They just take the money and run, grind you down when things go wrong and hope you'll go away by the look of things.

QueenieB2014 · 19/06/2015 22:22

My kitchen is now complete, a mere 12 months and 1 week after the initial installation! The store were worse than useless and it had been a catalogue of errors from start to finish. Do you want to know how I got this resolved.... I featured on BBC watchdog a few weeks ago.... Shame you have to end up going on a consumer program to kick their bottoms into action... But it worked!!

Usernameinvalid · 03/07/2015 14:25

Dear thenest,

We are in the process of having our kitchen fitted. We had our kitchen measured by you and we had a query as to whether we could fit a full fridge freezer in a space in our kitchen. We were told that we could not and as such and in good faith we had ordered a fridge and unit to house it.

Our fitter has now discovered that a full size fridge freezer could fit in the space so we have contacted Wren to ask if our unopened and sealed fridge still in its original packaging could be exchanged for a full size fridge along with the unit housing. We have been told that this is not possible and no exchanges can take place. We have been told that it was our responsibility to check measurements even though Wren took all of our measurements themselves.

To resolve the matter satisfactorily we simply want to exchange the brand new unopened and sealed fridge and the housing for a full size fridge freezer and the housing but have been told this is not possible. We are now left with a fridge and the unit housing that we cannot use and are being told that we must now buy a new fridge and housing. We have spoken on several occasions and explained our position but are simply being fobbed off and pushed back at every turn. We have raised a complaint and tried to contact the CEO without success.

Our order number is 22151002.

Please resolve this matter as soon as possible.

shovetheholly · 03/07/2015 14:40

God, this is terrible. So many horror stories!

SallySmith10 · 03/08/2015 23:17

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