Hi,
I've recently had an appointment at Wren, after looking through the brochure they gave me I was pretty sure they'd be able to help me sort out a new kitchen.
Initially the staff there were very friendly, maybe slightly too friendly, and helpful. I gave the all the measurements and we started to 'build' the kitchen at no point during the two and a half hour appointment were prices mentioned until the very last few
Minutes.
Anyway my 'dream' kitchen as they like to put it came in at around £28000, this is well above my expectations. And also included appliances which I stated that I did not intend to purchase from Wren.
The salesman leaves me to go and ask his manager a question, he left the costing sheet behind and I noticed that the cost of the kitchen units could be halved if I took a lower range and changed the colour slightly, so I mentioned this when he came back, at this point his attitude changed instantly, he said the finish wouldn't be as good and his friendly persona became quite rude and he almost completely lost interest.
A few minutes later the very pushy store manager comes over and asks "what's going on?" He replies that he's now quoting for the cheaper range and she barks "Why?" I told her that it was simply too expensive and whilst it's nice to have an integrated laundry bin, it's really not worth £8000 to me.
At this point I could see the hard sell was about to start and I could feel myself getting flustered, they started talking about interest free payments and how I could pay that way rather that upfront as I intended. Neither of them wanted to let me go without committing to a purchase of a high value kitchen, it almost felt like I had to argue my way out of buying something that i can't afford. They were adamant I'd pay a deposit there and then even though I told them
I wasn't going to without speaking to my builder first.
After another ten minutes of being grilled I finally escaped.
Now I did like the kitchen that was designed, albeit it was way out of my budget, I said that surely everyone has a cut off point and you have to stop somewhere, my sister has had a fully bespoke kitchen installed for just over 30k, if I was going to spend that amount I'd probably do the same.
Anyway I really feel like I don't want to use wren now, but I also don't want to waste another two and a half hours of my time, I felt so awkward whilst I was there and it made wonder how someone not so confident would have reacted, 10 years ago I wouldn't have been brave enough to say no.
Has anyone else had a situation like this at all? It actually reminded me of Rogue Traders, and the old double glazing sales pitch.
Any other recommendations of fully build kitchen units?
Just don't know what to do from here 