Wren kitchen experience

[blueblu]

Just this, really.
Been to their showroom today (3.5 hrs) and got the quote for a lovely kitchen.

But it's so many bad reviews out there....
Any experiences?
Thanks

Fantastic to deal with in my experience earlier this year. My independent fitter was a pain but Wren themselves were really good, two damaged fronts and a dishwasher not working, they dealt with Bosch for me who were very difficult and arranged really fast replacements.

Not used them but the kitchen fitter who fitted my Howdens kitchen (a fraction of the price btw) said that he used to work for Wren and never once did he get to finish a kitchen because typically so many parts were missing and he had to leave the jobs because the wait was so long to order the items in. Be careful!

Avoid Wren like the plague. They are masters of social media manipulation; anything negative is deleted from their feeds and posters blocked. Negative Trustpilot reviews get reported for defamation so are also often deleted. Their legal teams are very heavy handed, and have caused at least 3 Facebook groups to be closed with jumped up legal treats. Customer service is virtually non-existent.
Check out the Which? report for an unbiased review.

Our fitters said the same when we were getting quotes.They only get 1 delivery a week so takes ages for replacement parts if anything damaged or missing.
We ended up with Benchmarx, everything in stock and collected on day needed from the depot down the road.

look at DIY kitchens we looked at all the companies got wickes to do the measurements and plan picture, and DIY were £2000 cheaper was wary of ordering online so went to the showroom and their units are very good quality was very impressed

I do not know one person who has said they would recommend them.

A family member said the units are great quality but the customer service and after sales care are appalling.

(Apologies for the copy & paste from another thread)

Disclaimer: I work for an independent regional kitchen retailer in the North East and have been in the industry for 20+ years.

Wren is universally considered to be the worst "big" company to purchase from. Their product is substandard and overpriced (in comparison to competitors) and their customer service is dire.

They have gorgeous showrooms and are very good at bedazzling potential customers then pressuring them into signing away a deposit.

Wickes is by far the better company, both in quality and in service, however like most "Supply & Fit on finance" companies, they're wildly overpriced for the product they offer.

DIY Kitchens offer a semi-decent product at a decent price, but be sure to look into the small print:

£75 delivery charge for delivery on a 2 day window and you have to offload the kitchen yourself.
£150 delivery charge for a 2-man ground-floor delivery on a 2 day window.
£250 delivery charge for a 2-man ground-floor delivery if you want to choose your date.
No cancellation once the order is in production.
No returns on cabinets/painted doors/accessories,
25% restocking charge on "allowable" returns after 10 days,
You pay carriage + have liability for transit damage,
No paint matching after 1 month.

Their painting methods are susceptible to whisper lines and cracking along the joints per their own terms and conditions, and they charge for "touch up pots".

Be sure that you're ordering exactly what you need (and nothing that you don't) and have factored the additional costs of delivery / touch up pots (you can only get them in an identical colour as your doors/etc within 1 month after which they dispose of your paint batch)

Smart money says go to an independent in your local area and find a reputable fitter. If you don't have the cash to pay for the project without finance; take out a low interest bank loan.

The savings on the kitchen price will more than offset the interest that you'll be charged on a bank loan over 5 years.

The guy came round for a consultation he couldn't answer any of my questions just kept saying ask head office . I had no faith in them - I preferred an independent local guy who had so much experience. It wasn't cheap admittedly but I'm very happy with the end result

I had a new kitchen this year and spent some time checking out kitchen companies.

Had plans and quotes from Magnet and Wren. Then an independent local firm. We went with the independent company.

I had heard bad things re Wen customer service. The firm we went with allowed us to change our minds ( more than once) and were v helpful. I think it probably cost more but its better quality and I feel more confident that any issues can be easily resolved.

Shop around nd. It's a big spend so be certain that you're getting quality and value.

We were happy with the quality of the kitchen but used one of their fitters and the whole experience was AWFUL and we’re still paying for it years later. They clearly messed up and the fitter they planned for us couldn’t do it so they found this guy from goodness knows where and he gave new meaning to the word cowboy. When we complained (after the guy had done a runner abroad with some of our money halfway through the job) the head office customer sales chuckled and said oh yes that guy is known as the Scarlett Pimpernell Well why the hell did you send him to fit my kitchen you absolute robbing arseholes. Their customer service is astoundingly bad, just indescribable for a large company.

In short, no I wouldn’t recommend them.

I went for DIY and couldn't be happier. Yes - they charge for delivery but OMG this was offset 10-fold by the savings compared to the likes of Howdens. You are meant to do your own plan using their online tool but I went up to their fab showroom on the train from London (was picked up at the station In their courtesy Merc) looked helpless (as indeed I was) and one of their advisers did it for me there and then.

I was given touch up pots and when I recently needed them for a couple chips done by the DCs, but couldn't find them, DIY popped two more pots in the post free and they arrived next day.

They have an interesting comparator display in their showroom which highlights how much better their doors and cabinets are than the rivals - howdens, wickes, Benchmarx. Can't remember if wren also compared

Anyway - just to say I wouldn't hesitate to get another kitchen from there.