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Original poster

Howdens - HELP!

51 replies

LaMigraine · 31/10/2019 09:28

I'm sure this has been done to death already - sorry!! - but could anyone advise on what's reasonable to expect with Howdens?

I got a quote from the branch who my builder has an account with and it came to £10k for an 18-unit kitchen, including a small island, but with no appliances or worktop. It's now their October sale and after some tweaks to the design (not changing the number of units, only the layout) I asked for their final best price, taking the sale into account, and they've given me £500 off! When I said that doesn't seem like much of a discount for a sale, he said the plan was always to buy during the sale period (true) so his original quote was priced accordingly. But it still seems really high to me. He says it's a "big" kitchen - I disagree. It's not tiny but it's only a single run of units plus island - the run is 7m long, but that includes almost 2m of fridge/freezer and range cooker (which we are supplying ourselves).

Trouble is, I really do want the kitchen (which he probably senses though I've tried to play it cool!), but we literally can't afford £9.5k. At the moment he seems pretty immovable, but (a) am I being unreasonable in thinking he's taking the Mickey a bit with the price, and (b) how can I haggle him down?!?!

Thanks in advance for reading...

OP posts:
Original poster
LaMigraine · 31/10/2019 09:29

Sorry - should have added that the price includes a stainless steel sink and cooker extractor hood.

OP posts:
Ecthelion · 31/10/2019 10:05

Might be a little high but it's not too unrealistic to be honest, depends on the units themselves and spec. Try using the DIY Kitchens planner to replicate the Howdens design and see how much that'd be? planner.diy-kitchens.com

Namechangeforthiscancershit · 31/10/2019 10:07

It doesn't seem like a crazy amount of money for that many units. I'm sure he has some movement to come down a little bit though. What does your builder say?

Mrsladybirdface · 31/10/2019 10:42

We had the same with Howdens...similar number of units and was 13000! They said would be 10% off in the october sale. I ended up going with diy kitchens and paid 4.5k for all the units. Worktops are going in today and once done I'll post my experience.( The units are great though!)

I did go to another howdens and they gave me a cheaper price was still way too expensive

chopc · 31/10/2019 10:46

@LaMigraine. Ask Howdens if they can recommend a fitter. You may need to go to a different branch. Then see what you can get with that fitter.

You don't know what discount your builder has given you as that is not the price given by Howdens

Did you talk about this before? At the outset did you ask your builder if he will pass on his discount to you?

SmellyToes1 · 31/10/2019 10:50

I got really fed up with the lack of transparency with Howdens. Do you have to use that builder? We had 2 different quotes from 2 different joiners. In the end though we decided it was far too high for the quality. Ended up asking Magnet what they could do if we used their installer and it came out cheaper:)

RJnomore1 · 31/10/2019 10:55

I refused to touch howdens for these reasons. My friend who did had a terrible time with them re service.

Second diy kitchens. They’ve been fantastic abd v v reasonable. Mines is just finished.

Sotiredbutcannotsleep · 31/10/2019 10:57

We got our kitchen from Howdens 6 years ago, 13 units including worktop, sink, dishwasher and no island. Cost around 3k. It was bought at a hefty introductory discount though as it was a new grey gloss range at the time. I am certain they give different discounts to different tradespeople. Our kitchen fitter had been a very long term customer of theirs.

zsazsajuju · 31/10/2019 10:58

Try Ikea. They can likely do it for about 3k or so

SureTry · 31/10/2019 11:07

We decided against Howdens because of their lack of transparency and inconsistencies with prices. You could get a quote for the same kitchen with 2 different fitters who have an account with them & you wouldn't get different prices. Our kitchen fitter told us he could end up with different quotes from one day to another.

SureTry · 31/10/2019 11:08

Sorry that should say you WOULD get different prices.

johnd2 · 31/10/2019 13:57

Don't use Howdens they are very non transparent and they claim they are giving you some ridiculous 70% discount but when you actually think about the list prices and what they really mean it's like 60 pounds for a plank of wood and all the appliances are totally off the scale too.
If you add similar units to your basket on DIY kitchens you'll get the quote straight away, that will give you a feel for what it should cost.

Original poster
LaMigraine · 31/10/2019 14:07

Thank you all - that's so helpful. I've just realised that I didn't specify that £10k included VAT - I'm not sure whether others were including VAT too when mentioning quotes? @Sotiredbutcannotsleep @Mrsladybirdface would you mind saying whether the amounts you mentioned were ex or inc VAT? As that can make quite a difference , especially at 20% when the sums involved are in the thousands.

@zsazsajuju Our old kitchen was IKEA, and while it was fine for about 8 years, in the past 3 or 4 years it was really showing its age (door/drawer veneers peeling off, etc). Given that we'll probably still be in this house for another 10 years and beyond, we want one that will last.

@chopc Our builder simply said we can use his account, which gives us his discount (supposedly 70%) - we are dealing directly with Howdens, our builder isn't involved, so he's not getting a cut and is staying out of the process.

The branch manager just called me and dropped the price a bit more, so their current offer is £8,800 (£7,350 ex VAT). More reasonable perhaps??

OP posts:
RJnomore1 · 31/10/2019 15:48

I wouldn’t go for howdens for last. My friend I mentioned had hers finished at the same time as mine two months ago ahdxlaready there’s scuffing, a pot drawer is coming apart etc and she’s very house proud so it is definitely not her.

RJnomore1 · 31/10/2019 15:49

Why don’t you follow the advice ipthread and get another quote to see how it compares.

Mrsladybirdface · 31/10/2019 16:34

Mine included VAT. 🙂

I

Lizaa · 31/10/2019 16:42

OP - what howdens range is it you have been quoted on and is the sink the Franke one? I paid about £7k incl vat for a similar sized kitchen recently. I had the Tewkesbury. It was a lot more to start with but I took out some pull outs and extra tall cupboards I didn't really need and they price matched on the sink and other things. I am really pleased so far.

Sotiredbutcannotsleep · 31/10/2019 17:17

My one included VAT too.

stucknoue · 31/10/2019 17:19

I paid £10k but it was their top of the range and twice as many units as you described (2 runs, island and utility) difference is that the fitter was my dad and he negotiated hard for the best prices (70% off list)

Peggy15 · 31/10/2019 17:24

It does seem a lot, a friend just had a howdens kitchen, utility, oven, microwave and flooring for £7400, its quite a large kitchen.

sausages75 · 31/10/2019 17:25

My kitchen fitter swears by wickes (pre made up
Cabinets)

Peggy15 · 31/10/2019 17:25

Sorry and with an island included.

Gatsby2014 · 31/10/2019 18:32

.Any recommendations for kitchen fitter / handyman Faversham area please?
Thank you

Cazg86 · 31/10/2019 19:04

What range have you gone for? This could make all the difference. Talk to your designer and be honest. We are for a budget not so we can max you out but to prevent you from falling in love with a kitchen that’s too expensive. Ask them if there are any tweets that can be made to keep the look but save some money. It is October saving until the 2nd nov so go back to them ASAP. Good luck x

LondonJax · 31/10/2019 19:38

We used Benchmarx when we had our kitchen done five years ago.

We had a zanussi fridge freezer, plus cabinet for it. Built in zanussi microwave and pyrolytic oven with cupboard above and drawers underneath the unit, built in AEG dishwasher and Bosch hob. Including the housing for all of those we had a total of 15 units base units and 3 wall units.

We also had a granite worktop, all the lights and an AEG cooker extractor hood.

Everything came ready made. The granite worktop was laser cut and installed by the company that made it as it was really heavy.

I just found the original invoice and it was for £7434 including VAT. As I say it was 5 years ago but it's worth have a ring around if you've not committed.

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