Howden's kitchens: builder's discount

[womaninblue]

Started thinking about a new kitchen three years ago and had it priced up by three companies including Sigma-3 and Howdens, the latter because the neighbours were so pleased with their Howdens kitchen. We were surprised at how expensive the Howdens kitchen was. We'd expected it to be significantly cheaper than the others and it wasn't.

In the end we decided to put it off and extend the kitchen. Work on the extension starts next month and the builder is adamant that we should get a Howdens kitchen and that he'll order it for us. He's fitted loads, he likes them. Blah, blah, blah.

I'm not that keen on the ranges and as they seem to be pretty much the same price as other suppliers I don't feel like compromising. Now someone's explained me that the builder will probably get a big discount if he puts in the order for us. Is he likely to offer us a cut of that or is he pressuring me to buy a kitchen I don't really want so that he can pocket an extra few grand?

I'm not trying to be tight. He's charging us for fitting a kitchen so unless we're getting a decent bargain with the Howdens one I might as well spend a bit more and get something I prefer.

[BlackHaloDesign]

I know this is a bit late, but how it works with Holden’s is, your builder will organize you to go and get a plan done etc, but your builder will previously have told Holden’s to add on a percentage such as 30%/45% and they will add that onto the cost price to the builder and they will supply two invoices, one of the actual costs for your builder and another inflated price for the customer.

If your builder is adamant about Holden’s, it’s because of the extra money, as how dens is quite cheap for kitchens.

[Hiddenmnetter]

Howdens are expensive because they operate a blind pricing model designed to fleece the end user. It's a racket between builders and Howdens going on for years.

DIY kitchens supermarket pricing model is destroying their business- the only issue is they can't compete on supply (Howdens are much much bigger). Same with wren and magnet and all the other kitchen places- they will negotiate but always get a quote from DIY first because often they'll say they can't match it (DIY run a more efficient business with lower overheads and can therefore offer more competitively priced units). The real advantage to Howdens is they have units in stock. Replacements can be sorted same day etc etc. DIY can't match that cause they're just one factory in Pontefract. But if you plan things well to work with DIY's lead times, you'll get the same product (they are all melamine faced chipboard after all) but cheaper. The only time it is ever worth going with a more expensive supplier is if they offer solid wood carcasses- rather than MFC, but they're often seriously more expensive- think twice the price.

[Smallgoon]

@JumpingOnTheBed

Howdens kitchen units come already built which is one of the reasons they are more expensive, otherwise you have to either build them from flat pack yourself or may your builder to which adds to the labour costs.

My dad is a builder and uses them, used them in my kitchen and it was great and stood the test of time. My dad has used Howdens for his, my brothers and a few of my friends. Not had an issue at all.

DIY Kitchens come pre-built too. In fact most do. Ikea are flatpack, hence why tradespeople tend to hate them as they require more work.

[Smallgoon]

I wouldn't ever trust Howden's and their pricing strategy. I dealt with them directly and they quoted me £££ for a kitchen and refused to budge. I then went to DIY Kitchens whose pricing is transparent (they don't just pull figures out of their arse a la Howdens) and for a superior quality kitchen, their quote came in £8-10k cheaper than the Howdens quote. When I then forwarded the DIY quote to Howdens, they very quickly matched it! Needless to say I was already sold on DIY Kitchens at that point, so continued with them. I should point out, this was units only as I wanted to buy my own appliances, and I purchased worktop for a local supplier. All in all the units came in at £4k. Am so relieved I didn't pay the £10k+ that Howdens were demanding.

[aquashiv]

Howdens were completely negotiable when I dealt with them. Sadly their designs are so uninspiring,

[sunshinesupermum]

dkguy my builder has a trade discount and he's going to see them today. I just wondered if there was a good alternative. Howdens quoted him £450 for a three door unit for example which he said was ridiculous.

[dkguy]

@sunshinesupermum have you tried to haggle?

[dkguy]

we intend to go ahead with howdens, have you tried to haggle a bit ?

[sunshinesupermum]

That looks lovely Issey.

[isseys4xmastinselcats]

as above we went with DIY kitchens and seven months later i still get the ooh when i walk in my kitchen our five base units four wall cupboards duropal laminate worktops handles etc came to 3k

[sunshinesupermum]

My builder has always used Howdens in the past for kitchens and they do have a good selection and he has a discount. However he has just been given ridiculous prices for the units for my kitchen renovation and I'm going to look for alternatives. Who has had a kitchen fitted in the lat 12 months at a reasonable cost (not thousands of £££) that they recommend please? I only need base units btw.

[CherrySpritz]

[quote 321youreback]@Smallgoon your builder will get a credit to his account, which he will probably not tell you about. It's a money making scheme for builders to rip people off. [/quote]
My fitter is a friend I would trust with my life. I can categorically state that he got no kickback from Howden’s.

[CherrySpritz]

@Izzy24

We have a Howdens kitchen which we’re very pleased with.

We negotiated direct with Howdens and our builder (who had an account with Howdens) installed it.

We paid Howdens directly and then we paid the builder to install.

I did exactly this. I’m very pleased with my Howden’s kitchen. The planner gave me some great ideas and it’s lovely. Also, the price was reasonable.

[Smallgoon]

*which! Christ I can't type!

Ah ok, so it wasn't your choice at all.

[WitsEnding]

@smallgoon I agree. I moved house and the one I bought already had a Howden’s kitchen - not my choice and I don’t like the layout, but it’s not a priority at the moment.

[Smallgoon]

@WitsEnding Sorry, i meant to ask why Howdens kitchen you ended up going with? Is it still available? Keeping hearing shocking tales on here about Howdens. Glad I followed my heart and went DIY. I much prefer a transparent pricing model.

[WitsEnding]

@smallgoon it was recommended to me by the fitters, and within my price bracket - I visited the all the local showrooms and liked theirs best.

[GinisLife]

I had both Magnet & Howdens to design my kitchen. Both mega bucks. I ended up giving both plans to my fitter who put the best of the 2 designs together to come up with exactly what I wanted and then we ordered my dream kitchen from DIY Kitchens. It's amazing and I love it.

[Smallgoon]

Well I've just ordered my kitchen... scheduled to arrive in a month from DIY Kitchens. I'm sure I won't live to regret my decision.

[GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER]

The discount will depend on the builder and presumably his account with Howdens. It’s very annoying that you can’t just be quoted the final price straight off though. .
We had a mid range Howdens kitchen put into our rental flat. Our builder who came on a recommendation did get us a really good discount and the kitchen is absolutely fine over 7 years later.

I didn’t buy Howdens handles, though. I found virtually exactly the same in Wickes for about a quarter of the price.🙂

[fedupandlookingforchange]

I wouldn't buy from Howdens as they only sell to the trade and I do have accounts at various builders merchants. I got a symphony kitchen and negotiated a 50% discount (I had spent rather a lot at that builders merchant in a few months). It fitted easily, good quality and loads of space in the cupboards. No issue with missing bits etc
Gower Rapide are another good kitchen manufacturer available at various builders merchants.

[isseywith4vampirecats]

my DIY kitchen is being installed next weekend we looked at all the options and got prices from several companies the DIY one won on quality and price it was nearly £2000 cheaper than wickes and the units come ready assembled their planner is a bit of a faff and if you can get to their showroom its well worth a visit as they have mini kitchens laid out and you can see what they look like together and the staff there are brilliant at sorting out exactly what you want

[Smallgoon]

Ok, well I think enough of you have convinced me that I should stick with DIY Kitchens!

[MoreThanJustANumber]

I moved into a house that was renovated before I moved in and the builder doing the work took me to Howdens to choose a kitchen. I really wish we'd gone elsewhere.

It appears that one of the reasons builders like Howdens is because they're easy to fit. One of the reasons they are easy to fit is that there is a huge space at the back of all the floor units to make it easy to get pipes running behind them. Basically a quarter to a third of the space is wasted, the drawers in a 60cm deep unit are slightly over 40cm deep. That's a huge amount of wasted space at the back of units that I would have been able to use if I'd got a kitchen from Ikea. I miss my old Ikea kitchen with the drawers that went to nearly the back of the unit.

I can't fit some of my longer knives or bigger utensils in the drawers without putting them sideways and some of my larger saucepans that used to go in drawers now have to sit on the top of cabinets.

Personally I'd never go to Howdens again, and they were no cheaper than Ikea either!

[Toomanycats99]

I have a second nature kitchen ordered through an independent. Only recently installed but happy with it at the moment!