New Kitchen time.. feedback on Wren or others please :)

[NickK]

We are looking at a new kitchen - the old one is the original 1989 'classic'..

We've had a design session with B&Q but their range in terms of colour etc is dire.

So we had a look at Wren too - obviously three times the price before appliances but it seems to have that much needed colour and appearance she is looking for. Initial 'medium sized' estimate is 11K but I think this will be 14-17K for a rip (their disposal), replace and with hob+oven+extractor fan. Given the washing machine and dishwasher are Bosch already.. we may end up with those hence the bunk in price.

We will also rip out an old radiator, and move a lightswitch+ring main.

So anyone had Wren or any other do a rip/fit? How good are their components?

 

[200sols]

Take a look at Howdens

 

[NickK]

Take a look at Howdens

I thought they were trade only?

 

[200sols]

I thought they were trade only?

You can still go in and view the kitchens, they dont sell to public you purchase through a builder/tradeperson. So you can choose your own fitter, or they can put you in touch with some.

 

[Kol]

Got our kitchen most recently from Wren. Extremely pleased with it. They quote an insane figure for fitting, it all comes fully assembled anyway which meant it was a breeze for our local kitchen fitter to install.

A few items turned out to be damaged (one of the walnut work tops had a chip on the underside at the front), they replaced everything no questions asked so good after sales service which is rare nowadays.

If you do purchase from Wren, go in with an idea of the appliances you want. They are actually quite competitive on pricing. I ended up buying the same oven / hob they suggested and they turned out to be £100+ cheaper than any other website for the oven alone. One bonus is you can order the kitchen but have plenty of time to revise it/change your mind on stuff up until you agree a delivery date.

 

[GSXRMovistar]

Also fitted a wren kitchen (thread here) and have been really pleased with it, as above know what you want and what appliances you need then continually beat them down on price even if that means walking away from them for a couple of days. Expect to pay a least under half what they originally quote you, then once you have a price you are happy with then tell them to remove the fitting costs and supply only.

Wren do not have the best rep when it comes to actual fitting but their cabinets and worktops are decent so that coupled with a recommended fitter you can make a considerable saving.

 

[jellybeard999]

Surprised it hasn't come up yet, but I'd highly recommend DIYkitchens

https://www.diy-kitchens.com

Supply only but they come fully built and have a vast array of styles, sizes, designs and finishes. Tremendous showroom too, just off the motorway in South Yorkshire - near Doncaster iirc.

 

[PaDE]

+1 on DIY-Kitchens, just about to pull the trigger and buy.

Large kitchen plus a utility room, solid wood with granite worktops throughout £14k

As mentioned above, fantastic showroom. No pushy salesmen and very helpful staff.

For comparative purposes we’ve designed and priced with B&Q, Magnet and Wickes. Nothing comes close to DIY-Kitchens.

The online 3D planner is pretty good also. The price tots up and down as and when you add or remove units.

Definitely worth you checking out.

 

[SupraWez]

Howdens and Benchmarks

 

[Abyss]

DIY kitchens and a local fitter gets my vote every time. Brilliant quality and far cheaper.

Their showroom is worth a visit.

 

[Yaayuh!]

Sister In-law has just had a Wren kitchen fitted. There have been some bad moments in fitting and the fitters were having a laugh with the costs, some doors and shelves needed replacing, management was terrible and costs were not transparent.

It's been helpful for me though. When we do our kitchen in a few years, I'm definitely ripping ours out and doing a lot of the work myself with a local fitter on hand.

 

[Ace Modder]

AVOID WREN
AVOID WREN
AVOID WREN
AVOID WREN
AVOID WREN
AVOID WREN
AVOID WREN
AVOID WREN
AVOID WREN
AVOID WREN
AVOID WREN

I had a really bad experience with them a few years ago and actually check out the trust pilot reviews, it is shocking.

 

[GSXRMovistar]

AVOID WREN
AVOID WREN
AVOID WREN
AVOID WREN
AVOID WREN
AVOID WREN
AVOID WREN
AVOID WREN
AVOID WREN
AVOID WREN
AVOID WREN

I had a really bad experience with them a few years ago and actually check out the trust pilot reviews, it is shocking.

Out of interest was that having Wren also fit the kitchen?

Only reason we went with Wren over Dii-Kitchens was we were able to get Wren to price significantly lower then the other for the same thing.

 

[Kol]

Sister In-law has just had a Wren kitchen fitted. There have been some bad moments in fitting and the fitters were having a laugh with the costs, some doors and shelves needed replacing, management was terrible and costs were not transparent.

It's been helpful for me though. When we do our kitchen in a few years, I'm definitely ripping ours out and doing a lot of the work myself with a local fitter on hand.

Interesting, what costs were not transparent? Only reason I ask is literally everything is itemised when you order and you take that away. You then get another when you pay again, itemised to the penny.

To be fair, with the amount of stuff delivered it's unreasonable not to expect perhaps an item might be damaged. For us, it took one email to get almost a grands worth of items replaced, no quibbles, just a reply asking what day we'd be in for delivery.

On the fitting front, our wren salesguy actually suggested we don't go for fitting. He said we'd likely get a local guy for 25% of the cost, which was right. Genuinely surprised he offered that info.

 

[Yaayuh!]

Interesting, what costs were not transparent? Only reason I ask is literally everything is itemised when you order and you take that away. You then get another when you pay again, itemised to the penny.

To be fair, with the amount of.stuff delivered it's unreasonable not to expect perhaps an item might be damaged. For us, it took one email to get almost a grands worth of items replaced, no quibbles, just a reply asking what day we'd be in for delivery.

IIRC the plumbing was incorrect and disposal wasn't included (but ripping out was). There was an apology and a "discount" applied (that didn't cover the full cost).

 

[Ace Modder]

AVOID WREN
AVOID WREN
AVOID WREN
AVOID WREN
AVOID WREN
AVOID WREN
AVOID WREN
AVOID WREN
AVOID WREN
AVOID WREN
AVOID WREN

I had a really bad experience with them a few years ago and actually check out the trust pilot reviews, it is shocking.

That was with them installing. But trust pilot had numerous reports of damaged or mis-sized units, cupboard etc being delivered and no resolution after months of customers trying to get it all sorted.

Put it this way the kitchen I ordered 18 month ago with Wren which I cancelled was quoted at £21k
After cancelling we put the new kitchen on the back burner for a while.

Then a few months ago we got a quote from Magnet for the same setup, the quote for that was £15k.

In the end I decided to do it myself and the cost was more like £10k

@Bailey had a very poor experience with Wren also I believe.

 

[Steeps]

Wren were about 10k more than DIY Kitchens for us. Visited both showrooms twice with adjustments to plans and DIY were more than happy to help with layout/suggestions without trying to sell. A couple of doors came damaged and our fitter damaged a unit trying to fit it (cut in wrong place), all very quickly resolved.

 

[Altaz]

We had a Wren kitchen installed a year ago using our own fitters. After going through the usual suspects we settled on Wren because at the time they were one of the few to do true handle-less (Milano) kitchen, that weren't charging silly money. This was a big order, with at least 22 units, a 2m island, and all appliances for a new refurb. The sales process was to be expected, with their starting price being around 27k. After two visits, and about 12 hours in store and various "manager" and "regional manager" discounts we got the price down to just over 13K, although i would have stopped at 14K, but my Mrs wasn't satisfied with that. We were actually in the store about 2 hours past closing when we finally signed the contract. The final design included a mixture of top of the range Neff/Bosch appliances, worktops, pan drawers, pull out larder, etc. As someone else mentioned, their appliance pricing was very good, i compared to various online places and they were at least 10% cheaper. Overall, the staff were very nice about everything, and never tried to push us one way or the other. The delivery went well, with two people unloading all the items from a huge lorry. There was only one issue, they delivered the wrong extractor fan, and it took about 2 weeks to get the correct one delivered, as i guess they had to order directly from the manufacturer.

A year on, and there have been no major issues, the colour still looks as good as new, the doors still open and close smoothly, and something i hadn't noticed at first is that the drawers also have metal bases instead of wooden ones. So overall, i would recommend them, but just be as thorough as possible with the design, and know what you want, and push them hard on price.

 

[Buffman]

Diy kitchens is pretty good but I'd pay the extra for help with delivery next time!

Think all the units, worktops and appliances pictured in my thread below were around 5 to 6k. (fitting charges seperate)

It's quite a few units too and all high spec pan drawers etc.
Id make sure you get good pan drawers, corner drawers etc. I know the curved units add a lot to the cost

Some posts with pics of kitchen layout
https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/posts/31270480/

https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/posts/31327584

https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/posts/31350437

 

[jellybeard999]

Diy kitchens is pretty good but I'd pay the extra for help with delivery next time!

I made the mistake of choosing the cheapest delivery too!