DIYbanter - Wren kitchens

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Anyone dealt with Wren?

They've a kitchen I quite like and their online price estimator comes up
with a price that's more than I wanted to spend (standard procedure) but
not shocking.

I'm starting to get that sinking feeling that you get when you tell
someone exactly what you want and they won't tell you how frigging much
it is until you've all become invested in the process.

Someone is coming to take some measurements and then we've to go to the
showroom for a consultation which they reckon will take 2-3 hrs.
It so will NOT!

In message , R D S writes
Anyone dealt with Wren?

A friend had an utter nightmare dealing with them, and reading online,
said friend was not alone.

No personal experience.
--
Graeme

R D S Wrote in message:
Anyone dealt with Wren?

They've a kitchen I quite like and their online price estimator comes up
with a price that's more than I wanted to spend (standard procedure) but
not shocking.

I'm starting to get that sinking feeling that you get when you tell
someone exactly what you want and they won't tell you how frigging much
it is until you've all become invested in the process.

Someone is coming to take some measurements and then we've to go to the
showroom for a consultation which they reckon will take 2-3 hrs.
It so will NOT!

I've seen a few & am not overly impressed tbh.

One install I remember that looked sh1t was the unit sides stuck
out at the bottom front, subdividing the kick panel in a
ridiculous manner. Lots of nice dirt trapping nooks & crannies
built in!?!

--
Jim K

----Android NewsGroup Reader----
http://usenet.sinaapp.com/

Try a Facebook search. They have a group devoted to wren kitchen disasters

On Thu, 28 Feb 2019 17:29:35 +0000, R D S wrote:

Anyone dealt with Wren?

Not personally but an acquaintance had one fitted by them. Well, I
should say 'part fitted' as they haven't finished the job off properly.
They had allowed a week for strip out and then fit but it took more than
a week - and that bit of the work that needed completing after the week
was up is still needing doing. Needless to say they are chasing him for
the final balance but won't commit to a date to complete the job. He is
now considering getting his own fitter in for the work and then suing
them for the cost of his own contractor plus distress etc.

I looked at their cabinets a while back and decided they were nothing out
of the ordinary.

--
Ermin

R D S wrote:

I'm starting to get that sinking feeling that you get when you tell
someone exactly what you want and they won't tell you how frigging much
it is

Wickes are partly that way, they'll give you a price list for their
cheaper kitchen ranges, but will only do the consultant session/quote
for the "designer" ranges, so they didn't get a look-in at all.

Tim Streater Wrote in message:
In article , Jim K..
wrote:

One install I remember that looked sh1t was the unit sides stuck
out at the bottom front, subdividing the kick panel in a
ridiculous manner. Lots of nice dirt trapping nooks & crannies
built in!?!

Depends on your PoV, I think those look OK.

Does your kitchen have them? Do you clean it?

You can always ask your
installer to notch them out

Exposing two chipboard edges to moisture? Great idea!

--
Jim K

----Android NewsGroup Reader----
http://usenet.sinaapp.com/

In article ,
Tim Streater wrote:
In article , R D S wrote:

Anyone dealt with Wren?

They've a kitchen I quite like and their online price estimator comes up
with a price that's more than I wanted to spend (standard procedure) but
not shocking.

I'm starting to get that sinking feeling that you get when you tell
someone exactly what you want and they won't tell you how frigging much
it is until you've all become invested in the process.

Someone is coming to take some measurements and then we've to go to the
showroom for a consultation which they reckon will take 2-3 hrs.
It so will NOT!

Yes it will, their software is v. slow. Once the klod has the
measurements then the in-store geezer will be able to design the
kitchen for you - as in, place the units you want, on the plan. You'll
then hum and ha and change your mind, and have to choose between stupid
unit corners or smart ones and what accessories d'ye want and on and
on.

Our kitchen (just over a year old now) was from Wren, but they didn't
install it, we got our own bloke to do that. He also removed the old
kitchen, removed the floors and ceiling, repaired the walls, installed
some studwork, a new rad, did all the pipework, replaced some rotten
floor joists, put a new floor down (properly [1]) using 22mm (?)
chipboard, organised Amtico for the floor, which had to run through
from the conservatory and so be at the same level, put new ceilings up
and light fittings, plastered the walls, built out underneath an RSJ
that crosses the kitchen so that the units didn't extend beyond the
pillars under the RSJ (that looked SO naff in the old kitchen [2]), did
some architrave work round a door or two ...

... and only THEN installed the new kitchen.

[1] the old floor didn't extend to the walls in some places. Hidden by
the units of course, but it did mean that the kitchen got ****ing COLD
in winter with a northerly.

[2] when our bloke took the plasterboard off the pillars supporting the
RSJ, we discovered the remnants of a beautiful 1930's brick arch that
the previous owners had obviously smashed to try to put the two halves
of the kitchen into one room.

Now - Wren. They delivered when they said they would, but as we did not
know how long the work I listed above would take, had to take delivery
somewhat early in the job cycle. It was then a good five months before
our chap could install it, so Wren got a bit snippy about supplying one
or two missing bits due to the six month delay. But a word to our
in-store person and the bits then arrived by return of post.

My verdict, all in all: good.

We knew there's be a lot of extra work doing, which is why we used our
trusty local bloke, who does good work.

Our kitchen saga is't quite as long. It being DIY, I did all the work
myself. We'd orderd froma supplier, now vanished, obtained the 'white
goods' from source like Exchange & Mart (this was 1989) and I stripped out
the kitchen and started re-wiring to put power sockets in useful places. I
found it was taking forever to chase the walls for the cables. I then
collaped into bed; three days later, I was in hopital with legionella. I
started putting theb kitchen together a month later.

--
from KT24 in Surrey, England
"I'd rather die of exhaustion than die of boredom" Thomas Carlyle

In message , Tim Streater
writes

We knew there's be a lot of extra work doing, which is why we used our
trusty local bloke, who does good work.

Yes, I think the bottom line is down to the installer, in that the Wren
kitchens are good products, but most are installed by Wren's sub
contractors, at which point Wren wash their hands as much as possible.
Directly employing a trusty local bloke so Wren's involvement is supply
only seems the ideal solution.
--
Graeme

On 28/02/2019 17:29, R D S wrote:
Anyone dealt with Wren?

They've a kitchen I quite like and their online price estimator comes up
with a price that's more than I wanted to spend (standard procedure) but
not shocking.

I'm starting to get that sinking feeling that you get when you tell
someone exactly what you want and they won't tell you how frigging much
it is until you've all become invested in the process.

Someone is coming to take some measurements and then we've to go to the
showroom for a consultation which they reckon will take 2-3 hrs.
It so will NOT!

Looked at Wren last year along with Howdens and Wickes. Wren seemed
poor value, Howdens seemed impossible to get a straight answer from, and
Wickes were good quality and value albeit for their top end wooden stuff.

We pretty much knew what we wanted, but their designer came out to
measure up and made some very useful suggestions. They provided all the
white goods on a price-match basis. We didn't use them for fitting, and
we bought the worktop elsewhere.

I guess it depends on what's on sale at the time and how good the
designer is. We were at the end of a sale period, and the designer we
had was off on holiday soon - no kitchens get sold until the next 'sale'.

Cheers
--
Clive

Clive Arthur Wrote in message:
On 28/02/2019 17:29, R D S wrote:
Anyone dealt with Wren?

They've a kitchen I quite like and their online price estimator comes up
with a price that's more than I wanted to spend (standard procedure) but
not shocking.

I'm starting to get that sinking feeling that you get when you tell
someone exactly what you want and they won't tell you how frigging much
it is until you've all become invested in the process.

Someone is coming to take some measurements and then we've to go to the
showroom for a consultation which they reckon will take 2-3 hrs.
It so will NOT!

Looked at Wren last year along with Howdens and Wickes. Wren seemed
poor value, Howdens seemed impossible to get a straight answer from, and
Wickes were good quality and value albeit for their top end wooden stuff.

We pretty much knew what we wanted, but their designer came out to
measure up and made some very useful suggestions. They provided all the
white goods on a price-match basis. We didn't use them for fitting, and
we bought the worktop elsewhere.

I guess it depends on what's on sale at the time and how good the
designer is. We were at the end of a sale period, and the designer we
had was off on holiday soon - no kitchens get sold until the next 'sale'.

Cheers

As often stated here - Howdens don't sell to the public, they sell
through tradesmen/ fitters who either pass some/all/none of their
discount on to the final customer...
--
Jim K

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