Howdens Orders Being Taken Branch Price Difference! Check First

[Stephy BB]

If anyone needs to order from Howdens, I'm here to help as My business does have a Howdens Account which we normally use for our clients but all or most brach give different prices so enquire about price of item first.

Kind Regards,

Stephanie

M: 07742016412

[theron]

Stephy BB Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> If anyone needs to order from Howdens, I'm here to

> help as My business does have a Howdens Account

> which we normally use for our clients.

>

> Kind Regards,

>

> Stephanie

> M: 07742016412

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/jul/16/howdens-kitchen-varying-quotations-customers-confused

[Stephy BB]

I was only helping as Howdens do tell everyone the prices of items. I came across a post not that long ago where someone was enquiring about this, asking if someone can order from Howdens on their behalf because of the same nonsense. I gain no money from ordering from here for anyone who are told by Howdens they can't order themselves.

http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?30,1692206,1692206#msg-1692206

[Sue]

I read that article from the Guardian recently too.

How Howdens can justify having three completely different sets of prices for the same items is beyond me.

And not just slightly different - massively different.

Be very careful people.

[Stephy BB]

That's why I just say if you need anything I can get the price for them or they can call & find out for themselves & i can order on their behalf. As I understand what you both are saying as I normally have to call different branches for the best price as different branches provide their own prices for the same thing. This is why I do look around with the clients & they pick the best one. A client wanted a kitchen door 2 weeks ago & 5 branches gave different prices & deliver cost was also different at each.

My best advise & what I'm also helping with is just to enquire at different branches if you do want something form them as this Makes a Big Difference.

As mention I'm only here to help because of the same issues of different prices & I do like to shop around for my clients for the the best price.

This is all I was going to do to help which was to order on your behalf if the brach you are going with was refusing to sell the item direct to you that's all.

[edcam]

All of this sounds very dodgy. How on earth can different branches charge different prices? A company to avoid, clearly.

[Stephy BB]

I have no idea why Howdens do this & people do still order from them I only opened an account with them 3 months ago as they weren't allowing anyone from the public order. I had a another client who want something from them & this is when I picked it up. I contacted 1 branch because of the delivery cost who then passed me on to another closer branch & there is were I enquired about the price of the item & there was given a different not only for the item but the delivery as they use freelance delivery drivers who charges there own price.

I personally find it strange that why I give customers the catalogue so the can have a look & enquire as well.

As I said people do still buy but all I'm doing is helping anyone who still wants to order from them to get the best deal.

[Stephy BB]

Just remember I don;t work for Howdens I'm just helping everyone on here who does want to order from them to Beware of the price difference & delivery cost difference too as far as it goes I was just as confuses as most of you here with that until I found out how there service operated & If you didn't know now you know.

Steps to take:

1. call at least 5 - 6 branches

2. find out the cost of the item

3. Cost of the delivery charge in my opinion cheaper to get a man with van in some cases as there delivery cost can be upto ?70

4. if you feel okay with a price from a particular brach go with that one.

5. Find your own contractor afterwards

This is the best way.

[theron]

Or find a different supplier!

[edcam]

Exactly. Why give your money to a company that operates this way?

[Sue]

It is not just a matter of different branches charging different prices.

According to the Guardian, Howden's operate different pricing schemes so that a builder can show a client a price list which is massively hiked up from the price which the builder actually pays.

Here's the link again:

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/jul/16/howdens-kitchen-varying-quotations-customers-confused

[Sue]

Stephanie, why are you offering to help order things from Howdens for people who aren't your existing clients?

What's in it for you?

[Stephy BB]

I'm not too sure if you've actually read the previous post. I only joint Howdems 3 months ago because a client wanted something from them as Howdens weren't allowing them to order unless they were trade. They called Howdens themselves & e-mail me the name of the item with the price that Howdens told them direct & I ordered it. Another client wanted a kitchen cupboard door from there & they asked if I can oder I called one branch & they give me a price which I thought was a little steep for a cupboard door & I explained to the client & he said he still wanted it & I went into another branch where I found to be a little closer & I got a different price there & I enquired then about it & that's went I was told about the different branch issue. That branch was cheaper by nearly ?60.

I'm only offering my help because of the same reason where I can. As a few people on this same forum are asking for someone with a Howdens account to order for them because they are not by Howdens rules to do it unless they have an account.

Also let them know to check with a few branch & get the best price then e-mail the price from the branch they decide to order from. This mean they are herring the prices from the horses mouth.

I personally don't see anything wrong with that. I gain nothing from this whats so ever.

So if you feel that you want to pick on me just for helping, well I have nothing to hide maybe other do but I personally don't.

As mentioned before I understand were you are coming form but everyone is the same that's why I'm giving people this advise in the first to check prices first.

I'm not telling people to order from Howdens but what I am saying if you do need to order check price before & if you need someone to order the item for you can ask me IF YOU WANT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Sue]

Did you read the Guardian article?

What are your thoughts on it? Here it is:

Howdens Joinery, Britain?s biggest manufacturer and supplier of fitted kitchens, has been accused of helping builders exploit unsuspecting consumers by producing estimates that bear no relation to the true price of a kitchen.

The supplier recently produced three wildly different itemised estimates for one Hertfordshire family that varied from ?9,916 to ?44,895. Yet all three estimates relate to exactly the same set of modest kitchen units and appliances. So on the ?44,895 estimate, for example, a Howdens 1600RPM integrated washing machine is listed as costing ?1,291.99, yet on the ?9,916 estimate the price of the same machine has plummeted to ?380. And it?s a similar story with the other listed items. So how can the price of white goods and kitchen cupboards vary so dramatically?

Howdens is unusual in that it refuses to sell to the public direct. Builders buy the kitchen chosen by their customer and either pass it on at cost or sell it on at a profit ? helped, it is claimed, by estimates produced by Howdens staff.

Internet forums are awash with customers complaining about what they dub the company?s ?smoke and mirrors? pricing. But Howdens, which proudly displays its royal warrant on its website, argues that complainants simply ?don?t know how the building trade works?. What is not in doubt is that Howdens is a big beast in this sector, claiming that in 2015 it supplied more than 400,000 kitchens, 2.4m doors and 750,000 appliances to UK homes.

Adam Hussein, a surgeon who lives in Hertford, contacted Guardian Money to ask whether the company can be trusted by consumers given that it is seemingly happy to produce differing estimates at the drop of a hat. He says he was given three different quotes for exactly the same kitchen. The first, via his builder, was for ?16,003; the second, provided by Howdens directly, was for ?9,916; and the third, for ?44,895, was provided to show the ?full? price before discounts. Each one includes VAT at 20%. The paperwork, seen by Money, shows that this is for exactly the same kitchen units and appliances.

Hussein?s story will make uncomfortable reading for anyone who has had a Howdens kitchen fitted during the past few years. It also shows how anyone buying a kitchen in this way needs to be aware of how the system works.

It?s a very strange way to do business ? one that has left me thinking that I?d rather buy it elsewhere

?We were recommended a builder by a family friend, who in turn suggested we use Howdens because he said he?d be able to get us a good trade discount,? Hussein says. ?The saleswoman came and measured up and we chose the kitchen, but when the estimate came through it was ?16,000 ? significantly more than we?d been expecting, and much more than my brother had recently been quoted by Howdens for a similar-sized kitchen.?

When Hussein questioned it, the builder was, he says, evasive. And when Hussein took the matter up with Howdens, a representative asked him how well he knew his builder, and implied he might want to choose another. To his surprise, the company then set up an account for him in his own name.

?I was then sent an estimate in my own name for the same kitchen ? the only difference was that instead of ?16,000 it was now just under ?10,000. When I took it up with the builder he sent me a third invoice ? this time for ?44,000. This was the full price and appeared to be sent to allay our fears that he was overcharging us, and demonstrate that he?d got us a big discount.?

Hussein says the whole experience led him to call off the deal as he says he no longer trusts his builder, or Howdens. ?What I still don?t understand is what?s in it for Howdens to produce these estimates for the builder? Had I gone with the original quote would the builder have pocketed all of the extra ?6,000 on top of his fee that we had agreed to pay him to install the kitchen? Or would Howdens have kept some of that money for themselves? I still don?t know, but to me it?s a very strange way to do business ? one that has left me thinking that I?d rather buy it elsewhere,? he says.

A look online shows that Hussein is not the only person bemused by Howdens? far-from-transparent pricing policy. On the Mumsnet website there are several discussions on the subject.

?They will issue builders with two invoices, with a percentage mark-up of the builder?s choice on the second invoice to give to the client. This means that your builder can make a profit on any product purchased by Howdens. A really shady practice IMO,? says MakeItACider on one such thread.

On a similar thread on the MoneySavingExpert website consumers are also complaining of a lack of transparent pricing. ?Claims of an 80% discount are just smoke and mirrors,? says one. Another says: ?Howdens? discount structure is deliberately opaque and designed to favour the tradesman rather than the end user. So the best way to find out if you are getting a fair price is to get a comparative quote elsewhere.?

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Posters on these forums say that one of the odd things about the firm is the fact that some Howdens branches will deal with customers direct, provided they use a fitter, while others won?t. Others claim that prices vary significantly from branch to branch and depend on when in the sales commission cycle the estimates are issued.

A spokesman for the company told Money: ?Howdens? pricing is based on the confidential trade discount that it gives individually to each of its 430,000 trade customers. If and how our customer discloses the discount to clients is for them to decide when they give a quotation for the price of the project.

?In some cases a builder may choose not to show any of the discount, but could include the fitting cost and their profit margin within this. In some cases they may disclose all of the discount and will add on the fitting cost and profit margin as separate items. In other cases they will just give a single price for the whole project. Whatever the builder chooses to do, it is for them to decide.

?For the builder?s client, the key figure is the overall price quoted for the whole project. If they are unhappy with this they can discuss it with the builder or seek an alternative quote.?

?1,600 for a fridge-freezer?

Would anyone in their right mind pay almost ?1,300 for an apparently basic, own-brand washing machine? Or more than ?1,600 for a similarly basic fridge-freezer? How about ?1,090 for a dishwasher? All of these prices were on the Howdens ?full price? estimate given to Adam Hussein.

Car dealers have long had full ticket prices that no one actually pays. However, Howdens seems to have taken the concept to a whole new level. Hussein says he was left wondering why the company even publishes them in the first place, given their absurdity.

While the washing machine was quoted at ?1,291.99, another estimate received by Hussein shows that the exact same item could be supplied for just ?380 ? a ?912 saving. The dishwasher came down to ?320, while the integrated 70-30 fridge-freezer fell from ?1,609 to ?480.

You can easily find all three items on the Howdens website. You will also find photos of the items and full specs ? but no information about prices.

Shopping around, Guardian Money found what appeared to be an equivalent Beko washing machine from Appliances Direct for ?319. It was also selling Hotpoint and Whirlpool dishwashers boasting similar features for ?274 and ?328 respectively, and integrated 70-30 fridge-freezers made by Candy and Smeg for ?254 and ?408 respectively.

[Stephy BB]

Yes I have read it & I'm not offering to install or fit just order if you have found the best price from one of the branches if you are in need of something from them. That's why I've offered the advise & help because of this most builder mix the prices of labour & materials together so do get people confuse with prices.

They are unfair with the way they do do this but there is only some much people who are honest enough to let people know.

I'm in favour of the what customers are saying as my aunt a few years back did order from them through a builder & was quoted an outrageous price & that's because the added more on top of the true cost which was totally unfair.

So you need to understand I'm here to just help people understand just to research their prices carefully & if they can't get the price they find to be the most reasonable they can ask me if I can order it on their behalf at the price they were quoted directly from Howdens.

I respect what you doing sue so much but I'm just doing the same for people who does want something from Howdens & make sure they get the best deals. If it not worth it don't go for it that what I always say.