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Howdens Reviews

1.8 Rating 230 Reviews
17 %
of reviewers recommend Howdens
1.8
Based on 230 reviews
Shipping & Delivery
Delivery Methods
Courier, Own Driver
Average Delivery Time
Over 7 Days
On-time Delivery
Greater than 45%
Accurate And Undamaged Orders
Greater than 46%
Customer Service
Communication Channels
Telephone, Email, Live Chat
Queries Resolved In
Over A Week
Customer Service
1.5 out of 5

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Howdens  1 star review on 26th June 2025
LOUISE CRANSTONE
Howdens  1 star review on 26th June 2025
LOUISE CRANSTONE
Howdens  1 star review on 26th June 2025
LOUISE CRANSTONE
Howdens  1 star review on 26th June 2025
LOUISE CRANSTONE
Howdens  1 star review on 26th June 2025
LOUISE CRANSTONE
Howdens  1 star review on 29th April 2025
Maya
Howdens  1 star review on 29th April 2025
Maya
29
Anonymous
Anonymous  // 01/01/2019
Hi Guys I have just been reading all these comments regarding Howdens, I totally agree with everything that has been said, I worked for Howdens and the way they treat their staff is unreal, to hear of them treating customers like it is diabolical. I made a complaint to the Area Manager and he took their side, I'm now taking them to a small claims court, they made me feel so ill after I had worked for them for so long, and all the Area Manager wanted to do was to meet me and discuss the matter, ( which is fair enough ) but it was like 15 miles away from my house. ER no thanks you come to me. I didn't get any outcome from AM so I took it further to a small claims court, which is still ongoing, they just don't listen to you. I just hope this can get sorted out, and I feel really sorry for the people that have had a really bad experience and hope you get it sorted.
Helpful Report
Posted 2 years ago
We had a nightmare experience. Jake Cornforth Carpentry Services installed no end of damaged items in our kitchen without giving us or Howdens the chance to replace them. Some may have arrived damaged and some may have been caused before or during installation. One item was water damaged and some items not yet fitted were replaced with further damaged items. Quality overall was poor. Howdens blamed Jake Cornforth Carpentry Services who in turn blamed Howdens. We were left stranded and unsupported. Both implied I was at fault for being fussy and expecting too much. Jake Cornforth Carpentry Services said nothing was good enough for me which is disrespectful as no one would want dented, chipped and damaged items in their new kitchen. Howdens replaced damaged shelves which Jake Cornforth Carpentry Services said they did not appreciate me returning. Howdens did not comment on photo evidence showing Jake Cornforth Carpentry Services' poor quality work. We profoundly regret using them.
Helpful Report
Posted 2 years ago
Shocking quality for the money! In the end, closed my account. Howdens kitchens ended up costing me money with damaged items, wrong/missing parts! Their delivery charge is a bloody rip off too!
Helpful Report
Posted 2 years ago
Don't really know where to start. Very poor quality worktop that is impossible to cut without chipping!!! Mix up after mix up with items. Wrong sizes of many items delivered, protracted delivery times, only 3 items delivered on the first occasion when it should have been full order; carpenter unable to start and couldn't return for three weeks. There's mor but don't want to bore people!!!
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Posted 2 years ago
Absolute ripoff, if your loyal to them they will rip you off more, as found out my father in law has been ripped off for god know how long when I’m going though old invoices and nothing makes sense no wonder we have lost a good few jobs , like a bucket of eels the lots of em slippery as fook. Avoid
Helpful Report
Posted 2 years ago
This issue has been rumbling on for 2 years. It all centred around a faulty worktop which was installed in 2020 by our joiners. On reporting a fault the worktop which was at the time discontinued was replaced and installed and replaced by another joiners. Great service although slow we understood with impact on srvices coming out of the pandemic. The same fault occurred with it raising at the edges. We reported this again but it took numerous emails and phone calls from my wife to speak to the manager. This rumbled on for months with no resolution. The joiners said it was not a fitting issue (2 different joiners installed) with same result and Howdens said the worktop is not faulty. This deadlock continued until we were finally offered the original cost of the work top back in 2020 which would not buy a new one today. We would also have to pay for the installation at an approx cost of £1200-£1500 to fix the issue of there faulty worktop. I emailed the store manager requesting contact details of the regional manager so we could dicuss this matter and try to get a resolution. The store manager never replied to my email. I then contact Howdens head office customer service who then spoke to the store manager and regional manager with no change in stance. The customer service team at head office were very supportive and actively wanted to get a positive outcome. Finally 2 weeks ago I was told the regional manger was going to speak with me and the case was closed. Its 2 weeks later and the regional manager has still not contacted me? Would I use Howdens again, no. Would I put people off using them? Well I would say you will be fine unless something goes wrong. The communication we have experienced has been between lack of respect to the customer to incompetence. Avoiding and not dealing with things has left us drained and increasingly angry.
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Posted 2 years ago
The culture within this company is appalling. Quality of goods is very poor. Atrocious customer service. The object of their game is to get your money…after that they are unhelpful and obstructive. My joiners found numerous faults, from inaccurate measurements to faulty parts. Several doors were warped…the manager’s response was to say this could be rectified by adjusting the hinges. Avoid at all costs.
Helpful Report
Posted 2 years ago
Firstly , your rep came out to measure kitchen, I told him that the property is rented out, so I dont need a expensive kitchen , I need 2 small kitchens and 1 big kitchen, anyway the rep,Tom put me down for expensive kitchen , with a cost of over £5000 saving 55% off ,so maybe a £8-£9000 kitchen plus £2000 to install, firstly , why pressure people to buy in 1 week ,secondly, you obviously didn't listen to what the customer wants, just tried ripping me off £5000 , and the 55% off is just a blag , some say a SCAM , and reading about the poor quality kitchens ,glad I didn't buy , my experience with Walkden Howdens where Tom works is negative , Would he RIP his granny off ,who knows
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Posted 2 years ago
Be VERY AWARE. Do not ask for recommendations. My mother spent £13,000 on a kitchen that was poorly designed and fitted. Units cannot be used, are not symmetrical which makes the kitchen look extremely poor. The joints have had to be covered as they are so bad. Even after looking at the kitchen, the local manager Paul Hope from Hainault told my mother he would try and get her compensation. If she never went into the Howdens showroom in Hainault she would never of had these problems. We are now having to take Howdens and their recommended fitter Joseph Sharpe to court for their lack of getting the kitchen to do what it was bought for. My mother is at the end of her tether, everyday she has to look at this. You would of thought that for such a large organisation that they could of just got this sorted. HOW WRONG WERE WE ! EXTREMELY BAD EXPERIENCE - AVOID!!
Helpful Report
Posted 2 years ago
Be VERY AWARE. Do not ask for recommendations. My mother spent £13,000 on a kitchen that was poorly designed and fitted. Units cannot be used, are not symmetrical which makes the kitchen look extremely poor. The joints have had to be covered as they are so bad. Even after looking at the kitchen, the local manager Paul Hope from Hainault told my mother he would try and get her compensation. If she never went into the Howdens showroom in Hainault she would never of had these problems. We are now having to take Howdens and their recommended fitter Joseph Sharpe to court for their lack of getting the kitchen to do what it was bought for. My mother is at the end of her tether, everyday she has to look at this. You would of thought that for such a large organisation that they could of just got this sorted. HOW WRONG WERE WE ! EXTREMELY BAD EXPERIENCE - AVOID!!
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Posted 2 years ago
Website is an absolute joke. It doesn't matter what I search for it comes back with 10000 matches. Awful, infuriating.
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Posted 2 years ago
Biased management supported by customer service
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Posted 2 years ago
The worst company I have ever had the displeasure of encountering, definitely working against the customer, definitely not customer focussed, they just want one thing and one thing only and that is your money, nothing else matters to them, forget quality, forget everything, the only thing they'r concerned about is their profit, absolutely dreadful company, and includes their depot and their head office, all of which couldn't care less, stay clear !!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Posted 2 years ago
This is unbelievable how badly they treat their customers. Completely not customer minded. We moved away from them
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Posted 2 years ago
Brilliant customer service from Kelsey in the Llangefni shop Always there at the end of the phone 5 stars
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Posted 2 years ago
Today I had my kitchen delivered by Howdens. I cannot recommend Alex and Mark highly enough, they went well beyond the call of duty to ensure they delivered all my kitchen. All my dealings with Howdens from first contact with Leena who measured and designed the kitchen has a been first class service.
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Posted 2 years ago
Stay clear from Howdens totally unprofessional poor and very RUDE customer service would not wish Howdens on my worst enemy
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Posted 2 years ago
Awful company, worst ever, pre customer services was ok but after sales customer service is dreadful, they have no concept of what good customer care is, their staff are rude and disinterested and they get away with it as their ethos supports it, very poor quality items, and don't trust all their fitters are any better as ours was a disaster, we regret buying a kitchen from them, far too many problems, I actively advise you buy elsewhere if you value your home, your hard earned money, and your sanity, they are absolutely awful.
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Posted 2 years ago
A temporary joiner recommended Howdens to me and said 'mention my name'. So I did and Howdens sent a quote to me with the joiners name on the account. I went to their kitchen showroom in Penrith to alter the design, choose doors and haggle the price. At this point Tom, the salesman, said I would be paying them direct. "So I can deal with Howdens directly?" I asked. 'Yes' was the simple reply. (Foolish boy - I had an independent witness with me). From that point on everything was direct, including the payment request. Unusually for me I didn't insist on an invoice - busy, distracted. Howdens then sent the joiner the VAT invoice even though he had not paid, he was not the customer. I now cannot reclaim the VAT or set against capital gains tax so it's costing me over £1,800 more on top of a £4,300 kitchen. The joiner of course can set this invoice against profits on his turnover and - this is clever - can stay below the VAT threshold by having the customer pay his bills for him (even though it was nothing to do with him he will have made a profit). HMRC and the VAT office are very interested and sadly it looks as though literally thousands of fitters, joiners etc will be investigated for a national multi million VAT and tax fraud. Howdens are disinterested but I suspect they will just have to get interested.
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Posted 2 years ago
All sweetness and light until they get your money and then you will see a major change which hits you profoundly with the most awful culture, disgraceful staff, and couldn't care less attitude once you've paid. Extremely poor quality items and far too many damaged items. It took three attempts to get damaged items replaced and a staggering 7 weeks. Please avoid, avoid, avoid and shop elsewhere.
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Posted 2 years ago
Howdens is rated 1.8 based on 230 reviews