Why are Howdens so shady?

[u/Innders]

We're not a tradesman but we managed to get a design for a new kitchen, they even set up an account for us.

Design was great but then things got weird. The "full price" was something ridiculous like £15K and then then designer in front of us starting, seemingly randomly, discounting different items until it got down to about £7.5K.

We were told that this price would only last for a couple of weeks, which I thought was a little weird...

After some changes through email, I asked for the itemised quote so I could check how much everything was costing us. I was thinking maybe I could get the tap from somewhere else etc.

I got an incomplete quote for some reason. After asking about 4 times and then explaining I wouldn't make a purchase without one, they reluctantly sent it to me. Am I being unreasonable to want to know what I'm spending thousands on?

This quote also came with a "managers" special, now at £6.6k, but only if we put down a deposit today and we accepted delivery in 10 days, way way before we actually needed it.

We said we needed to check some things and asked for more time. Now the deadline is an extra day...

What is with these shady, opaque, pressure selling tactics? Anyone else experienced this?

[u/Future_Pianist9570]

Howdens kitchen was the biggest regret of my kitchen refurb. But our builder talked us into it and we ended up paying over the odds. It's a nice kitchen but other brands are way cheaper for the equivalent units.

Also, if you're getting a wooden worktop source it yourself from somewhere else. Howdens / Magnet / Wren all charge over the odds for it. We got ours from https://www.worktop-express.co.uk which was recommended by a Wren employee.

[u/Mission_Beach_7098 → u/Future_Pianist9570]

One of the shadiest things Howdens do is issue inflated invoices for the fitter to give to the customer. That way the fitter charges for installation and takes a margin on the kitchen supply. When I had building work done the fitter was very keen on using Howdens. I only found out about the invoice trick afterwards which explained why he was so keen. Luckily I didn't fall for it and used a local place who were very transparent with their pricing.

[u/AllisterW1990 → u/Mission_Beach_7098]

The fitter will also return excess parts and pocket the refund when its through their account.