Howdens - Swansea Cwmdu Reviews 

Probbaly the worst customer service I have ever received. Kitchen turned up and most of it was damaged, 4 weeks later and still haven’t had some replacement parts. Staff don’t have a clue what’s going on in the store. Constantly lied to about delivery dates.

Howden's Cwmdu don't seem to want custom.

Never got to purchase the kitchen as couldn't get past the design stage (which was full of errors). Plans we had been sent were very different to what our builder had been sent. Our quote again different to what our builder was given. When trying to get any information from the staff we were met with lies or NO communication at all. Asked 4 times for a breakdown of the order to double check the items as so many errors had been made, things missed off list.

Several emails/phone calls went unanswered. Gave up trying to sort as VERY obvious staff could NOT care less. In the end we have gone elsewhere.

Absolute joke really when the reps have been hounding my builder to make a purchase, then when he wants to make a purchase he can't - Keep up the 'good work' Cwmdu staff.

In response to your generic reply, I'm sure the manager will 'Investigate' fully. Would this be the same manager who never returned my phone calls? Probably still in his 'meeting'.

Excellent customer service

Very bad service I have called so many times but they don’t solve my problem I may have to call them again I don’t know why they not solving the problem my customer pay for the goods but they take payment from my credit account

Very very bad experience 1st time and…
Very very bad experience 1st time and will never and not recommended
Order a kitchen unit £10k ++
1) Ordered a kitchen which I not ready to install until builder give instructions but got forced need to take it and put in storage paid extra £84 a month ( which this was sorted so was ok )
2) after all kitchen unit ready to be install , end panel not receive, the door size which 2 delivered was wrong go back to the store give me another one and charge again ask if I bring back the wrong size they will credit me which is fine , give me the plime or or whatever long panel is 2 of them was wrong colour , give me 1 black and 1 white which my cupboard was grey colour , I am absolutely upset , that I was told HOWDEN is a very big company why this can be wrong but I’m sure everyone will get wrong so is ok , I bring back and they exchange for me without apologies
3) the door given wrong size they no accessories give to me I have to call and ask pass to different people and this sorted in 1 day ☹️which is not acceptable because I have to pay builder every day and they are waiting to install the kitchen unit !
4) the washing machine panel should have in or order but is not arrive ( I go to pick up and they charge me £34 as I had enough so just pay keep quiet and walk away !
5) the boiler door and panel was ordered and is not deliver again
6) the very unsuccessful is the unit cupboards and door they given to me about 8 door are wrong size I bring back they end up said because is unbox so they can let me return ! So how when I order from you , you told me anything doesn’t fit in kitchen unit can be return and refund but now at the end nothing you can do .
So all if your or anyone is ordering from Howden please please please make sure everything is correct before you pay, they are very not responsible company and the sales person after sales and payment no show until now !!!!!!!! ☹️☹️☹️☹️☹️☹️
Very very dissatisfied Howden Cwmdu Swansea

Bought some fire door frames off them (Howdens, Cwmdu). Usually buy them from Hankock and Brown but we have had them in the past off Howdens with no issues.

We'd expect that a fire door is 30 1/4 inches so that we can fit the fire door without having to plane it. Turns out Howdens doors are 30 1/16 inches. Rep came out to see our issue, agreed with us and told us we had to contact Cwmdu Manager ourselves which we did in a letter.

I had a prompt call returned and the manager was keen to tell me why his door frames were ok. His reasoning was

* we sell loads
* nobody else complains

Whilst this is logic to some degree it did not deal with the issue, he was not prepared for me to send him photographs to compare the H&B and Howdens frames side by side but after some robust but polite disagreement he did agree to come to site, some 3 miles from the depot, if I agreed to pay his time which I did agree to.

The manager arrived on site before me, I was bang on time. He had taken a picture at the depot of a frame and is tape showed the frame to be 30 1/4 inches. Of course, on showing this to my carpenter before my arrival, this didn't help his assertions and he quickly retrieved his phone and refused to show that picture once more. He did subsequently show the picture to me but told me he had made a mistake with his tape measure.

I met him then outside the job when I arrived. Luckily, it turns out that he has a " Get out of Jail Free " card as on the Howdens website as there is in the description of the door frame instructions stating that the frames won't fit (unless you plane them) and that if you want to fit them without planning you should not pick this particular frame.

The manager then claimed to have suffered abuse on site. I told him that I was very sorry and that he should have not suffered abuse and that I would take it up with my carpenter. Having got lucky here the manager then tried to gaslight me by telling me I'd abused him on the phone. Of course, as I knew what had been said I was having none of that and told him directly that we had a robust disagreement but that it was not abuse. Nice try though, real lowball.

After he left, I went into site and had a conversation with the carpenter, his apprentice, the plumber and the customer all of whom had been there when the conversation occurred. Suffice to say that everyone else’s views were that there was no abuse, just disagreement.

On the whole this could have been handled a lot better by Howdens, maybe for example by sending the specs and disclaimers over in the very first instance, even before the rep came out. Maybe even when you phone up and ask for a “ frame to fit a 30 inch fire door “, as we did, it is also a shame that the advice that if we want to fit them without them being planed we really should go elsewhere was not buy them.

I’d wager that this does happen regularly to Howdens for their spec to include a paragraph explaining they won’t fit un-planed doors.

EDIT - 2025

I have just come upon a post on Carpenters Talk Group on Facebook where 77 carpenters (before admin turn comments off) are complaining of just this,

Do you know even two years on I can not believe Howdens are still doing it and I still remain staggered at how the Manager from Swansea Howdens in Cwmdu was so rude AND tried to gaslight me in to disciplining my own employees because they challenged him on the manufacture of the doors,

Correspondence sent to wrong address with a court order for a bill without a phone call or text. Also last order delivery had wrong oven and extractor fan missing. Driver said he definitely delivered it.

Staff very friendly and helpful gave lots of advice….

Dan understood what i wanted based on the details and requirment provided and gave me a sensible trade price. Good service ,good value no BS

Excellent service from staff taking me through product options, and assisting when I picked up order

Easy to order and collect by using the App.

Had a kitchen measured by Howdens cwmdu, designed and priced then when kitchen was delivered incorrect measurements and a kitchen that did not fit. Tried to charge extra for things that they said were included

Poor customer service and poor quality of products, not worth the money

Let me start at the beginning. We contacted the depot at Cwmdu in Swansea, making arrangements for a free design consultation. DH came to the house and took measurements to initiate our design, discussed what we were thinking of regarding the colour, size and where we wanted the units and appliances.
Our follow up appointment at the showroom was cancelled and a new date was agreed, although, as a couple, we had to finish work early instead of meeting on a non-working day, a Saturday....
Anyway we came away from the meeting with a plan and a big chunk of a bill paid in full. Although we made an arrangement for fitting to start a few months later, unfortunately our original fitter pulled out so a new team was sourced.
Things started to go wrong even before we took delivery of the units - as the granite worktop fitters turned up before I'd even pulled the old kitchen out.
The following week we took delivery of the units etc., but when our fitters started to put things in place we noticed the height was incorrect.
I contacted the depot and was promised a call back, which never happened. I called again and also sent a text to DH, again no reply, then a day later I received a short text back from DH.
I decided to visit the showroom instead of calls and text, catching them on the hoof and demanding a chat to discuss further plans to replace the wrong items. They had the cheek to ask for an additional £500, to which I told them to politely go away.
My fitters expected to be on site for around 6 days, but because of all the delays in receiving replacement goods and non-existent contact, the job took over 5 weeks.
I made countless calls, they lied to me and my partner and even saying they'd spoken with our fitters - which never happened. I gave up making calls and started going to the showroom in person, demanding the missing items and not leaving the place without them.
I actually feel sorry for the guys in the warehouse (Sam and Jamie) who must be doing 1 job countless times because of the incompetence of a number of the office staff.
Absolute shambles and will never use this company again.
By the way, the fitters we used have cancelled their accounts they've had with Howdens for 20yrs - that should tell you enough.
I've given a score of 2 stars basically due to the warehouse team and the sturdy quality of the units....

Told us they would price match minus £100 on Magnets kitchen only they didnt on many points.
1. Doors we supposed to be handle less
2. Tap was substandard
3. Didnt include a draw unit
4.sink was supposed to be 1.5 bowls
5. Ended up charging us over £1300 more than quoted.
Swansea depot after 2 weeks still not agreed on the issues
Very poor

Fantastic service. Really made the entire experience of buying a new kitchen enjoyable and stress free.

Tried exchanging a 600mm base unit for a 700mm base unit as wrong measurements on plan so now stuck with a base unit I cannot use. Leg’s not fitted but in bag intact. Hi