garden buildings direct

[labrat]

its not a huge issue yet but i want the CURRENT facts up in case it becomes one

 

We demolished a garage a few weeks ago with the intention of replacing it with a summer house/shed combination

 

after much looking around we found a website called garden buildings direct who offered some fairly priced sheds and summerhouses

 

bit dubious of how cheaply these were offered we decided to order the cheaper of the two (shed) first and then look at summer house if all was ok with that (shed was £500 8'x8', summer house was £950)

 

shed went up perfectly and apart from a slight line where the two roof boards met it was perfect

 

summer house was ordered (pathfinder huntsman - http://www.gardenbuildingsdirect.co.uk/log-cabins/billyoh-pathfinder-huntsman-log-cabin)

 

and here the issues started

 

first off they told us it was to be delivered on a tuesday which was unsuitable so we called the 01636 (newark) number - only to be redirected to the Philippines

 

after 40 minutes on the phone they agreed to re-date the delivery for Thursday

 

unfortunately i got heatstroke building the base for it, although on reflection it was probably a good thing as it was delivered the Tuesday anyway while i was off work ill...

 

chap piled it all on the drive - this is a log cabin style on so was delivered as 200+ separate pieces of wood, he then took a photo of it - to prove it had been delivered.

 

fast forward 3 days later and as it had cooled down and i was starting to feel a bit better we started construction - only to find that the floor beams had been cut at 3002mm instead of 3020mm - although they had delivered 10 instead of 9

 

being the sort of person that looks for a quick and improved resolution i nipped to the local woodyard and got a 20mmx18mm 2.4m beam and some longer screws and sorted that as the walls would have been unsupported without it.

 

so that fixed we got the floor down (6 extra floor beams sent - which was good as one had to be cut down and took two attempts to get right - again ok as we had been warned of this when ordering) - ran the electrics through the floor

 

built the walls up using the Oh so vague diagram - again not an issue as i love working with my hands and the woodwork was fun.

 

until we got to the last few bits and found that 4 of the wall beams were missing, called the call center and after several rounds of "we wont talk to you as your wife ordered it" which were resolved by passing to the missus first we got the new bits ordered

 

HOWEVER i just found the google reviews, which after 27 reviews they only made 1 star as they apparently have a habit of claiming their drivers photos show all the parts were there and not sending replacements - i doubt it as THIS is a copy of the drivers photo (i took the liberty of photoing what he did)

 

 

so best advice if they fail to send the parts?

 

i CAN probably get some 20mm tongue and grove wood from the wood merchants and then small claims for the cost - but its unlikely to be the same wood, and they use 19mm T&G - probably so people cant do that

 

is there any easy way to force them to provide the parts if they fail to send them?

 

at the moment this is what we have been left with - you can see the gap from the missing pieces, plus we had to adjust a couple of other parts to fit

 

 

oh yea and they also have alot of reviews claiming that the warrentie doesnt exist if the summer house is raised off the ground. which might be fun as ours is raised 8" on railway sleepers, which if they can hold a train can hold a summer house - there is only a short distance between them as well

[king12345]

See if they send the missing pieces, failing that you can surely make them yourself.

I don't think it's worth starting a county court claim for a few missing planks of wood.

They might even ask you to take the structure down ready for collection and offer you a refund.

That would leave you in a worse position than you are now.

[labrat]

I know it's just I can't easily cut the notches needed to slot it together without getting new equipment

 

And for the price I at least expect all the bits

[labrat]

Oh and add in

 

Missing door and windows instructions

Trim for windows cut longer than needed

Door frame doesn't fit properly

"Diagram" of building poor quality photocopy and practically unreadable

 

Going to swear in a min.

[ericsbrother]

your problem is that by making alterations to what was sent you have accepted the goods so all you can really do is get them to send the missing bits or to sue on the basis of "not of merchantable quality". They wont be obliged to take it back now but you will be able to recover the cost of a decent shed less what you have already forked out on this rubbish one.

[labrat]

I'll be honest

 

I don't want the money back. I like the building and I can fix the wrong sized parts

 

My issue is the number if reviews where they have promised replacement parts and ne et sent them

[labrat]

Long time ago but let's just say not impressed just ovet year and it's let in enough water to turn the boards black in the corners. Despite being treated twice.

 

Now 3d modelling a new one to build ourselves