Garden Buildings Direct/kybotech

Alex_LF

I can not explain what an awful experience I have had with this company. AVOID!
I submitted this complaint eight days ago and they have ignored me.
I finally got what I think is a complete product on 29.07.19, but again I had to take an urgent day off work to get the nightmare over and done with because they only informed be at midnight by email that the delivery would happen the next day. Still no packing list available with the product or online, so who knows whether it will go together.
The only way I can convey how poor they have been is to post my complaint, sorry it's long!!

To Garden Buildings Direct 28.07.19

Pleas treat this as a formal complaint.
I am writing after a three weeks of trying to sort out with you when I will receive my full and correct order, having placed and paid for my order a summer house in May and scheduled a 09.07.19 delivery date.

The issues are as follows

When the order arrived there was no packing / parts list which made it impossible to check off the order. The driver assured us we had a couple of parts missing and he would order these, and we observed two panels were broken on initial inspection. It took me 5 hours to carry the products through the house and work out what parts we were supposed to have and which were missing / incorrect. It was not immediately obvious otherwise I would have rejected it.

I could not log this on the online account as there were so many problems with the order I felt it best to email in with pictures - there were a total of 13 parts either missing, split, wrongly delivered or mis-sized. How do you manage to deliver a summer house with five pieces of the main structure missing? Why is the emphasis on me to figure out what is missing or not?

I followed up with a call the next day. I was given wrong advice. I was told I had sent my complaint to the wrong email address (product support) even thought this is what your email advises to do, and was advised I needed to use the Kybotech email instead (which I did). This then started an issue of lots of different people emailing requesting the same information - a total of 9 different people (including the GBD response). This is really poor customer service, very time consuming and very confusing. No one seems to check what has gone on or be able to resolve the issues with my delivery. I just do not understand why it is so difficult to get it right? Please see the email evidence provided.

When I phoned in to try and find out what was happening, it was again a different person each time. I have wasted a lot of time emailing and chasing this up. Each time I have received hollow apologies (again evidence of 8 calls in, totalling around 4-5 hours on the phone). ,

The co-ordination of delivery of replacement and missing parts has been exceptionally poor...
- On 17.07.19 I received a call from a delivery driver at 08.55am telling me he would be with me in 45 mins. I received a text message at 09:40 telling me delivery would be between 08:46 and 14:46. I had to tell him not to come because we knew nothing of the delivery and I was on my way out to work.
Despite being assured delivery was rescheduled for 22.07.19, on the day I did not receive any text or call from the driver. I called in three times to check it was happening and was assured it was out for delivery. Late afternoon I received an email telling me the delivery was not coming due to driver illness, this in my view is an excuse. I would rather you were hones about it being messed up again.
On 23.07.19 we were again contacted by the delivery driver by text at 07:43 for delivery. Again this was not scheduled with us.
I had delivery confirmed for Saturday 27.07.19 in an email after complaining about already taking two days off work to be in.
I then received a call on the 23.07.19 advising me that there is no longer a Saturday 27th slot available despite this being confirmed in email, and it was disputed that this had been agreed. I was exceptionally unhappy and the person I spoke to agreed to call me back the following day (which she did) and confirmed that the Sat 27th delivery was confirmed.
On Saturday 27th I again waited in all day, no text, no communication from the driver whatsoever, and no delivery. This was the third day I have wasted waiting in for a delivery; I didn’t bother phoning in, as quite frankly it is a waste of my time.

I have been promised a call back by a manager twice now (on telephone and via Facebook messenger) and this has not happened - this is not valuing your customers!!

I chose your company because of the promises on the website - that “you design manufacture and deliver all your products in the UK, which enables you to have complete control over the entire process... and have total control over dispatch and delivery.. be able to deliver products with ease and give a prompt efficient service”. This has been far from the case. I have never experienced such poor customer service and this is misleading.

Your website is not transparent about your customer services being in the Philippines. With respect to the workers there, they are clearly reading off product lists and have no real knowledge of the products, and seem unable to resolve any issues. As a customer this leaves me very frustrated, I have no confidence in your service at all that I will get my product, get a decent product or get my money back. It is misleading and if I had known this I would not have ordered from you.

I was outraged on the 22.07.19 to be told that calls to customer services were 30p per minute. This is not transparent at all on your website, and to be told it is in the ‘terms and conditions’ blames me and is offensive. This is again misleading and if I had been charged I would have expected compensation for this, given the unnecessary amount of time I have needed to spend to try and sort this out.

In the midst of all this, you sent me an apology email for another customer Mr x, so clearly I am not an isolated case.

As you can see my complaints are many, it has been a stressful and time consuming process. It is now 19 days since the initial delivery and I still do not have my product and you have my hard earned money.

We live on a busy terraced street in greater London, there is no safe space to leave products, and each time we are scheduled a delivery we have to obtain a parking space for the delivery truck, put no parking notices up and I have to carry the faulty parts though the house to the front garden on my own (and back down again if you do not arrive).

I have taken two days annual leave off work for deliveries and waited in all day yesterday, I am completely fed up.

What do I want?

I want this complaint responded to within your complaint timescales and I request a copy of your complaints process be sent to me. I have provided the evidence via email trail below.

I want either my product delivered in good quality condition and correct on Tuesday 30.07.19. This is the last date I can possibly put aside for this.
OR
I requesting my money back in full.

In either case I am wanting compensation for the time I have had to spend sorting this out.
I spent at least 24 hours in total of my time.

If this complaint is not responded to appropriately, I will be forwarding my complaint to customer watchdog and posting on social media. If needs be I will go to the small claims court.

Regards ...

JeanJeannie

I am so sorry to learn that yet more customers are having problems with this dreadful company. I would suggest that you REJECT the order if you find. like we did, that half the summerhouse was damaged and many panels were missing. We were shocked at the poor quality of their product and realised that we had no option but to reject and demand a full refund. I do hope you manage to resolve the situation but Kybotech/Garden Building Design should be taken to task for the poor quality of their products.

Unfortunately we never received the refund from Kybotech as they insisted on paying it into our landscape gardener's bank as he ordered the summerhouse with our money. This is a warning to others, place your own order with companies, don't trust anyone, we learned a valuable lesson!