Dunster House Log Cabnis, nice cabin shame about the ingrained dirt

maxinc

Wow. This is beginning to freak me out. We have decided to finally get the summer house we've been planning for year, mainly to use an garden office. Just about to place the order when I though I should research more testimonials about this company.

The reason for this was my pre-sale enquiry where I felt a bit of sale pressure from the person. He was very much insisting to secure a deposit from me even though I assured him that I'm going to buy the building in a few days anyways, even it the price would increase in a few days.

I just needed some technical details regarding the possibility of swapping the door position and delivery dates. His answers were vague and seemed to contradict some information on their websites.

I know that a certain amount of unsatisfied customers is normal within every business and should be ok if the problems are being resolved.

I will be following this thread with great interest.

maxinc

Any chance you could possible send me a copy of your deleted / edited post by PM? I would love to hear a different angle on the subject, especially if it involves the whole industry. Thanks!

Jason4479

Haven't posted on here for a while but had bad experience with Dunster House and was wondering if anybody had any thoughts on their actions.

I posted a review on a review website. Since then, Dunster House have threatened me with legal action, stating that my following statements are defamatory, and asking me to remove the offending article. I believe that the statements are not defamatory, but Dunster House are just using scare tactics. Anyone have any thoughts? Do you think these are defamatory statements:

o “After sending off e-mails, limited response meant we tried to get through on a non-existent customer service phone line (don't bother trying, these guys still live in the dark age, or can't be bothered dealing with the flak they must get all the time)”


o “Eventually got a reply by email asking for more photos.”


o “They said I would have to pay for delivery back to them myself. This was even though they gave me damaged goods.”



o “Horrible company to deal with”

Jue_xx

I'm getting sick of all the newbies registering on this site to slate this company, so I thought I would add our experience to this thread (and yes, I have been a member of this forum since 2007, no I do not work for Dunster House, and no I do not work for any competing company).

After reading through this thread last year and having doubts put into our head, we simply couldn't find what we wanted anywhere else at a price we could afford, so decided to bite the bullet and give Dunster a go.

We are delighted with both our cabin and the service we received. Customer Services were very good on the telephone and the delivery van arrived bang on time. Yes, you need 2 adults there to receive delivery - (we had 3) - especially as our cabin was so big (8m x 3.5m), but the delivery driver helped us unload and also helped us to carry everything down the garden, no rush whatsoever, he was extremely polite and gave us lots of tips on the construction. All the bits were there, nothing missing. We did check everything off the check list together with the delivery man before he left.

Construction was very straightforward, although it did help that my husband is a joiner. It took the two of us 3 days to get it constructed and watertight, and we gave it a couple of coats of garden shades paint/preservative. Our electrician friend installed plug sockets and wiring for lighting (we haven't got around to putting the lighting in yet).

The cabin itself is fab, we are delighted with it, we use it as a home gym/games room, and a chillout room in the summer. Hubby built a deck around it which gets loads of use, and we have had no problems. We did have the roof professionally felted at a cost of around £500, and we added guttering, but this investment will add to the cabin's longevity as the felt is guaranteed for 10 years. The cabin survived the terrible storms we had last winter, although it was scarily close to being taken out by our flying trampoline (the trampoline sadly did not survive the storms!)

So to those who are considering buying a summer house or cabin I would say - ignore the trolls on here - give Dunster a go, we are really glad we did. Great value for money. :T:T

Peter_from_Lowestoft

I had an excellent experience of Dunster House, submitted my comments to this forum, my comments appeared but have since disappeared. Not good when an honest balance disappears, does rather cast doubts on the veracity and value of this forum.

Peter_from_Lowestoft

Gosh, my comment above is still there!

In a nutshell I received what I ordered, I paid what I was expecting to pay. It was delivered when I was told it would be. The delivery team were excellent. The instructions are good. Customer service was spot on and accessible. The product is good. The end result is excellent. Thanks, Dunster, well pleased. Not for folk who have only ever put together an Argos flatpack bookshelf though.

thriftytwosome

I am surprised by the negative posts so felt I had to post about our experience. I bought a large cabin from Dunster House in 2011. It was delivered on time and the delivery driver was very helpful. It was built by OH and BIL in a couple of weeks during a wet spell of weather. There were no problems with construction or the quality of the timber, windows or fittings and is a sturdy weatherproof building in regular use and I would certainly buy another from Dunster House without any hesitation.
I am not a newbie and have no connection with the company apart from being a satisfied customer.

mancave

I'm new to this forum and I don't have any experience with Dunster House, however, I built a log cabin in my own garden a couple of years ago (with assistance from a builder friend) and I feel I can offer some advice/guidance with regards to some of the points raised. Hopefully some of the points below will help people think of some elements they may not have already considered too.

1. Visit an existing cabin (in someone's garden or at the supplier). The company I bought my log cabin from are based in Edinburgh and I drove up to see some of the buildings that they have - they didn't have many on site, but what I saw convinced me of the quality (and the fact that they knew what they were talking about - they provided more advice than I could take in!). When I was there someone arrived from Yorkshire to take a look - I thought this was a little nuts, but I suppose if you're spending upwards of four or five grand (plus decking and foundation costs) a long drive to ensure you get the right building makes sense.

As visiting the supplier isn't always possible, I'd recommend checking with friends, relatives or even on Facebook to see if anyone can provide any recommendations as to which company to buy from (or even show you a cabin that they have) either locally or nationally.

2. Human contact. Failing the above, it's essential that you order your cabin or summerhouse from a company that highlights their contact number (and that it's operated by real people). My recommendation would be to speak to someone at the company before making a purchase, ask questions about delivery, construction and treatment (and anything else you can possibly think of), and check that they will have someone knowledgeable on hand to answer questions during construction. If the person is knowledgeable and helpful and confirms that they will be there to help after ordering then that's a good start. If you can't speak to someone beforehand (or even place your order over the phone) I'd look to buy from another company. Email-only support is always a warning sign.

3. Delivery. A decent log cabin company should have photos or videos showing how their products are packaged and delivered. A good company will ring in advance, arrange a date and time for delivery, and the cabin will be delivered on a truck with a crane (and you can check this if you ring to place your order). It would have been impossible for me (or even a group of people) to unload the parts for my cabin - everything was carefully lifted over a fence and trees and placed as closed to the site as possible.

Another note on delivery - lorries with cranes will only ever park on hardcore or tarmac. The reason for this is simple, the weight of a fully loaded lorry can crack paving slabs and ruin lawns, so for legal reasons lorry drivers may not be able to get as close to your garden as you had wanted (but again, if it's a decent company their lorry will have a crane which will solve this problem).

4. Packaging. Some people who have left messages on this thread seem to have been surprised by the amount of pieces that are delivered with a log cabin (I may have misunderstood this however). If you are ordering a cabin, even a relatively small one will have hundreds of parts of numerous different sizes. It is impossible to check every single piece before the driver leaves, however, good garden log cabin company will place all the logs, windows, doors, roofing materials and fixing kits on one or two big transportation rigs and wrap the whole thing in weatherproof plastic sheeting. If any damage has occurred during transit the plastic will be ripped and you can instantly get in touch with the company by phone (whilst the driver is still there). If all the wrapping is intact then all the parts should be there and in good condition. As above, ask the company you're buying from if they have any delivery videos you can watch so you can understand the packaging and delivery process.

5. Doors/windows warping. Timber is a natural product and is prone to fluctuation in shape and size and therefore it can stick (and this happens to doors on normal buildings too). One thing I would say is that well designed cabins/summer houses should have laminated doors (and sometimes windows too). If you look out for laminated doors this will significantly reduce the chances of doors warping in various temperature/humidity extremes. Some cabins don't have window and door sills (these tend to be the cheaper ones), look for cabins with metal door sills.

Also, from experience I'd recommend treating the inside of the window areas with log cabin oil. Some cabins come treated, but this doesn't stop condensation pooling at the base of windows (which happens in ours in spring and autumn). If you brush around the windows with transparent log cabin oil the water will bead and then evaporate when the air temperature increases.

6. Minor imperfections. This post started off with comments relating to dirt on timber and there have been a few comments relating to timbers not being a consistent shape. I can understand these frustrations but I think an element of realism is needed. Having had my log cabin in the garden for a couple of years I can't stress just how much these buildings expand and contract between the seasons - wood absorbs humidity, floor boards tighten up in winter, doors and windows fit more snugly when it's cold, and in summer the logs and boards open right up - but this is all normal (the temperature range in my cabin has gone from -10 degrees C in winter to +35 degrees C in summer).

If you paint a log cabin cracks will open in the paint as soon as the cabin begins to expand. If you varnish the floor (something any good company will recommend) no matter how hard you try (and no matter what type of path you lay to the door of the cabin) you will end up getting a dirty floor.

On a similar note, log cabins may be water tight but they are not as well insulated as houses; so just as you tend to get more spiders, bugs and flies in your garden shed, the same can be said of garden log cabins and summer houses. Although it is possible to pay the supplier to erect your cabin, anyone considering purchasing a log cabin (or sizeable summer house) really needs to understand that they will need to do some minor work on the building, both after it has been erected and during its life. Marks on timber can be sanded out, knots that fall out in the heat can be filled with a little wood filler, a door or window that sticks slightly in cold or wet weather may need to have the hinges adjusted slightly, and even if your cabin is treated with weather proof stain it should been retreated or treated with log cabin oil every couple of years to help protect it.

Lastly, you should also be prepared for weather damage. My cabin is an extremely exposed spot (you can see some photos if you search for the "Tay" cabin on gardenlifelogcabins.co.uk) and in bad winters I remove excess snow from the roof, and after gale force winds I've had to reattached the odd shingle.

As I said, I don't have any experience with Dunster House, but I hope the above points help people when it comes to making the right decision, and understanding that a log cabin is something that requires a little ongoing care and attention.

williham

MSE_Investigator wrote: »

Dear Concerned Customers

We are very sorry that some people have had a negative experience of dealing with Dunster House. We are a large company and, since the first post on this thread, we have served almost 30,000 customers. Relatively, the 6 or so negative experiences upon this forum represent the smallest proportion, but as a family run company, we are very customer service focused and we regard one negative customer experience as one too many.

We have taken many steps to make ourselves better for our customers and we are going to continue to work to improve our standards for all of our future customers. In response to feedback, in the last year alone we have done the following:-

1. Changed our Customer Service department opening times - Our post-delivery Customer Service department, which is responsible for responding to customers questions after delivery, is now open Saturdays. We understand that the weekend is the time when so many customers begin their builds and the most questions will come up. We want to make it as easy as possible for customers to get the right answers from our Customer Service department.

2. Set Response Time Targets - We closely monitor our response times to customers and we are pleased to say that 95% of customers now have their query responded to within 2 hours. The remaining 5% consist of more complicated problems that cannot be solved so easily and we want to take our time with them to ensure that we always give the correct answer. We do contact these customers to say that we have received their emails and are working on their problem.

3. Created Customer Service Feedback systems - Any customer that does have to contact our customer services will now be asked to fill in a Customer Services Feedback form so that we can better understand how we have either exceeded or missed the customer's expectations.

4. Changed Our Courier firm - In order to allow even bigger and larger replacement items be delivered quickly, we have changed our courier firm. We know how important it is when a replacement part is needed to get it out quickly.

5. Set about a review of all instructions sets to improve the quality of the information contained within.

We are the Largest UK Log Cabin Company, and we have gotten where we are by providing the best product at the lowest prices. We welcome feedback as it allows us to grow and learn. We have satisfied tens of thousands of customers over the years but it is from the small number of dissatisfied customers that we can learn the most about how to improve and how to be better still.

Sincerely,
Matthew Rickard
Manager
Dunster House Ltd.

Will be interesting to see if this is true, it's easy to deal with 95% of customers, it's how you deal with the things that go wrong that makes real customer services.

bod1467

Kaye1 wrote: »

Well I'm not sure they will let you keep this up

Looks like you managed to quote it before MSE pulled it.