Kybotech Ltd

Haggisman

Foggster wrote: »

Ok.

I didnt realise that Kybotech were Garden Buildings Direct. I have purchased a Billy Ho shed from them, it was the best price. However, I am now panicking and contemplating cancelling the order first thing in the morning.

Advice please.:(

I ordered my Lincoln 10' x 10' workshop from Garden Buildings Direct after having shopped about for price etc. I wasn't saving a fortune ordering it from this company but appeared to be a good buy. (£600). Shed came within a week and delivery guys were great. My issues began when I tried to construct the thing. Very poor quality with large gaps in tongue and groove panels. Floor section came in 4 panels, all chipboard and I had to construct the base by screwing joists to these sections. The joists were not straight and had been manufactured by a monkey using a bread knife.I decided that I would continue with the construction as I could fix it after completion. On construction of the roof section, I added extra roof supports (having to buy my own as the ones Kybotech supplied were 4 inches too short) and went to lay the roof section. Again, 4 large chipboard sections. Managed to get 2 on and on laying the third, the whole roof collapsed with the weight. I am no DIY novice and followed their instructions in the construction. This was the final straw. I phoned on Sunday there and spoke to a guy who was very helpful.Told me to email them with a list of problems,(I have not mentioned most of the trivial points as there are so many),and to send some pictures of the workshop. I did this and forwarded it to their customer services manager. Monday passed with no phone call, despite requesting one and I phoned twice to speak to the male in question only to get told he wasn't in the office. He eventually did email me late on Monday and offered me either a replacement or an uplift and refund. I chose the second option. Kybotech has not got a clue on good communication and the products they offer (based on my purchase) are of extremely poor quality.

Foggster

Haggisman wrote: »

I ordered my Lincoln 10' x 10' workshop from Garden Buildings Direct after having shopped about for price etc. I wasn't saving a fortune ordering it from this company but appeared to be a good buy. (£600). Shed came within a week and delivery guys were great. My issues began when I tried to construct the thing. Very poor quality with large gaps in tongue and groove panels. Floor section came in 4 panels, all chipboard and I had to construct the base by screwing joists to these sections. The joists were not straight and had been manufactured by a monkey using a bread knife.I decided that I would continue with the construction as I could fix it after completion. On construction of the roof section, I added extra roof supports (having to buy my own as the ones Kybotech supplied were 4 inches too short) and went to lay the roof section. Again, 4 large chipboard sections. Managed to get 2 on and on laying the third, the whole roof collapsed with the weight. I am no DIY novice and followed their instructions in the construction. This was the final straw. I phoned on Sunday there and spoke to a guy who was very helpful.Told me to email them with a list of problems,(I have not mentioned most of the trivial points as there are so many),and to send some pictures of the workshop. I did this and forwarded it to their customer services manager. Monday passed with no phone call, despite requesting one and I phoned twice to speak to the male in question only to get told he wasn't in the office. He eventually did email me late on Monday and offered me either a replacement or an uplift and refund. I chose the second option. Kybotech has not got a clue on good communication and the products they offer (based on my purchase) are of extremely poor quality.

Thanks for that - much appreciated.

My order has arrived, pretty prompt and all the bits appear to be there.

TBH your experience with their customer service is not bad i.e. 24 hours. I was thinking it would have been longer than that.

I of course have the joy of constructing it on Saturday so I may well be back!

Foggster

Just an update.

Have to be honest, we ordered a 10x8 shed for £480 and we got a 10x8 shed worth £480. Its an ok shed and will do the job of storing garden stuff and our family of bikes.

No its not the most perfectly crafted shed but if I had wanted that I would have paid nearly twice the amount. My parents bought a similar shed and paid £800 inc. a good discount from a local supplier and its a solid "workmans" shed which my dad can potter about in all day. Our shed is not of the same standard.

I was at a local Focus DIY store on Sunday afternoon and have to say the quality vs. price is far less than the shed I purchased.

cadguy77

Well after searching online for a garden furniture set I stumbled upon one of Kybotech's many websites (kyatu.co.uk). I was aware that Kybotech ran many websites but that's as far as my research went (school boy error).

So I purchased the BillyOh Prestige 2.3m Oval Extending 8 Seater Package, as the price was good (£650 at time of purchase, price went up the next day)

Delivery was within a week so my complaint doesn't lie there.

I took delivery and opened up the boxes only to find several problems with the set. Mainly (to keep this short) one of the chairs was broken, several chairs had poor quality finishes and weird stains, also the table had poor finishes and weird stains.

So i rang Kybotech and got through within about 20mins, told them of my dissatisfaction and problems and was told that a replacement for the broken chair would be sent immediately. As for the other problems I was requested to take photos of the problems in question and email them to customer support. So I did and duly sent the email off.

Almost immediately I received confirmation the 1st chair was on its way. Great. 3 days later I received confirmation that 2 more chairs were on the way. Great again. 2 days after that I received confirmation a replacement table was being sent for dispatch. Super great. All good so far.

Subsequently the items arrived in due course. The box the table came in looked bashed and tapped up with silver backed packing tape, as if it was returned by a previous customer. I opened up the boxes and inspected the contents. The 3 chairs and table seemed fine on 1st look, so i go about assembling the table and treating the wood as advised by kybotech. Upon closer inspection I notice one of the new chairs has a fine split in exactly the same place as the broken chair first received. Drat. Then looking closer at the table it showed signs of being previously assembled, leaving me feeling that this was not a new item sent out to me. I assemble the table to test the extension and find the runners were split on both sides, the guides which are meant to be fixed were loose, and the ratchet mechanism that extended both sides equally was very loose and not engaging. Basically this table was falling apart. It made the first table look all not that bad. :eek:

I'm really annoyed that they would send me not only something that someone else had already returned, but something that was so broken it literally fell apart during operation.

Back on the phone with them today, was told to email again, but i insisted I speak to management, this has gone to far. Was told to expect a call this afternoon. We'll see.......

I'll post back here with an update....

I_hate_Flamming_BBQs

I purchased a Billyoh BBQ from FLAMING BARBEQUES about two years ago for £240 when it arrived the coating on the lid was peeling off and the base was badly damaged. However, I contact them and was told to repack the BBQ and after a week a new box arrived and the damaged one taken away so far so good!
After using the BBQ during the summer I noticed the coating was peeling off I contact the company and they said this was only the initial coating once it had burnt off it would be fine. It was not! Now most of the coating has come off and the bars are going rusty.

I emailed FLAMING BARBEQUES and the reply said I should contact Kybotech Ltd, which I promptly did a young man told me yes you can buy new grills I will get someone to call you from the stores department. NO PHONE CALL called back two days later I’m sorry has no one called you? I will get the price and call you straight back. NO PHONE CALL two more days pass, I try again another young man answers, sorry about this I have put a post it note on my machine to call you when I have the price NO PHONE CALL

Now after four weeks I tried Flaming BBQs again a girl in sales answered
“Sorry we don’t sell spares for Billyoh BBQS”
“Where can I get them?
“I don’t know”
“But you sold me it”
“Sorry we only sell BBQs not spare parts”.

Conclusion DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM FLAMING BARBEQUES they are the worse company I have had the displeasure to not do business with.:mad:

SeedyX

I am new to this forum but found this post after having problems with Kybotech (Flaming BBQ's) We spent £650 with Kybotech from their various websites. To be fair the patio furniture is fine and went together OK, but as far as the supposed high quality BBQ is concerned forget it. When the BBQ was originally delivered the wooden trolley part was all damaged and looked like the box had already been opened. This was replaced and my husband and I eagerly started to build - only to find that when we took the main part of the BBQ out of the packaging (which again looked like it had been opened and unpacked once) that the BBQ body was damaged. After various phone calls (where you have to hang on the line for ages) and emails the replacement BBQ arrived this morning - guess what - wrong item completley. I have now requested my money back via email and phone call and am awaiting a response as to the outcome. I have kept all my correspondence and I have even complained on the Kybotech website. They obviously have a serious problem with customer service, quality control and warehouse procedures. How can a company be allowed to get away with such shoddy service for so long - wish I had seen this forum previously (like many others before me):mad:

Devlin_2

[QUOTE=
....I emailed FLAMING BARBEQUES and the reply said I should contact Kybotech Ltd......QUOTE]

Flaming Barbeques ARE Kybotech

jmf1949

If you have any complaints with regard to the operation of Kybotech or its subsidiaries, including Garden Buildings Direct, Simply Garden Furniture, Flaming Barbeques, Garden Centre Direct, Outdoor Toys Direct, Simply Greenhouses, Simply Fitness Equipment, and Kyatu, please contact Consumer Direct.

They maintain a database of calls they receive, and will be able to advise you of the correct way to make a complaint.

Your local Trading Standards office will not deal with individual cases. However, they may access the Consumer Direct database when making enquiries with regard to the trading practices of a particular business, and may invite you to provide them with copies of your complaint and any correspondence, to assist their enquiries.

If everyone does this, then it will make it easier for Trading Standards to take legal action if this is appropriate.

[Deleted User]

jmf1949
Sounds easy, but just like everything else in this country, the consumer has to jump through many hoops in order to get anywhere - nothing is ever straight forward for the purchaser. Not everyone has the time or inclination to follow a long drawn-out process or procedure either. Yes, we should do what you suggest but the truth is many think, quite rightly in most cases, it could end up as a complete waste of time. Just think OFGEM - complete waste of tax payers money - no teeth - still paying a fortune for gas and electricity. Set up to help the consumer?? Need I say more........

ConsumerAgainstApathy

Kybotech has disappointed me as I paid £30 for a next day delivery, I took the day off work and they didn't deliver, even after I phoned at 15h06 just to ensure we were still on.
They have my money and I don;t have my item which I needed by this weekend (from there the next day delivery).

I am not sure if we can mention times and people names, but 3 calls later and a fourth to the Customer Services Manager, even an escalation to the guy who runs the company has been met with customer apathy.

Please beware when dealing with KYBOTECH. I should have checked the forum first before using them and now I am sorry. £250 sorry.