uk oak - nice timber, good prices, shame about the service

[big soft moose]

Back on the 8th of march while spending up for year end I had to place an order for a load of oak, and with henry venablkes having gone belly up, rather than use vasterns or deep in wood, attracted by their low prices I decided to give uk oak at corby (not to be confused with the firm of the same name based in powys) a try.

Their website works a treat and I duly placed an order for about 700 quids worth ex vat. (plus a 50 quid delivery charge)

we then hit problem number one in that our depot doesnt have a postcode which caused some consternation as apparently their deliveries rely on sat nav. After a couple of phone calls we overcame this and we agreed that they would ring me a few days before delivery was due for directions.

ans so we waited, and waited, and waited some more - then yesterday (three weeks after the order was placed) they called me, twice in quick succesion while i was driving. - I returned the call about 20 minuites later but was told brusquely that the guy who had called me was busy, but just wanted to know if we had offloading facilities - I said we didnt and the guy grunted and hung up.

then i emailed them with directions and to confirm the order would be delivered today - only to be told that it wouldnt be because " I hadnt returned their call" :duno: - At this point i decided enough was enough and emailed back to say that we would collect today instead, and asked if rather than refund the delivery charge (which we would lose because of year end) they could give us extra wood to the equivalent value.

Then today we drove up there - about two hours, only to find on our arrival that no one knew anything about us collecting the order, and that it had been stacked up for delivery loading. - I was then kept standing about for about 30 minuites while their staff wandered arround trying to find the order.

Having finally found the order we then had to manually load it on to our trailer and truck because "all the fork lifts were busy with bigger orders" - though to be fair one of their guys did give us a hand. While we were doing this one of the "busy" forklifts managed to bash into the side of our truck, then back up and do it again (fortunately damage was slight which was more than could be said for my temper by that point).

and then the final straw - they "generously" gave us 2 bits of 4"sq by 8' to "make up for the delivery charge, and to say sorry, like" - so thats 2 bits of wood which are usually sold for £9 each to make up for a £50 delivery charge , and our inconvenience - by that point i couldn't be bothered to argue so we took them and left

we then had a two hour drive back to the depot where we had to manually unload the order in the rain.

To say that I am not happy with the service we recieved would be putting it mildly - I will be complaining to their boss as soon as i have time to write the letter - its seems that the old adage that you get what you pay for is true in this case , and in the future i shall pay the higher price at either vasterns or bessleigh in order to get decent customer service and timely delivery

All of which is something of a shame - as the timber itself looks great, there is some extremly attractive grain (somewhat wasted given what we will be using it for) and had service been better we would have become a regular customer.

 

[head clansman]

hi

don't it make you wonder how companies like this stay in business. hc

 

[OPJ]

Sounds a lot like a company I used to work for... :? Sorry to hear you've had such a frustrating experience, Pete (although, I'm sure that F-word doesn't even half cover it...).

£9 for an 8' 4"x4" in oak??? That is bloody cheap though!! :shock:

 

[big soft moose]

hi

don't it make you wonder how companies like this stay in business. hc

too right - they also trade as uk sleepers and i got the impression that our 700 quid was very small beer to them so i guess their main customers are garden centres and landscapers and such who take much bigger amounts - and probably therefore dont get p'd about.

which is fair enough - but if they dont want small orders they should say so on their website , so that people like us can just take our business elsewhere without wasting our time first.

 

[big soft moose]

£9 for an 8' 4"x4" in oak??? That is bloody cheap though!! :shock:

it is indeed (that is ex vat mind you) which was why i went to them - thats green and fence post grade, they had beam grade for £14 green or £16 1-3 year air dried too

Deep in wood at besseleigh wanted over twice that , while vasterns were in the middle but wanted a minimum order of more than i could currently store (or more acurately they wanted the min order to get the good price - once we have changed premises we will be going to them in bulk)

edit: more pertinently to ukw , this is definitely not the sort of wood yard where you can wander about and select your own wood, or where they would be happy to unstack for you to examine individual boards - my distinct impresssion is that you take what you're given and like it or lump it - which doesnt matter for our sign posts, but would do for those intending to make fine furniture

 

[TheTiddles]

they also trade as uk sleepers

Thanks for the warning, I was considering buying the timber for our landscaping from them, now I won't.

Aidan

 

[miles_hot]

I've bought my eco treated softwood from them and when I rang early last week I was told that they have jst gone over to be treated and they were expecting them back later in the week - so far I've not hear anything and we're somewhat outside the time that they said the wood would be delivered so I fear I'm about to have a similar experience to BSM :evil:

Ah well at £1 per m for 6"x4" I can't really complain.

Miles

 

[woodsworth]

Wish i could get timber that cheap!

Crappy day but savings are savings. Take them were i can. I deal with a two man band, but some times it feels like he is a bit of a bandit. He has no competition though.

I think i'd go for the deal you got even knowing what buggers they are. I'd just plan to pick up and know that the service would be lousy and grin knowing how much i'm saving. I've grown accustomed to the terrible service here and simply go for price now. The wallet speaks volumes. I do phone around and even let them know i'm going with another company who's price is lower so they at least know they missed out on a sale. Anyone I deal with knows that i spend money but won't be taken, it has helped as some are starting to match prices now. You just have to speak to the right people and they have to know your not just playing them, they have to previously know that you spent money with them.

 

[OPJ]

...I was told that they have jst gone over to be treated and they were expecting them back later in the week...

One thing you may not be aware of is that treated timber must be left alone for forty-eight hours after treatment so that any excess chemicals can soak in or drain off. It's a health and safety thing but it could (in your case!) account for why they haven't yet gotten back to you (fingers crossed!!).

 

[miles_hot]

...I was told that they have jst gone over to be treated and they were expecting them back later in the week...

One thing you may not be aware of is that treated timber must be left alone for forty-eight hours after treatment so that any excess chemicals can soak in or drain off. It's a health and safety thing but it could (in your case!) account for why they haven't yet gotten back to you (fingers crossed!!).

ah - maybe that's it

Miles

 

[big soft moose]

Wish i could get timber that cheap!

Crappy day but savings are savings. Take them were i can. I deal with a two man band, but some times it feels like he is a bit of a bandit. He has no competition though.

I think i'd go for the deal you got even knowing what buggers they are. I'd just plan to pick up and know that the service would be lousy and grin knowing how much i'm saving. I've grown accustomed to the terrible service here and simply go for price now. The wallet speaks volumes. I do phone around and even let them know i'm going with another company who's price is lower so they at least know they missed out on a sale. Anyone I deal with knows that i spend money but won't be taken, it has helped as some are starting to match prices now. You just have to speak to the right people and they have to know your not just playing them, they have to previously know that you spent money with them.

thing is tho my time is also valuable, and when you add up the trime i spent faffing about with this order and add it on you arent far off the besseleigh prices

 

[Woodchips2]

I've bought two lots of air-dried oak from this company supposedly seasoned 1-3 years. The first lot was fine but the second order was so wet I reckon it was cut down the day before! I ended up buying more oak from AndyHarrison at Burton Latimer and this was excellent, a lot more expensive but properly seasoned and able to be used straight away. I've put the wet stuff in stick and look forward to using it next year or the year after!!

Lesson for me is take a moisture meter with you.

 

[user 5053]

Its a crying shame that Henry Venables have gone bust. They were one of the biggest employers in Stafford and we used to get lots of stuff from there and were a great firm to do business with. The huge timber yard is now houses and is very sad. I can get decent oak but you have to pay a lot for it.

 

[big soft moose]

I've bought two lots of air-dried oak from this company supposedly seasoned 1-3 years. The first lot was fine but the second order was so wet I reckon it was cut down the day before! I ended up buying more oak from AndyHarrison at Burton Latimer and this was excellent, a lot more expensive but properly seasoned and able to be used straight away. I've put the wet stuff in stick and look forward to using it next year or the year after!!

Lesson for me is take a moisture meter with you.

theres a big variation in the moisture content of my suposedly green order, i reckion they dont know what is in what stack , as some of mine is definitely airdried even tho i paid green prices.

 

[Woodchips2]

theres a big variation in the moisture content of my suposedly green order, i reckion they dont know what is in what stack , as some of mine is definitely airdried even tho i paid green prices.

If we lived closer we could do a swap!

 

[cadders75]

I brought some chestnut sleepers from the UKsleepers site just south of Northampton and while they were a little brusque on the phone, the sleepers turned up on the day I requested and were of decent quality.

They are considerably cheaper than for landscaping sleepers than most builders merchants so I can live with a less than sparking customer service (It helps if you only live 20 min away from the site as well i suppose)

 

[Tony Spear]

BSM:

for green Oak, you could try talking to the guys at H.J.Webb in Longcot (a few miles west of Faringdon on th A420).

I'm not sure if they keep it in stock but I do know that they supply it and they claim that they can beat just about anybody in this part of the on the stuff they supply. I've certainly found them very competitive in the past.

They mainly do gates and fencing stuff but also quite a lot of sheet materials etc.

See here: www.webbswood.co.uk/index.php