Tigersheds – Tiger, Tiger, burning dull – a tale of terrible Customer Service
Now, I don’t usually do this, as it is not within my interest as a Customer Experience consultant to ‘go public’ on a bad experience that I have, however this has been SO bad that I thought it would be wrong not to share it. Please see the video below and read the communications underneath.
________________________
From: Ian Williams
Sent: 14 November 2014 09:45
To: [email protected]
Subject: Leak in cabin roof at 16 Mere Road OX2 8AN
We have developed a leak in the roof. You have asked me to send pictures, which are attached.
You will note that the leak is in the middle of a knot of wood. Is this likely to be a rip in the felt?
This is a working environment and therefore we need the issue solving quickly. I will attempt to lay some felt over the area of the roof in question in the meantime; however I need to know quickly how you intend to solve the problem and how quickly you can send someone to fix it.
Kind regards
Ian Williams
_______________________
From: Ian Williams
Sent: 19 November 2014 10:48
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: Leak in cabin roof at 16 Mere Road OX2 8AN
FAO: Customer Services Manager/ Director
I have just spoken to someone from your company on the telephone. He advised that your position is that you are happy to send the felt to us, but it would be our responsibility to repair the roof. This is clearly not acceptable. The cost of repairing the roof is clearly materials and time, not just materials.
For your information, the cabin has been fully treated, inside and out.
Under English Law, irrespective of the terms of your company guarantee, you have a statutory right to guarantee your work for 12 months, not just for the shed itself, but for the installation too. This may be the fault of your installers, however as they are your subcontractor, you have a legal responsibility to guarantee their work and they should legally indemnify you for this. This is a basic tenet of English Law and I’m not even really sure why we are having this conversation.
So you are without any doubt whatsoever, our expectation is that you provide both materials and labour to repair the roof within the next couple of weeks; and if you do not agree to do so, we will take legal action against you in support of our statutory rights. When this is upheld, you will not only have to undertake the repair anyway, but you will undoubtedly have to pay our legal costs as well.
Please advise us of your position on this matter by return, as we have been waiting now for 5 days for a response.
Furthermore, the fact that you have a Customer Services Manager that can never be reached/ spoken to by customers does somewhat make a mockery of this person’s title. We are disappointed not to be able to speak to you in person.
_______________________________
From: TigerBox Sales [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: 19 November 2014 10:52
To: Ian Williams
Subject: RE: Leak in cabin roof at 16 Mere Road OX2 8AN
Good Morning Mr Williams,
Thank you for your email and for taking the time to send through the attached photographs.
I have received the details of the conversation you had with a member of our staff this morning.
There are a number of reasons that the felt could have failed such as branches etc scratching the felt but as we have not received any images of the felt/exterior of the roof, it is difficult for us to confirm the cause of the leak. I believe you have now been onto the roof to patch the felt so I assume you have confirmed that a tear in the felt is the cause of the problem.
We do advise online under the ‘Product Maintenance’ category that you will need to check and replace any damaged felt. Our website states;
If you do find any damage sustained to your roofing felt over time it is essential that you act upon this without delay. Should you discover a rip or tear in the felt it is recommended that this area be stripped from the roof and a new covering of high grade, heavy duty, mineral felt (which can be purchased online from our store and/or at most retail DIY stores) be affixed immediately.
Unfortunately, as has been explained, we can’t send anyone to re-felt the roof for you but as a gesture of good will in order to assist you with this matter, we would be happy to provide you with a replacement set of felt.
The images you have sent don’t look as though the interior of the building has been treated. It may simply be the way the logs and boards appear in the images but if they have not been treated, we would advise that you do so as soon as possible.
Should you wish to receive the replacement felt, please let us know and we will arrange for this to be delivered to you as a matter of urgency.
Kind regards,
XXXXXX
Tiger Sheds
__________________
From: TigerBox Sales [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: 19 November 2014 11:07
To: Ian Williams
Subject: RE: Leak in cabin roof at 16 Mere Road OX2 8AN
Dear Mr Williams,
Thank you for your email.
I have just sent you through an email about this matter.
As it has taken three months for there to be an issue with the felt, I cannot agree that it is due to the way in which the felt was installed. As this is the case, the installation was completed correctly and is under no fault.
If you are suggesting that the felt itself has failed, while we wouldn’t be able to re-install the felt, we are happy to provide you with a replacement. The main issue is that the felt cannot have simply ripped without cause and as we are still unaware of what has caused the felt to rip, the only thing we can do is provide you with replacement.
Unfortunately, I’m not always available to speak over the phone but the reason matters such as this are dealt with in writing is so that there can be no ambiguity as to what is discussed, advised, or agreed. It provides both us and yourself with an accurate record for future reference. As you are now suggesting that you will pursue legal action if we do not comply with your request we will have to keep discussions in writing from here on.
Kind regards,
XXXXXX
Tiger Sheds
__________________
From: Ian Williams
Sent: 19 November 2014 11:13
To: TigerBox Sales
Subject: RE: Leak in cabin roof at 16 Mere Road OX2 8AN
Good morning XXXXXX
I refer you to my earlier email, which is attached.
For your information, the shed has been treated, both inside and out, with a clear waterproof sealant and there are no branches anywhere near the point on the shed roof where the leak has occurred. A picture of the outside of the shed where the leak has occurred is attached, with the point of the leak indicated with a red arrow.
If you are not prepared to change your position on this matter, we will take alternative action via legal channels.
Regards
Ian Williams
________________
From: Ian Williams
Sent: 19 November 2014 11:17
To: TigerBox Sales
Subject: RE: Leak in cabin roof at 16 Mere Road OX2 8AN
XXXXXX
This is not good enough. I have sent a picture of the point of the leak, which is nowhere near a branch and the shed has been treated inside and out. You have a legal right to guarantee your work for 12 months, not three months.
Advise by return.
Ian Williams
________________
From: Ian Williams
Sent: 18 March 2015 00:07
To: Tigerbox
Subject: RE: Tigerbox.co.uk Order Complete – #XXXXXX
We are writing to inform you that we will be pursuing a claim for the replacement or repair of the roofing felt via small claims court on the advice of the Citizens Advice bureau, pursuant with the Sale of Good Act 1982. This advice has come from the Citizen’s Advice Bureau in Oxfordshire, who have logged our complaint and have also passed your details over to Trading Standards.
Since the original leak appeared in November, two others have subsequently appeared, the latest being just a few days ago. Your offer to send the replacement roofing felt and not send someone to undertake the work is insufficient and we do not see why we should cover the cost of rectifying the inferior work of your subcontractors, who should be indemnifying you for any potential negligence on their part. We have done nothing to invalidate the 10 year warranty you claim to offer on your website.
We would like to offer you another opportunity to rectify this work before having to take this option. If you fail to respond within 7 days, or if you refuse to undertake the necessary repair/ replacement work, we will get the repair/ replacement work done ourselves using a local tradesperson and then pursue a claim for the costs incurred via the Oxford Combined Court Centre.
Kinds regards
Ian Williams
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From: TigerBox Sales [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: 25 March 2015 17:53
To: Ian Williams
Subject: RE: Tigerbox.co.uk Order Complete – #XXXXXX
Good Afternoon Mr Williams,
We have forwarded your email to senior management who have confirm that you will receive a further response during the course of tomorrow regarding this matter.
Kind regards
Tiger Sheds
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From: Ian Williams [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: 14 May 2015 14:59
To: TigerBox Sales
Subject: RE: Tigerbox.co.uk Order Complete – #XXXXXX
Dear TigerSheds
And having waited for a response from your senior management team for two months, I can confirm that today we have sprung our third and fourth leaks…
It is nice to know that you are taking this so seriously.
You have a week to respond to this or this goes viral.
Ian Williams
________________
From: TigerBox Sales [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: 14 May 2015 15:55
To: Ian Williams
Subject: RE: Tigerbox.co.uk Order Complete – #XXXXXX
Good Afternoon Mr Williams,
Thank you for your email.
I had written an email to you confirming our position but I apologise if this was not received.
We have offered you replacement of the felt in order to assist you with resolution of this matter but this offer has been refused by yourself.
There is no proof of cause of the leak and as it took three months for there to be an issue, it is highly unlikely that this is down to incorrect installation. Had the felt been installed incorrectly, any issue would have been present immediately after the installation.
You have remained adamant that the felt is the problem here and this is something we have offered to provide a full replacement for. This is confirmed in your comments that you had been onto the roof and patched the area in question. I reiterate, the felt cannot have simply ripped without some external force causing it to do so.
We are still happy to uphold our previous offer to you and send through a full set of replacement felt for you to replace should you wish to do so. We have a new style of felt available. This is an upgrade to the felt you have received which we would arrange to send through.
Kind regards,
XXXXXX
Tiger Sheds
____________________
From: Ian Williams
Sent: 14 May 2015 16:29
To: ‘TigerBox Sales’
Subject: RE: Tigerbox.co.uk Order Complete – #XXXXXX
XXXXXX
This is crazy.
And, as we speak, I have sprouted a 5th leak. That’s three leaks in one day.
I did receive your response and we communicated. The last email you sent me, you told me that Senior Management would come back to me, which they didn’t. See your email below from 25th March.
When the shed was installed it was summer – there was no rain, so we have no proof that the installation was correct. The first leak happened the very first time we had heavy rain following the installation.
I have certainly done nothing to the roof of the shed. Why would I? I did patch the roof in one place, which you were fully aware of and agreed to. However the leaks have appeared in five different areas of the roof. There has certainly been no ‘external force’ applied by me. Why do you assume that I would sabotage my own workplace? The latest leak is dripping right onto an electrical conduit, which could cause an electrical fire. Why can you not accept this might be your responsibility, not mine?
You have offered me the felt to fix my roof, but I have made my position clear. I paid you for the shed and the installation and you have a responsibility to guarantee your work, as per the Sale of Good Act 1982. If I have to get the roof re-felted (materials PLUS time), then that would be at my cost. Your installation subcontractors have a responsibility to indemnify their work and fix the problem.
You can sent the improved felt if you wish, but I will not consider this matter to be resolved unless you also send someone to properly fix the felt to the roof. At your cost.
I am a Customer Experience consultant and deal with companies all over the world trying to resolve their Customer Service issues. This is one of the worst instances of Customer Service I have ever come across. I have thousands of people all over the world following my tweets and blog and I will ensure that they will get to know about your shoddy attitude and amateur approach.
And yes, I will still pursue a legal claim against you.
Good luck – I think you’re going to need it.
Ian Williams
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And that is the last communication that I’ve had. When you’re a company, big or small, you still have a responsibility to your customers. Let’s hope that Tigersheds learn their lesson too…