Hi Dinosek,

How did you lose your money? can you explain further as I am sure we would all be interested and people may even be able to help you out, please don't be shai!

I've been going through trading standards as well trying to get money back, county court is probably the only way forward now. Anyone wants copies of the letters etc (Trading Standards can give you guidance on these) DM me.

Anyone had any luck getting their money back from Wessex Teak or any success in court yet?

Hi there,
we are at the stage of 3rd letter and in touch with Trading Standards. Good luck with your case!

I have never dealt with this company - but all i would say is that if they are half the usual price why?

If you buy 100% beefburgers you pay more but you get 100% beef. If you buy economy burgers they are less than half price but - they have so little beef in they have to drop the word beef from the title.

If you are buying Teak, you are buying a quality wood. This wood is so sturdy that in the 18th century it was used to build ships.

It is maintenance free and can be left outside all year round.

Pay the extra from a company with a good reputation and you will be making a good investment.

Good Luck.

So there you go...


Teak garden furniture.

Some people sell grade a, some people sell grade b, and some people sell grade c, and some people sell various grades.

Some people sell treated furniture, some people sell untreated furniture, and some people sell both treated and untreated furniture.

Some people buy garden furniture having researched and knowing what they are buying, and some people buy garden furniture having done no research whatsoever and therefore have not a clue what they have ordered.

They then moan because they have not got what they expected, even though they did not have a clue what they were ordering in the first place.

In this country we moan a lot, we have got it down to a fine art..if we are not collectively miserable then life is unfair...this is not to say however that we are always wrong, because we aren't.

Much teak furniture is untreated, because for every buyer who says wow...that finish is just what I wanted, there's one buyer who wanted it just as nature intended...

It's a bit of a pain to 'untreat' wood, so easier to leave it raw and up to the buyer whatever finish floats their boat...

How many people can tell the difference between heartwood and acid treated teak.

In my experience most people go by the looks alone...if it fits their predetermined idea of 'nice' then it doesn't matter whether it's untreated grade b, or acid treated grade c.

Much as in the way many people are mugged off into paying top dollar for designer labels which are churned out in some sweaty far eastern workhouse...

Going back to furniture...

The difference on most occasions is a lot more money and a bit of acid, stick a label on saying John Lewis and suddenly oh wow, apparently it's fantastic...

Wessex teak don't use acid, neither do they have any alluring labels...They sell furniture, at a cut price to you.

If it's cheaper than most others, it's because they have less overheads, and fewer staff, doing more work. (One of my weeks work would have most sane people crying for their mummy).

anyway, I've said enough.



Ray.

I still don't understand why you thing people can't complain about the ''furniture'' you are selling. Most of the people don't even know about grades of teak so never complain when it arrives because it looks ''good'' but last just for a season (and then it is too late to complaing). I have bought GRADE B furniture from your company and I am left with horrible Grade C, did have to wait 10 days till one of you decided to put screws in to the envelope and post them to me.
Anyway your terms&conditions say you can return furniture (as it is standard when buying goods over internet) but customer service doesn't exist and when you get to talk to someone they are rude.

ANYONE READING THIS DO NOT EVEN THINK OF BUYING ANYTHING FROM WESSEX TEAK OR PRESTIGE TEAK!!!

No-one says you cant complain...

I don't sell garden furniture, just deliver it...

Don't know anything about your particular transaction, but I personally have had grade c furniture in the garden for the past three years without problems, apart from the dog chewing it as a pup, it still does what it was intended to do.

had the screw task been given to me, you'd have had your screws in a couple of days.

I'm not exactly what you'd call rude, here or anywhere else.


...and putting me out of a job will achieve what exactly?

What exactly is so 'horrible' about your furniture?


As a rule grade c furniture is usually given stick from those people who either expected house of fraser quality at oxfam prices, or know little about teak in the first place.

Grade c furniture has a lot of potential if you know what you are doing, if not then maybe people should be buying grade a...

But there are no guarantees that grade a teak would satisfy you, maybe finish wise, but the cost would have you reaching for the heart attack pills...


Frankly as a driver I am surprised by the number of people who will spend hundreds, if not thousands of pounds on garden furniture, while their garden gate or fence is rotting away...

obviously I don't say 'ere john, your fence is rotten, wouldn't a few new fencing panels be a more useful buy, currently?'

It just seems very odd.


Ray.

In a way, bigboy seems to have a point. If people are stupid enough to expect to get top quality Grade A furniture for those kind of prices without doing their research then they do carry some of the responsibility. I have had a quick look at their site and nowhere can I see them claiming their teak to be grade A although saying that they do not state its grade C either.

There are other companies there who just lie on their sites. One is Humber teak who claims to sell grade A teak where in fact they sell grade c or b which has been treated with chemicals. at least Wessex teak has no chemicals on it to hide the grade c.

not saying I would buy from Wessex or prestige teak but just saying that if you expect to get top quality for peanuts, its partly your fault for not checking further.

The think is that I have called Wessex teak and asked about the Grades and they sold me grade B which was a good deal. Unfortunatelly they delivered grade C so I guess I have the right to complain. If they just tried to resolve the problem I would never need to write here and I believe they would never have so many bad reviews. There are always going to be people angry about them if they have NO customer service.

dinosek, my post was not pointed at you as you were obviously lied to. Im refering to the many people who assume they are getting the same product as they would from Indian Ocean or Faraway Furniture but for a fraction of the price.

I wouldn't buy from them as had a terrible time today trying to get to the bottom of whether the chairs we ordered are ever going to arrive. I have been treated really badly and spoken to extremely rudely- they even said they didn't want my business now as I was ringing too often (1 a week for past 3 weeks as chairs were supposed to be delivered 2 weeks ago- hardly calling a lot!!). DO NOT buy from them! I doubt I will see our money or chairs!

Just update on my case:

Last letter send 2 weeks ago with no reply from wessex teak so contacted local court and expecting form to make the claim. Also will contact watch dog and trading standards. So ''mumandplum'' do so as well (it can be done on-line). I am sure there is a lot of other people being treated the same way but not a lot do anything about it.

You WILL see your table and chairs. I don't know when you have been scheduled for delivery (and I don't get involved in that part either) but as I am delivering furniture every day for them, people are certainly getting their furniture.
I'm doing my part, which really is all I can do.

Ray.

Don't suppose you used a credit card? If you did you might find that's the easiest way to get your money back. I just hope you get the money back as the chairs are really poorly built.

I spent Saturday fixing the various chairs etc. that are already falling apart. Never mind the grade B/C debate the stuff they ship is just poorly built. Already had to replace one piece with something from John Lewis, cost more but worth it. Gonna chop up the Wessex Teak supplied piece and use as firewood come the end of summer, about all it's good for.

Considering the amount of call Trading Standards are getting you'd think they'd do something, useless.

Just checked out your story...Mr Thurlow aka dinosek.

Apparently wessexteak have tried three times to satisfy you and your wife and have failed. You were given Grade B furniture, and I know this for a fact because I had to collect it from the originating suppliers.

Some people have their own pre-set idea of what they are expecting, they order an Audi estate and are then annoyed when a Bugatti Veyron doesn't turn up.

For what you are expecting it'll cost you around £5000, so really you have to make a choice....do you spend £5000 at least, or do you spend £1400 and apply the finish of your choice.

As an aside note on the issue of grade C teak in general. I personally can take a grade C set and make it into something the mother-in-law would wet her pants over, because I am prepared to put in the effort to make it so.

There is absolutely NOTHING wrong with grade C teak, only a bunch of asshole grade A suppliers who would rather you spent £5000 with them, and get annoyed when another supplier undercuts them with an item which is simply a bit lighter in colour, but lasts every bit as long.

So let this be an end of the so-called crap grade C argument...Grade A can be just rough as an indonesian back street suppliers grade C...

Like the old argument, its not what you have got...its what you do with it that counts...

so...learn how to treat and prepare teak, or go to Harrods and spend lots of money.


Ray.