I WOULD NOT GIVE THIS COMPANY 0 STARS! I purchased a wardrobe, two bedside table’s and a four draw dresser from Benson for Beds. I was lead to believe that EM flatpack would be assembling the furniture on the date of delivery (24/07/2019). On Thursday 25/07/2019 I was contacted by Mr Kevin Williams (the impression given was that he was senior in the company as he spoke about "his staff”). Instead of apologising for not being able to complete the work as arranged and for any inconvenience caused, he launched into a conversation regarding his staffing issues (staff calling in sick), which meant that the installation would not take place on that day. When asked for the solution, he was unable to say when he would be able to complete the work, but agreed to get back to me the following day. On Friday 26/07/2019, when I did not hear back from Mr Williams I contacted him and was advised that he would come on Sunday 28/07/2019, he indicated that work would commence in the morning, would not give a specific time. Given the fact that I had already taken time off work previsously and he had stated that he was the only company in the area offering this type of service, I felt that I had no choice but to accept his offer. On Sunday 28/07/2019 at 11.30am I received a call from Mr Williams who informed me that he was on his way. At approximately 12.00pm Mr Williams and his assistant (a lady) arrived. There was no apology for the inconvenience caused previously and for the time they arrive as I was lead to believe that they were coming in the morning. Before the work started I asked if he could put felt cushion pads under the wardrobe (bought by myself) to assist moving the wardrobe in the future and avoid scratching to the flooring, Mr Williams simply refused stating that it could be moved once installed and would not scratch the flooring. Not only did I find his response unhelpful, but from this point I could see the job was not going to go well and on reflection I should have asked them to leave given his lack of ‘customer Service’ and the level of hostility. As a man I was left me feeling very uncomfortable in my own home. I wonder what it would be like for the many female customers out there. To add insult to injury, before even opening up the packaging he abruptly asked for payment “Michael could you pay me before I start." When questioned about this he told in a very rude and curt manner that “if I'm not paid, I will leave. ” If this was not bad enough he highlighted that “I’ve walked off of three jobs because they did not pay me. ” He then followed with an explanation around his request not being unreasonable "everything needs to be paid for upfront …. Did you pay for the delivery for your wardrobe before it was delivered. ” Naturally I was taken a back by his response and felt very offended, however, having taken time off work, having my clothes in my spare room, I felt that I had no choice to have the work completed and to pay him. When I requested a receipt (as the store had agreed to reimburse the installation cost due to the inconvenience caused) he advised hat he would give a paper receipt at the end of the job. As I was very annoyed my partner agreed to engage with him from this point onwards. When she attempted to spoke to him about his attitude, he unashamedly acknowledged that he was rude, but justified his attitude explaining “yes I know I’m curt but I don’t have time to spend explaining why I need to be paid before doing the work!”.When the job came to an end Mr Williams attempted to leave the property without no conversation with myself or my partner. In the hallway when I asked if he had finished, his response was “talk to the girl. ” In regards to my request for the the receipt, he simply just walked out of the door. At this point, I was called to the room by his assistant who showed myself and partner the work undertaken. After speaking with her I went outside to his hired van and requested the receipt he had previously agreed to. Mr Williams rolled down the window a quarter of the way down and proceeded to tear off the end of a piece of scrap paper and write the amount charged for his service. When I explained that this was not an acceptable receipt, in distain, Mr Williams ’kissed his teeth’, threw the paper down in the car and drove off with his assistant. Although throughout the installation she did not act in the same way as Mr Williams did, she watched on whilst he was rude and disrespectful in my home. In all of my years of dealing with tradesman I have never been treated in such a discourteous manner. How Benson for Beds could employ this company with personnel such as Mr Williams, is shocking. I would not allow this company back into my home and would not recommend that this company to my family and friends. .Moreexpand_more
Response : We are sorry to hear this and please be aware that the comments you have made will be treated with the upmost urgency. This is now under investigation. I will assume that the quality of work is to a high standard as you did not mention that it wasn't in your detailed comments above. It is true we have a payment in advance service with all of our clients and we have never seemed to have a problem with this in the past, perhaps it was the way the conversation was approached that has infuriated you to this point.
We always look to satisfy all of our customer with our service and it would appear that in this instance we have failed - As a company we apologise for all and any dissatisfaction you have. This is not the type of service we offer as you can see by the vast numbers of great reviews we get from our customers. In this instance the old adage may be true 'You cant please all the people all of the time' but we will work on that to ensure this type of behaviour has no place in our business. Thank you for your time in bringing this to my attention and thank you for your comments.Moreexpand_more