Anyone had a problem with Horsewear rugs and who to contact?

applestroodle

applestroodle

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I bought a rambo duo last month at great expense. The reason i chose the rambo is i have some that are 8 years old and always pleased with the quality. I was horrified to notice when i brought my horse in the other day that the binding and stitching is coming away on the hood. I took some photos and emailed horsewear and i havent heard anything back, just wondered if anyone else had any similar problems or any dealings with Horsewear Ireland. The place i bought it from will not return it dirty and want it cleaned first, the rug is a month old! Many thanks
 
I had poor stitching on mine too. I washed it at the launderette for £5 and then took it back to the shop. I can understand them not wanting it manky.

I explained that the rug was not fit for purpose and a refund was given. I then bought a bucas.
 
I contacted Horseware Ireland when I had a problem with my Rhino rug I'd bought for my TB. I had a short and rude response by email and decided I would never buy another Horseware Ireland rug on principle. (I have bought Rambo/Rhino rugs for both my horses for the last 9 years). Hope you have better luck sorting yours. :)
 
You need to take it back to the shop you bought it from. You contract of sale is with them and not with horseware. Horseware do not deal with the "general public"
 
Annabel2009, I had a rude email too when I complained about an Amigo lightweight 600D being more like a sponge than a waterproof rug ;) I did take it back to the shop and replaced with a 1200D. I would still buy horseware rugs but was disappointed in their poor/rude customer care.
 
And here's another one who had an extremely rude letter from them when complaining about the fit of their Rambo Sweetitch Hoody when it first came onto the market, even though they asked for feedback regarding sizing. I would never buy a Horseware rug again and have found much satisfaction in the Premier Equine range.
 
Generally, I tended to go for Horseware rugs even though they are usually quite a bit pricier than others as I always thought they were good quality and fitted well - up until recently, I've been pleased with them. But their customer services have been fairly unhelpful with me too.

I am experiencing similar issues you've mentioned on a brand new rug (lasted less than a week before coming apart) and waited ages for a reply to my email that just says something along the lines of 'your point of contract in most instances lies with your retailer' etc... fair enough, but as I had explained, the rug was a present and not purchased locally so it is not straightforward to take it back and I am concerned the retailer will reject it if I send it to them assuming it is just damaged rather than a manufacturing fault.

You probably have the same contact details on your email but if not, the Horseware Returns Administrator's number on my email is: 00353 42 9389040

Hope you can get it sorted - I know how frustrating it is!
 
SilkySullivan said:
I am experiencing similar issues you've mentioned on a brand new rug (lasted less than a week before coming apart) and waited ages for a reply to my email that just says something along the lines of 'your point of contract in most instances lies with your retailer' etc... fair enough, but as I had explained, the rug was a present and not purchased locally so it is not straightforward to take it back and I am concerned the retailer will reject it if I send it to them assuming it is just damaged rather than a manufacturing fault.
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That is always the risk when returning an item. If it is unclear to the retailer if it is a manufacturing fault or damaged, then they will send it off to be tested.

I used to work in a saddlery and always found the manfucturers (incl Horseware!) very fair with what was faulty and what was not!! If it is just damaged you can usually see where something has ripped/caught it etc.
 
From what I've read the tack shop you bought it from aren't being difficult, it is the law that returned goods must be in a clean and dry condition. You won't have to pay to get the rug cleaned, just lie it on the ground and hose it down then scrub off any dirt with a stiff brush and leave to dry. As long as the rug has the majority of the dirt and poo off it this will be fine. Would you be happy to inspect someone else's rug that was covered in unspeakables? Once you've done this I expect the store will be more than happy to help you.

I don't mean to be rude but you are complaining about something that you have the power to solve, the shop aren't refusing to help but simply quoting Health and Safety law to you. If it was a pair of your knickers that had come apart at the seams I doubt you'd take those back without washing them as you'd think it obscene to show them to a shop so why should it be any different with a rug which has much worse on it! Sorry that sounds horrible but just trying to show it from a member of staff's point of view. If as you say it is only a month old and you have your receipt I doubt there will be any problem unless the damage has been caused by another horse in which case there is little you can do about this. No matter how expensive the rug they do have to made to give way under force otherwise it may be your horse's leg that is broken rather than the rug, and I know which I would prefer.

I'm not just spouting nonsense as I have worked on the firing line at the 3 biggest equestrian mail order companies in the UK for the past ten years so have a lot of experience with this sort of problem.
 
Sorry to add to this, yes Horseware customer service is appalling so you are wasting time contacting them as they will ignore you. Most retailers deal with Horseware complaints themselves and don't even bother to contact Horseware...very worrying when Horseware offer such a comprehensive guarantee on their rugs. Although they are very good and problems are rare.
 
I had a problem with the lining splitting on a Rambo Wug. The well known shop I bought it from said they would send it back if it was clean, so I did it myself as in hosed it and scrubbed it. I took it back, waited about 6 weeks!! and was told HW said it wasnt a fault. Looking at the rug and the way it was in the bag, I doubt it was even sent back or if it was HW didnt take it out of the bag Id put it in. The lining was really thin in comparison to my other wug and I think it was a fault but there wasnt much else I could do.
 
This has put me off buying Horseware. I've been buying them for years without problem, but bad customer service is a total put off for me.
Have to say in contrast, Bucas customer service was absolutely amazing when 2 rugs I bought were tight on the shoulders. Within a couple of days the production dept had made me two chest expander's to match the rugs with no charge.
Bucas gets my vote valuing the customer.
 
I bought a fly sheet and was told it was rip proof, big deal as my horse never rips rungs, less than a week later it was shredded. I took it back to horseware shop in ireland and they were very unhelpful and rude in the shop and via email from main head office. I never bought another horseware rug and have at least 15 at that stage, including the duo which I'm not that fussed on but use it due to the price I paid! I have also had very different qualities of wugs. The shop staff seem to be trained to be defensive and rude - I've questioned why I have a rug in a bag saying medium weight when I asked for a heavy weight and they just say "oh its the wrong bag but it is a heavyweight" - freshly taken from the factory in front of me and the bag is wrong???? Yeah right. Very good products in general, shame about the lack of willingness to deal with any problems whatsoever. Premier equine give fantastic service.
 
I'm another one who will now avoid horseware rugs after buying a very expensive Optimo last year, their customer service was awful - basically non existent, yes they did reply to my email but very short and blunt to the point of being rude.
 
Am awaiting (now I suspect fruitlessly) reply from Horseware re email and photo of rug bought 2/3 years ago from Robinson's. Never been cleaned, lightly used, is covered in uniform tears - the outer material is disintegrating (brown check, obviously a flaw in the weave). Will try Robinson's and might as well cut a piece of the material and send to Horseware. Have a very helpful Trading Standards dept here, although don't know about it being in Ireland......will ask tomorrow and post any info
 
Lara, Just wondering if you ever did hear anything back about your rug shredding. I've just taken my two brown tartan rhino wugs out of my storage box and they have literally fell apart in my hands. Not very happy as you can imagine. Seems i'm not the only one though.
 
Fab_Fern and Lara - wondered if you ever heard anything about your HorseWare rugs - we had a blue tartan one disintegrate in the Spring (according to my rug mender this is not the first time she has seen this problem ...). Anyway, rug mender says there is nothing she can do as the fabric practically crumbles to touch in places and Horseware are not being very obliging .. RUGS FOR LIFE !!
 
At least some of you got replies! That's more than I got when I complained about a sweetitch hoody I bought that was too short in the neck for my 13.2 pony. It was a replacement for the one I had had for her for years which stood up really well to the abuse it got with her rubbing, but as soon as I realised the neck was shorter than the old one, I contacted them to ask them why they where using less material in the new model and got no reply, despite several emails. It pops off her ears when she grazes which is very annoying!the old one never did this.
 
the 3 rambo fly rugs on my yard (2 mine and 1 livery's) dropped to bits within a week of each other in the summer. Horses are in individual turnout with post and rail or electric fence-was the stitching that gave way on all 3. as fast as NMT could repair them, they gave somewhere else!

i wont buy another turnout rug from Horseware now, stable rugs and liners yes as get less abuse but no more turnout or fly or rain sheets.
 
Another disappointed customer. I have Rambos and Rhinos that are 15 years old. The Rambo I bought new last winter is now used as a spare it is so rubbish. I would never buy another now.
 
I splashed out on a rhino rug for one of mine and it lasted about two weeks. I was rather disappointed.
I've not had any issues with the amigo rugs though and they're all relatively new.
 
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