complaining about saddler?

digitalangel

digitalangel

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Has anyone ever had a bad experince with a master saddler, and made a complaint?

Just wondering if it is worth it. Saddle bought a year ago, but never would have fit my horse for a variety of reasons. Got a second opinion and they suggested writing a letter.

We put so much trust in saddlers, vets, dentists, osteo's etc. we have to have faith that they will do the right thing by our horses. i find it really sad that my old saddler was more interested in selling me a saddle than fitting it properly.

:(
 
i know someone who has bought a new saddle from a v well respected local (master) saddler and it fits so badly the horse has wasted away within weeks underneath it. when she tried to get said saddler back he told her he had an 8 week waiting list.

so... i'm interested to hear what can be done. :)
 
I have had issues with 4 saddlers in Dorset and now drive with horse 65 miles to get my saddles done. I know exactly how you feel about trusting them and them doing a sh*t job.

I complained to last saddler and told her I would never use her again. She lost a saddle she had to sell for me and gave me the money for it.

Refused to pay the saddler before that for his time after he fitted 3 different saddles to horse which didn't fit. Woman in his shop sounded as though she'd heard it all before when I rang up!!

Have never made formal complaint because I was a bit too scared to!!
 
I would also be interested to hear if there are official ways to complain and what, if anything will be done about it.

3 people I know have had bad experiences recently with a well respected saddler in my area...
 
I would guess it would depend if master saddler or a saddle fitter. If 'only' a master saddler not a fitter I suspect SMS wouldn't be very interested. If qual as a saddle fitter it might be a bit different. Why not give them a ring in the first instance :)
 
thanks guys. Im disheartened to hear that others have had similar problems to me. :(

I dont know if anyone else is the same, but im a bit scared to complain to be honest though i think i *should* tell the old saddler that ive had a second opinion and im very much not happy, but because i am not a saddler myself, and my knowledge is lacking, i feel is she challenges what ive been told i would have nothing to say? Chances of her taking saddle back/refund are minimal, because, well. she doesnt have to, does she?

oh yes, old saddler was a Master Saddler Saddle Fitter. to be honest, her website looks the business, but havent heard much by reputation either good or bad, so just took a chance. dont think ill be doing that again though.
 
Do not be afraid to complain, first of all just because they are a Master Saddler it does not always make them good, secondly one of my customers had such a badly fitting new saddle she tried to complain to the fitter and wouldnt accept it. I got on the phone a few choice words later etc, she got her money back less his call out which is fair enough.
I know not everyone gets it right all the time, but if it has caused your horse to have a sore back, be lame etc etc then most deffo complain. Good Luck.
 
seems to be such an odd area with saddle fitting, have had our fair share of problems although not complained just moved elsewhere. I guess we should have though but as you say you assume they know best and sometimes dare not question them.
 
I think it is easy to get confused between someone who is a Master Saddler and a "saddle fitter" - different things!

Of course, some "master saddlers" also happen to be "saddle fitters" - other times there are situations where someone for for example runs an equestrian business, sets themselves up as a "saddle fitter" but they've got no qualifications to that effect!

I think the whole thing needs clearing up, farriers have a registration council, and I think that this is an area which needs perhaps a bit more regulation? What does everyone else think?
 
As with farriers, you can check on-line to see if your chosen saddle FITTER (or saddler for that matter), is actually registered.
As with farriers, being registered does not guarantee that they are good.
 
Hi, I successfully got a full refund on the purchase price a new saddle, although it was about 15 years ago. It was sold to us and fitted by a Master Saddler. The saddle was such a bad fit that it used to ride up her neck in canter and my mare became cold backed. Over the following months we kept complaining and calling the original fitter back and had the saddle re-stuffed numerous times which in fact made things worse. In the end we got a second opinion - she was horrified at the fit - my mare was fitted with a medium when in fact she was an extra wide!! (And no she hadn't put on loads of weight or muscled up significantly in that time!) Anyway the second saddler (who was a saddle fitter) agreed to be an expert witness for us if we decided to take the first one to court and it seemed that this was enough of a threat for the first one to give us a full refund – this was about a year after it was first fitted.

So don’t despair, it can be done. We put it in writing to them, listing all the dates that they had been out to try and rectify the problems and what they tried to do on each visit to correct the problems. We also stated that we had gained a second expert opinion who was willing to testify that the saddle had been poorly fitted and finally put that they had 10 days to give us a full refund or we would pursue them it court. They then called us a few days later and asked us to return the saddle to them and they would give us a full refund, so it’s definitely worth a punt. x
 
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