Equetech - awful customer service?

[FestiveG]

Surely, unless the company is suggesting that coat is a fake, it is in their interests to resolve the problem. I am aware that the purchaser has a contract with the seller, who may be a third party, but pr and perception is important

 

[Nasicus]

Love me a company doing a big oof on social media.

 

[Sossigpoker]

A bank or credit card statement would be enough.

But it sounds like there's no proof of purchase so I don't think the business is in the wrong here.

 

[FestiveG]

But it sounds like there's no proof of purchase so I don't think the business is in the wrong here.

Are you suggesting that the company is behaving in a way that encourages others to use them? If they doubt that the coat is theirs, then that would surely be what they said, however they appear to acknowledge that the coat was produced by them. Whatever the situation, their reaction to the op's post has done them no favours.

 

[ponynutz]

Inappropriate from the company here and in their private conversation with OP.

OP never 'slated' the company and even if they did... company business is not personal. By this logic every negative review could be classed as 'slating' the company. Immature and inappropriate response imo.

 

[Red-1]

I would have thought that the brand would have pmd the op, or emailed her privately. To respond, in this manner, on a sm thread is unprofessional and very rude. It has ensured that I will never buy from this company.

I don't think they needed to PM. OP called them on the phone, they said it was out of warranty. OP emailed them as a result of information gained here. They could have simply replied to the email (as they had obviously identified the customer as they named them on here).

If you look at previous posts from the same user (not OP, the equetech bod), their not so subtle marketing of Equetech products is clear to see.

Hope they brush up on GDPR regs.

Crikey, I just looked back at posting history. It is not subtle at all!

Surely, unless the company is suggesting that coat is a fake, it is in their interests to resolve the problem. I am aware that the purchaser has a contract with the seller, who may be a third party, but pr and perception is important

I would agree.

Inappropriate from the company here and in their private conversation with OP.

OP never 'slated' the company and even if they did... company business is not personal. By this logic every negative review could be classed as 'slating' the company. Immature and inappropriate response imo.

Having re-read OPs posts, I agree that the company was not slated. Merely the facts and surprise at the response, asking for advice on how best to proceed. If they had got the follow up email and responded in a courteous and professional manner, then that would have veen reported back to us by OP and all would have been well.

Being as this jacket was new last winter and waterproof for that time, and has only just been brought out storage, I'm surprised they didn't want it returned for them to investigate? It may be that a whole batch of coats are in storage, waiting for people to get them out for this season, to find that they too are not waterproof.

It was not a cheap coat!

Such an own goal. After the apparent lies about having checked with HHO about redacting the GDPR breach, I now wouldn't believe a word of whatever they choose to now say about any conversations with OP.

We can only hope that this is a junior employee who is overstepping the mark, although with the previous marketing I guess that is unlikely.

 

[Bobthecob15]

I'm sorry but using the term 'slated' suggests your account is being run by a teenager....how embarrassing ?

So so unprofessional!

 

[Bobthecob15]

View attachment 101322

Love me a company doing a big oof on social media.

Yup, grab the popcorn ?

 

[AandK]

Poor form from equetech, I’m another who won’t be buying from them in future. Not only due to their reaction on here, but the really short warranty on an expensive item.

 

[dogatemysalad]

If you look at previous posts from the same user (not OP, the equetech bod), their not so subtle marketing of Equetech products is clear to see.

Hope they brush up on GDPR regs.

Not very subtle at all. It's a bit disappointing when a company marketing bod does this. Its an own goal.

 

[Sossigpoker]

Are you suggesting that the company is behaving in a way that encourages others to use them? If they doubt that the coat is theirs, then that would surely be what they said, however they appear to acknowledge that the coat was produced by them. Whatever the situation, their reaction to the op's post has done them no favours.

I've not said that.
But any company will expect to see proof of purchase. And as OP doesn't seem to have that by the sounds of it, it makes me wonder if they bought it second hand or something. If they have some proof, then just supply it to the company. If they still refuse to help, then they're in the wrong.

 

[ElleSkywalkingintheair]

First line of OPs post states she got the coat for Christmas which explains the lack of proof of purchase and bank statements showing when she bought it, she didn't, it was a gift.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Any retailer should be familiar with items received as presents which means that the new owner will not have a purchase receipt.

FWIW, my Venture Elite coat is three days short of being a year old. It cost me
£134.96 inc a 10% new customer discount from Griggs (I just checked my on line Griggs account).

So if it leaks now, that's tough on me, Equetech?

 

[Fred66]

A bank or credit card statement would be enough.

The equetech person did give those as examples of proof of purchase in their post.

It looks as though the equetech person needs some lessons in customer relations management as if you actually read the essence of what they have written they appear to have dealt appropriately with the complaint, and OP appears to have omitted certain elements to gain sympathy and thereby damage equetech’s reputation.

However the equetech person should not have:
> used the OP real name (should have used OP username)
> should have simply said I’m too late to edit and contacted H&H to ask them to redact
> should have chosen more professional language

And their response has probably caused more damage than the original post

 

[AmyMay]

I’m guessing that proof of purchase could be easily obtained from whoever purchased the coat.

 

[ycbm]

Deleted

 

[ycbm]

I'm not saying Equetech aren't telling the truth about this being only one coat, but recently I discovered that a supplier who told me "we haven't had any problems reported by anyone else" has had two returns from another customer. It's a standard response.

I don't care what the law says about proof of purchase, if the customer has a coat that's clearly yours and clearly not that old and it's leaking, then for the sake of avoiding reputational damage like this train wreck thread, you replace the coat as a matter of good business sense.
.

 

[Muddy unicorn]

To give an example of really good customer service, last year I contacted Aigle’s head office in France. I had a pair of parcour wellies which had started leaking - they were nearly 2 years old so I assumed the store I’d bought them from wouldn’t be interested but having had a previous pair last for more than 5 years (and my husband’s are nearly 10 years old), I thought that Aigle should know that the quality had deteriorated.

They got straight back to me, asked for photos of where the wellies had split, apologised profusely and sent me a new pair of boots.

The result is that their technical department now knew about a possible defect and I have a warm, fluffy feeling about Aigle and will recommend them to my friends - win, win!

 

[Starzaan]

I'm not saying Equetech aren't telling the truth about this being only one coat, but recently I discovered that a supplier who told me "we haven't had any problems reported by anyone else" has had two returns from another customer. It's a standard response.

I don't care what the law says about proof of purchase, if the customer has a coat that's clearly yours and clearly not that old and it's leaking, then for the sake of avoiding reputational damage like this train wreck thread, you replace the coat as a matter of good business sense.
.

I agree with this. When I was working for a very large equestrian wholesaler, we took items back for testing if they were reported as faulty. Yes, even sometimes without proof of purchase. It is damaging to a brand to have faulty items out there and cheaper to simply test and replace than end up embroiled in a social media storm.

 

[Slightlyconfused]

I agree with this. When I was working for a very large equestrian wholesaler, we took items back for testing if they were reported as faulty. Yes, even sometimes without proof of purchase. It is damaging to a brand to have faulty items out there and cheaper to simply test and replace than end up embroiled in a social media storm.

Ariat did this with my Conistons.

They were just over 12 months old, cleaned with the ariat cleaner and not mucked out in. I had saved up a while to get them so they are my winter riding /dog walking boots.

The leather cracked over the foot just under the laces, no matter how much i conditioned them it went brittle. Took them back to tje store i brought them from. They contacted ariat with the pictures and jusy swapped them over and the faulty ones sent back to ariat.

 

[Keith_Beef]

I agree with this. When I was working for a very large equestrian wholesaler, we took items back for testing if they were reported as faulty. Yes, even sometimes without proof of purchase. It is damaging to a brand to have faulty items out there and cheaper to simply test and replace than end up embroiled in a social media storm.

Absolutely.

There is this common saying of "there's no such thing as bad publicity", but I argue that "there's no such thing as bad feedback".

When a customer comments that a product has not lived up to expectations or that customer service has been, let's say "sub-optimal", then this is valuable information that a manufacturer or retailer can use to improve products or processes.

To disregard any feedback is to pass up on the opportunity both to improve internal processes for manufacturing and QA and to damage the company's reputation and goodwill.

 

[FestiveG]

Aigle and Ariat have both had their reputation boosted by this thread and other people may well buy from them, on the back of this thread. Equitech could learn some lessons from them!

 

[Starzaan]

Absolutely.

There is this common saying of "there's no such thing as bad publicity", but I argue that "there's no such thing as bad feedback".

When a customer comments that a product has not lived up to expectations or that customer service has been, let's say "sub-optimal", then this is valuable information that a manufacturer or retailer can use to improve products or processes.

To disregard any feedback is to pass up on the opportunity both to improve internal processes for manufacturing and QA and to damage the company's reputation and goodwill.

Yep, exactly. I was a key account manager for Weatherbeeta, who have a lot of brands under their umbrella.
I often ended up replacing a rug or a pair of boots that were clearly not faulty, but the cost of not doing so would have been greater in the long run in terms of bad feeling and social media gripes, than the cost of replacing the item.
It was drummed into us regularly NEVER to engage on social media. If in doubt, shut up, and go and check with marketing. Something I think Equetech would benefit from.

 

[Tiddlypom]

Ariat replaced my £200 short Devon Nitro boots FOC when the leather scuffed soon after purchase. It took a bit of time to sort it, but that was because of staff holidays in between Hope Valley Saddlery, who I bought them from, and Ariat, rather than any questioning of liability.

I posted a thread about them at the time (2019). The replacements are lasting well.

 

[Peglo]

To give an example of really good customer service, last year I contacted Aigle’s head office in France. I had a pair of parcour wellies which had started leaking - they were nearly 2 years old so I assumed the store I’d bought them from wouldn’t be interested but having had a previous pair last for more than 5 years (and my husband’s are nearly 10 years old), I thought that Aigle should know that the quality had deteriorated.

They got straight back to me, asked for photos of where the wellies had split, apologised profusely and sent me a new pair of boots.

The result is that their technical department now knew about a possible defect and I have a warm, fluffy feeling about Aigle and will recommend them to my friends - win, win!

i had similar years ago with Premier Equine. (Heard rumours they aren’t so good now but just my experience)
The velcro on the hood attachments unthreaded after a day or 2. So I sent a picture to them and suggested more stitching on the Velcro. I didn’t expect anything but they thanked me and sent a new one out. The new one lasted much longer and I got to keep the other one.

I wasn’t expecting this thread to have escalated like this.

 

[FestiveG]

i had similar years ago with Premier Equine. (Heard rumours they aren’t so good now but just my experience)
The velcro on the hood attachments unthreaded after a day or 2. So I sent a picture to them and suggested more stitching on the Velcro. I didn’t expect anything but they thanked me and sent a new one out. The new one lasted much longer and I got to keep the other one.

I wasn’t expecting this thread to have escalated like this.

And if Equitech hadn't responded as they did, including claiming that they had contacted hho, when it appears that they hadn't, the thread would have quietly slipped down the board....

 

[jnb]

Soooo...I wonder if anyone wants to comment on Equetech's Facebook page about their new waterproof coat regarding the lack of warranty / poor customer service? They seem to be a bit more professional at least on there....might get it taken more seriously @Hamlet

https://fb.watch/goKxXUUNoB/

 

[Red-1]

I had bad service from Mountain Horse with their protective jodhpur boots. The horse stood on the toe and it then rotated right round and injured my foot worse than the hoof would likely have done without the toecap. I sent photos of the injury.

I thought they would ask for me to send them back, to see why this had happened. The toecap had stayed rigid, it was the boot sole and structure that had allowed it to rotate round, presenting my foot with the sharp edge. Nope, not interested at all.

I now wear Ariat!

 

[Bobthecob15]

Reading this makes me glad I've just bought a le mieux waterproof coat and not the equitech one i was considering! ?

 

[humblepie]

I must admit I never thought of returning the Ariat boots I had that split. I just went back to a cheaper brand. Sounds like good responses from them.