Yardrat
New User
I am currently resurfacing an arena and I'm thinking of using Equipro's Superior Fibre as a standalone surface. Does any body have any experience of this company/surface. Thank you in advance.
Equipro Surfaces
- Thread starter Yardrat
- Start date
Red-1
I used to be decisive, now I'm not so sure...
I have no knowledge of this surface or company, but would thoroughly recommend looking it up via companies house, then look up the directors and senior staff members, as well as any other companies from the same address.
If it is a new company and the people owning it have a trail of failed companies, then I would avoid like the plague.
I would also ask for references. Actually speak with the people they recommend, having googled that they are real. Visit the arenas if you can, and only ones that are more than 5 years old.
If it is a new company and the people owning it have a trail of failed companies, then I would avoid like the plague.
I would also ask for references. Actually speak with the people they recommend, having googled that they are real. Visit the arenas if you can, and only ones that are more than 5 years old.
Yardrat
New User
Just laid an Equipro surface in my small arena which is used primarily for lungeing. I used their superior fibre as a standalone surface as a replacement for the woodchip that was there previously. Thought I should share my experience:
Firstly, I did my homework and struggled to find anything negative about Equipro apart from somebody who had a couple of bags of the wrong type of surface delivered and someone whose surface was clumped or melded together and difficult to separate. I also rang plenty of people listed on their website - they were all very positive so a bit of a waste of time as I doubt that my number will ever be listed nor anybody else whose experience wasn't great.
I also asked for samples. The sample I received actually bore no similarity to reality. The surface that was delivered to me was much stringier which made it difficult to spread evenly with a small digger - although this was resolved with a fork and the end result is even. Also the carpet pieces can be quite big. I have some up to a foot long.
Another issue was that I received one bag where the surface was melded into huge clumps. They were rock hard and couldn't be separated with a digger, let alone by hand. In fairness to Equipro they replaced the bag without any fuss.
The surface is now down and I'm starting to use it. It looks okay (large patches of different colours where different carpets are used) and the couple of horses that I have worked on it seemed to like it. As a product, it is very cheap compared to competitors and that is, in my opinion, the best thing about it. Also, for every 20 bags you order, I would add in an extra bag to make sure you have sufficient coverage.
I'm in a location where it is not possible to take delivery with an artic, so I needed a rigid frame vehicle. I was told that these were harder to source, but I wasn't quite made aware of how much of a nightmare it would be. My advice, if you are in the same situation, is to not pay Equipro for transport, but find a local haulier to go and get it for you. It may cost a little more, but it will be well worth it and I wish that I had done that.
Equipro use a third party agency called North West Transport (NWT) to source their transport and, in my experience, they were terrible. I experienced error after error but it was always somebody else's fault. NWT blamed the hauliers and even blamed me! Bearing in mind I was asked when I would like delivery and I dumbly asked for the 2 loads to come the following Monday at approx 9 and 11, this is what happened:
I put in the above request and was told that it would be confirmed. I never heard anything else as the day approached and had no idea whether it was happening or not. I had men and machines lined up for action on the Monday. I rang Equipro around ten times (answering service) and emailed them repeatedly. Eventually, on I think the Sunday, they replied to a very angry Facebook message from me. The delivery wasn't happening. They weren't sure why NWT had never come back to them. I cancelled the men and that pretty much set out how it was going to be. Equipro don't really do phone calls unless they are selling to you. It's all done by email which can be slow. They also don't seem to want to hear anything bad about NWT and can never understand how things can go so wrong when to me it was blindingly obvious. Overall, communication was poor.
I started to communicate with NWT direct. On at least six occasions they said they would ring me back in ten minutes and didn't. On at least 2 occasions I gave them days of the week I could take delivery and they organised something on the days I had said I couldn't do. I always need a morning delivery so that there was enough time to unload and get the job done and the plant hire equipment returned. NWT said one delivery "wouldn't be first thing", then they came back with "lunchtime", then they said 2 o'clock. I told them that was the absolute limit and I couldn't go any later - it was really tight. Then they came back again and said 3 o'clock, flatly denying that any other conversations had taken place. I declined the delivery and it was clear to me that the person on the other end of the phone was angry. I was furious. I cancelled my men and machines - I think that was the third time I cancelled them.
After that I dealt only with Equipro and they spoke to NWT on my behalf. It didn't improve things. NWT said they were sending a grabber truck for the last half of the delivery so that I didn't have to have men there to unload. Great idea but I pointed out, twice and in writing, that I didn't think that the grabber truck would have the capacity to bring the whole load. Nobody acted on that, the delivery was two bags short, my men were cancelled again, Equipro really couldn't understand how it happened and NWT blamed everybody else including me.
Finally, I got my last part delivered on Wednesday last week, despite being told it was being picked up Monday, then Tuesday. We laid it on Thursday. I think I only cancelled the men and equipment once that week.
I requested the original delivery for the 7th March, I actually received the completed order on 13th April. I asked for the whole lot to come on one day, it came on three separate days, so I had to spend more money on equipment hire and fuel to collect and return plus the men's time. I was embarrassed by the number of times I had to cancel the men and equipment and I felt like an idiot. To say I had sleepless nights was an understatement, I was stressed beyond belief by what should have been a straightforward experience and I was reduced to tears on 2 occasions. I have wasted hours of time and energy chasing both NWT and Equipro. If it could have gone wrong, it went wrong.
Equipro gave me an extra free bag of surface early on in the process when I was angry at their lack of communication. At the end, they said they were sending me a hamper as a gesture of goodwill. The hamper turned out to be 5 packets of biscuits which I gave to the men who were working for me.
In summary, good price, product seems good enough, but Equipro need to sort out their communication processes and their transport supplier. I have another project to do on my bigger arena. I will be using a different company.
Firstly, I did my homework and struggled to find anything negative about Equipro apart from somebody who had a couple of bags of the wrong type of surface delivered and someone whose surface was clumped or melded together and difficult to separate. I also rang plenty of people listed on their website - they were all very positive so a bit of a waste of time as I doubt that my number will ever be listed nor anybody else whose experience wasn't great.
I also asked for samples. The sample I received actually bore no similarity to reality. The surface that was delivered to me was much stringier which made it difficult to spread evenly with a small digger - although this was resolved with a fork and the end result is even. Also the carpet pieces can be quite big. I have some up to a foot long.
Another issue was that I received one bag where the surface was melded into huge clumps. They were rock hard and couldn't be separated with a digger, let alone by hand. In fairness to Equipro they replaced the bag without any fuss.
The surface is now down and I'm starting to use it. It looks okay (large patches of different colours where different carpets are used) and the couple of horses that I have worked on it seemed to like it. As a product, it is very cheap compared to competitors and that is, in my opinion, the best thing about it. Also, for every 20 bags you order, I would add in an extra bag to make sure you have sufficient coverage.
I'm in a location where it is not possible to take delivery with an artic, so I needed a rigid frame vehicle. I was told that these were harder to source, but I wasn't quite made aware of how much of a nightmare it would be. My advice, if you are in the same situation, is to not pay Equipro for transport, but find a local haulier to go and get it for you. It may cost a little more, but it will be well worth it and I wish that I had done that.
Equipro use a third party agency called North West Transport (NWT) to source their transport and, in my experience, they were terrible. I experienced error after error but it was always somebody else's fault. NWT blamed the hauliers and even blamed me! Bearing in mind I was asked when I would like delivery and I dumbly asked for the 2 loads to come the following Monday at approx 9 and 11, this is what happened:
I put in the above request and was told that it would be confirmed. I never heard anything else as the day approached and had no idea whether it was happening or not. I had men and machines lined up for action on the Monday. I rang Equipro around ten times (answering service) and emailed them repeatedly. Eventually, on I think the Sunday, they replied to a very angry Facebook message from me. The delivery wasn't happening. They weren't sure why NWT had never come back to them. I cancelled the men and that pretty much set out how it was going to be. Equipro don't really do phone calls unless they are selling to you. It's all done by email which can be slow. They also don't seem to want to hear anything bad about NWT and can never understand how things can go so wrong when to me it was blindingly obvious. Overall, communication was poor.
I started to communicate with NWT direct. On at least six occasions they said they would ring me back in ten minutes and didn't. On at least 2 occasions I gave them days of the week I could take delivery and they organised something on the days I had said I couldn't do. I always need a morning delivery so that there was enough time to unload and get the job done and the plant hire equipment returned. NWT said one delivery "wouldn't be first thing", then they came back with "lunchtime", then they said 2 o'clock. I told them that was the absolute limit and I couldn't go any later - it was really tight. Then they came back again and said 3 o'clock, flatly denying that any other conversations had taken place. I declined the delivery and it was clear to me that the person on the other end of the phone was angry. I was furious. I cancelled my men and machines - I think that was the third time I cancelled them.
After that I dealt only with Equipro and they spoke to NWT on my behalf. It didn't improve things. NWT said they were sending a grabber truck for the last half of the delivery so that I didn't have to have men there to unload. Great idea but I pointed out, twice and in writing, that I didn't think that the grabber truck would have the capacity to bring the whole load. Nobody acted on that, the delivery was two bags short, my men were cancelled again, Equipro really couldn't understand how it happened and NWT blamed everybody else including me.
Finally, I got my last part delivered on Wednesday last week, despite being told it was being picked up Monday, then Tuesday. We laid it on Thursday. I think I only cancelled the men and equipment once that week.
I requested the original delivery for the 7th March, I actually received the completed order on 13th April. I asked for the whole lot to come on one day, it came on three separate days, so I had to spend more money on equipment hire and fuel to collect and return plus the men's time. I was embarrassed by the number of times I had to cancel the men and equipment and I felt like an idiot. To say I had sleepless nights was an understatement, I was stressed beyond belief by what should have been a straightforward experience and I was reduced to tears on 2 occasions. I have wasted hours of time and energy chasing both NWT and Equipro. If it could have gone wrong, it went wrong.
Equipro gave me an extra free bag of surface early on in the process when I was angry at their lack of communication. At the end, they said they were sending me a hamper as a gesture of goodwill. The hamper turned out to be 5 packets of biscuits which I gave to the men who were working for me.
In summary, good price, product seems good enough, but Equipro need to sort out their communication processes and their transport supplier. I have another project to do on my bigger arena. I will be using a different company.