Premier Equine - Is It Worth Complaining?

Crackerz

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About 18months ago i invested in a light weight PE with the idea of buying the liners when needed.

In the first 24 hours it ripped on a seam on a pony who never rips rugs - the rug was fitted correctly and no other marks on it. PE dismissed it, saying it was ponies fault. Fair enough, mum fixed it and it didn't break again.

Come the first heavy rain storm last autumn, pony was soaked ALL over - the rug 100% failed.
We sent pictures to PE who first tried to say it was because there was tiny tiny holes where other ponies had nipped at it playing. No PE, this does not make a rug wet over every millimeter!
They finally said the rug was only designed for light rain storms, offered a small % discount on a higher quality rug, recommended one and we bought it.

New rug was lovely, fitted well as normal etc but hadn't been subjected to rain because ponies come in when it's wet in the winter and a medium weight different rug was used if they were out in rain in winter.

Fast forward 6 months to this week. Ponies all out in their summer paddocks and then that rain hit... No worries i though, Alfie won't melt, he has a good rug on. Wrong. Guess what? His new PE leaks ALOT too!!




Now what do i do? They were so hard to deal with the first time i said their rugs leaked :( I don't want discount on another PE rug, i never want another PE rug! Do i just leave it? Send rug to be waterproofed again in the hope it works?

And whilst i am here, are there any rugs with the same neck cover fitting as the PE rugs? They are such a brilliant fit, no mane rubbing at all.
 

crabbymare

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that would be a lovely picture for their facebook page. as to the rugs I would go with horseware or amigo and not have a neck cover if it meant the rest worked properly
 

comet!

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I would complain and send pictures. Coincidentally I've just answered on another thread about them. I had a rug that leaked but a bit sooner after buying (maybe 6-8 weeks). They offered me a refund or a replacement. As I liked the length of them I went with the replacement but ended up selling it (nothing wrong with it, I just found it a right pain to lift to hang up to dry).

I've now gone back to Weatherbeeta. One of my Weatherbeeta rugs is on its third winter, been washed (but not reproofed) at least three times and still doesn't leak.
 

ester

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I would send them that pic in an email with a reference to your previous issue and say that you are immensely disappointed, will not be buying or recommending any of their products to anyone and that you feel they should know about their quality issues.

rhino/rambo use the velcro on necks and they do finally seem to have made the necks a bit more life-sized! However I do find the PE necks fit better so I have a couple of them bought in the sale that I use too (my newest medium weight the neck fits ok whereas before even a 6'/6'3 neck (F is a 5'9) would be too tight. Frank has a LW rhino and in 5/6 years it hasn't leaked once (they have a middle waterproofing layer so don't rely on the outside layer). If I were you I would buy a rhino with the understanding that I might need to use the PE necks on it. My YO had 2 amigos on each horse in the week and all three got wet.
 

ester

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Also for the bigger shouldered amongst us ;) I do like the v-necks on the rhinos too. Though F's lightweight is just a standard neck and that doesn't rub either.
 

Michen

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Wow! I have bought two rugs from PE which have never leaked and haven't been re proofed since purchase two winters ago. But ive read sooooo many stories like this I think ive been lucky and not sure I would buy another!
 

LibbyL

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They seem to be very active on their facebook page so maybe worth putting the picture on there? They might be more productive in finding a solution if potential customers can see it!
 

Crackerz

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I'm a little scared to complain! I hate confrontation even over email haha but i guess, the rugs are a lot of money.

The annoying thing was my veteran was out in the rain with Alfie, in his 8 year old £25 Upland rug that has a rip on the bum and has only been reproofed once - apart from a 3" squared wet patch under the rip, he was bone dry!


Do i man up and do it publicly on the PE FB page or do i email privately? I'm such a wimp!
 

ester

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It isn't confrontation though, Just lay out the facts for them, you don't have to go into it further (I admit I don't think I could be arsed with it!)

I'd put it on the FB page, tbh you are just expressing your utter disappointment :p
 

molly7886

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My friend always raves about PE rugs but I find them incredibly heavy and nothing special.
I bought my horse a Masts this winter that has interchangeable liners and it's been great.
 

JustMe22

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We expressed our disappointment via email about some expensive paddock boots that fell apart very quickly, and their response was 'we'd hate to know what his legs would look like without them'. So we found them, a) rude and b) unhelpful.

However, despite the horrible customer care, yes I would complain if I were you. I think companies like that should know if their product hasn't been up to standard You don't have to do it in a confrontational manner. Just say that you bought the rug and are disappointed with the quality especially for the price. And that you will not be buying again :)
 

swilliam

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As I've said on here before, I won't ever buy from them again, after they told me it was just coincidence that the two identical rugs I bought for different horses ripped in exactly the same place and same way (just under a seam) after only a couple of wears. I was offered 205 off any rug that wasn't already on special offer, but didn't bother.
 

Annagain

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I have 3 or 4 PE rugs and have always found them to be great. My lightweight must be about 5 years old by now and it's still very waterproof. It's the higher denier one though - the zero rather than the lite, or maybe the other way round, I forget which is which! This is because my boy is a rug monster, but he's only managed to rip it once and it was properly fixed with no problems.

I've never had cause to complain so can't say anything about their customer service, but I'd definitely let them know of the issue (I wouldn't really call it complaining!) - privately at first and escalate publicly if you get no luck.
 

Deltic Blue

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I would definitely complain and do it on their Facebook page!
I've known of 3 people now that have had issues with PE rugs either ripping or not being waterproof!
 

Carrots&Mints

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Contact Trading Standards - these rugs are not fit for purpose. I had to ring TS about a pair of country boots that I had bought which the sole fell off. They helped me so much
 

ester

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We expressed our disappointment via email about some expensive paddock boots that fell apart very quickly, and their response was 'we'd hate to know what his legs would look like without them'. So we found them, a) rude and b) unhelpful.

However, despite the horrible customer care, yes I would complain if I were you. I think companies like that should know if their product hasn't been up to standard You don't have to do it in a confrontational manner. Just say that you bought the rug and are disappointed with the quality especially for the price. And that you will not be buying again :)

their usual level of customer service is what would make me put it on the fb page/twitter (they can't delete tweets).

My friend's TB wears his NEW equine boots in the field and she usually gets 9 months out of them (he brushes badly!) and commented to them at badminton that she felt bad using the 12 month warranty when she knows they have more than standard use (so doesn't. Rep there said she should anyway and took her name and address as they might send some trial stuff for extra abuse. That is how you respond to comments from customers.
 

SO1

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Email then again to complain with photo evidence. It may a problem with a particular batch of the rugs being faulty or they may have changed manufacturer. If they don't know there is a problem then they can't rectify the solution.

Rambo's are good more pricey but no leaking problems. I have the LW which has the liner system and don't bother with a neck cover although you can attach one {and pony has a fully clipped neck in winter}

I am a bit of a cynic but think a lot of the cheaper rugs are now designed to only last a short while, encouraging people to buy next season's colours or use different companies - after all if rugs lasted for really long times then you would not have much incentive to buy rugs and it would impact on rug manufacturers' businesses.
 

Crackerz

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Email then again to complain with photo evidence. It may a problem with a particular batch of the rugs being faulty or they may have changed manufacturer. If they don't know there is a problem then they can't rectify the solution.

Rambo's are good more pricey but no leaking problems. I have the LW which has the liner system and don't bother with a neck cover although you can attach one {and pony has a fully clipped neck in winter}

I am a bit of a cynic but think a lot of the cheaper rugs are now designed to only last a short while, encouraging people to buy next season's colours or use different companies - after all if rugs lasted for really long times then you would not have much incentive to buy rugs and it would impact on rug manufacturers' businesses.

But the whole point, is it's NOT a cheaper rug! It's a hard decision to spend PE kind of money in the first place :(

I have tweeted PE - see what they say. Did it in a 'disappointed' fashion!!

I think i will look at the Rhino/Rambo's as i don't like him being without a neck cover in winter and i do love the PE fit of them so if they can be used on another rug, that's great :) Although, this is assuming the neck cover is waterproof!

So currently i have 2x PE Lightweight rugs in good condition but can't be used to turnout in haha
 

DJ

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My older PE rugs are fantastic and still going strong (one of them is about 7 years old now) but the newer stuff is crap sadly and doesn`t seem to last, I won`t buy from them now. :(

I`d be complaining for sure, the company are actually based just up the road from us.

I like the Rhino Wug for the neck shape, and you can pick them up quite reasonably priced on Ebay now. Decent quality too.
 

WelshD

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I would complain, I have that exact same rug and its never leaked despite being washed in a washing machine twice and not been re-proofed, its a great rug so yes I would be complaining if I bought a new one and it leaked
 

honetpot

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My first thought is its condensation. These rugs are made of breathable fabric, ie the holes are small enough for moisture to evaporate through but the water molecules from rain can not get through. If the pony is hot and sweating( in the picture it looks like it has a fair bit of coat) and the water can not evaporate through the water condenses on the cold outer layer on a cold day. A bit like steam that runs down your bathroom window and turns to a water puddle.
If there was a problem with the fabric there would be hundreds with the same problem as the fabric will come off the same roll.
The fabrics used now are so breathable I have put them on a wet shivering horse and within a couple of hours the horse is dry.
 

Crackerz

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It's definitely rain, he wasn't remotely warm, he never is even with his full winter woolies :(

If you Google, There are an awful lot of people complaining about PE rugs not being waterproof... When my first rug leaked, the local tack shop said i was one of many that had come in and complained about it!
 

mightymammoth

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Yes complain I have also found that they leak and and are not a good fit for big shouldered horses. I got their fly rug last year it was that tight it looked like it had been sprayed on.

It's a shame because I like the the fact that they're deep. I bought the PE 40 with the liners but I have gone onto rambo's and they are a much better fit and are waterproof.
 

Meowy Catkin

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Back in 2009 I had a new PE rug leak like a sieve on my grey. CM was dry as a bone after the same rain shower in her Rhino.

When I first posted about it on here, it was clear that I was in the minority and that most people with PE rugs had waterproof (but heavy) rugs. These latest threads seem to have far more people with faulty rugs and the minority is now those with waterproof rugs and most of those seem to be older rugs. Have they changed their materials or waterproofing methods?

I do like PE's fly rugs (without the waterproof strip) but I haven't bought a turnout from them again.
 

PerfectCoffee

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I've found that Premier Equine rugs leak too and no longer buy them. It's not like they are cheap rugs either even when on sale, so you would expect better.
 

LouisCat

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I have never bought a rug from them but I do ride with a friend who's horses all have PE rugs. These are really good quality and fit beautifully however they are heavy weight winter rugs and aren't that new so that could make a difference to the manufacturing?
 
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