Name: Dunster House Ltd
Rating: 4.09

“Awful sales and support !”

Posted 3 years ago

“Our vantage 250 summerhouse may look good but leaks like a sieve. Very, very disappointed. Everything about it is poor quality.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“Customer services have absolutely no idea at all about their product and the fact that the suggestions they have for correction of issues are ridiculous. They say that it is normal for water to get through the lower door panel if silicone isn’t put on the outside lower section of the panel. I have asked why there are drain holes if water isn’t to get in? Why isn’t the panel sealed in place when constructed? Also we have leaks on the corners of the logs, sealant doesn’t stop this but they keep saying the same thing, seal it externally. Thick people that don’t understand timber as a construction material and clearly can’t think logically. Stay well away.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“Set your expectations extremely, extremely,extremely low and you won’t be disappointed! Poor product and even worse service from this Mickey Mouse outfit....gotta give it to them though, probably making plenty of money!”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“Worst company I have ever had the misfortune to deal with and I haven't even bought anything yet! God knows what their after sales service is like. If you're looking for a cabin there are better sites out there with better customer service, better products and better prices. Avoid these guys and save yourself the stress.”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“We really enjoyed the purchasing process. The sales team were friendly and helpful. However the delivery side has been so poor, Tony, the local depot Manager at the Liverpool branch was terrible. The delivery team, a driver and two mates were without question the worst that I have ever had the misfortune to come across. The driver and his two assistants were totally Unhelpful and rude . They refused point blank to put the delivery where I needed it. I walked away from them as they were so belligerent and called Tony their Manager. He too showed zero empathy and just quoted “small print” rules. Fortunately a lady called Sarah from Dunsters HQ came to the rescue. After nearly an hour of heartache the driver and his two assistants were instructed to put the delivery exactly where I needed it. They decided to continue with their attitude and then also left a stack of rubbish for myself to clear away. When I called Tony I just got more small print quotes from him. His arrogance was quite shocking. He has been in the business for over 25 years he told me. When I was trying to give him constructive feedback he suggested I was a child! He said it was ok to quote him so I have. Shocking! This Company appear to be great at taking your money but when it comes to delivering, its a disgrace. Their delivery depot need to focus on delighting customers rather than upsetting them. if it were me I put them all on a customer service Program. This was all avoidable today. Rude and disinterested. A real shame!”

Helpful Report

Posted 3 years ago

“Horrendous customer service. They couldn’t be nicer when selling the product. Pressured me into a deposit and said I didn’t have to pay full amount until 2 days before delivery, yet I received phone calls, emails and txt messages every single day since I paid the deposit harassing me to pay. Got my gazebo delivered today and they literally dropped in on my public path. My garden was meters away and their contract says they will deliver upto 20m away. The driver(John) was very very rude and unprofessional. I was lucky I was off work today otherwise my product would have been insecure. It was very awkward for them to drop the hundreds of parts for the gazebo on the path for me to them pick them up and move them a couple of meters. I was also assured (before I paid) that it would be delivered in my garden. Overall a terrible experience do not waste your hard earned cash on this company. Once they have your money they don’t care.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“Customer service is terrible - not helpful at all - all I wanted was for them to deliver behind a gate off the front of my property (so that my ill wife doesn't have to carry anything or leave the items in the street for the day) - they were not willing to help at all. terrible to deal with and looking at other poor reviews not the first time either.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“Vantage 220 summer house o/n SO224534 I have read the good review for this compant but find it strange considering the issues I have had with the summer house. delivery wise it was first class, but quality wise not so good with cut lengths not conforming to the items on the build instructions. Simple things such as short glazing bats varying length by over 6mm. this was the them through out the build, Hexagonal rood supports with 5 on size and 1 which was 10mm longer. Window frame being out of square making the whole project look bad, door latched not working with striker plate out of line with the latch by almost 10mm. this product was generally of poor quality with the wood pallet that this was supplied on being certainly better quality timber. Generally not a good experience and would not recommend this product to anyone”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“I spent a long time on line trying to purchase a shed. 2 times i got to payment stage having started from scratch each time and failed. Third time i managed to get into payment screen and it failed because the site tried to force me to change preferences to allow pop ups. Not needed to complete credit card transaction. Asked for help and told to purchase via phone. I declined and said i would try again later the person asked me to please pay and order by phone as he was under pressure for sales quotas. Why not be honest upfront and not offer online sales. Shady at best”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“I purchased a Dunster house 4 years ago and was delighted with it.I decided to purchase another one for a different part of the garden. ordering was easy and delivery was perfect. When we came to assemble it 2 windows were out of square .My husband is a carpenter and joiner by trade so I think he knows what he is talking about. Despite sending them photos .the so called customer service does not reply to our emails only with are you sure you have put the hinges on right. I am at the end of my patience now. I have never dealt with a worse customer service dept, CUSTOMER SERVICE WHAT SERVICE. our next course of action is to take it to court and claim the item is not fit for purpose. Hey guys who have had trouble with customer service JOKE!!! tell me how you got it resolved .”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“Our experience with Dunster House is unlike a few others on here. We are not do-it-yourselfers by any means, and we were 68 & 70 when we put our log cabin up. It took us 12 hours all told, the longest part of which was bringing the pieces from the front garden (driver would have put pallet in back garden, unfortunately we share a drive and next door had taken some slabs up, so driver was worried about getting fork-lift stuck down a hole) and sorting out which piece went where. Once that was done, we thought it was like putting Lego together. The hardest part for us, being older, was climbing on the roof to put the felting etc... on. It's been 2 years and we're still proud of what we've built, it hasn't leaked or anything like that.”

Dunster House Ltd 5 star review on 23rd August 2020

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“Very poor product,joinery skills and hardware are cheap . Mitres and other trims are cut short. Looks like this was a rush job . Customer service is also very poor . I wish I had never heard of Dunster house”

Dunster House Ltd 1 star review on 19th August 2020

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“This review will help people that want to buy make up their mind. We bought a corsair 350 in 2014. The delivery came, and we paid Dunster House extra to build the cabin. A few months later we noticed that the logs were disconnecting, part of the roof was coming apart, and one of the side panels was falling. After complaining, they decided to come back and put things right. The defects were amended, although the gutter always had a problem, and some of the logs did not match perfectly. At the time they let me sign a piece of paper that said on checking the work everything was ok. I signed in good faith although I am not an expert, so for me was good enough. Wrong. This year the logs are disconnected. They are the same logs of 2014 so I am aware of the fact that was not rectified properly in 2014 has contributed heavily to the fault. We have gaps of 2 cm across the all cabin. I have contacted the customer service team in the after-sale department. They told me this is not covered by the guarantee even though the cabin is covered for 10 years. We were also told that they do not offer the service of building the cabin anymore and I have an idea why. The after-sale service is actually pretty awful. You can only talk to them by email. I have asked them to phone to discuss the matter but they have refused. They have sent us some u tube videos to solve the problem. I have followed the u-tube videos to try to solve it. Up to now, it has not made a bit of difference but I was given a timeline. Once the timeline has expired and I have done everything possible if the problem is not solved, I will ask a carpenter to fix it and bill Dunster House. Please think carefully before buying from this company. Their cabins look fantastic on the brochure and they probably are if they are fixed properly, but our experience was awful and expensive from the start and once you buy you are on your own”

Dunster House Ltd 1 star review on 14th August 2020

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“This review will help people that want to buy make up their mind. We bought a corsair 350 in 2014. The delivery came, and we paid Dunster House extra to build the cabin. A few months later we noticed that the logs were disconnecting, part of the roof was coming apart, and one of the side panels was falling. After complaining, they decided to come back and put things right. The defects were amended, although the gutter always had a problem, and some of the logs did not match perfectly. At the time they let me sign a piece of paper that said on checking the work everything was ok. I signed in good faith although I am not an expert, so for me was good enough. Wrong. This year the logs are disconnected. They are the same logs of 2014 so I am aware of the fact that was not rectified properly in 2014 has contributed heavily to the fault. We have gaps of 2 cm across the all cabin. I have contacted the customer service team in the after-sale department. They told me this is not covered by the guarantee even though the cabin is covered for 10 years. We were also told that they do not offer the service of building the cabin anymore and I have an idea why. The after-sale service is actually pretty awful. You can only talk to them by email. I have asked them to phone to discuss the matter but they have refused. They have sent us some u tube videos to solve the problem. I have followed the u-tube videos to try to solve it. Up to now, it has not made a bit of difference but I was given a timeline. Once the timeline has expired and I have done everything possible if the problem is not solved, I will ask a carpenter to fix it and bill Dunster House. Please think carefully before buying from this company. Their cabins look fantastic on the brochure and they probably are if they are fixed properly, but our experience was awful and expensive from the start and once you buy you are on your own”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE! Purchased an Atlas Pergola, advertised and sold as their premium pergola. It was delivered with several key structural parts having damage, splits on load bearing sections and a 30cm gouge with what appeared to be wood filler repair. Due to covid the delivery driver said it was curb side delivery only, wouldn’t wait while I checked it and said I had to sign only to acknowledge receipt; signed as unchecked. Called the customer service dept who cut me off and told me to put it in an email as it wasn’t their dept. The returns policy clearly states that items should be checked on delivery and ANY items not meeting customers satisfaction will be returned immediately and replaced. You can therefore understand my concern when their reply to my email stated that these are “natural defects” not covered by their returns policy. I would not allow my family to sit under such large heavy structure, knowing it was damaged. Should an accident ever occur they would, I’m sure, either blame my construction or be the audacity to say I should’ve identified and returned any damaged parts. They haven’t even adhered to distance selling laws and offered me a full refund that I’m entitled to within 7 days of receipt. POOR, UNPROFESSIONAL, UNLAWFUL.....don’t make our mistake, buy elsewhere.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“I bought summer house from dunster house approx 12 years ago. I have had a completely different experience from mist of your other reviewers..I found the customer service very helpful both before and after sales..including furnishing me with the name of company that supplied the paint they had recommended originally as they no longer supplied it themselves. After 12 years it is showing its age..but then so am i.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“Awful decision to buy a dunster house cabin, nothing but problems ever since! The structural base is perfectly level. We have 25 posts supporting 6x2 timber framework above ground. The cabin is warping and the timber walls are literally seperating, the doors have warped and never close properly from 2 months after construction. Damp has come in through the walls, after painting and sealing it... with the product recommended by dunster. Customer support non existent, surely with so many people experiencing the same problem, there must be a law suit against them somewhere?!”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“I am afraid that I do not have much of a good word to say about this company. Upon making an enquiry the experience begins the slide downhill. There sales approach is to chase and pressure you into eventual submission to purchase. They also push their "simple to build" premise... Although not a qualified tradesmen, I am pretty decent with my hands, but, I can assure you, that putting one of these cabins together is no simple task! It doesn't help that probably somewhere in the region of 15-20% of the wood supplied is in some way mis-shapen/warped/damaged... However, the MAJOR issue with Dunster House is their after-sales 'support' (sic) It is primarily non-existent, but when you do eventually get a response (in my case, after threatening to arrive on the door-step of their offices) they treat you with total lack of respect and your issue is dismissed out of hand. Specifically I had a major problem with the doors of my cabin. Within 4-8 weeks of building they warped, and not just a little bit, you could see the outside world through the gaps when closed! Dunster House claimed that this occurred because a) I had dared to paint the outside of the doors(??!!) and b) because I had hung Venetian blinds on the inside of the doors windows... This company is a sham. I would absolutely advise/urge you NOT to purchase from them.”

Dunster House Ltd 1 star review on 8th July 2020

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“Do not buy from these Del boys! The quality of wood is very poor and when a problem is highlighted their customer service team reply with 'well it is wood and we cant stop it deforming ' Had the cabin getting on for two years. Within a few months we had a downpour which flooded along the so called sealed wooden beams. The whole cabin now swells and shrinks with the conditions even though it's been treated with over £100 worth of the wood treatment recommended by Dunster. I've recently had to make some metal strengthening bars in work in an attempt to hold the beams together. On really hot days the beams swell so much gaps appear and we can see daylight through them. 10 year guarantee my arse. Be lucky to get another 12 months out of it. Very poor choice on my part.”

Dunster House Ltd 1 star review on 6th July 2020

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

Shipping & Delivery
Delivery Methods	Courier, Own Driver
Average Delivery Time	Over 7 Days
On-time Delivery	95%
Accurate And Undamaged Orders	Greater than 90%
Customer Service
Communication Channels	Email, Telephone, Live Chat
Queries Resolved In	Under An Hour
Customer Service	3.6 out of 5

Dunster House Ltd Reviews