to send a jiffy bag of paint to Laura Ashley?

[CakeandRoses]

Had kitchen renovated in the early summer and chose Laura Ashley eggshell paint for some of the cabinets. As soon as my decorator started using it he started questioning whether it really was eggshell (rather than something thinner such as emulsion). It went on so thin and streaky I had to buy double the amount (compared to a different brand's eggshell) and paid the decorator for more time to re-do those cabinets.

Complained to Laura Ashley - cue weeks of going back and forth giving them information such as serial numbers of the paint, receipts etc. And then they just went quiet. For four months ! In that time, I've been busy, having a baby and suchlike so haven't chased them.

Last week, I happened across their website and thought I'd email them to jog their memories that I exist.

Just got a letter today saying there's nothing wrong with their paint and they will not compensate me in any way.

So... crap paint and crap customer service.

I'm thinking of sending them a jiffy bag filled with paint so they can see with their own eyes how crap it is. aibu? (I've already decided that sending an envelope of actual crap as BU)

You need to contact trading standards if you wish to pursue this.

Do not send any paint through the post. If it spills/damages anything then you may be liable.

onepiece tbh i'm so exasperated i don't want to spend any more time dealing with it/them.

I've given up trying to get some decent customer service/compensation from them - now i just want to get the message across loud and clear that they are crap. If the paint idea is bad then I'd be grateful for ideas of how to do this without writing more emails/letters.

Annoyingly, i used to be a loyal customer of theirs (had storecard and have spent tons of money with them) but dh questioned the quality of the last few items i'd got from there (before the paint) so he's now been proved very right!

It does sound very frustrating. Possibly you should have taken it back when the decorator first highlighted a possible problem. (sorry if that sounds harsh).

Have they even refunded the price of the paint? I know that doesn't help with the fact you had to pay the decorator more, but at least it would be something.

In your position now I would e-mail Trading Standards. They may say that as the time has gone on it is too late for them to do anything? Worth a try at least.

Sometimes you have to weigh up whether to waste more time and energy on something or just to give it up and try to move on.

Good luck.

onepiece nope, they've not even refunded the price of the paint. Yes, maybe I should have returned it straight away but he'd already done a few cabinets by the time he told me the issue (I'd been out) and I hoped it would dry ok (was heavily pg and couldn't face the thought of trawling around yet again to find the right flipping colour elsewhere!)

mlic aha but i do have some of the crap paint left so it'd only be the cost of posting and it would be enjoyable time wasted

Did you deal with customer service or go straight to the CEO/COO. I used to work in Head office and complaints sent addressed to the top guys (mark it private & confidential)were usually dealt with by a written apology and some gift vouchers. Customer service dept were never anywhere near as gracious or generous!

tsc funnily enough, the decorator also had two example of jobs he'd done with Laura Ashley wallpaper where a similar kind of thing happened to what you've described. How do they get away with this?

crazy Just customer service (just clicked the contact link on their website). I've just been reading reviews online that say Laura Ashley's customer service is really terrible whereas it used to be good, as you'd expect from a company that charge what they do.

Perhaps I should make a final effort and write to the ceo or coo.

worth a try cakes you'd expect better quality from them, i wouldnt let it go though hun