Disappointed with my balsam hill

[LeapinLizards]

I wanted a really good fake tree & opted for balsam hill. They look so amazing on their site & had excellent reviews. But I've just put it up & feel so disappointed - it looks NOTHING like the one on their website. It looks sparse rather than full - it looks like a cheap fake tree, really.
Others who have a balsam hill, did you need to spend a long time separating out all the branches & twigs? Is it that I've not done that correctly? Or were my expectations just way too high?

I don't have one but , yes , I think spend (lots of) time fluffing the branches and let them drop a bit after being packed for transport.
They are £££ I know.

Can you link the one you bought?

Thanks 70isa. Perhaps I need to spend more time. This is the one I bought - www.balsamhill.co.uk/p/norway-spruce-artificial-christmas-tree?sku=2801203. Meant to be the most realistic. Mine looks so different to this that i doublechecked the box to see if they'd sent the wrong one

Ive just put up four, yes four BH Christmas trees ( for work. I'm not a Christmas tree nut or anything) and yes, i spent a loooong time fluffing out the branches of each one. I thought they were pretty good, although not as wide at the bottom as I would have liked.

I put up our bh the other day. I spent over a hour 'fluffing' and it looks brilliant.

Is there any chance of any pics? I was thinking about getting one of these. I reckoned it was worth it if it lasted vs getting a real one each year).

However, if they're rubbish I'm reconsidering now.

Leapin - why not post a pic of yours so we can compare and advise.

Here it is. What do you think?

Didn't work before. Trying again

It did work before, after all.

Yes, I see what you mean. Looks a bit sparse and not like the photos.

There isn't much available on that tree to fluff up, is there?

That looks shocking to be honest.
I just bought one from balsam Hill not a Norway spruce but Royal blue spruce. It looks very fluffed out at the bottom but it looks a bit like yours at the top... I noticed there were just less branches in general at the top.
Not happy for £280! But hoping my decorations will help cover!

That really does look sparse, not at all like the website.

You do need to spend ages fluffing them. When I first got mine I was a bit disappointed but spent time fluffing and then when the decorations were added it was fantastic and really pleased with it

Goodness. Even at the sale price I'd feel I'd been robbed! Fluffing out is one thing, but you actually need to have something to fluff in the first place! I must admit, I looked at BH a couple of years ago when we were replacing our old tree. I can't say I was impressed by the pictures on the website and I thought they were very expensive. We ended up getting a real beauty from B&Q at about half the cost.
Sorry you feel disappointed op.

Can you go along each row of branches and push one twig up and one down? That's how i fluff my (non BH) tree to hide the trunk?

I'm not saying this to rub it in, but to give you a comparison for when you send it back/complain - it looks identical to ours and we got ours from Argos for £20.

I've looked again at the info that's come with the tree & found this. The one on the right looks like mine (better, actually) & they say it's not been sufficiently shaped. I'm hoping that this confirms I've just not done enough shaping & fluffing.

We have a John Lewis one that was about the same price. When we put it up I always have a "ooo er this looks terrible" but I work on fluffing the branches - a few each day as so many- and by Xmas it's fine.

I think because the artificial branches are all on the same level you need to break up the eye line by pointing the back four leaves into an X shape , ie 2 up and 2 down diagonally . That ways it hides the central pole much better.

Put mine up today !

Oh wow! That does look sparse.

Is there much more you can fluff out?

Tbh, if you work at it, you might have some chance of achieving the look on the right, but there simply isn’t enough material for you to achieve the look on the left. I’d complain OP. these things cost a small fortune.

How long have you had it? You've got 14 days to reject then another 14 to send back if you just change your mind. However, I'd be going down the not satisfactory quality route with them (I'd almost be minded to get Trading Standards involved given how much it bloody differs from the internet images), so you've got longer to return with that.

We bought a far cheaper tree which was surprisingly bushy when we put it up (the inner branches are fighting for space). I'll post a photo for you to compare (ours has the realistic tips, but is the non-realistic type on the inside, but it's fine).

I suspect it’s in the faffing. To be honest though mine is a lot fuller, but I did have to spend quite a while shaping it

I've had it about a week. I'm going to fluff like a fiend and, if it still looks shit in a few days, I'll send it back. It was half price but I still hesitated for ages before buying it because it is still £££ for me. My last one cost £25 from Tesco & looks pretty much the same.

I know this is a terrible picture but this is mine from last year. It is a pre lit one though.