ACHICA ?

[phoebus]

As ACHICA is a Mumsnet Partner - (and I have nothing but the highest esteem for you, Mumsnet!) - I foolishly trusted them, as they seemed to have lots of great stuff for sale on their site, so I signed up as a 'member' a few weeks ago. - Wish I hadn't now!! - Of my 2 orders, things have gone badly wrong in both cases:

• First order (small) took forever to arrive, and then, when it did, one item was smashed. Lo and behold, I discovered that they have got NO PHONE LINE on which you can ring them to discuss any problems!! - the only way to 'communicate' with them, is laboriously and indirectly, via an 'online helpdesk' and it takes them at least 2 days to get back to you via email. OK, well I did this, and eventually I got a reply promising to send me a replacement. Which never came. So a subsequent laborious 2nd email from me a couple of weeks later, got another slow, emailed reply to say, oh we haven't got that item after all, so now we'll give you a refund. (But they'd never bothered to let me know that! I'd had to chase them up for that info) . And that refund has still not arrived, after a few weeks.
  

• Second order (much larger, around £500) I thought better of the next day, so I emailed the so-called 'Helpdesk' to cancel it a few hours later, as I was well within my rights, and their given timescale, to do this. Received a reply to say that was fine, they had 'cancelled it and had refunded my credit card in full'. This was two weeks ago. My credit card statement arrived today, and - guess what - it shows the full amount which they HAVE TAKEN, despite their promise not to. I've rung my card provider who assure me that I have not had this refund. Once again, search as I might, I cannot find any phone number for Achica Customer Care or complaints etc! The lack of this vital channel should have warned me at the outset.
  

Anyone else been taken for a ride by ACHICA? Are they just extremely incompetent, or actually a load of crooks?

[ceeveebee]

Actually Achica paid me to set my profile up two years ago and have been practicing so that I can fool you all, mwahahaha!!

[BoysAreLikeDogs]

Ceevee love it

Sapfu, v good. Hurhur.

[katyp31]

Precisely why I registered on here years ago but never posted.reading through posts there is so much nastiness..if you have a differing view from the 'regulars' you get shot down in flames. I used to use net mums and so many people on there had tried mumsnet but couldnt cope with the insults and backbiting. God forbid anyone gets the (wrong) impression that this is a place to go for any kind of support!

[SoupDragon]

Which proves that you've not actually looked at Mumsnet at all really.

[LegoCaltrops]

Definitely never buying from Achica. They sound horrendous.

[Llareggub]

I ordered a book case from them in May. It STILL hasn't arrived.

There, a review from a real mumsnetter.

[lborolass]

As it happens Katyp31 I agree with you about the bitchiness but if you've read enough to know that you must also know why your first ever post is being viewed sceptically.

[SconeInSixtySeconds]

The bitchiness is why I loves it here

[Snorbs]

"Shot down in flames"? Hardly. This is just questioning and piss-taking of some posts of dubious provenance.

[HoneyDragon]

It is only mumsnet .... Everywhere else on the Internet is a sugglebucket of nicety.

I posted specifically to agree with you Katy, so I think you were rude

[giraffesCantWearSuncream]

each honey dragon you bit my back

[giraffesCantWearSuncream]

Each not each

[giraffesCantWearSuncream]

Ouch ouch not bloody each ffs

[SconeInSixtySeconds]

Was that each or ouch giraffes?

:o

[suzyplum]

Just wanted to say that my post singing Achica's praises was genuine (yeah, call me a sad person as its one of the few things I've posted on lol). As for the competitiveness of their pricing, I ALWAYS compare their prices before buying and they're 99.9% of the time cheaper, often substantially so. That's partly why it's so addictive and probably why you get slightly evangelical posts praising them! I could send you a list of all my purchases (anyone want to see it?) though I feel a bit embarrassed. Is there such thing as Achicaholics Anonymous? Didn't buy anything this morning though :)

[Llareggub]

They have given me a £15 voucher to apologise for the delay in my order. Still no bookcase though, but nice all the same.

[Tobebesidethesea]

Hello. This is my first ever post! I thought I might be able to shed some light on the very conflicting opinions on Achica. My husband is an artist that has done 2 sales on Achica, so I know how the order fulfilment process works. Achica the company don't hold any stock itself. When the sale ends the individual retailer is sent a sales list, and they package the items and send them to a distribution warehouse. Before the sale takes place you sign a very strict and precise agreement about delivery times and quality of packaging. However if the retailer doesn't stick to this, Achica and the customer are very much at their mercy. If they have packaged something badly it could be broken or faulty inside the packaging, without Achica noticing. Likewise, if they are very slow to send the order, that will knock on to the customer. Having read their extensive small print I can say that they really do have very exacting standards for customer service and quality control, but as they don't actually have the stock themselves, when problem arise they may be complicated and lengthy to resolve. Bottom line, much like Amazon, the behaviour of individual merchants will mean people have very different experiences of the company.

I was a bit scared to post as from two years of lurking i know sometimes people get accused of being 'suspicious', but I really am just a mum trying to be helpful!

[BoysAreLikeDogs]

Tobebeiside Thankyou, that is ever so interesting [thumbs up]

[InMyShreddies]

This thread is hilaire. I will also never be ordering from Achica. I like it when actual companies post on here when they see they're being discussed - I swooned when the actual Alex Monroe posted on S and B! But I hate hate hate it when companies do this. Boots No7 keep doing it too. Red Direct are also crap - loads of MNers including me ordered stuff and it never arrived. Similar business model to Achica I think.

[RedToothBrush]

Tobebeiside is very right it what she says.

To be fair to Achica, and indeed their suppliers, furniture - even good quality stuff - has an uncanny habit of getting damaged in transit. There are a number of couriers who are either quite frankly, shit or plain extortionate. The problem is not about being badly packaged; to a certain extent there is a limit to how you can package furniture in a way that it doesn't get damaged when its thrown about a van rather than properly handled...

Thats the main problem with ordering furniture online full stop. A lot of these companies do not hold stock and only order individual items themselves when they get an order in. If you order goods in bulk to your store rather than single items direct to home they tend to fair better on their couriers as they leave the wholesaler in a state where it simply can't be thrown around.

FWIW, if you are looking for the customer service, order from somewhere that has stock on the floor, and has their own local home delivery service rather uses a courier. The goods are far more likely to get to you quicker (as the shop will probably hold a level of stock themselves) and they'll have a driver who isn't under ridiculous amounts of pressure to do so many drops in the course of a day and actually gives a toss about the level of service they are giving.

Naturally this is probably going to cost you a few quid.

[PerilsAsinger]

Achica sounds like it doesn't understand customer service; I'll be avoiding at all cost.

[Aliceboubou]

Don't touch them with a bargepole -Read this and be warned

I have a had a very bad experience from Achica.

I have ordered a bookcase, a TV "dream" stand and a side table.

Overall, the furnitures arrived late as Achica said they wanted to check that everything was in order. The furnitures arrived without instructions. I have asked Achica for the instructions but no-one at seem to be able to provide me with them and no-one seems to bother (they only reply with pre-filled email).
Therefore, I have hired a professional company to assemble the furniture (Zeenish Construction) as I did not feel able to do it myself (although I am a IKEA regular) and they were able to assemble neither the bookcase not the TV stand.

Side Table

• Arrived broken in 2 pieces, they told they could not replace it but they will pick it up and reimburse me. They did pick it up but still waiting to be reimbursed!
  

Bookcase:

• no instructions
  
• panels are not mirror image of each others
  
• backing shelves don't fit into the slot
  
• screw are missing (40 at least)
  
• there is a slot where there should not be as it is supposed to be where the doors go
  
• no marking for door hinges
  
• 3 extra shelves that do not belong to the bookcase
  

TV Dream Stand

• more than 30 pieces with no instructions, we did not even try to assemble it given the disaster of the bookcase
  

I do hope they will pack and pick up the furnitures and reimburse me fully including the professional company. I will keep you posted. As you can imagine all of this has taken a lot of my time and money!

Regards,
Alice

[Blackers99]

I ordered a duvet cover from achica in may. I heard nothing from them and emailed them. I to a reply saying they were unable to fill the order and I wold be refunded in full within 4-6 working days that was about three weeks ago and I have still or been refunded. I emailed them again and have had nothing back from them. DON'T ORDER ANYTHING FROM ACHICA THEY ARE COMPLETELY UNTRUSTWORTHY AND HAVE NOT REFUNDED ME MY PAYMENT. Does anyone know of a contact telephone number for this company? It was my first and definitely my last order with achica!