Final month, I spent £179 on an Antler suitcase that broke on its first journey. It's now unusable, however Antler has not responded to my 5 e-mail complaints. It doesn't have a telephone line and has additionally ignored my messages by way of social media. I'm now lumbered with a big damaged object that I don't have house to maintain in my small flat. However, if I throw it away, I will be unable to say a refund or substitute. I naively believed that Antler was a reliable British model that makes high quality merchandise, however on-line evaluations it will seem that many others are in the identical place.
EB, London
Overview web site Trustpilot tells the same story, with prospects reporting defective purchases and unresponsive buyer providers. Electronic mail and a webform is the one method to contact the corporate. My e-mail to customer support met the identical response as yours. That's, silence.
The 108-year-old model trades on a repute for old style British high quality, so what’s occurred? Since 2010 it’s been within the arms of personal fairness corporations and, by 2018, was reporting a pre-tax lack of £3.9m. In 2020, it was purchased by ATR Holdings, the corporate of style entrepreneur Michael Lewis. Inside three months it had handed into administration, blaming the impact of journey restrictions through the pandemic. Its 18 outlets have been closed and greater than 160 of the 199 employees misplaced their jobs. Two months later, in July 2020, it was purchased by ATR Manufacturers, established by Lewis 4 weeks after Antler’s demise.
It appears staffing ranges haven't risen in tempo with demand. The corporate finally agreed to interchange your suitcase when, after 18 days of fruitless emails, you knowledgeable them you'd be contacting the Observer. And I ultimately unearthed a contact in head workplace who admitted shortfalls in customer support. “We’re conscious we're not at the moment maintaining with the quantity of buyer inquiries since journey has returned, and sincerely apologise to all those that have been affected,” it says. “We're within the strategy of scaling up our group to ship the extent of service prospects ought to count on, and can guarantee no buyer is penalised for delays on our half.”
As as to if it would reinstate a customer support quantity, it says it’s pondering “a full suite of choices”.
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