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“Good bed, minimal customer service”

written by NikhilO'Grady1984 on 08/12/2014

I ordered the Cleveland 3ft single solid pine bed frame and the 3ft Belmont single quilted mattress. A very, very reasonable price at £160 all in, I also got 10% off in the sale, so even better.
I was drawn to the company because of it's Made in England status and certified sustainable wood production, dealing with Brazilian farms. I always try to buy British where I can and at least buy sustainable. So I felt this was a good balance.

The company have a tagline on their green policy page which reads "At Strictly Beds and Bunks we like to act rather then talk" - this is quite funny as they definitely operate in this way.
I did not receive a confirmation email from them for my order, the money left my account and I had no receipt as proof of purchase. I read many online reviews which commented on apparently 'terrible' customer service and began to worry. Their website also practically begs you NOT to call them - ever. So I emailed instead and got a swift message back reading:

"Hi,

You have gmail account, please check your spam folder. We emailed your order confirmation ,Order Number XXXXX on 30th November 2014, 21:23.

We also emailed you on Monday your delivery date, via City Link for this Thursday.

Best regards

Strictly Beds & Bunks Limited"

I did not receive the confirmation to my spam folder or inbox, nor did I receive any message on the Monday with a delivery date. I emailed back to say that I still did not have a receipt and got an auto-confirmation in response, saying thank you for your custom and that I would receive an email at 9pm the day before my delivery confirming a two hour delivery slot.
I did not receive this email either. Not to my spam or my inbox. Ah well.

I waited in all day on Thursday. CityLink delivered the bed, no bother there. But be warned, the delivery man will not be able to help you up the stairs with your order. This is an insurance protection rule for them.

The bed is very good, solid pine and the mattress is lovely. You will need to use a bit of common sense when reading the instructions. They refer to three different types of beds at once, so for example, they refer to a 'supporting central slat', which is for king-size only, which was not relevant to my single bed. I spent about five minutes looking for the central slat, when I realised a single bed does not require this.

I did receive a receipt in the post the following day. Hoorah! So its a mixed bag really.

On the one hand: I received my order in under a week, the price is excellent, the products were good quality and I got sent a hard copy receipt.

On the other: You are left hanging wondering whether they got your order and feel like you can't contact them in confidence, I certainly did not feel like I could call anyone to find out more information without feeling like I was being a pain - even though they had taken my money happily enough.

A strange one, I would use them again, but I did find the lack of communication a little unfriendly and I did feel unsure about my purchase at various points.