Napier customer service is so poor

CWMMAN3738

Well-Known Member
Whilst at the CLA I finally relented to the Mrs's moans about the state of my Harkila roe-sac which has served me well for many years & bought a new roe-sac, I was unable to find a Harkila one in stock on any of the stalls so tempted by the pockets & waist belt style of the Napier ApeX predator roe-sac I splashed out £98 & bought one instead of waiting & getting another Harkila one, possibly a mistake?
I gave my old roe-sac to another member on here just starting out & was very pleased with my new one.
Then 3 days later whilst out with clients the zip on one of the pockets broke, the teeth pulling away from the fabric & stitching leaving the zipper attached only to one side. Not the end of the world just one pocket U.S. but roe-sac still worked well & otherwise I was pleased with the ideas it encompassed.
The following morning I contacted Napier by phone & spoke to a pleasant gentleman by the name of Paul who said they hadn't encountered this problem before, it must be a one off, (thy would say that ) but fair enough, & could I email him photos of said zip, which I did.
I didn't receive a reply so sent another email explaining my disappointment & this time received a reply stating, " hello, I see what you mean, please send your delivery details and we will replace the faulty bag. If you could return the item to us it would be much appreciated. Best regards, Paul."

Great thought I & sent my details straight back by email again, & a thank you, that was the 4th of August.
Well 19th August & no roe-sac so I sent an email asking " Any idea when my roe-sac will be arriving as I'm off to Scotland on Thursday & could do with it please being replaced ASAP"

Reply came back " hello, yes we have it packed & awaiting shipment but we have not seen the faulty one back yet, when did you send it?" needless to say I was not amused!
I then explained that to me the email implied they were going to replace it & could I then send the faulty one back, & that this delay was irritating & I could not be without it as its used almost daily, & this was not the sort of service I expected, the individual item was obviously not fit for purpose.

The reply came " OK No problem. I have just become involved as Paul is on holiday this week and I have now read all correspondence .
We have no interest in delaying anything we will respond immediately when you send back the broken product.
I thought that you had a broken zip one of 6 on that item.
All our products are guaranteed for 12 months and you are most welcome to return it if in any way faulty.
It is quite normal for any company to issued on return of anything damaged, but I note now that you feel it is "not fit for purpose" which is quite a different issue, & in that case not going to satisfy your needs if we supply a replacement.As all of these bags are made to the same spec, of course with all zips working correctly.
So I suggest that you may prefer to have a refund of your purchase price, instead of a replacement? The choice is yours please indicate your preference when you return it.
I see no point in retaining a product that you don't feel is fit for the job as intended.
Sincerely
Steve J Rowe
Managing director
Napier Ltd"

WTF where did that come from firstly "OK" then all that well fair enough hen what would you guys do all opinions welcome bearing in mind I use my roe-sac almost daily.
 
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I wouldn't say that was poor service, more like miss-communication in dealing by email with each party thinking differently? I would expect to return faulty goods before receiving a replacement even though an inconvenience. MDs response a bit odd, but 'not fit for purpose' maybe wrong statement as it was simply broken.
 
Hard to comment without seeing the full correspondence, but sounds like both parties have said things via email that have subsequently been misconstrued. Understand your disappointment with the delay, but the MD has got involved and you've been offered a replacement or your money back, so not sure what more you were expecting?

Plenty of advice available in threads on here about roe sacks.

willie_gunn
 
Hard to comment without seeing the full correspondence, but sounds like both parties have said things via email that have subsequently been misconstrued. Understand your disappointment with the delay, but the MD has got involved and you've been offered a replacement or your money back, so not sure what more you were expecting?

Plenty of advice available in threads on here about roe sacks.

willie_gunn

Inclined to agree with this, I also think it's standard for a company to want the faulty product back before sending out a brand new one. I do understand the inconvenience though
 
Hard to comment without seeing the full correspondence, but sounds like both parties have said things via email that have subsequently been misconstrued. Understand your disappointment with the delay, but the MD has got involved and you've been offered a replacement or your money back, so not sure what more you were expecting?

Plenty of advice available in threads on here about roe sacks.

willie_gunn
As above and other posts, quite normal to expect the item back to see if the end user was at fault, and to ensure two items are not outstanding against one payment, your fit for purpose statement has opened a can of worms for the supplier, and he has offered you the choice to not use his product, this is a simple case of you and the supplier resolving an issue to the satisfaction of both parties, no need to post on an open forum to darken a company product or good standing, I've hade one for years with no issues at all even though extensively used, would definitely buy another. deerwarden.
 
I'm not darkening their name, good or otherwise, i have presented the facts & exact emails from the company and asked the membership of this forum for their views to see if I am being unreasonable or being at all narrow minded in my view of it, initially I was happy they would replace it expecting a jiffy bag with the new one for return of the faulty one, and maybe " not fit for purpose" wasn't the best phrase to use but it applied to this individual item in my opinion. If these things aren't discussed on open forum then no one would ever know how good or bad companies or products are unless they know someone with one, I have asked for all comments in a bid to see if I expected too much from a company, & on principle their approach would leave me further out of pocket for postage (through no fault of my own)& inconvienanced untill the new one arrived, this would not be how I would conduct my companies customer service if I had one as I wouldn't want my customers inconvienanced in any way or out of pocket because of my company or product.
As above and other posts, quite normal to expect the item back to see if the end user was at fault, and to ensure two items are not outstanding against one payment, your fit for purpose statement has opened a can of worms for the supplier, and he has offered you the choice to not use his product, this is a simple case of you and the supplier resolving an issue to the satisfaction of both parties, no need to post on an open forum to darken a company product or good standing, I've hade one for years with no issues at all even though extensively used, would definitely buy another. deerwarden.
 
I'm not darkening their name, good or otherwise, i have presented the facts & exact emails from the company and asked the membership of this forum for their views to see if I am being unreasonable or being at all narrow minded in my view of it, initially I was happy they would replace it expecting a jiffy bag with the new one for return of the faulty one, and maybe " not fit for purpose" wasn't the best phrase to use but it applied to this individual item in my opinion. If these things aren't discussed on open forum then no one would ever know how good or bad companies or products are unless they know someone with one, I have asked for all comments in a bid to see if I expected too much from a company, & on principle their approach would leave me further out of pocket for postage (through no fault of my own)& inconvienanced untill the new one arrived, this would not be how I would conduct my companies customer service if I had one as I wouldn't want my customers inconvienanced in any way or out of pocket because of my company or product.

Well, you asked for replies and you got them - can't then help it if you don't like the answers given. ;)

As for not darkening their name, what then were we meant to make of a thread entitled "Napier customer service is so poor"? :rolleyes:

It may have helped your cause if you'd included your own emails alongside those of Napier?

Whenever I've had a faulty item I've always had to return it first before the replacement has been sent. Yes, it's inconvenient, but my guess is that too many traders have sent out replacements first only for the original item not to be sent back or to be "lost in the post". I bought some bike lights the other day and had exactly the same happen - at over £90 I expected better but I didn't expect to receive a second set without giving the company the chance to inspect the first set. And I use my lights every day!!

From what I and others have commented it seems like their was an initial misunderstanding about whether you should return the bag first or not, which led to a delay. Napier undoubtedly share the responsibility for that. Things have then escalated by you telling them (and now the members on this site) that the bag was not fit for purpose, which even you now admit was a poor choice of words. Why then are you surprised by the MD suggesting you return the bag for a full refund rather than being sent a replacement? Regarding your suggestion that you are out of pocket on postage - have you actually asked Napier to cover the cost and, if so, what was their response?

Why not just pick up the phone and call Napier? Airing your grievances in public and then not liking it when others don't sympathise is not going to fix your roe sack!

willie_gunn
 
Not at all I was just trying to explain why I felt the way I do & my reasoning, I understand I may be expecting way too much now, & in no way dislike the answers given, as I stated its not how I would run a company like theirs if I had one but then I have always treated people as I would want to be treated myself. I now understand this is not the way of companies I am obviously nieve in my approach.
Well, you asked for replies and you got them - can't then help it if you don't like the answers given. ;)

As for not darkening their name, what then were we meant to make of a thread entitled "Napier customer service is so poor"? :rolleyes:

It may have helped your cause if you'd included your own emails alongside those of Napier?

Whenever I've had a faulty item I've always had to return it first before the replacement has been sent. Yes, it's inconvenient, but my guess is that too many traders have sent out replacements first only for the original item not to be sent back or to be "lost in the post". I bought some bike lights the other day and had exactly the same happen - at over £90 I expected better but I didn't expect to receive a second set without giving the company the chance to inspect the first set. And I use my lights every day!!

From what I and others have commented it seems like their was an initial misunderstanding about whether you should return the bag first or not, which led to a delay. Napier undoubtedly share the responsibility for that. Things have then escalated by you telling them (and now the members on this site) that the bag was not fit for purpose, which even you now admit was a poor choice of words. Why then are you surprised by the MD suggesting you return the bag for a full refund rather than being sent a replacement? Regarding your suggestion that you are out of pocket on postage - have you actually asked Napier to cover the cost and, if so, what was their response?

Why not just pick up the phone and call Napier? Airing your grievances in public and then not liking it when others don't sympathise is not going to fix your roe sack!

willie_gunn
 
I had a similar problem with Napier and one of their retailers with one of their very expensive gun cases. I did send them back, twice as each had the same fault which they refused to accept. The fact is both were missing a clearly stated and fundamental feature and one side of the case was put together and stitched incorrectly, most probably a bad batch.

I could not have dealt with two of the most obstinate outfits, the manufacturer and their online retailer. I was so furious at their attitude I kept a file of evidence (witnessed) to take it further, but for all the agro and anguish I've let it go - until you've brought it up again! I did eventually receive a full refund and will never buy a single item from either ever again.

​And there I'll leave it.
 
Things break occasionally. If you decide to ask for a replacement you should expect to send the faulty item back -if you're lucky the vendor will arrange collection- before a replacement is sent out. It stops people making false claims and scamming vendors - I'm sure this wasn't your intention, but Napier aren't to know that.

Declaring an item not fit for purpose strongly implies that you prefer a refund to a replacement, so Napier are right to check your intentions before taking action.

Additionally, August is often a bad month for consistent communication as it's when people take their holidays (hardly news). Businesses do try and avoid this, but it happens, especially in smaller companies.

Myself, I've had good and bad experiences with Napier: on the plus side, a few years ago they replaced a pull-through immediately as it turned out that the fault had already been recognised and corrected, so they were ready to send out replacement to anyone reporting that defect. The replacement has proved fault-free and durable.

On the minus side they were selling cans of their excellent gun cleaning spray at the CLA for a full £4.50 more than one neighbouring vendor. Of course, I'm only cross about this because I didn't realise until I'd already bought it from Napier.

:doh:
The fault was mine for assuming they'd be as cheap as anyone else (caveat emptor, shop around, etc.), but despite this I don't feel as positive about Napier as I did before. Daft, I know, but it's surprisingly hard to be reasonable sometimes!

Next time, though, it might be worth stopping to have a nice cup of tea before launching into a self-justifying tirade on here... just a thought.
 
Point taken but as their one of the more expensive companies for products you automatically expect perhaps that little bit better service as I have a few other Napire items and quality there is excellent as expected.
 
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