Force4 Avis 123

I bought a windward folding bike. I ordered it on Wednesday and I received it on Friday. It came in perfect condition. It was a bit fiddly putting it together but I figured it out. I took it out for a ride and the seat went down but it just needed tightening up. Super fast delivery and exactly what I asked for including the free bag which is huge lol. I would recommend you any day. Thank you very much!!

Brilliant customer service. Rang with an emergency and they got something to use within one day during the lockdown.

Just received my order today!...very misleading picture on website shows a 5ltr + 2ltr bottle of wet and forget looks like price is for both, so clicked on quantity for 2 as thought it was a good deal, all I received today was 2 of the smaller 2ltr bottles!

Telephoned customer services very abrupt response.

Would NOT recommend

I just rang Force 4 Chandlery to ask if they would be able to reduce their postage from £3.95 as I wished to order a pair of velcro travel bands at £4.95 which are very small and light weight. I was told that the postage charges are set so they couldn't. They suggested that I pop in and pick them up. I am 87 years old and live in South Lincolnshire, which I explained. He just said that he didn't know that! 2nd class large letter postage incidentally would have been 83p! Add a small envelope for a few pence and I would have been more than happy to pay £1 or even £1.50. Do they really expect anyone to pay almost double for such a small item? This is not a company that I would recommend to anyone. They are obviously only interested in customers who are spending a fortune. They don't appear to possess a jot of human kindness nor have any concern for the elderly and infirm. They will be old too one day!

Awful, awful company and customer service!

The Director is the biggest joke going and the sooner his staff realise that the better!!

Ordered items well before the 12 noon deadline and paid for the next day delivery option.

Waited in for the parcel to be delivered only to receive an email from DHL to say there was a problem and it wouldn't be delivered until after the weekend.

Feedback from DHL was basically vague...

Insisted on a delivery refund but Force 4 are too greedy and couldn't have cared less that the order was for my partners birthday and it wasn't going to arrive in time!

I cannot believe this company is still in business having read other reviews and the poor rating they receive on a regular basis.

Do NOT use under any circumstances...you have been warned.

Great company. Really went the extra mile to get our order to us in an emergency. Good prices as well!

Original review from 2019, new review follows on:

A surreal experience that I have suffered on a few too many occasions.

You know those paintings who's eyes eerily follow you around the room? This is not like that, the avoidance of eye-contact has been raised to a high art form. Ask for assistance? The shop has been equipped with secret acoustic blocking and noise-cancelling devices to allow the staff to continue their private conversations undisturbed. Need to know about different types of rope? The displays are cryptic with no annotation, the intent being that only knowledgeable shoppers should really be in there. No doubt advice from Force4 is that the staff can help, there is a significant difference between "can" and "will". Research first on the internet, advice here, order on the internet as well, Force4 really don't want you messing their lovely stock up and they don't need your money, they've bought all the stock they need already and it isn't going anywhere.

Why are they still in business?

Top tip: there are many decent chandlers along the south coast, many within 50 miles or so. To save your blood pressure take a nice drive in the country to one of their competitors, it will almost certainly result in a quicker and more enjoyable purchase.

Revised, July 2023:
I returned to the store recently and it has changed completely. The staff are now attentive, courteous and helpful. The stock is more extensive and the service is second to none. I've been back several times so it wasn't a one-off. This must be new management. Strongly recommended.

Force 4 at Chichester are one of my favourite shops. The staff are pleasant and very knowledgeable, and they don’t bother you if you spend ages just browsing. It is a very well stocked Chandlery and they can get things from their website in a couple of days. The clothing man Richard is very helpful and experienced with a wide knowledge of the products on sale. Mike is an experienced delivery skipper with an encyclopaedic knowledge of all the ports from UK to the med. He also is an experienced marine engineer who helped me sort out my electrical and cooling problems on my boat,

Well done keep it up!

Michael Bostock

Issue over order, saying money has not been taken and had been taken, phoned up, checked not being defrauded, they blamed Paypal, I checked with PP no issues, sent email, no reply, phoned next day and spoke to a different member of staff and there where no issues and money taken, all very sus....

Living on an offshore island I rely on online chandlery stores for my boating requirements and have used Force 4 on numerous occasions including expensive electronics most recently a Garmin Chartplotter. Their prices are competitive, delivery which is often an issue to offshore islands prompt and reasonably priced with no instances of delayed, broken or wrong deliveries. Queries have been answered helpfully and quickly and I will continue to use Force 4 looking to the future, conversely cannot explain why they have attracted so many mediocre reviews on Trust pilot?

Don't bother ordering from Force4. My item was out of stock but didn't receive an email or any communication to let me know. When i emailed them 5 days after ordering that my order wasn't with me they let me know it was out of stock. Thankfully they've sent the order out but likely wont be with me by Christmas. Also no apology - stay well clear.

Excellent, prompt delivery of items which were ordered for next working day delivery. Even some halyards which needed to be made up by another company were sourced and delivered on time, having been chased by one of their staff to see if this could be achieved.

DON'T USE THIS COMPANY.

I ordered goods online. After 4 weeks they have still not arrived. The company is responding to any emails.

They claim they sent the order internationally by courier but they do not provide tracking details or any other evidence. Shambles!

The order was for about GBP 100. Probably not worth deeper investigation but I will report them to the relevant authorities.

Poor customer service neglected to send out order no communication whatsoever would not recommend

Have a very good catalogue but ordering online can be very frustrating. Their system does not warn you when an item is not in stock and you don't know there's a problem until after you have placed the order. They need a new ordering system.

An absolute shambles, they place the root cause of the delay in dispatch of goods down to they have been too busy. No effort to resolve the issue and a continued response of "what do you want me to do, i cant help we are busy"

What ever you do, don't purchase anything from the force 4 at port hamble marina.
Yesterday, I returned an item as my rigger could not use there incorrectly supplied product.
I was treated with hostility, aggression, rudeness by Paul[ I think that was his name] and the worst customer experience, I think I have ever had.i had rang the company in advance to ensure that there would be no issues with the refund and was told to bring the invoice in, there was a delay as I had to search and find it.
They then tried everything not to return my money, even insinuating that I was a liar. I tried ringing there customer service department to complain. They Don't have one for the whole of the company and no mechanism to deal with complaints. Buyer beware. I will not use this company again.

Always have great prices And if you need that odd obscure part they can usually find it.

Very slow dispatch, take care if goods are needed. Ordered items after checking all were in stock 2 days before bank holiday, but they weren't dispatched until 6 days later (following Easter weekend). While this is a busy time, it could have been foreseen and I certainly could have been told of any delay in advance. Customer service response from Steph: "Sorry you feel this way, as you can appreciate we have had a large volume of orders leading up to the bank holiday weekend causing a small back log"

Used Force 4 last year for an order which was delivered promptly and the product was as described. Will use again.