Original Organics Avis 

Ordered a national trust bird box as a present, arrived quickly and had 2 tracking emails. Very pleased.

On 2 May 2019 we purchased 7 Blackdown Raised Borders at a cost of £946.66 from Original Organics, also trading as Gutter Mate / GM8 Group.

I had to chase delivery and the posts, wooden planks and screws arrived late in May 2019. The wood was wet, warped (cupped) with white mould and huge knots.

On construction the Raised Borders required 2 people to construct, not 1 as per the instructions. We used the wooden planks that were flat and laid the warped ones out in the hope they would straighten enough to use them in the raise boarders. As per instructions we screwed the bottom plank in place, put the two other planks on top, then screwed the top plank in place. The first border we constructed fell to pieces as we carefully tried to move it into place. We started over again but this time constructing the border in place so it didn’t need to be moved. We managed to construct 3 of the 7 raised borders.

GAPS: After a few days it came to light that the planks of wood were shrinking in the Raised Borders which left a huge gap between the bottom three planks and the top fixed plank which would allow soil to fall through. We unscrewed the top plank, pushed the plank down then screwed it in place. We filled the 3 raised borders with drainage material and soil.

FALLING TO PIECES: The raised borders started to pull away from the screws which meant the planks were pulling apart.

MORE GAPS: On 3 June we contact Original Organics with the issues and they advised to screw each plank in place. So we bought more screws and the last 4 borders were constructed with screws holding in each plank of wood in place. Sadly as the wood shrunk instead of having one big gap between the top and the lower 3 planks we now had gaps between EVERY plank.

VIDEO: We were very disappointed with the fact the raise borders were falling to pieces, shrinking and warping (cupping), so we made a video of the issues and sent the video to Original Organics on 5 July with an email asking how Original Organics were going to fix the issue of the falling to pieces raised borders.

PROFESSIONAL VISIT: Original Organics arranged for two independent professionals to view the raised borders on 29 July 2019. Both professionals, independently of each other, stated that the raise borders were not fit for purpose and would not last the 15yr guarantee they came with.

Sadly on the 30 July 2019 I emailed Original Organics and asked for a refund as the borders could not be fixed as the screws kept pulling out, the wood warping/cupping and shrinking.

CALL FROM DIRECTOR: On the 8 August 2019 the Director of Original Organics, Hayden Rollinson, contacted me by PHONE stating the professionals they arranged didn’t know what they were talking about and the raised borders could be fixed. We asked him for a refund but sadly Mr Rollinson spent a lot of time talking and didn’t appear to want to listen, therefore we said he left us no option but to contact Citizen Advice, which we did.

Citizens Advice were amazing, they really helped us with this issue. After two letters asking for a refund, which Original Organics failed to reply to either, Original Organics finally refunded us the money 4 months after first trying to resolve the issue.

Purchased 3 May 2019
Issues raised a week after delivery on 3 June 2019
Refund on 5 September 2019 after stating we would be taking legal action.

After receiving 2 order despatch emails following my 1 order, which was slightly confusing to be fair, although I understand now that it was because the items needed to be shipped on seperate days which to be fair was okay in hindsight, I received the second of my 2 orders today and I am very pleased with the wormery sent. It is exactly what I have been looking for and even though it is raining today it will undoubtedly help my garden grow.
Well done to everyone concerned and what an excellent company Original Organics are.