Agriframes Destructions

Our Ace Reclaim arch in the corner of the Rose Garden has not survived the storms. Already rusting and having lost one of its important bars it was probably only being held together by the roses it was there to support.

Aaron this morning broke it up in order to replace it with an Agriframes bower.

Now, longer term readers may remember our struggle with The Agriframes Arch which had driven Jackie and me to distraction. Agriframes products are very good; they are resilient, rust resistant, and guaranteed for 15 years.

But – and a very big but – they demand self-assembly – not by the structures themselves, but by the buyers; furthermore their printed directions, termed like many, ‘destructions’ by Aaron are so difficult to follow that it has taken more than five years for us to contemplate buying another product.

This time, we have Aaron of A.P. Maintenance. He is a professional, had already assembled a few flat pack arches for us, and should surely be able to meet the challenge. Not so. His ‘destructions’ were both confusing and confused. He was thrown by the leaflet at one point stating that he should have six particular components for one section. He had only four. Later, the destructive instructions stated four. Some words had been omitted from the text rendering the meaning unintelligible.

A crucial clamp seemed impossible to apply. At one point the section Aaron is seen working on above fell apart and he had to start again.

Have I mentioned that he was beset throughout by light rain and heavy winds?

I thought not. This would never normally stop him working.

Our friend enjoys a challenge but at the end of his allotted time he was back where he started. The ‘destructions’ sheets were sopping wet and so was he. There was no option but to throw in the towel. Next week Aaron will bring a colleague to help.

This experience sent Jackie to research reviews on line. Those on independent sites were almost all negative. One from Facebook is relevant:

‘Three professional landscapers were unable to assemble your Sussex Bower in my clients garden and wasted 2 days trying to to so. They spent many weeks trying to negotiate a refund for this item and you have only agreed to give them a small fraction of the price they paid for it on the basis that it was ‘used’! Your assurances on your website do not bear out and your customer service is very poor.’

https://www.reviews.co.uk/company-reviews/store/agriframes is another source.

83 comments

  1. So sorry to see your property destroyed like this. It’s a touch time; we have homes and businesses here getting back on track (again), too. Aaron seems a good guy. Until we work out how to deal with this thing in future, Shiraz all round…

  2. I do hope an extra pair of hands and eyes does the trick!

    I paid a professional to construct my shed for similar reasons; the reviews said it was a good shed if one added more nails and screws, caulking, and good-quality roofing materials. Although the lumber company is in Canada and shipped it to me in the US, The Better Business Bureau exists in both countries and keeps records of unethical practices and poor products.

    What recourse do UK gardeners have against shoddy products?

    1. Thanks very much, Jean. Normal contractual law would apply. One fundamental principal is “Let the buyer beware” – so if the company isn’t bothered about reputation or customer service there isn’t really much recourse.

  3. My dad used to say “Ivor, if all else fails, maybe you could read the instructions”…. but I see in this case, the instructions might as well have been in Chinese….. !!

  4. Yes, instructions for some of these self-assembly things are not so good. The product designers are often not the ones writing the technical manuals! At least the old rusted one is down and gone. I am sure Aaron and reinforcements will get the new one up soon.

  5. Those self-assembly things are so annoying. I’m sure it’s much easier for them to send the item that way, but I avoid them as much as possible. Even if the directions are good, one person usually isn’t enough, especially someone like me who’s not very strong.

    I hope Aaron and his colleague will be successful.

  6. There surely is a universal set of laws for these assemble-it-yourself projects: (1) at least two pieces must be missing; (2) line drawings must be reversed, smudged, or unlabeled; (3) if there are verbal instructions, they must be written in at least three languages, but your language doesn’t necessarily need to be used; (4) no possible phone contact with a human being will be allowed.

    Have fun — and Aaron, too!

  7. So sorry to see your poor garden taking a beating again. I can’t get the metal arches to work at all … we had two rose arches that distorted in the summer heat … another blew over. We’re sticking to nice sturdy wood ones now (a lovely chap up the road makes them). Good luck to Aaron 🙂

    1. Thank you very much, Tiny. We had reverted to wood, of which Aaron has assembled,bled a few; we rashly decided to give Agriframes another go because their design just fitted what we wanted.

  8. Oh, gosh! 🙁 Poor, Aaron! He’s such a good worker and sure gave it a go. I hope he and his colleague can figure it out together. Sometimes you need more than two hands to get things held together as you are trying to put things together. Bestest wishes to them on the next go-round!
    HUGS!!! 🙂

  9. Your story made me think of the old MFI self assembly furniture we had when we first got married. Oh the swear words! The arguments!
    Just thinking outside the box, I wonder if you could make your own arch out of sweeping brush handles, tied together and then waterproofed. And there must be some sort of waterproofed method for putting the whole thing into the ground too. Just an idea.

    1. We told Aaron that there’s not much that gets us shirty with each other, but self assembly does. Heath Robinson would be proud of you, John. Thank you very much.

  10. Youtube often has video instruction for most any project – have you tried there? If Aaron can’t put it together – it has to be obnoxious!

  11. I hope Aaron and friend can work through the “destructions” (or assemble without).
    I’m amazed the company has stayed in business. I wonder how many people have these assembled frames lying about?

  12. So funny, I always refer to them as “destructions,” too! Usually it’s the more accurate word. I love how you caught Aaron laughing through the frustration: it’s always a good response to things that are maddening. Well, I seriously hope that things go more smoothly on the next try. It does make me feel a little better about my own struggle to assemble items, when Aaron has assembled these before and yet still was baffled by this set of destructions.

  13. I’m gobsmacked that anyone could sell, in good conscious, such a thing. I’m so sorry for the frustration. I can relate, too, and will often put off purchases for years for this very reason. Your weather has been unkind to plants, trees and arbors everywhere. Best of luck with the next step.

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