A couple of years back WhatShed reviewed BillyOh as a brand as their products were sold through Garden Buildings Direct, who are the same company as BillyOh. Well, BillyOh now runs as its own merchant and we have heard a lot of things from many great WhatShed readers so we thought it was time to roll up our sleeves and see what BillyOh has to offer.
BillyOh: A quick overview
BillyOh is actually owned by Kybotech who also own Garden Buildings Direct. They are one of the larger shed and garden building retailers in the UK. BillyOh served as a brand for a while with the idea being that they offered high quality at affordable prices. Now though, BillyOh is its own dedicated garden building merchant.
What we rate
Their site is very well made
Product descriptions are some of the best we have seen
Lots of pictures for many of their products
Prices are very reasonable
Their site is designed to be very easy to use
What we slate
Too many reviews mention missing pieces upon delivery
Quality of products has been called into question lately
Before you can even start to talk about the quality you have to look at the number of different products a merchant sells. BillyOh are pretty stacked when it comes to the different kinds of garden buildings that they offer. They have a large selection of garden sheds ranging in all kinds of sizes and prices. For example, they have the modest BillyOh Keeper Overlap Apex Shed which is well under £200 and they also have the BillyOh Expert Tongue and Groove Apex Workshop with Dual Entrance which is an example of one of their more extravagant and premium sheds. They have sheds in all kinds of sizes and at all price ranges so no matter what your needs are in terms of garden sheds, BillyOh has you covered.
As well as garden sheds, BillyOh also stocks log cabins, summerhouses, and playhouses. We had a look at each section and there is a good selection there for each one. One thing that was good to see was that as well as garden buildings, BillyOh does also have a section that is dedicated to getting the most out of your garden. So if you are looking for some outdoor seating or a BBQ they actually have quite an impressive selection for you to browse at. One of the things that we liked about the selection of products that BillyOh has is that it was not too overwhelming. Sometimes a merchant can go a little overboard with products and it makes looking through them a chore. That is not really the case here as they seem to have the perfect blend of a lot to choose from, but not so much that it is too much to take in.
We do not usually like to talk about quality here, but we feel that this must be addressed. We have heard from many sources that the quality of some BillyOh products leaves a lot to be desired. From panels that are too short to bits of wood that are not cut properly. This is something that has come up time and time again when we have been looking at BillyOh products. Now, of course, they are not all like this, but we felt it needed to be pointed out.
BillyOh has a very nice selection of garden buildings and we actually think that the BBQ and outdoor living section is great. However, we do advise that you research any product you are interested in very carefully as the quality of some of their products has been brought into question by customers.
BillyOh
: The Prices
Back when we reviewed BillyOh as a brand before it was its own merchant. We talked about how keeping the price as consumer friendly as possible was one of their main goals. Well, BillyOh does have some very affordable products for sale on their site. As far as sheds go they do have some that are in the £100 to £200 price range such as the BillyOh Store Overlap Shed. The BillyOh Expert Tongue and Groove Pent Workshop is currently priced at a little over £400 and is a good example of a mid-range shed. Their BillyOh Expert Tongue and Groove Apex Workshop with Dual Entrance is an example of one of their more high end sheds. It is not just sheds, summerhouses, playhouses and garden furniture all have items along every run of the pricing spectrum. We had a really good dig around the site and as far as price goes.
At face value, the asking prices on the site are not bad at all.
BillyOh
: Using The Site
As far as using the BillyOh site goes we found it to be one of the more simple sites that WhatShed have come across. Now that might sound like we are poking fun at BillyOh, but we mean that as a compliment. The BillyOh site makes it easy as the different sections are all large boxes in the middle of the page. Sheds, summerhouses, log cabins and so on all have their own section. When you click on one of these, sheds, for example, You can then get more specific with how much you want to spend, the size of the shed, the style of the shed, what kind of cladding and so on. They give you a lot of options, but it is all very easy to understand.
Going back to the homepage for a second, one thing that we liked was how along the top of the page the links they have here change depending on what is happening. For example, right now they are pushing their summer products so along the top of the page has links for things like garden furniture, BBQ’s and so on. We think this is a good idea and something we would like to see other merchants do.
When you click on a product, let’s use their BillyOh Storer Tongue and Groove Apex Shed as an example. You can choose the size of the shed as well as other things. One that we like is there is a button that says “customise” with this you can choose if you want flooring, what kind of roofing felt and so on. We like this as it lets you tinker with the shed you want. There is also an extras section where you can add things like a lock and tools. Towards the bottom of the page is a wealth of information. One thing we do like is how they give you the basic information about the shed near the images, but if you scroll down it starts to get more technical which is great if you already are a shed expert and want as much information as possible.
One thing that we can say is very good is their site. They have made it very easy to use and overall we like the design of it and have next to no complaints.
BillyOh
: Onsite Reviews
As there appears to be a lot of negative on some review sites and we have heard personally from some BillyOh customers. The WhatShed team were very interested to see what the BillyOh onsite reviews were like. If you scroll down to the bottom of their home page they actually have a link to a section about reviews. This is actually very in depth and they explain how they allow any customer to write a review and how they do not just cherry pick the best ones, but we cannot confirm if this is actually the case. There is also a BillyOh extra section where customers can post their stories about the products that they have bought. These are more of an expanded review where the customer can talk about their garden, how the building changed it and so on.
What about star reviews on each product? This is something that most garden building merchants and other online shopping sites offer. We looked and we looked and while it is great they have a blog that customers can show off their purchases with, we could not find any reviews on any of the products that we looked at. The only thing each product had was a couple of reviews that people had left on sites like TrustPilot and these were not for the actual product we were looking at. The product pages on the BillyOh site are very well done and give a ton of information and have a lot of detailed pictures, but there is no box where a customer can leave a quick review or even give a product a star rating.
We really wish that BillyOh allowed customers to leave a review on an actual product page. The idea of the blog where people can post their stories is great, but we think having some kind of star rating system would help customers.
BillyOh
: What Are The People Saying About BillyOh
BillyOh becoming an actual merchant was always going to make us sit down and take a closer look at it, but it was the sheer amount of comments that we got from unhappy customers that made us realise we need to take a good look at them as a merchant. We have looked at the most popular online review sites to see what people are saying about their experiences with BillyOh.
Whenever we look at a merchant like this we always like to be fair and suggest that instead of just looking at the one and five star reviews that you take the time to look at the ones in between as well. People are always more likely to talk about a bad experience than a good one.
Trust Pilot: Is the biggest online review site when it comes to BillyOh and in all honesty most other garden building retailers. There are over 800 BillyOh customer reviews on Trust Pilot. 19 percent of these reviews are rated from 3 to 1 star and 81 percent are rated at 4 and 5 stars. We decided to look through the custom reviews from the most recent and over a short period of time there are some really scathing reviews. The thing we noticed about the negative BillyOh reviews is that the complaints all seem to be very similar. For example, as of writing the most recent review from a reviewer called A R says this, “Possibly the worse retail experience in my adult life. I was left a shed with parts missing, and when I eventually tried to return the shed, the driver said it was still assembled. It wasn’t. The staff in the Philippines were rude”.
“Ordered am 8×6 shed with a delivery date of the 11th July. On the 11th of July, I got 3/4 of a shed (2 panels missing) after spending a week getting fobbed off by an offshore team with no clue, I had a further delivery today of ONE of the missing panels.” Was what Phil Stanway had to say. Another reviewer called Richard Claridge had this to say, “construction is going great until i realise that they have only sent half the felt, missed off 2 doors , missed off perspex and also sent a panel that is missing parts as the factory had not constructed it correctly.”
When it comes to the negative reviews the same things come up time and time again. Missing parts and parts not made properly means that in our opinion there is clearly something wrong at the plant where these sheds are being manufactured. As well as the alleged problems with the quality of some of the sheds, customer service appears to be an issue with many people stating that when they call BillyOh they are transferred to a call center in the far east. We can tell you that here at WhatShed we have had many angry customers get in touch who have said the same things that the negative reviews on Trust Pilot are saying.
There are a lot of good reviews here too though with people being happy with their garden building and also the service they received. BillyOh do appear to comment on as many of the reviews as they can.
Facebook: We always like to check a merchants social media presence as this is usually a good indication of how they interact with customers. While BillyOh does have a Facebook page having back and forth in public with customers does not appear to be something they are interested in doing. We had a good look down their Facebook page and there are some posts where it says there are comments. However, when we clicked on these to read the comments, we were informed that they had been removed. This may not send our WhatShed Spidey-Sense off, but it is a little strange that they would remove comments from their Facebook page.
Do We Have Any Concerns?
All of the negative reviews that we came across in our research appear to be more recent ones. When you go back and look at older reviews while there are the odd bad ones sprinkled in here and there it is nothing like what it has been the last few months. Perhaps they have changed their manufacturing process? When we looked at BillyOh as a brand on face value they looked to be good budget priced products. With so many negative reviews in such a short space of time, we do have some concerns that something has changed.
What Improvements Could They Make?
Well, they clearly need to work on their quality control if customer comments are to be believed. Far too many people are having garden buildings arrive where parts of them are missing. If you have paid a guy to install your shed for you and then all the pieces are not there, you are then going to have to pay for them to come back another day when the missing pieces arrive. It is easy to see why so many people are annoyed by this and it appears to happen more often than it should. They also need to work on damaged items being sent to people. Far too many reviews talk about pieces being damaged or not cut properly. Last of all is the customer service this is clearly something that many people are not happy about.
BillyOh
: How We Rate It
Pros:
Their site is very well made
Product descriptions are some of the best we have seen
Lots of pictures for many of their products
Prices are very reasonable
Their site is designed to be very easy to use
Cons:
Too many reviews mention missing pieces upon delivery
Quality of products has been called into question lately
Call centres are not UK based
BillyOh
: How You Rate It!
We know that you WhatShed readers have been great in letting us know about your experiences with BillyOh. Please let us know of your experiences with BillyOh, both the good and the bad in the comments section down below.
I bought the Clubman log cabin.
Quality is terrible, 24 missing parts when delivered, 3 calls and a week to get new parts ordered, wrong parts list and instructions. Just terrible from the moment I paid my money.
I ordered a billy oh playhouse which arrived with a smashed panel and no picket fence. Second delivery made of new panel and picket fence. When assembling we realised that the top of the stable door was missing. Now waiting for a third delivery. The delivery driver literally dumped the goods on the pavement and customer services is in the Phillipines so not great.
I ordered a shed from them online. Their website said it would be with me in 20 days. I phoned up to double check if this was correct because I was desperate to get a shed in my garden because my wife was about to have a baby any moment and I needed to clear things out. They told me that the website is correct and it would be with me in 20 days.
Well, that was wrong. 30 days went past. After many phone calls and un-returned emails they gave me a delivery date 33 days after I ordered it. Luckily my baby had not come so I was able to take a day off work to put it up.
When I went to put it up I realised the entire tongue and groove section (about 80%) of the shed was cut wrong. So it was completely faulty and unworkable. I have pictures to prove it. I sent them the pictures and they confirmed it was cut wrong.
After countless calls to a call centre in South East Asia, I was told a replacement would be with me by 2/3 working days.
Wrong again. It was over 8 days later until they scheduled a delivery.
Now my baby had arrived and my wife and I were finding it hard to live with all of the shed contents (lawnmower, strimmer, bikes, tools, paints, furniture etc) in the kitchen.
I took a day off work to wait for the replacement. I called in the morning and they said it would be with me around 5pm. Then I called at 6pm and they said it was 45 mins away. Then I called at 8pm and they said it was close. Then I called at 9 and they said it was not going to be delivered.
Well I lost it at this point.
I am now waiting for a call to reschedule the delivery – they said that the van MIGHT have broken down. I DO NOT believe them one bit. Instead of delivering it the next day, they said it will take another week. They could not give me a reason why.
Talking to the people in the call centre is like talking to a robot. They have no emotional intelligence or sympathy. They are just reading things from a script. I can’t tell you how frustrating it is dealing with them.
So in summary, their product is terrible and so is their service.
I’ve never written a review in my life, but I really don’t want people to make the same mistake that I have and put their faith in this company.
PLEASE, AVOID THEM.
I am happy to be contacted to verify all of the above with pictures, emails and even phone recording. Yes, it really has got to that.
The worst thing is, I STILL don’t have my shed, so it may get worse.
Hi Rob, thanks for your feedback. BillyOh is also the same company as Garden Buildings Direct, I am sure your feedback will help others make a better decision.
Worst company ever bought summer house tesco direct 3panels broken she said to send photo of proof what a cheeky women she was no customer support at all and the roof does not fit cost a lot of money would not recommend this company at all waste of time complaining they’re not interested very angry.
Like you Robert I’m going through it as well. Still no summerhouse. I think I will be calling it the winter lodge! If it ever arrives. I’m asking for a full refund if it doesn’t come by the 24th July 2017, I’ve never known such disgrace. There should be laws. Might take it to a small claims court !!!! Arrrrr ?
My experience was the same as yours, Robert. My son was going to build the summerhouse with me as labourer. Two hours after the delivery, at the end of APRIL, he brought a few of the shorter planks in and said, ‘I don’t like to worry you, but …’
ALL the planks had the top notches cut too shallow, so no two would actually interlock. It was impossible to build even the first two layers. I called immediately and, of course, was put through to the lovely, but powerless (and, to be honest, pretty clueless) customer services in the Philippines. They sent an email asking for photos. I sent photos, and explained that unless the fault was corrected within 5 days, my son wouldn’t have time to build it before leaving for the US for three weeks. As their terms and conditions demanded the summerhouse be completely erected and painted within four weeks from delivery, the guarantee would be invalid. I told them my son had offered to recut the notches to the correct depth, and it would cost £240 so, if they’d refund that and continue the guarantee, I’d be happy with that. They offered £90, then £120. I said no, and they upped the offer to £150. I refused to be left out of pocket, because their goods were (a) not as described, (b) not of ‘merchantable quality and (c) not fit for purpose – i.e. not fit to be assembled into a building, so I was entitled to my money back. They told me I could only have £150. I explained I would take it to court and they’d then have to pay a court fee and interest as well. They said they’d collect the goods and give me a full refund – but they were going to consider whether to ‘waive’ their £200 collection fee! I told them they weren’t entitled to it, they went silent on me, so I claimed through the Gov.Co.UK Moneyclaims Online service. It was transferred to our local court. The judge (going from just the paperwork, without a hearing) ordered them to put in a proper defence or pay up by the 29th August, or I could take and enforce judgement. That week, they decided to try to negotiate again, to ‘consider’ paying the court fee and interest, and to tell me I had to send the goods back before they’d send my refund. I refused and gave them two weeks to pay up in full and a further two weeks to collect their useless pile of sticks from my garage. I got my money back – including court fee and interest – on Monday, and they collected the goods today. I’ve posted publicly on my facebook page, and I’ll say again here – DO NOT TOUCH Kybotech Ltd., Garden Buildings Direct, Billy-Oh or Skinner’s Sheds. They’re all the same company. They are incapable of dealing with their own errors or of providing anything approaching customer service.
DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!!
They constantly make false promises, we have waited in on four separate occasions for them, they haven’t turned up once, however they do send us e mails giving us new dates and even though we say we are not available on those days they apparently turn up. They do not listen to the customer and just pay lip service without any backup.
The annoying thing is we were happy with them originally, but when we had an issue with the arm/side of a rattan sofa, they proved to be completely unprofessional.
On Thursday of last week we got an e mail saying they would be here on the Friday despite us making arrangements for them to come today, (Monday), we re arranged our day to enable us to be in and guess what THEY DIDNT TURN UP! The last straw was this morning when we rung to confirm they were actually going to arrive on the day we had agreed on and we have learnt they are not coming again!
We have been given yet another date……
I would never do business with these people again.
just got delivery of billyoh metal boxer shed 9×10 turns out im a box missing, unless its a 9×10 cm shed. so ive just called garden builing direct. i cant say it was a good exspierince as the chap said above, like talking to a robot and a bit dim to boot. anyway after making all the footings for the shed, the plan as gone out the window to complete on wkend now. i just wish id seen these comments first. proberbly to be continued………..
I bought a Keeper Overlap shed from this lot on 20 Feb 17. It was delivered three days later on a very wet snowy day. The shed was saturated so I let it dry out for a few days before treating it with shed paint. It went together reasonably well but the door frame is very poor. I filled the few cracks that I found.
Since then it has been a regular task to fill cracks and splits and holes in the hundreds of knots in the wood. The planks have shrunk by about 1 cm so the staples used have caused the wood to split, it can’t move. The T and G used on the doors has also shrunk so there are gaps between the boards.
I asked for support and was offered some planks, I have counted 35 that need replacing so far. They then offered complete panels but that would mean dismantling the shed and painting the replacements which may be no better.
She kept saying I only had 14 days to report the faults and ignored what I was saying. I have sent 63 photos of the faults ( a major undertaking which took several attempts and hours of my time). I have now contacted my credit card company to see if I can get a refund. My wife tells me I am entitled to one due to the inconvenience that rebuilding the shed would cause.
Do not touch this useless bunch of Cowboys with a barge pole !!! Ordered the Billy o Riley…..came with parts missing and broken. Was promised the missing pieces two weeks ago…and now..after countless phone calls and emails…have been told they’ve run out of materials….which is basically WOOD!!!! Maybe back in stock in a couple of weeks!!!! A bloody shambles……
Numerous problems call centre almost impossible to deal with cannot understand the broken American phillipino a accent .the quality is absolutely disgusting .missing damaged broken parts . E mails sent to call centre with 16 photos told that they hadn’t received them even though I had responses from the centre acknowledging them do not entertain Billyoh or garden buildings direct unless you are prepared for a great deal of aggravation. Still trying to resolve my problems two weeks on she’d only 60% erected. Dave Glinister West Sussex.
Awful company, missing parts, call centre on Pacific Time, promising 3-5 days every day but no replacement parts arrive. Avoid avoid avoid – you have been warned!!!
AVOID THIS COMPANY. On 13th July 2017 we ordered and paid for a 12×8 workshop from Garden Buildings Direct. They took our money, received an email confirming our purchase. One week later they decided that they couldn’t deliver to the Skelmersdale postcode we requested, a legitimate UK mainland address within zone one on their featured delivery map, and they simply cancelled our order. So they now have a lot of our money and the workshop that we paid for. We have nothing. They’ve had our money for over a week and we may get our money returned in 5 more working days, aka another week. Contact with ‘Garden Buildings Direct’ in the UK has proved absolutely impossible as all calls to their so-called UK number are simply rerouted to a Phillipine call centre with heavy Americanised Phillipine accents plus lack of knowledge of the British Isles making communication difficult. They are like robots. 3 online requests for call back, so we may discuss the problems encountered, have been totally ignored. One incoming telephone call from them, responded to by us in a very grateful manner, was terminated without apology.
Quote from their website “Kybotech and Garden Buildings Direct consider themselves and their customers’ our kin. This isn’t just a business, it’s something we take a great deal of pride in, and we greatly look forward to adding you to this family. “. Well, we’re certainly not feeling the love. AVOID. AVOID. AVOID.
Nearly 2 months after paying after 3 damaged deleveries, 30+ emails and over 15 phone calls later I’m left with a still damaged product an email from their customer service rep blaming me for being on holiday and a snotty email from the managing director of the company so I can see where they get there customer service lead from.
Inferior products with no concept of customer service whatsoever, avoid at all costs!
I placed my order over phone on a annex log cabin playhouse 10×8 well it was a disaster from the start you are left waiting on the phone for at least half a hour with music blasting in your ear I placed the order and asked if there was enough paint to paint the playhouse I was told more than enough…! The play house cost me well over £1000.00 I had 3 emails telling me my order was not ready each time I had to call and waited and waited they put the phone down on me twice you can not understand what they are saying you may as well talk to the brick wall when the house came there was 40 plus pieces missing I called them again ? They wanted me to wait when the house was half up for them to get parts out to me 4-5 days the floor of the playhouse was wood chip and it was raining I asked about the paint again and they said they sent me a 2.5 litre was there was no 5 litres in stock dumb idiots I had enough by this time I said it’s staying where it is it’s not my property if it gets damaged it’s there responsibility I want a refund well when the man came to pick the house up the van had no floor in it I felt sorry for the man it was not his fault I waited and waited for a refund and again I called they had no recording it had been picked up it’s a good job I took photos of the van I have got my money back and I would never use that company again all comments above are true to there word as we all can not be wrong feel free to call me 07967203641
How can Whatshed possibly give these BillyOh people a good review? The corner summer house we bought was so badly cut and warped it took days to construct. Then the roof didn’t fit. Please, anyone reading this avoid this company and all the other names they advertise as. DO NOT hand any money over to these cowboys!
Hi Chrisney, at the time of writing this BillyOh was a brand and not a merchant. We are in the process of revisiting this merchant in light of a flood of negative consumer experiences.
UPDATE: The review is now updated and should reflect the current experiences customers are having.
Absolutely without a doubt the worst piece of shit going .Just trying to hang the doors now. Had to buy new felt new wood batons to strengthen it out avoid avoid avoid
As you all say our lily summerhouse is rubbish nothing fits, has to be cut down, instructions rubbish doesnt really tell you how to put it together. Husband very stressed trying to make do. Wont recommend this at all. Very disappointed.
April 2018. I bought the Master T&G Pent Shed online and it arrived a few days later as advised. All parts were received although it is a bit confusing what pack is what but I got the idea eventually. I found the shed was built ok. Not many knots and no damaged panels and only 2 nails had been misaligned. It went up ok although I did have to make a few adjustments but nothing major or outside the scope of a fair diy’er. I think the 8 hour build time is on the tad optimistic! It too me about twice that but that did include painting and fitting my own locks and door bolts. I did use frame sealant on some knots and down the panel joins but I would do this for any shed I wanted to last some time. I found I needed to read the instructions a couple of times. Next time I would fix the walls to the floor before fitting the roof (contrary to the instructions) as the shed isn’t 100% square but unless you look carefully you don’t notice. Once everything is fully fitted it feels stronger than some other sheds I’ve owned. I had the T&G floor but added some 18mm mdf I had lying around to give the floor more strength. All in all for the price I paid I’m very happy with my shed.
Bought the BillyoH 5000 Summerhouse but have had the same experience as everybody else. Missing parts, couldn’t contact customer services, got through to sales straight away and promised to get somebody to return call (never happened). Eventually got missing parts (these were wrong).
Poor company, poor product, poor customer service. Please Avoid!
My husband erected our summer house and found grooves not to fit properly split pieces of wood, windows do not fit flush. A multitude of problems. Granted the delivery was on time and there were no parts missing’ but I am extremely disappointed with finished result. I believe we will have to dismantle this and start again. £840.00 paid for poor quality product!
dreadful on all counts
driver smashed lorry into pallet on
delivery
call centre absolutely useless to deal with sending replacement parts
cowboys
poor quality unsanded wood
had to buy extra wood to ensure flooring works
spoke to manager sent pics but cut off
contemplating small claims court
AVOID!!!
I got the Tianne summerhouse with side shed , and the size stated 12feet x 8 feet …. summerhouse 8feet x 8feet side shed 4feet x 8 feet,
that was the size i need for the tool shed ….and summerhouse for my lazy-spa got the builder came and found out we had 33 missing pieces so had to wait for the parts and some good weather,
when we got it up we found out the size was not what i wanted,
8 feet x 7 feet and 4 feet x 7 feet so was not happy emailed them and still waiting for them to get back to me will not hold my breath.
the product was also very poor doors not flush …. all i can say is stay away from this company if i had known about this review page i would have read what other people have said about it.
so all i would say is keep away from this company and have a good look around others i hope this helps other people from getting rip off,
Poor customer service . Did not answer our question .
My summerhouse is not even good enough for firewood , but its our fault we put it together wrong.
C shaped wood for windows trims delivered. Maybe that’s our fault too.
What an appalling product complete waste of money. Looks nothing like their pictures.
Terrible company. Delivered poor quality untreated tongue and groove shed that was warped, costing over £1300. Sent replacement, also warped. They wanted to send a third replacement, but the wood is young/not dry and according to my carpenter friend it will always warp so I demanded a refund. The consumer rights act says: “If you’ve owned the item for less than six months, the retailer must give you a full refund if an attempt at a repair or replacement is unsuccessful.” they refused to acknowledge this and say it’s outside their terms and conditions, they only want to replace it with further product that is not fit for purpose
Terrible customer service, ran from a generic call centre in the USA. Standard emails, putting the phone down on you, automated online chat. At one point they offered me a refund and 5 hours later said it was a mistake.
How can Whatshed rate this companies products as High quality when they’re the worst that ive ever seen Anywhere. Even my daughters plastic garden house is better quality than the pile of firewood that i received. Here’s my HONEST and GENUINE review
I bought this Summerhouse for my wife as she’s had a bad time in hospital and it’s what she really wanted. I placed my order and the day before delivery I received a message saying that some bits were missing and delivery would be delayed by 7 days. I wasn’t happy about this but these things do happen sometimes. The summerhouse was delivered by a very friendly couple and arrived complete. This was a good start as some people had complained about bits missing.
I started to assemble the floor and this is where the trouble started. The floor was meant to be tongue and groove for added strength but unfortunately the tongue was missing on some sheets making the entire floor springy and weak. Off to B&Q to get some extra strengthening battens. I studied the instructions which really are very poor and looked like the toner had run out on the printer. Next was to put the strengthening pieces onto the gable ends. This was made difficult as each piece was too long and had to be cut down (Yes I did check ALL the timber provided). The gable ends have a lip on the bottom which is a good idea for e decorative finish. Unfortunately the wood was of such a poor quality that any movement to line up the next sheet would split the wood leaving a very untidy edge. Another trip to B&Q to get some gorilla glue. The next panel wouldn’t align correctly because there was a 1CM overlap on each tongue and groove strip so no matter how much you tried you’d never get rid of the gap. I know this can be covered with the décor strips provided but that’s not the point. Then came the time to fit the roof. I followed the instructions and didn’t secure the panels to the floor until the roof was on. This was virtually impossible to achieve as no matter which way I put the roof on it never lined up with the sides. Another trip to B&Q to get some plywood.
The next thing to fit was the Perspex windows. I say Perspex but I could say cling film. These so called windows have to be the cheapest most flimsy excuse for a window that I’ve ever seen. Really really shocking and probably a cost cutting option. Then came the beading to secure the windows and this was also bowed. I placed them against a straight edge and every one was bowed. Then came the doors. Either I have trapezoid glasses or these doors are just buckled.
To Summarize.
Made in England used to mean something but this is sadly not the case anymore. This summerhouse is without doubt the worst purchase that I’ve made in my entire life. If it wasn’t a present id have returned it or set fire to it. I’m deeply disappointed with this product and wouldn’t recommend it anyone. I’ve contacted the company and all they want is photos of the problem. I’ve offered to take a video of the faulty springy floor flimsy perspex and ill fitting panels but no reply. I wonder why?
Shocking truly shocking
Hi Roly, following your review we have spent some time researching and reviewing BillyOh again. We have just updated the review to reflect more accurately what people are now saying. When we first reviews them they were just a brand and did not sell directly to the public. Our original review reflected that. Hopefully the updated review reflects the current status of the company more accurately.
AVOID AT ALL COSTS..
Most of the wood in the playhouse is split of knotholed.
I also had missing parts ie the gables and the driver did not speak a word of english, insisted was all there obviously was not, still waiting for the parts and my kids half built playhouse is now damaged as the interior components are exposed to the elements, nightmare company. AVOID AVOID AVOID
My wife has recently bought a Billy Oh “10 x 8” Miller summerhouse and I & our son have been TRYING to build it!
First, I built a base to their given dimensions and realised that !0 x * its is not; only 9 x 7. Presumably 10 x 8 covers the roof overhanging eaves, not the floor.
Next, the intersecting joints seem OK at the front corners – where the infill T&G sections only have to fit at one end while the others are slide fit into door and window frames. But when the longer members on blank side and back are slotted together first the intersecting slots don’t allow the tongues to insert nor, of course – due to the bottom half-width board at the bottom – do they align at all. So far we’ve had 3 attempts tp get it right and are about to take it down again. For our next assembly we have re-designed the rear corners completely and will be cutting off ALL of the Billy Oh log cabin feature protrusions, adding 50 x 50 mm corner posts inside and cloaking them outside with 75 x 75 x 25 mm angle of our own manufacture.
Our conclusions are: 1) if you must buy one get them to assemble it to your satisfaction 2) we’ll not buy another of this style. The concept is great but it doesn’t seem to have been thought throughm maybe the designers should try putting one together.
i am getting the full on billy oh experience incorrect panels ; roof panels that do not align up and over hang ,i even had the parts / fittings from some one else’s apex shed they told me to keep it as it might come in handy or chuck it ,i would never use or recommend them again ,i used them based on this sites recommendations not the reviews ! the deeper you dig the the more you find what a shower they are
Do not bother …customers service is a call centre who just hand out exuses…it appears this company does not take its aftersales seriously…log cabin warped allover witin seven months
Now that my wooden greenhouse is assembled I will review it:
Firstly states free delivery, it isn’t, was told Thursday was the delivery date for my area and a £15 surcharge. Arrived on designated day, lots of communication from driver, in 2 hours, in 30 mins, in 10 mins. When it came of the van I was dubious, so many parts, hardly any pre-assembly. 10 minutes after the driver had left and I’d had a good look through it I phoned him and said come back and collect it – He said he couldn’t. I phoned the call centre and was eventually told it would be £70 to collect it, someone would call within 48 hours to arrange, still waiting. Decided to have a go at putting it up, I’ve worked on Rolls- Royce Aero Engines and assembled F1 engines and am pretty handy at putting things together. Getting this shed assembled I have had it apart so many times I must have built about 3 of them, everything was there and needed a few modifications but the instructions are abysmal, throw them away. Hundreds of parts, its more like an AIRFIX kit. Every screwhole has to be pre drilled to avoid wood cracking. I must have drilled approx 1000 holes and fitted 1000 screws, this greenhouse is not for the paint-hearted or anyone with little diy ability. A professional would struggle to assemble this. Now its assembled its actually ok although I wanted to set fire to it several times. Whether it will last more than 2 years is doubtful. With hindsight would i buy it again – definitely NOT, I would buy a better quality product that comes more assembled. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
I felt compelled to write this review after a long day trying to erect a Heston 14×8 log cabin from BillyOh. Having over 10 years experience in quality shed and cabin erection and probably 1000 buildings under my belt. I was asked to erect a Billyoh building for a friend. I wish I had said no. In life you get what you pay for, be it a car, holiday, house let’s not be naive here. If something looks too good to be true it normally is. I’ll cut to the chase – cheap cabins are cheap for a reason- cheap materials and poor quality. If they are cheap to the public then they are even cheaper to an agent who has to make a mark up. Everybody likes a bargain and online there are many, but you wouldn’t buy some products without looking or doing your homework. I found myself today in an awkward position of trying to find some positives from my friend’s delivery. I found none. You may wonder why I wasn’t asked for help in choosing the cabin but my friend genuinely believed that they were getting a good deal. The cabins I regularly erect have 3″x2″ floor bearers, today they were 1″square and you would be able to snap them over your knee. Laid on top of these were 10mm tongue and groove boards they should be twice that thickness for a floor. The 28mm logs were ok but I always find flimsy and would always advise 40mm plus depending on manufacturer as they provide better strength and insulation. The roof is the same tongue and groove thickness as the floor and won’t support weight so working on it was an issue and won’t survive many winters. I have advised my friend to ignore the paper thin roofing felt supplied as it was squashed flat and would be impossible to roll out. You could tell it was cheap as it was cracking where it was crushed. Doors and windows don’t fit as they should, offer virtually no security, are supplied bare with all fittings needing to be fixed and glazing is perspex which will either crack or fade within a few years. This is without a doubt the cheapest and nastiest log cabin I have ever had the misfortune to work on. I know that customers budget for garden projects and finances are key, but I genuinely would advise to give these a wide berth. Save your money and spend on quality. You can’t polish a turd, but you can roll it in glitter. Glitter being your choice of paint colour when you have just wasted your money. Thanks for reading.
What am I going to do now. I was so impressed by the lovely glossy photographs for garden sheds and other garden rooms that I had decided to spend well over £1000 with Billy Oh but having seen this list of revues I am forced to change my mind, and not a squeak of reply by the manufacturer. Other retailers and manufacturers having received such revues of their products have the manners to at least answer these revues but not Billy Oh, now why would that be ?. Is there a manufacturer in Britain who can be trusted to make and supply such an item which is of a high standard and not cost an arm and a leg or must I once again now start to look abroad for a product and service I can rely on ?. Any supplier out there who thinks they can cut the mustard please contact me.
I sincerely wish I had read the feedback on What Shed before deciding to place an order with this company. Although on the surface the website makes it look like they provide good quality products delivered to your door quickly and for free, THEY DON’T – AVOID THEM……..
It took two weeks for the initial order to be delivered which is longer than the advertised time of “within 7 days” on the website for most of the sheds. The time slots offered on delivery days were so wide (for example 09:17 to 15:17 and 10:53 to 16:53) that I had to book entire days off work to receive goods and still the initial delivery arrived late.
Then when the goods finally arrived they were of so poor quality that it required repeated attempts and more days off work, to get good enough parts to assemble a whole shed. Even then the final build quality is poor compared to the money spent, with gaps and holes that will require filler before the shed is going to be anything like water tight. The instructions are so generic that you must interpret them for the size of shed ordered. Every screw hole must be pre- drilled to avoid the wood from cracking so the assembly process is ridiculously long.
The complaints procedure is also bad. They don’t resolve issues over the phone, their call centre isn’t in the UK and they direct you to the on-line ‘Customer Care Centre’ system which requires multiple password resets every time you log on with an account history that is poorly laid out. They don’t offer monetary compensation for any problems, just resort to sending bad part after bad part to try and resolve issues which doesn’t resolve the issue of the poor-quality goods in the first place. One of the replacement orders sent was just left on my drive without a signature which left it open to damage and loss when a neighbour could have accepted the order securely. Another replacement part that was sent was so bad that I asked the delivery driver to return it straight away, he refused, contrary to the e-mail instructions.
The ‘Track your order’ facility is also unreliable and often inaccurate which doesn’t help the frustration. After experiencing multiple replacement orders to resolve this issue I have also noticed inconsistencies in the “Parts and Quantity Correct” and “30mins notice” processes which also aren’t always followed with every order.
The whole process of ordering a shed from them will leave you out of pocket, exasperated and disappointed so don’t it, I wouldn’t recommend them to ANYONE.
My son-in-law erected a Billy Oh T & G shed for me in July 2017. The floor was damaged but son-in-law fixed it, door was warped and didn’t fit properly and now doesn’t fit at all and rain is leaking through the bottom of walls onto the floor all the way round and now the walls look as if they are damp on the inside. My son-in-law said it wasn’t as easy to erect as the one he had erected for himself at his place. I don’t like to tell him about the problem as I wouldn’t like him to have to go through the prolonged problems other readers have had with the company. As I am an 86 year old woman and having to deal with everything since my husband’s accident I am now at a loss as to where to go next.
I bought the billyoh boxer and assembled it as per instructions. It was all there so I was lucky. It was bolted to a concrete base and it lasted2weeks. The first bit of wind and the rear wall just collapsed with most screws popping out of the frame. As an aircraft engineer, i did wonder at the flimsy and poor quality frame. Proven not to be up to the job. The roof flooded very quickly after. Pics available on request. I contacted Garden Buildings Direct who said “well that’s life, maybe I should have put it out of the wind” I have dismantled it and put it in the hands of trading standards and putting in a small claims court for a refund. I would not but from them or trust the product. I am only glad I had not put my motorbike in it before it collapsed.
Bought a shed from them and paid extra for quick delivery. Arrived on time but with missing pieces, now 10 days later and still waiting for the missing parts, terrible customer services and not able to leave reviews with them or get any money back despite still waiting for pieces. Need to buy bike shed and summerhouse but will not be using them in future. So disappointed and a nightmare to deal with!
Where do I start? … I bought the billyoh renna summerhouse retailing over £1000.00… having paid £30.00 extra for a Saturday delivery, the summerhouse was delivered on the Saturday – minus all fixing and instructions etc … once I contacted the company these were promptly delivered the following Thursday !!! ( they have agreed to refund this payment).
When I was finally able to re-arrange with friends etc. to commence to build the summerhouse, I started to examine the parts sent to me. There appears to not be a single part of this building that was straight and true … this also applies to the parts pre-built by the factory ( which appears be a contradiction in terms! ) the roof comes in 3 sections – this is assembled with tongue and groove panels – I was able to observe the sky through one panel when placed in situ.
The floor likewise, comes in 3 pieces … these were connected to find that each part was marginally larger than the rest ( this involved having to cut down 2 of the parts with a jigsaw ! ) the floor planks for use of a better word are ALL warped … it’s like walking on a rollercoaster … the window frame panels are neither true or well built, the wood used appears to be from a very cheap source ( think pallet wood ) and cut to size (?) with very little care and precision, with splits in the wood and multiple knots which during construction fell out leaving holes in the floor, walls, roof etc …
The bag of fixings supplied are literally a bag of screws, of all sizes, mixed together in 1 bag … the instructions are a generic plan for any of the billyoh range, and are quite frankly garbage.
This summerhouse was bought as a surprise for my wife and as a refuge to aid her recovery from leukemia. I didn’t contact the company to complain, as I was pressed for time to get it assembled for her homecoming so I attempted to make the best of a (literally) bad job.
Update:
I have now contacted the company for assistance to resolve this matter … they have offered to replace the parts that are damaged, which would necessitate completely disassembling the building, which, now my wife is out of hospital and using the summerhouse, I refuse to do … I offered a suggestion which was to refund me the cost of the parts ( a new roof, single rear panel and complete floor …) and I would employ someone to make good the floor and roof … they have informed me that they do not do refunds, and again offered to send me the parts … I am Not Impressed with this companies after sales service …
They say they care about their customers … this appears to not be the case … my advice is to avoid this company like the plague !!!
In retrospect, I would neither purchase nor recommend any of these products to my friends, which is a shame, as the overall design of the summerhouse is quite appealing, it just fails miserably in it’s build quality and the companies attention to detail.
WOW, I am glad I have read these reviews , as I was going to purchase a Billy Ho . Workshop looked good on website . Nice design etc.
I will not be buying one of these Billy Ho.
Thanks , for all the reviews,
Pete G.
I’m absolutely appalled at the build quality of this workshop I paid over a £1000.00 for this company needs looking into they should be ashamed at selling such a poor product. I’m now in limbo where to go next for a good workshop as I feel let down by BillyHo and will certainly never recommend them to any of my friends and family,also there products are overpriced for the build quality,watchdog need to be investigating this company and so do trading standards. Disgrace
Please please people never ever buy a shed from these rogues everything about there sheds is inferior absolute rubbish, nothing fits all knots hole you can see through let’s in rain through the roof, it has got so bad that we are thinking about dismantling it and taking up to there main office to reconstruct so the public can really see the shit they call sheds, ps will keep you posted
like many other user I ordered a shed, Firstly I noticed that options in the description were not available but are still appearing. I went with pressure treated as I want it to last and cant paint it every year. I ordered the shed and was given a delivery date, they added £10 for a monday delivery without telling me. the date arrived but they cancelled the delivery took a week to get the extra £10 back. I was offered a new date 10 days later. Which they cancelled again the day before. I spoke to Angel (american accent) Who promised without doubt it would be there 2 days later. They cancelled at 10:30pm the night before. I then contacted asking for them to call me but no call just a revised date, which again has been cancelled.
They are really useless and customer service is appalling. I feel lied to cheated i wont ever try to buy from them or Garden direct again. Which is a real shame as it was the perfect size for my space.
Excellent product and service.
…. Just kidding !
Recently purchased a (meagre) 6×3 bike shed from Billy-oh via Garden Buildings Direct. Suffice it to say I have experienced most – if not all – of the stated deficiencies of the product and their service.
I am currently battling the erection of my shed based on incorrect parts and confusing instructions.
All of the above comments by fellow purchasers echo my experiences.
My biggest gripe that I had was their inability (avoidance) of answering a simple product question – despite repeated emailed requests. And as for the UK customer helpline … in the Philippines?!
Good news is they have sent almost enough replacement parts to build another shed (or a nice big bonfire come Nov.5th) ….
Avoid. Ordered a metal shed and a summer house. Delivery delayed by 2 weeks before we even started, poor updates about delivery. I was disappointed but understood. When it arrived the metal shed was damaged and the extra flooring we ordered was missing. I was advised 2-5 working days for replacement parts for the metal shed to be sent and I had to go back and forth to get them to refund the missing flooring. It was so frustrating but I understood mistakes happen. The 5 working days came and went, no update. I had to chase them every step of the way. Eventually I was told the replacement parts wasn’t in stock and wouldn’t be coming back in stock. I asked for their complaints process and ombudsman’s details, this request was ignored. I had to chase up, I was then offered a 10% refund. I had to go back and forth advising this was not acceptable as the shed was useless with the warped parts we could not build it. Eventually they agreed to collect and issue a refund, this took a lot of persuasion. They eventually collected and advised a refund would be issued within 5 working days. The 5 working days came and went I had to chase this up. I asked for compensation for all the issues as I lost my deposit with the builder hired to build due to delays, etc. They advised they don’t do goodwill or compensation. It doesn’t end there! The summer house flooring was so flimsy that we’ve had to reinforce it with internal flooring, I paid extra for the flooring from Billy Oh, that was a waste on money! One of the panels was wrong one, my builder had to rectify this. Randomly we have an extra floor panel, there were no screws or nails, it’s cost us a boat load more just to get it right. My builder has advised me it is one of the worst summer house packs he’s had to work with, not good quality and he’s been doing this a long time.
Do not use this company – I have been struggling for a couple of months with a leaking master apex shed. When delivered the parts were in wet looking bags, I hired a local carpenter to build the shed who found there were no instructions – it took a morning to get these. Panel fit was terrible with much of the wood warped or fitting poorly together. The floor was so thin it flexed and we had to purchase another £80 of plywood to lay over it to stiffen it up. Once up the leaks started at the bottom of the panel under the windows – I bought external grade sealant and filled the seams and joins on the floor. It still leaked – I emailed customer service in July no response. It’s now October and with stronger rain it is leaking more – I logged into the website and contacted customer service with the leaking issues – they asked and I sent pictures. They stated I should fill cracks with silicone sealant – I already had. They stated I had voided the warranty by laying plywood inside. They said it leaked as it was near trees – there is one small tree near the back left corner where it does not leak. They stated it needs better ventilation. Both Amanda and Carlo have been zero help on their customer resolution team. I have now had enough with this company but would recommend that others do not use them.
I ordered the Billy Oh cabin. I booked the day off work to take delivery and less than 24hours before it was due to be delivered they advised it had been delayed at manufacturing and it wouldn’t be with me. When it finally turned up there where nearly 20 pieces missing (including the floor frame and roof beams) 2 deliveries later we may have all the pieces. Instructions are for the basic model so any upgrades you add in you have to figure for yourself. Customer service is shocking – false promises and after weeks of back and forth the offer of £100 compensation (I paid near £3500). Please avoid this company
I purchased a 12 x 10 T&G shed last year, it was delivered in June and arrived wet. On construction it became very evident that the build quality was poor and some panels distorted with gaps between the T&G. I took and sent photos at the time and was told to expect “movement” as this is a natural product. 11 months later this shed is a mass of gaps and distortion-I submitted my concerns and many photographs (available for all to see if asked for) but was told that as my chosen site for the shed (on a 6x 4 treated frame with damp membrane but seemingly too close to my neighbors fence which is at least 3ft. and because I hadn’t treated the shed since assembly that in effect it was my fault and therefore I had voided any guarantee. Frankly this is the worst shed I have ever bought, I have cheap fence panels in better shape than this appallingly badly made product. I would never recommend buying a shed from this company to even my worst enemy. I feel badly treated (excuse the pun) and dismissed. Apparently the company is happy to “sell” me spare parts !! that’s big of them!
Please ask me to send photos, it’s a horror show.
I bought a Kent work shed from them and all their wood was either damaged or skewed on installation. Now trying to get another window from because this has found to be bent from the instance.
Dreadful company. So many issues it’s hard to know where to start, so I won’t, but if you want an example of 90s bad customer service then this is it. I didn’t realise companies like this still exist.
I purchased a 12 x 8 T & G shed earlier this year. It was the biggest mistake I have ever made. The shed arrived wet with water in the bagged ancillary parts with the packing lists almost unreadable. The battens on each panel were not lined up with the edges and were either too long or too short. When assembled there were gaps between the joins and also gaps between the T&G boards. There were many knot holes in the boards. 3mm gaps between the boards on the doors. 2 sets of new doors were sent but were no better and were rejected . The shed was ordered with shingles for the roof and the instructions for the roofing said to use bitumen mastic and breathable membrane, neither of which were supplied. As the shed dried out dozens of gaps appeared between the boards and then when it rained water was running down the inside of the walls. Garden Buildings Direct said that as I had treated it I had accepted it and also that the shed was only water resistant, which it was not. They seemed get confused by water resistant and water proof. They refused to take the shed back, despite threat of legal action. Fortunately I had purchased it on a credit card and have now been refunded the cost by the credit card company in full.
Brought a summer house 2 years ago still have problems with it had to have a new roof leaks rain ever where worst £1.500 I have ever spent just a complete waste of money I wish I never ever brought it more trouble then it’s worth .nothing fits together badly cut don’t buy .
***Don’t, Just Don’t***. If your looking for a shed or any garden building PLEASE IGNORE and BILLYOH
If I could select 0 stars I would have.
I bought my BillyOh shed in March 2020 and its now December 2020 and its rotting inside. Even has mould!
When I was putting the shed together floor and most of the panels had gaps, customer service didn’t want to know. Customer Service is an joke.
Please just dont buy from these cowboys,
Bought one of the metal sheds during the summer. Quality is ok for the price and seemed ok when put together. All parts were there. The problems have started since the very wet winter. Everything is soaked inside and can’t see where/how water is getting in. Looks set to be a project for the summer.
Anyone had same problems? How did you overcome them?
bought the Outpost summerhouse in 2021. best described as “frustrating”. Delivery not on time and had to badger GBD numerous times. When it was delivered, the parts in the van were not as per the delivery docket, which was different again to the parts list on the plans.
Construction was cited as being 8-10 hrs for 2 people. it took that long purely to assemble the base due to the parts list woes. The panels were supposed to be pre-insulated – they weren’t – and needed additional timber to finish them as some support struts missing. Instructions were a challenge as needed to identify everything before any construction could start. No lengths specified on the plans for the base timbers, and these were supplied in multiple parts instead of single lengths, so had to make it up as we went along and construct a jig to make sure the timbers stayed true. Everything was delivered soaking wet, including the packs of timber wrapped in plastic, so needed drying before fixing. On the plus side, there were no parts missing. I could go on, but i think you get the picture.
In all, it took 2 weeks to construct fully (1 day for the base, 2 days to get the external walls and roof done) with numerous bouts of fettling to get stuff to fit fully. The rest of the time was spent doing the insulation, fixing the doors and windows and doing the internals. That being said, the way we built it, I now have a solid, weather proof (it has survived the feb 2022 storms with 75+ mph winds) building.
Would i buy it again? Maybe, if it wasn’t mine, as the jigsaw puzzle stress got to me. As I now know what to expect, the jigsaw puzzle would be eased quite a bit.
Would i recommend it? based on the finished product that we built, yes, but only if you can fix the bits that were not finished, are competent at working off-piste, can ignore their 8-10 hrs claim and can make the bits supplied work against their instructions.
Was it worth the hassle? At the time i hated it. A few months later and it’s a reserved yes as i don’t want the stress that came along with it when you realise what was delivered doesn’t match any other paperwork.
One hint – a nail gun will save you hours as nailing in ~220 bits of T&G purely in the base and roof is onerous with a hammer.
Finally, if you want a hassle free build, then this is most definitely NOT for you
Wish I had found this page before I ordered from them! Really disappointed with their service. Product arrived with many missing pieces (instructions manual also had errors and inconsistencies and didn’t 100% match product and parts received so it took a very long time to work out what we actually needed that was missing). Reported it to BillyOh support team – slow replies each time and each time I receive the same sentence “this is very rare for us” – clearly it is not! They confirmed they would send replacement parts however gave me two differing time estimates overall stretching between 3-7 days (if the product was in stock). It’s been nearly a month and we still haven’t received it, despite me chasing it up several times and each time asking them to check and let me know if the parts are or are not available – every time they ignore this question though and no one has been able to tell me if the parts are available or not! I then had an email last week saying delivery is scheduled for today and they’d text me on the morning to confirm the 4 hour delivery window. I booked the day off work to be able to receive it (as their email stated they only deliver kerbside and our house is not next to the road so don’t want to risk anyone else taking it). However I have had no text updates at all and when I click on track my order, it says they haven’t even dispatched it! I’ve emailed again asking for their complaints procedure – although I wouldn’t be surprised if they ignore this too and repeat the line “this is very rare for us”! So absolutely disappointed and regret purchasing from them. Would not recommend.
I am absolutely disgusted with the service my product is still in production 12 weeks down the line with the same answer it is still being made, yet on the website it said in stock and that delivery is between 1 and 8 weeks. No feedback I am constantly calling to get feedback. IF only I had read reviews first would never have bought from them – really disappointed
EXPERT REVIEWED 
FREE DELIVERY 
INSTALATION AVAILABLE 
I bought the Clubman log cabin.
Quality is terrible, 24 missing parts when delivered, 3 calls and a week to get new parts ordered, wrong parts list and instructions. Just terrible from the moment I paid my money.
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I ordered a billy oh playhouse which arrived with a smashed panel and no picket fence. Second delivery made of new panel and picket fence. When assembling we realised that the top of the stable door was missing. Now waiting for a third delivery. The delivery driver literally dumped the goods on the pavement and customer services is in the Phillipines so not great.
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Billy Oh is also a site that is owned by Garden Buildings Direct.
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Please avoid using this company.
I ordered a shed from them online. Their website said it would be with me in 20 days. I phoned up to double check if this was correct because I was desperate to get a shed in my garden because my wife was about to have a baby any moment and I needed to clear things out. They told me that the website is correct and it would be with me in 20 days.
Well, that was wrong. 30 days went past. After many phone calls and un-returned emails they gave me a delivery date 33 days after I ordered it. Luckily my baby had not come so I was able to take a day off work to put it up.
When I went to put it up I realised the entire tongue and groove section (about 80%) of the shed was cut wrong. So it was completely faulty and unworkable. I have pictures to prove it. I sent them the pictures and they confirmed it was cut wrong.
After countless calls to a call centre in South East Asia, I was told a replacement would be with me by 2/3 working days.
Wrong again. It was over 8 days later until they scheduled a delivery.
Now my baby had arrived and my wife and I were finding it hard to live with all of the shed contents (lawnmower, strimmer, bikes, tools, paints, furniture etc) in the kitchen.
I took a day off work to wait for the replacement. I called in the morning and they said it would be with me around 5pm. Then I called at 6pm and they said it was 45 mins away. Then I called at 8pm and they said it was close. Then I called at 9 and they said it was not going to be delivered.
Well I lost it at this point.
I am now waiting for a call to reschedule the delivery – they said that the van MIGHT have broken down. I DO NOT believe them one bit. Instead of delivering it the next day, they said it will take another week. They could not give me a reason why.
Talking to the people in the call centre is like talking to a robot. They have no emotional intelligence or sympathy. They are just reading things from a script. I can’t tell you how frustrating it is dealing with them.
So in summary, their product is terrible and so is their service.
I’ve never written a review in my life, but I really don’t want people to make the same mistake that I have and put their faith in this company.
PLEASE, AVOID THEM.
I am happy to be contacted to verify all of the above with pictures, emails and even phone recording. Yes, it really has got to that.
The worst thing is, I STILL don’t have my shed, so it may get worse.
Anyway, I’m off to change a nappy.
AVOID THEM!!!
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Hi Rob, thanks for your feedback. BillyOh is also the same company as Garden Buildings Direct, I am sure your feedback will help others make a better decision.
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Worst company ever bought summer house tesco direct 3panels broken she said to send photo of proof what a cheeky women she was no customer support at all and the roof does not fit cost a lot of money would not recommend this company at all waste of time complaining they’re not interested very angry.
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Like you Robert I’m going through it as well. Still no summerhouse. I think I will be calling it the winter lodge! If it ever arrives. I’m asking for a full refund if it doesn’t come by the 24th July 2017, I’ve never known such disgrace. There should be laws. Might take it to a small claims court !!!! Arrrrr ?
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My experience was the same as yours, Robert. My son was going to build the summerhouse with me as labourer. Two hours after the delivery, at the end of APRIL, he brought a few of the shorter planks in and said, ‘I don’t like to worry you, but …’
ALL the planks had the top notches cut too shallow, so no two would actually interlock. It was impossible to build even the first two layers. I called immediately and, of course, was put through to the lovely, but powerless (and, to be honest, pretty clueless) customer services in the Philippines. They sent an email asking for photos. I sent photos, and explained that unless the fault was corrected within 5 days, my son wouldn’t have time to build it before leaving for the US for three weeks. As their terms and conditions demanded the summerhouse be completely erected and painted within four weeks from delivery, the guarantee would be invalid. I told them my son had offered to recut the notches to the correct depth, and it would cost £240 so, if they’d refund that and continue the guarantee, I’d be happy with that. They offered £90, then £120. I said no, and they upped the offer to £150. I refused to be left out of pocket, because their goods were (a) not as described, (b) not of ‘merchantable quality and (c) not fit for purpose – i.e. not fit to be assembled into a building, so I was entitled to my money back. They told me I could only have £150. I explained I would take it to court and they’d then have to pay a court fee and interest as well. They said they’d collect the goods and give me a full refund – but they were going to consider whether to ‘waive’ their £200 collection fee! I told them they weren’t entitled to it, they went silent on me, so I claimed through the Gov.Co.UK Moneyclaims Online service. It was transferred to our local court. The judge (going from just the paperwork, without a hearing) ordered them to put in a proper defence or pay up by the 29th August, or I could take and enforce judgement. That week, they decided to try to negotiate again, to ‘consider’ paying the court fee and interest, and to tell me I had to send the goods back before they’d send my refund. I refused and gave them two weeks to pay up in full and a further two weeks to collect their useless pile of sticks from my garage. I got my money back – including court fee and interest – on Monday, and they collected the goods today. I’ve posted publicly on my facebook page, and I’ll say again here – DO NOT TOUCH Kybotech Ltd., Garden Buildings Direct, Billy-Oh or Skinner’s Sheds. They’re all the same company. They are incapable of dealing with their own errors or of providing anything approaching customer service.
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DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY!!
They constantly make false promises, we have waited in on four separate occasions for them, they haven’t turned up once, however they do send us e mails giving us new dates and even though we say we are not available on those days they apparently turn up. They do not listen to the customer and just pay lip service without any backup.
The annoying thing is we were happy with them originally, but when we had an issue with the arm/side of a rattan sofa, they proved to be completely unprofessional.
On Thursday of last week we got an e mail saying they would be here on the Friday despite us making arrangements for them to come today, (Monday), we re arranged our day to enable us to be in and guess what THEY DIDNT TURN UP! The last straw was this morning when we rung to confirm they were actually going to arrive on the day we had agreed on and we have learnt they are not coming again!
We have been given yet another date……
I would never do business with these people again.
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just got delivery of billyoh metal boxer shed 9×10 turns out im a box missing, unless its a 9×10 cm shed. so ive just called garden builing direct. i cant say it was a good exspierince as the chap said above, like talking to a robot and a bit dim to boot. anyway after making all the footings for the shed, the plan as gone out the window to complete on wkend now. i just wish id seen these comments first. proberbly to be continued………..
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I bought a Keeper Overlap shed from this lot on 20 Feb 17. It was delivered three days later on a very wet snowy day. The shed was saturated so I let it dry out for a few days before treating it with shed paint. It went together reasonably well but the door frame is very poor. I filled the few cracks that I found.
Since then it has been a regular task to fill cracks and splits and holes in the hundreds of knots in the wood. The planks have shrunk by about 1 cm so the staples used have caused the wood to split, it can’t move. The T and G used on the doors has also shrunk so there are gaps between the boards.
I asked for support and was offered some planks, I have counted 35 that need replacing so far. They then offered complete panels but that would mean dismantling the shed and painting the replacements which may be no better.
She kept saying I only had 14 days to report the faults and ignored what I was saying. I have sent 63 photos of the faults ( a major undertaking which took several attempts and hours of my time). I have now contacted my credit card company to see if I can get a refund. My wife tells me I am entitled to one due to the inconvenience that rebuilding the shed would cause.
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Do not touch this useless bunch of Cowboys with a barge pole !!! Ordered the Billy o Riley…..came with parts missing and broken. Was promised the missing pieces two weeks ago…and now..after countless phone calls and emails…have been told they’ve run out of materials….which is basically WOOD!!!! Maybe back in stock in a couple of weeks!!!! A bloody shambles……
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Numerous problems call centre almost impossible to deal with cannot understand the broken American phillipino a accent .the quality is absolutely disgusting .missing damaged broken parts . E mails sent to call centre with 16 photos told that they hadn’t received them even though I had responses from the centre acknowledging them do not entertain Billyoh or garden buildings direct unless you are prepared for a great deal of aggravation. Still trying to resolve my problems two weeks on she’d only 60% erected. Dave Glinister West Sussex.
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Awful company, missing parts, call centre on Pacific Time, promising 3-5 days every day but no replacement parts arrive. Avoid avoid avoid – you have been warned!!!
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AVOID THIS COMPANY. On 13th July 2017 we ordered and paid for a 12×8 workshop from Garden Buildings Direct. They took our money, received an email confirming our purchase. One week later they decided that they couldn’t deliver to the Skelmersdale postcode we requested, a legitimate UK mainland address within zone one on their featured delivery map, and they simply cancelled our order. So they now have a lot of our money and the workshop that we paid for. We have nothing. They’ve had our money for over a week and we may get our money returned in 5 more working days, aka another week. Contact with ‘Garden Buildings Direct’ in the UK has proved absolutely impossible as all calls to their so-called UK number are simply rerouted to a Phillipine call centre with heavy Americanised Phillipine accents plus lack of knowledge of the British Isles making communication difficult. They are like robots. 3 online requests for call back, so we may discuss the problems encountered, have been totally ignored. One incoming telephone call from them, responded to by us in a very grateful manner, was terminated without apology.
Quote from their website “Kybotech and Garden Buildings Direct consider themselves and their customers’ our kin. This isn’t just a business, it’s something we take a great deal of pride in, and we greatly look forward to adding you to this family. “. Well, we’re certainly not feeling the love. AVOID. AVOID. AVOID.
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Do not buy from this company!
Nearly 2 months after paying after 3 damaged deleveries, 30+ emails and over 15 phone calls later I’m left with a still damaged product an email from their customer service rep blaming me for being on holiday and a snotty email from the managing director of the company so I can see where they get there customer service lead from.
Inferior products with no concept of customer service whatsoever, avoid at all costs!
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I placed my order over phone on a annex log cabin playhouse 10×8 well it was a disaster from the start you are left waiting on the phone for at least half a hour with music blasting in your ear I placed the order and asked if there was enough paint to paint the playhouse I was told more than enough…! The play house cost me well over £1000.00 I had 3 emails telling me my order was not ready each time I had to call and waited and waited they put the phone down on me twice you can not understand what they are saying you may as well talk to the brick wall when the house came there was 40 plus pieces missing I called them again ? They wanted me to wait when the house was half up for them to get parts out to me 4-5 days the floor of the playhouse was wood chip and it was raining I asked about the paint again and they said they sent me a 2.5 litre was there was no 5 litres in stock dumb idiots I had enough by this time I said it’s staying where it is it’s not my property if it gets damaged it’s there responsibility I want a refund well when the man came to pick the house up the van had no floor in it I felt sorry for the man it was not his fault I waited and waited for a refund and again I called they had no recording it had been picked up it’s a good job I took photos of the van I have got my money back and I would never use that company again all comments above are true to there word as we all can not be wrong feel free to call me 07967203641
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How can Whatshed possibly give these BillyOh people a good review? The corner summer house we bought was so badly cut and warped it took days to construct. Then the roof didn’t fit. Please, anyone reading this avoid this company and all the other names they advertise as. DO NOT hand any money over to these cowboys!
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Hi Chrisney, at the time of writing this BillyOh was a brand and not a merchant. We are in the process of revisiting this merchant in light of a flood of negative consumer experiences.
UPDATE: The review is now updated and should reflect the current experiences customers are having.
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Absolutely without a doubt the worst piece of shit going .Just trying to hang the doors now. Had to buy new felt new wood batons to strengthen it out avoid avoid avoid
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As you all say our lily summerhouse is rubbish nothing fits, has to be cut down, instructions rubbish doesnt really tell you how to put it together. Husband very stressed trying to make do. Wont recommend this at all. Very disappointed.
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April 2018. I bought the Master T&G Pent Shed online and it arrived a few days later as advised. All parts were received although it is a bit confusing what pack is what but I got the idea eventually. I found the shed was built ok. Not many knots and no damaged panels and only 2 nails had been misaligned. It went up ok although I did have to make a few adjustments but nothing major or outside the scope of a fair diy’er. I think the 8 hour build time is on the tad optimistic! It too me about twice that but that did include painting and fitting my own locks and door bolts. I did use frame sealant on some knots and down the panel joins but I would do this for any shed I wanted to last some time. I found I needed to read the instructions a couple of times. Next time I would fix the walls to the floor before fitting the roof (contrary to the instructions) as the shed isn’t 100% square but unless you look carefully you don’t notice. Once everything is fully fitted it feels stronger than some other sheds I’ve owned. I had the T&G floor but added some 18mm mdf I had lying around to give the floor more strength. All in all for the price I paid I’m very happy with my shed.
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Bought the BillyoH 5000 Summerhouse but have had the same experience as everybody else. Missing parts, couldn’t contact customer services, got through to sales straight away and promised to get somebody to return call (never happened). Eventually got missing parts (these were wrong).
Poor company, poor product, poor customer service. Please Avoid!
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My husband erected our summer house and found grooves not to fit properly split pieces of wood, windows do not fit flush. A multitude of problems. Granted the delivery was on time and there were no parts missing’ but I am extremely disappointed with finished result. I believe we will have to dismantle this and start again. £840.00 paid for poor quality product!
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dreadful on all counts
driver smashed lorry into pallet on
delivery
call centre absolutely useless to deal with sending replacement parts
cowboys
poor quality unsanded wood
had to buy extra wood to ensure flooring works
spoke to manager sent pics but cut off
contemplating small claims court
AVOID!!!
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I got the Tianne summerhouse with side shed , and the size stated 12feet x 8 feet …. summerhouse 8feet x 8feet side shed 4feet x 8 feet,
that was the size i need for the tool shed ….and summerhouse for my lazy-spa got the builder came and found out we had 33 missing pieces so had to wait for the parts and some good weather,
when we got it up we found out the size was not what i wanted,
8 feet x 7 feet and 4 feet x 7 feet so was not happy emailed them and still waiting for them to get back to me will not hold my breath.
the product was also very poor doors not flush …. all i can say is stay away from this company if i had known about this review page i would have read what other people have said about it.
so all i would say is keep away from this company and have a good look around others i hope this helps other people from getting rip off,
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Poor customer service . Did not answer our question .
My summerhouse is not even good enough for firewood , but its our fault we put it together wrong.
C shaped wood for windows trims delivered. Maybe that’s our fault too.
What an appalling product complete waste of money. Looks nothing like their pictures.
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Terrible company. Delivered poor quality untreated tongue and groove shed that was warped, costing over £1300. Sent replacement, also warped. They wanted to send a third replacement, but the wood is young/not dry and according to my carpenter friend it will always warp so I demanded a refund. The consumer rights act says: “If you’ve owned the item for less than six months, the retailer must give you a full refund if an attempt at a repair or replacement is unsuccessful.” they refused to acknowledge this and say it’s outside their terms and conditions, they only want to replace it with further product that is not fit for purpose
Terrible customer service, ran from a generic call centre in the USA. Standard emails, putting the phone down on you, automated online chat. At one point they offered me a refund and 5 hours later said it was a mistake.
AVOID LIKE THE PLAGUE
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How can Whatshed rate this companies products as High quality when they’re the worst that ive ever seen Anywhere. Even my daughters plastic garden house is better quality than the pile of firewood that i received. Here’s my HONEST and GENUINE review
I bought this Summerhouse for my wife as she’s had a bad time in hospital and it’s what she really wanted. I placed my order and the day before delivery I received a message saying that some bits were missing and delivery would be delayed by 7 days. I wasn’t happy about this but these things do happen sometimes. The summerhouse was delivered by a very friendly couple and arrived complete. This was a good start as some people had complained about bits missing.
I started to assemble the floor and this is where the trouble started. The floor was meant to be tongue and groove for added strength but unfortunately the tongue was missing on some sheets making the entire floor springy and weak. Off to B&Q to get some extra strengthening battens. I studied the instructions which really are very poor and looked like the toner had run out on the printer. Next was to put the strengthening pieces onto the gable ends. This was made difficult as each piece was too long and had to be cut down (Yes I did check ALL the timber provided). The gable ends have a lip on the bottom which is a good idea for e decorative finish. Unfortunately the wood was of such a poor quality that any movement to line up the next sheet would split the wood leaving a very untidy edge. Another trip to B&Q to get some gorilla glue. The next panel wouldn’t align correctly because there was a 1CM overlap on each tongue and groove strip so no matter how much you tried you’d never get rid of the gap. I know this can be covered with the décor strips provided but that’s not the point. Then came the time to fit the roof. I followed the instructions and didn’t secure the panels to the floor until the roof was on. This was virtually impossible to achieve as no matter which way I put the roof on it never lined up with the sides. Another trip to B&Q to get some plywood.
The next thing to fit was the Perspex windows. I say Perspex but I could say cling film. These so called windows have to be the cheapest most flimsy excuse for a window that I’ve ever seen. Really really shocking and probably a cost cutting option. Then came the beading to secure the windows and this was also bowed. I placed them against a straight edge and every one was bowed. Then came the doors. Either I have trapezoid glasses or these doors are just buckled.
To Summarize.
Made in England used to mean something but this is sadly not the case anymore. This summerhouse is without doubt the worst purchase that I’ve made in my entire life. If it wasn’t a present id have returned it or set fire to it. I’m deeply disappointed with this product and wouldn’t recommend it anyone. I’ve contacted the company and all they want is photos of the problem. I’ve offered to take a video of the faulty springy floor flimsy perspex and ill fitting panels but no reply. I wonder why?
Shocking truly shocking
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Hi Roly, following your review we have spent some time researching and reviewing BillyOh again. We have just updated the review to reflect more accurately what people are now saying. When we first reviews them they were just a brand and did not sell directly to the public. Our original review reflected that. Hopefully the updated review reflects the current status of the company more accurately.
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AVOID AT ALL COSTS..
Most of the wood in the playhouse is split of knotholed.
I also had missing parts ie the gables and the driver did not speak a word of english, insisted was all there obviously was not, still waiting for the parts and my kids half built playhouse is now damaged as the interior components are exposed to the elements, nightmare company. AVOID AVOID AVOID
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My wife has recently bought a Billy Oh “10 x 8” Miller summerhouse and I & our son have been TRYING to build it!
First, I built a base to their given dimensions and realised that !0 x * its is not; only 9 x 7. Presumably 10 x 8 covers the roof overhanging eaves, not the floor.
Next, the intersecting joints seem OK at the front corners – where the infill T&G sections only have to fit at one end while the others are slide fit into door and window frames. But when the longer members on blank side and back are slotted together first the intersecting slots don’t allow the tongues to insert nor, of course – due to the bottom half-width board at the bottom – do they align at all. So far we’ve had 3 attempts tp get it right and are about to take it down again. For our next assembly we have re-designed the rear corners completely and will be cutting off ALL of the Billy Oh log cabin feature protrusions, adding 50 x 50 mm corner posts inside and cloaking them outside with 75 x 75 x 25 mm angle of our own manufacture.
Our conclusions are: 1) if you must buy one get them to assemble it to your satisfaction 2) we’ll not buy another of this style. The concept is great but it doesn’t seem to have been thought throughm maybe the designers should try putting one together.
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i am getting the full on billy oh experience incorrect panels ; roof panels that do not align up and over hang ,i even had the parts / fittings from some one else’s apex shed they told me to keep it as it might come in handy or chuck it ,i would never use or recommend them again ,i used them based on this sites recommendations not the reviews ! the deeper you dig the the more you find what a shower they are
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Do not bother …customers service is a call centre who just hand out exuses…it appears this company does not take its aftersales seriously…log cabin warped allover witin seven months
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Now that my wooden greenhouse is assembled I will review it:
Firstly states free delivery, it isn’t, was told Thursday was the delivery date for my area and a £15 surcharge. Arrived on designated day, lots of communication from driver, in 2 hours, in 30 mins, in 10 mins. When it came of the van I was dubious, so many parts, hardly any pre-assembly. 10 minutes after the driver had left and I’d had a good look through it I phoned him and said come back and collect it – He said he couldn’t. I phoned the call centre and was eventually told it would be £70 to collect it, someone would call within 48 hours to arrange, still waiting. Decided to have a go at putting it up, I’ve worked on Rolls- Royce Aero Engines and assembled F1 engines and am pretty handy at putting things together. Getting this shed assembled I have had it apart so many times I must have built about 3 of them, everything was there and needed a few modifications but the instructions are abysmal, throw them away. Hundreds of parts, its more like an AIRFIX kit. Every screwhole has to be pre drilled to avoid wood cracking. I must have drilled approx 1000 holes and fitted 1000 screws, this greenhouse is not for the paint-hearted or anyone with little diy ability. A professional would struggle to assemble this. Now its assembled its actually ok although I wanted to set fire to it several times. Whether it will last more than 2 years is doubtful. With hindsight would i buy it again – definitely NOT, I would buy a better quality product that comes more assembled. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED
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I felt compelled to write this review after a long day trying to erect a Heston 14×8 log cabin from BillyOh. Having over 10 years experience in quality shed and cabin erection and probably 1000 buildings under my belt. I was asked to erect a Billyoh building for a friend. I wish I had said no. In life you get what you pay for, be it a car, holiday, house let’s not be naive here. If something looks too good to be true it normally is. I’ll cut to the chase – cheap cabins are cheap for a reason- cheap materials and poor quality. If they are cheap to the public then they are even cheaper to an agent who has to make a mark up. Everybody likes a bargain and online there are many, but you wouldn’t buy some products without looking or doing your homework. I found myself today in an awkward position of trying to find some positives from my friend’s delivery. I found none. You may wonder why I wasn’t asked for help in choosing the cabin but my friend genuinely believed that they were getting a good deal. The cabins I regularly erect have 3″x2″ floor bearers, today they were 1″square and you would be able to snap them over your knee. Laid on top of these were 10mm tongue and groove boards they should be twice that thickness for a floor. The 28mm logs were ok but I always find flimsy and would always advise 40mm plus depending on manufacturer as they provide better strength and insulation. The roof is the same tongue and groove thickness as the floor and won’t support weight so working on it was an issue and won’t survive many winters. I have advised my friend to ignore the paper thin roofing felt supplied as it was squashed flat and would be impossible to roll out. You could tell it was cheap as it was cracking where it was crushed. Doors and windows don’t fit as they should, offer virtually no security, are supplied bare with all fittings needing to be fixed and glazing is perspex which will either crack or fade within a few years. This is without a doubt the cheapest and nastiest log cabin I have ever had the misfortune to work on. I know that customers budget for garden projects and finances are key, but I genuinely would advise to give these a wide berth. Save your money and spend on quality. You can’t polish a turd, but you can roll it in glitter. Glitter being your choice of paint colour when you have just wasted your money. Thanks for reading.
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What am I going to do now. I was so impressed by the lovely glossy photographs for garden sheds and other garden rooms that I had decided to spend well over £1000 with Billy Oh but having seen this list of revues I am forced to change my mind, and not a squeak of reply by the manufacturer. Other retailers and manufacturers having received such revues of their products have the manners to at least answer these revues but not Billy Oh, now why would that be ?. Is there a manufacturer in Britain who can be trusted to make and supply such an item which is of a high standard and not cost an arm and a leg or must I once again now start to look abroad for a product and service I can rely on ?. Any supplier out there who thinks they can cut the mustard please contact me.
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I sincerely wish I had read the feedback on What Shed before deciding to place an order with this company. Although on the surface the website makes it look like they provide good quality products delivered to your door quickly and for free, THEY DON’T – AVOID THEM……..
It took two weeks for the initial order to be delivered which is longer than the advertised time of “within 7 days” on the website for most of the sheds. The time slots offered on delivery days were so wide (for example 09:17 to 15:17 and 10:53 to 16:53) that I had to book entire days off work to receive goods and still the initial delivery arrived late.
Then when the goods finally arrived they were of so poor quality that it required repeated attempts and more days off work, to get good enough parts to assemble a whole shed. Even then the final build quality is poor compared to the money spent, with gaps and holes that will require filler before the shed is going to be anything like water tight. The instructions are so generic that you must interpret them for the size of shed ordered. Every screw hole must be pre- drilled to avoid the wood from cracking so the assembly process is ridiculously long.
The complaints procedure is also bad. They don’t resolve issues over the phone, their call centre isn’t in the UK and they direct you to the on-line ‘Customer Care Centre’ system which requires multiple password resets every time you log on with an account history that is poorly laid out. They don’t offer monetary compensation for any problems, just resort to sending bad part after bad part to try and resolve issues which doesn’t resolve the issue of the poor-quality goods in the first place. One of the replacement orders sent was just left on my drive without a signature which left it open to damage and loss when a neighbour could have accepted the order securely. Another replacement part that was sent was so bad that I asked the delivery driver to return it straight away, he refused, contrary to the e-mail instructions.
The ‘Track your order’ facility is also unreliable and often inaccurate which doesn’t help the frustration. After experiencing multiple replacement orders to resolve this issue I have also noticed inconsistencies in the “Parts and Quantity Correct” and “30mins notice” processes which also aren’t always followed with every order.
The whole process of ordering a shed from them will leave you out of pocket, exasperated and disappointed so don’t it, I wouldn’t recommend them to ANYONE.
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My son-in-law erected a Billy Oh T & G shed for me in July 2017. The floor was damaged but son-in-law fixed it, door was warped and didn’t fit properly and now doesn’t fit at all and rain is leaking through the bottom of walls onto the floor all the way round and now the walls look as if they are damp on the inside. My son-in-law said it wasn’t as easy to erect as the one he had erected for himself at his place. I don’t like to tell him about the problem as I wouldn’t like him to have to go through the prolonged problems other readers have had with the company. As I am an 86 year old woman and having to deal with everything since my husband’s accident I am now at a loss as to where to go next.
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I bought the billyoh boxer and assembled it as per instructions. It was all there so I was lucky. It was bolted to a concrete base and it lasted2weeks. The first bit of wind and the rear wall just collapsed with most screws popping out of the frame. As an aircraft engineer, i did wonder at the flimsy and poor quality frame. Proven not to be up to the job. The roof flooded very quickly after. Pics available on request. I contacted Garden Buildings Direct who said “well that’s life, maybe I should have put it out of the wind” I have dismantled it and put it in the hands of trading standards and putting in a small claims court for a refund. I would not but from them or trust the product. I am only glad I had not put my motorbike in it before it collapsed.
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Bought a shed from them and paid extra for quick delivery. Arrived on time but with missing pieces, now 10 days later and still waiting for the missing parts, terrible customer services and not able to leave reviews with them or get any money back despite still waiting for pieces. Need to buy bike shed and summerhouse but will not be using them in future. So disappointed and a nightmare to deal with!
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Where do I start? … I bought the billyoh renna summerhouse retailing over £1000.00… having paid £30.00 extra for a Saturday delivery, the summerhouse was delivered on the Saturday – minus all fixing and instructions etc … once I contacted the company these were promptly delivered the following Thursday !!! ( they have agreed to refund this payment).
When I was finally able to re-arrange with friends etc. to commence to build the summerhouse, I started to examine the parts sent to me. There appears to not be a single part of this building that was straight and true … this also applies to the parts pre-built by the factory ( which appears be a contradiction in terms! ) the roof comes in 3 sections – this is assembled with tongue and groove panels – I was able to observe the sky through one panel when placed in situ.
The floor likewise, comes in 3 pieces … these were connected to find that each part was marginally larger than the rest ( this involved having to cut down 2 of the parts with a jigsaw ! ) the floor planks for use of a better word are ALL warped … it’s like walking on a rollercoaster … the window frame panels are neither true or well built, the wood used appears to be from a very cheap source ( think pallet wood ) and cut to size (?) with very little care and precision, with splits in the wood and multiple knots which during construction fell out leaving holes in the floor, walls, roof etc …
The bag of fixings supplied are literally a bag of screws, of all sizes, mixed together in 1 bag … the instructions are a generic plan for any of the billyoh range, and are quite frankly garbage.
This summerhouse was bought as a surprise for my wife and as a refuge to aid her recovery from leukemia. I didn’t contact the company to complain, as I was pressed for time to get it assembled for her homecoming so I attempted to make the best of a (literally) bad job.
Update:
I have now contacted the company for assistance to resolve this matter … they have offered to replace the parts that are damaged, which would necessitate completely disassembling the building, which, now my wife is out of hospital and using the summerhouse, I refuse to do … I offered a suggestion which was to refund me the cost of the parts ( a new roof, single rear panel and complete floor …) and I would employ someone to make good the floor and roof … they have informed me that they do not do refunds, and again offered to send me the parts … I am Not Impressed with this companies after sales service …
They say they care about their customers … this appears to not be the case … my advice is to avoid this company like the plague !!!
In retrospect, I would neither purchase nor recommend any of these products to my friends, which is a shame, as the overall design of the summerhouse is quite appealing, it just fails miserably in it’s build quality and the companies attention to detail.
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WOW, I am glad I have read these reviews , as I was going to purchase a Billy Ho . Workshop looked good on website . Nice design etc.
I will not be buying one of these Billy Ho.
Thanks , for all the reviews,
Pete G.
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I’m absolutely appalled at the build quality of this workshop I paid over a £1000.00 for this company needs looking into they should be ashamed at selling such a poor product. I’m now in limbo where to go next for a good workshop as I feel let down by BillyHo and will certainly never recommend them to any of my friends and family,also there products are overpriced for the build quality,watchdog need to be investigating this company and so do trading standards. Disgrace
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Please please people never ever buy a shed from these rogues everything about there sheds is inferior absolute rubbish, nothing fits all knots hole you can see through let’s in rain through the roof, it has got so bad that we are thinking about dismantling it and taking up to there main office to reconstruct so the public can really see the shit they call sheds, ps will keep you posted
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like many other user I ordered a shed, Firstly I noticed that options in the description were not available but are still appearing. I went with pressure treated as I want it to last and cant paint it every year. I ordered the shed and was given a delivery date, they added £10 for a monday delivery without telling me. the date arrived but they cancelled the delivery took a week to get the extra £10 back. I was offered a new date 10 days later. Which they cancelled again the day before. I spoke to Angel (american accent) Who promised without doubt it would be there 2 days later. They cancelled at 10:30pm the night before. I then contacted asking for them to call me but no call just a revised date, which again has been cancelled.
They are really useless and customer service is appalling. I feel lied to cheated i wont ever try to buy from them or Garden direct again. Which is a real shame as it was the perfect size for my space.
AVOID them.
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Excellent product and service.
…. Just kidding !
Recently purchased a (meagre) 6×3 bike shed from Billy-oh via Garden Buildings Direct. Suffice it to say I have experienced most – if not all – of the stated deficiencies of the product and their service.
I am currently battling the erection of my shed based on incorrect parts and confusing instructions.
All of the above comments by fellow purchasers echo my experiences.
My biggest gripe that I had was their inability (avoidance) of answering a simple product question – despite repeated emailed requests. And as for the UK customer helpline … in the Philippines?!
Good news is they have sent almost enough replacement parts to build another shed (or a nice big bonfire come Nov.5th) ….
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What a useless pile of firewood. Total waste of money and no redress
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Avoid. Ordered a metal shed and a summer house. Delivery delayed by 2 weeks before we even started, poor updates about delivery. I was disappointed but understood. When it arrived the metal shed was damaged and the extra flooring we ordered was missing. I was advised 2-5 working days for replacement parts for the metal shed to be sent and I had to go back and forth to get them to refund the missing flooring. It was so frustrating but I understood mistakes happen. The 5 working days came and went, no update. I had to chase them every step of the way. Eventually I was told the replacement parts wasn’t in stock and wouldn’t be coming back in stock. I asked for their complaints process and ombudsman’s details, this request was ignored. I had to chase up, I was then offered a 10% refund. I had to go back and forth advising this was not acceptable as the shed was useless with the warped parts we could not build it. Eventually they agreed to collect and issue a refund, this took a lot of persuasion. They eventually collected and advised a refund would be issued within 5 working days. The 5 working days came and went I had to chase this up. I asked for compensation for all the issues as I lost my deposit with the builder hired to build due to delays, etc. They advised they don’t do goodwill or compensation. It doesn’t end there! The summer house flooring was so flimsy that we’ve had to reinforce it with internal flooring, I paid extra for the flooring from Billy Oh, that was a waste on money! One of the panels was wrong one, my builder had to rectify this. Randomly we have an extra floor panel, there were no screws or nails, it’s cost us a boat load more just to get it right. My builder has advised me it is one of the worst summer house packs he’s had to work with, not good quality and he’s been doing this a long time.
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Do not use this company – I have been struggling for a couple of months with a leaking master apex shed. When delivered the parts were in wet looking bags, I hired a local carpenter to build the shed who found there were no instructions – it took a morning to get these. Panel fit was terrible with much of the wood warped or fitting poorly together. The floor was so thin it flexed and we had to purchase another £80 of plywood to lay over it to stiffen it up. Once up the leaks started at the bottom of the panel under the windows – I bought external grade sealant and filled the seams and joins on the floor. It still leaked – I emailed customer service in July no response. It’s now October and with stronger rain it is leaking more – I logged into the website and contacted customer service with the leaking issues – they asked and I sent pictures. They stated I should fill cracks with silicone sealant – I already had. They stated I had voided the warranty by laying plywood inside. They said it leaked as it was near trees – there is one small tree near the back left corner where it does not leak. They stated it needs better ventilation. Both Amanda and Carlo have been zero help on their customer resolution team. I have now had enough with this company but would recommend that others do not use them.
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I ordered the Billy Oh cabin. I booked the day off work to take delivery and less than 24hours before it was due to be delivered they advised it had been delayed at manufacturing and it wouldn’t be with me. When it finally turned up there where nearly 20 pieces missing (including the floor frame and roof beams) 2 deliveries later we may have all the pieces. Instructions are for the basic model so any upgrades you add in you have to figure for yourself. Customer service is shocking – false promises and after weeks of back and forth the offer of £100 compensation (I paid near £3500). Please avoid this company
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Run, just run. Do not stop, even to just have a look around. Abysmal quality is too good a description. You still here? – leave, NOW!
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I purchased a 12 x 10 T&G shed last year, it was delivered in June and arrived wet. On construction it became very evident that the build quality was poor and some panels distorted with gaps between the T&G. I took and sent photos at the time and was told to expect “movement” as this is a natural product. 11 months later this shed is a mass of gaps and distortion-I submitted my concerns and many photographs (available for all to see if asked for) but was told that as my chosen site for the shed (on a 6x 4 treated frame with damp membrane but seemingly too close to my neighbors fence which is at least 3ft. and because I hadn’t treated the shed since assembly that in effect it was my fault and therefore I had voided any guarantee. Frankly this is the worst shed I have ever bought, I have cheap fence panels in better shape than this appallingly badly made product. I would never recommend buying a shed from this company to even my worst enemy. I feel badly treated (excuse the pun) and dismissed. Apparently the company is happy to “sell” me spare parts !! that’s big of them!
Please ask me to send photos, it’s a horror show.
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I bought a Kent work shed from them and all their wood was either damaged or skewed on installation. Now trying to get another window from because this has found to be bent from the instance.
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Dreadful company. So many issues it’s hard to know where to start, so I won’t, but if you want an example of 90s bad customer service then this is it. I didn’t realise companies like this still exist.
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Whooops – I meant to give them ZERO for everything.
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I purchased a 12 x 8 T & G shed earlier this year. It was the biggest mistake I have ever made. The shed arrived wet with water in the bagged ancillary parts with the packing lists almost unreadable. The battens on each panel were not lined up with the edges and were either too long or too short. When assembled there were gaps between the joins and also gaps between the T&G boards. There were many knot holes in the boards. 3mm gaps between the boards on the doors. 2 sets of new doors were sent but were no better and were rejected . The shed was ordered with shingles for the roof and the instructions for the roofing said to use bitumen mastic and breathable membrane, neither of which were supplied. As the shed dried out dozens of gaps appeared between the boards and then when it rained water was running down the inside of the walls. Garden Buildings Direct said that as I had treated it I had accepted it and also that the shed was only water resistant, which it was not. They seemed get confused by water resistant and water proof. They refused to take the shed back, despite threat of legal action. Fortunately I had purchased it on a credit card and have now been refunded the cost by the credit card company in full.
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Brought a summer house 2 years ago still have problems with it had to have a new roof leaks rain ever where worst £1.500 I have ever spent just a complete waste of money I wish I never ever brought it more trouble then it’s worth .nothing fits together badly cut don’t buy .
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***Don’t, Just Don’t***. If your looking for a shed or any garden building PLEASE IGNORE and BILLYOH
If I could select 0 stars I would have.
I bought my BillyOh shed in March 2020 and its now December 2020 and its rotting inside. Even has mould!
When I was putting the shed together floor and most of the panels had gaps, customer service didn’t want to know. Customer Service is an joke.
Please just dont buy from these cowboys,
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Bought one of the metal sheds during the summer. Quality is ok for the price and seemed ok when put together. All parts were there. The problems have started since the very wet winter. Everything is soaked inside and can’t see where/how water is getting in. Looks set to be a project for the summer.
Anyone had same problems? How did you overcome them?
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bought the Outpost summerhouse in 2021. best described as “frustrating”. Delivery not on time and had to badger GBD numerous times. When it was delivered, the parts in the van were not as per the delivery docket, which was different again to the parts list on the plans.
Construction was cited as being 8-10 hrs for 2 people. it took that long purely to assemble the base due to the parts list woes. The panels were supposed to be pre-insulated – they weren’t – and needed additional timber to finish them as some support struts missing. Instructions were a challenge as needed to identify everything before any construction could start. No lengths specified on the plans for the base timbers, and these were supplied in multiple parts instead of single lengths, so had to make it up as we went along and construct a jig to make sure the timbers stayed true. Everything was delivered soaking wet, including the packs of timber wrapped in plastic, so needed drying before fixing. On the plus side, there were no parts missing. I could go on, but i think you get the picture.
In all, it took 2 weeks to construct fully (1 day for the base, 2 days to get the external walls and roof done) with numerous bouts of fettling to get stuff to fit fully. The rest of the time was spent doing the insulation, fixing the doors and windows and doing the internals. That being said, the way we built it, I now have a solid, weather proof (it has survived the feb 2022 storms with 75+ mph winds) building.
Would i buy it again? Maybe, if it wasn’t mine, as the jigsaw puzzle stress got to me. As I now know what to expect, the jigsaw puzzle would be eased quite a bit.
Would i recommend it? based on the finished product that we built, yes, but only if you can fix the bits that were not finished, are competent at working off-piste, can ignore their 8-10 hrs claim and can make the bits supplied work against their instructions.
Was it worth the hassle? At the time i hated it. A few months later and it’s a reserved yes as i don’t want the stress that came along with it when you realise what was delivered doesn’t match any other paperwork.
One hint – a nail gun will save you hours as nailing in ~220 bits of T&G purely in the base and roof is onerous with a hammer.
Finally, if you want a hassle free build, then this is most definitely NOT for you
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Wish I had found this page before I ordered from them! Really disappointed with their service. Product arrived with many missing pieces (instructions manual also had errors and inconsistencies and didn’t 100% match product and parts received so it took a very long time to work out what we actually needed that was missing). Reported it to BillyOh support team – slow replies each time and each time I receive the same sentence “this is very rare for us” – clearly it is not! They confirmed they would send replacement parts however gave me two differing time estimates overall stretching between 3-7 days (if the product was in stock). It’s been nearly a month and we still haven’t received it, despite me chasing it up several times and each time asking them to check and let me know if the parts are or are not available – every time they ignore this question though and no one has been able to tell me if the parts are available or not! I then had an email last week saying delivery is scheduled for today and they’d text me on the morning to confirm the 4 hour delivery window. I booked the day off work to be able to receive it (as their email stated they only deliver kerbside and our house is not next to the road so don’t want to risk anyone else taking it). However I have had no text updates at all and when I click on track my order, it says they haven’t even dispatched it! I’ve emailed again asking for their complaints procedure – although I wouldn’t be surprised if they ignore this too and repeat the line “this is very rare for us”! So absolutely disappointed and regret purchasing from them. Would not recommend.
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I am absolutely disgusted with the service my product is still in production 12 weeks down the line with the same answer it is still being made, yet on the website it said in stock and that delivery is between 1 and 8 weeks. No feedback I am constantly calling to get feedback. IF only I had read reviews first would never have bought from them – really disappointed
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