Welshslateproducts Reviews 80

I ordered two pieces of slate for a fireplace from welsh slate products, two square pieces with bull-nose edges that should be simple enough to produce, but this did not turn out to be easy at all, with loads of problems from start to finish.

I should have known when Ben did not send any invoice out until I chased him for it several times, also he emailed to ask if it was 20mm or 30mm slate even if this was clearly mentioned in the order. After I paid it took a long time when I heard nothing, after chasing and nagging suddenly he said it was made and shipped, when I asked for tracking number he said he did not know "as the person who sent it was not there", clearly a lie. After chasing him further with mails/calls and going ballistic at him on the phone he then said "he will make the slate again", lie number two, as he never made it in the first place. Then the courier company messed up and it was delivered a week overdue, to be fair not Ben's fault.

Judging from all the problems so far, and from other reviews here I did fear that the slate would maybe not meet my expectations, but as I had nagged and chased this guy so many times I thought that at least the measurements would probably be correct, I was wrong.

When I opened the parcel I could see that he had just ignored most of the instructions I made for the order. The slate was not bull-nosed at all but just cut straight, further and even worse he got the measurement totally wrong on the one piece as it should have been 23 cm wide but he made it 2 cm wide! I even mentioned on the order that this was a piece meant for in front of a fire place, who put a 2 centimeter wide slate in front of the fire place? Normally for a "craftsman" a bell should ring and the expression "double check order" should have popped up but no. I was left with one piece I could possible use but it was not what I wanted and had ordered, and one piece straight for the bin.

I paid £195 for the slate, a total waste of money.

I feel sorry for this guy as he clearly must be very confused and clearly not capable of reading the simplest instructions, I am not sure how he makes his living doing this as he must get at least 90% of the orders wrong, not to mention the ones that he never actually make and ship, if I should believe the other reviews here.

I didn't even bother asking for a replacement order as I had more than enough and decided to order from a proper company that actually deliver what you order, in the time frame that is promised.

What ever you do; do not order from this "company". The only reasonable impressive side of it is maybe the website, the rest is useless and a waste of time and money, actually the feeling i'm left with is the same as when you get scammed.

Found Welsh Slate Products via a google search and contacted them via their own contact page. Initial contact was very quick and Ben confirmed that he would check his stock but was confident that he should have enough pieces of the rare Welsh Red Heather slate that we required for our new hearth. Whilst browsing the site my partner commented on the part that said "Business as usual" which made us wary, and then lead us to check reviews on the business via this site - which were mostly not favourable. Upon further contact with Ben I stated that I was not willing to make a deposit in the form of a bank transfer with no guarantees. I then suggested making a payment via credit card or Paypal. Ben rejected this, but when I started to pull out of the deal he compromised by allowing me to pay by Paypal to his partner's account. I duly done this, but as payment to a company where he incurred charges (which I gave him extra for) so I would still have buyer protection that would have been forfeited if I had gifted the money to his account. The order was now placed. The delivery time was pushed back several times until it ended being 2-3 weeks late and I had to take a 150 mile detour on my family holiday to ensure that I received the product that was ordered. Also at the time of order I placed an order for 6 placemats and coasters which I paid a deposit for when collecting the hearth. I have never been able to get hold of Ben since I met him that day, and no messages have been returned.
The slate itself is lovely, although a few chips and scrapes on the surfaces have slightly disappointed me. Also the cut edges do not meet perfectly.
In summary I did receive a very difficult to find product but the transaction was far from easy.

Ordered a hearth from Ben at Welsh Slate products, it seemed reasonably priced and we met him on a job where he was installing a slate bench. At the time i sat with my wife laughing at his attempts to use a spirit level, this should have warned me that this man should not have been trusted! Within days of placing our order it became clear to us that it was not going to be a straight forward process, not answering calls, asking for us to ring him back etc etc. Eventually getting all sorts of excuses about delivery. Promising to drop our product off then not hearing anything else. A compulsive liar! Do not deal with this man!

Back in July 2014 (sorry, I have only just discovered how to make an unsolicited Trustpilot review) I placed a demanding order with Ben Edge. It was for a circular (or if that was too expensive, hexagonal) piece of reddish slate about 50 cm in diameter and about 2 cm thick, in a smooth matt (unpolished) or riven finish. It was to mark a grave, and colour and texture were of the essence. No-one else had been able to help. Ben really listened, and sent me a sample for colour and texture assessment and a quotation for the two shapes. In due course the item arrived, in perfect condition because so well packed. I am delighted with it and with Ben's attentive, reasonably priced service.

I read with horror the comments made by TB after I placed my order of cills with Ben Edge. I have to say that I find the comments totally at odds with my experience. Ben went out of his way to ensure I received my product so that it was exactly what i wanted. He took photographs of the product showing the measurements and quality and sent them to me before I made payment via Paypal. There was a slight delay on the delivery, but Ben paid an additional £50 out of his pocket to ensure I had the products the next day. They arrived exactly as he said they would and the cills look stunning - even my bricky was impressed with the quality and finish of the cills. Buy with confidence from Ben - use Paypal if you are a little cautious - but remember that people generally post negative comments but rarely post positive comments. I would highly recommend Ben and Welsh Slate Products.

I placed an order for slate kitchen worktops and paid half the amount as deposit (£725.00) on 25.01.2013.
I was told that the order was ready and he required the balance to be paid before he would ship the next day, so I paid a further £840.00 on 10.02.2013.
When nothing arrived on the promised day of delivery I rang and was told that actually nothing had ever been dispatched because his machine had broken down. A week later I was told that he hadn't got his machine going as he was now moving premises. I was told that the last piece that he was making would be delayed, but he would send everything that was ready. Nothing arrived! I asked him to refund my money, but he said that he couldn't as he didn't have any money as the move had cost him more than he had planned. In April 2013, he said he would get another slate supplier to complete the order. The next time I contacted him he seemed unable to remember which excuses he had given me previously. After that he stopped communicating and by the end of November 2013 I concluded that he was a lost cause, so I placed an order with Berwyn Slate and finally got a first rate product fitted before Christmas.
It's now June 2014 and Welsh Slate Products have never returned my £1565.
According to the previous review it looks like he is still trading.
How do I get my money back?

I needed a bespoke piece of slate for my hearth which had to be polished and rounded as well.
Ben talked me thought the various options as well as sending numerous photos to help illustrate the different types of slate he could provide.
My piece of slate was cut and sent the next day.
What more could you ask for?
And oh the price was reasonable too!
Fantastic.

Wanted a single piece of high quality Penrhyn slate finished to our specification. This we got and it was done the very same day. Can't say fairer than that!

Welshslateproducts came highly recommended to us when we were searching for a slate kitchen of a high standard.
We searched various companies but are so glad we went with this company as the standard of work is impeccable.
We got a speedy response to all e mails and phone calls, was given a reasonable price considering the level of expertise.
Once we paid our deposit, the order was put through, and we were given a time scale which was kept to, give or take a day or so.
Distance was also of no issue which impressed us thoroughly! Would highly recommend to others.

We were looking for a blue slate hearth for our narrowboat. [Name] quoted us a quick delivery and a very reasonable price. We visited North Wales to review the materials to be used and were not disappointed by the final delivered product. The design called for tightly cut curves and a polished finish. The delivered hearth was exactly as the template we supplied. We were not worried about white veining, after all they add character to this natural product but in the end the chosen piece was perfectly blue. The only thing letting [Name] down in our case was delivery, it was 4 days late and had us on tenterhooks for a while. Thanks [Name].

Ordered a slate hearth in two sections. The quote was considerably less than other companies, I received a quick response, and the hearth was ready within a couple of days of me accepting the quote, instead of the 4-6 weeks lead time quoted by other companies. I live in the area, and was able to collect the hearth myself, also saving time.

The only minor negative point was that the ordering process wasn't all that straightforward, involving a few back and forth emails to clarify things, as the emails I received were rather short and occasionally confusing. However, he was quick to respond to queries.

We have been planning our kitchen for 7 years and had a good idea about slate.We had 6 companies quoting and went with [name] as
1.good price
2.pleasant on the phone
3.slate described on his website as ' having natural markings (gold/silver flecks in blue grey slate, green spots in heather slate' (this was specifically checked over the phone as not having stripes)

All was good until he arrived with the product-This however was completely and absolutely unlike his website description! The pieces-only measuring 230cmx60 and 90cmx60-had 3 large bright white and irregular marks going across the whole section(see below)

[name] told my wife that one customer had burst into tears when he had arrived with her slate which had similar marks! The pieces were not installed and taken away the same day by [name].This was on the 22nd March

Since then [name] response has been to ask us to pay much more money for what he now calls memorial slate. He has also changed his website to included the words 'or White/green stripes.' ([name] we have screen shots of before and after!!)
He has refused to respond to any emails and refuses to answer his phone.Sadly we, like others who have reviewed here, have no choice but to take legal action
Best advice -avoid dealing with this company
We are now going with another welsh company who comes highly recommended

I went with [name] as he was slightly cheaper than elsewhere, but more importantly he told me that he could have the worktop fitted within 2-3 weeks. We agreed to go ahead on the 22nd September.

What followed were many, many phone calls and emails to [name]([name]didn't initiate contact once) and many stories about how the slate was nearly done, how motors had gone on the van, and how he was waiting for a polishing bit from Germany.

By this point it was early November and I had lost all faith that I would ever see the worktop or my deposit back. However, a relative who lives in the area went to see [name] to talk about when it would be delivered. After that it was all systems go and the worktop was actually got from the quarry and finished.

The worktop was finally installed on the 25th November - 1 1/2 months after it should have been. It's a nice worktop, cut precisely, well made and looks great so in that respect I am happy. However in pretty much every other regard I can't recommend the experience at all. Without the intervention of my relative I feel like I could still be waiting for the slate. I would recommend that you choose a different company.

Ordered slate walling in june. [Name] asked for payment on dispatch and then came the usual excuses. Firstly it was courier problems; basically the courier can't deliver stuff that isn't there. Constantly chasing up [Name] and talking to trading standards. So far i've recieved about a third of the order, some of which doesn't meet with the sample i was shown. Best advice is to pay a bit more and order from a quarry who'll show you samples and let you see the material on the pallets before dispatch. This is what i'll be doing when i order the paving.

Ordered the Slate for my hearth on Wednesday and went to pick it up on Saturday,great to deal with, top product

After weeks of excuses and being unable to contact [Name], I posted a review on trustpilot. This seemed to stir [Name] into action and I did eventually receive the hearth. It is ok and we are relieved to receive anything, but the front hearth is 10mm taller than the back hearth (I was told it would be 35mm - one is 30mm and one is 40mm - so I suppose on average he was right) There are quite a few chips in it and the edge is not finished as we requested. Having said that, we do like the look of the markings and can live with the issues. I'd agree with the other reviewer though - it's best to pay a bit more and give yourself more time to get slate products. Buying my hearth was not a stress free purchase!

I've had the same as all the others, excuse after excuse.
Still the courts are now onto it, the baliff's are next!!!!

Anyone want to join in the case with me?

TERRIBLE COMPANY.

RIPPED US OFF.

HE WAS ABUSIVE ON THE PHONE.

AVOID AVOID AVOID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Name] was very very keen to take my money from me on 24-05-2011 (13 months ago) but as soon as he had taken my money and promised that the kitchen worktops would be delivered in the following two weeks, he became very quiet and evasive and ignored my texts and phone calls for days and sometimes up to a week at a time, Then followed a thousand different excuses as to why he hadn't produced anything yet, some of which were ridiculous and later turned out to be complete lies.
After 3 months we had to move into our new house as everything else was ready except the kitchen worktops, and on the rare occasions that I got hold of [Name] he would always just make up another lie and say that he would deliver next week (always next week!!). we had to use pieces of wood as temporary kitchen worktops which was a nightmare as they soon started to get damp and wet and mouldy as they were always only meant to be temporary for a very short time until the slate was delivered.
The months rolled on and more and more excuses and lies from [name].

I posted a review on here after a few months and he actually swore at me down the phone and threatened that I would get nothing, and HE EVEN had the outright cheek and nerve to try and tell me that I had lost him work, which I found unbelievable, not only was he content to let us down so badly and make us go through all that stress waiting for months and months with no slate with the constant worry that we had lost all our money, but he actually seemed to believe that it was my fault he had lost work because I had posted a review after about 7 months of receiving nothing, not his fault for treating us and lots of other people so badly!

This basically says it all about [Name], eventually he said that two of the pieces were ready but didn't deliver them so in January (8 months after full payment) we drove to North Wales to collect the two pieces, he seemed to think he was being incredibly generous giving us £100 back even though it cost us far more than that to travel to north Wales, but we were so worried and stressed about it by then that we felt we had no choice. Of coarse he promised that the rest would be finished and delivered very soon, and of coarse it wasn't and lots more lies and excuses followed. Another 5 months later and still nothing came, I told [Name] that me and my partner were getting married, and knowing that he would let us down I gave him a date 2 months forward of our actual wedding date and of coarse he let us down, then when it started getting near to our actual wedding date I told him that it had to be delivered at least a month before as I needed time to finish our kitchen that we had been waiting a year now to finish once the slate arrived, but nothing except more lies and excuses came.
So I had no choice but to take time off work to drive to North Wales to make him finish the job I warned him a month before that I would do this in the vein hope that he would deliver and then kept warning him that I would have to drive up there so he had plenty of time to finish the job. But when I got to North Wales the slate was not finished so I had to sleep in my work van (I could not afford another option) until it was done, even with me in North Wales [Name] did not focus on the job, and I tried to refuse to leave without all the bits of slate he owed me and my diesel money, but he was so abusive towards and so un-organized that eventually I had to leave with what I could and two cheques from him (for a measly £200) that he immediately cancelled so with my loss of earnings I am down (£571) which he refuses to pay me any of at all, and he still owes me some upstands, a window cill and a house sign that I will never get.
Not only that but there are several serious problems with the slate that he has given me and a kitchen fitter would be ashamed to install worktops of this quality.
The sink cut out is totally wrong on all four corners.
the different worktops are different thickness's so do not join without a 5 mil step which looks terrible.
some of the worktops are bevel edged as I ordered but some are pencil edge so do not match each other.
the upstands are different heights so look terrible where they meet each other.
one of the worktops was too long so I had to cut it myself causing some chipping.
There are white stripes in one worktop which I did not want and was not in his website when I ordered the slate so should not have been given.
He didn't even put the long fragile sink cut out piece on a double pallet like he promised he would, so I had to construct a wooden support just to move it without risk of it breaking which of coarse he would have blamed on me.

I just cannot believe that he is still in business, I am going to report him to trading standards and take him to court, but my main concern is that after everything we have been through with this and the amount of stress and financial loss he has caused us, I feel that I should do everything I can to try and warn others away from suffering the same fate in his hands.
I am a reasonable person and I would actually feel differently about it all if he had at least tried to compensate us for what he has put us through but he has done the total opposite because he is only out for himself. [Name] cancelling the cheques he did give me for 2 hundred pounds is the last straw because I am not on a very high income so after loosing nearly a weeks work having to drive up to North Wales I was relying on the money to keep my family's head above water this week while trying to make up for what I lost last week but now I'm over drawn and will loose even more money thanks to [Name], and he doesn't care one bit, just sends me abusive text messages instead.
I just hope he goes out of business soon as the world will be a much better place for unsuspecting genuine people like myself the sooner he is not using other peoples money to keep a business going that he is clearly not capable of running successfully, Why should he get away with using our money to fail?!?!? Frankly it sickens me, and he should me deeply ashamed of himself but he shows no remorse whatsoever.

UPDATE** It is now 3 years since I paid [name]for the kitchen tops, it took me over a year and two trips to north Wales to get them, and when I did they were all made wrong. I now have a CCJ (which cost me another £300) against Welshslateproducts and he owes me over £3,000 for replacement and costs. Even though I have High court sheriffs acting on my behalf, he continues to avoid paying me. Trading standards have been in contact with me as they were also perusing him because he owes a lot of other customers a lot of money (they said into tens of thousands)!!

TERRIBLE COMPANY.

RIPPED US OFF.

ABUSIVE ON THE PHONE.

AVOID AVOID AVOID!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Amazed this 'company' is still in business. If looking to place an order, spend the extra few pounds with another company so you dont lose thousands in the long run