I have been beavering away finishing of a large area of standard grooved decking which I built at the back garden of my house and I have to report that the Ronseal decking stain and patent applicator does not live up to the hype that we get via the adverts.

If Ronseal want to save their great reputation they are going to have to do something about the points I made in my e-mail to them today.

Here is the e-mail verbatim:

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Dear customer services team....

I have just covered a large area of standard grooved decking with your "Perfect Finish decking stain" and while the stain itself is not too bad, ( could be more waterproof when dry ), your patent decking applicator sold in the rectangular pack is abysmal.

Ronseal are famous for their "it does what it says on the tin" slogan but I have to tell you now that the applicator DOES NOT do what it says on the tin.

I found that after a few boards the applicator pad became compressed and matted and the ability for it to get into the grooves of the decking failed miserably. You say in your useage information that the design of the pad stops "pooling" of the stain in the grooves but in actual fact it not only encourages "pooling" but after a while does not get into the grooves at all.

I will go further and say that for the cost of the full applicator pack and stain at £28.98 from B&Q it is very expensive for value and the refill tin at £25.98 is outrageous - also at B&Q. I saved almost ten pounds by buying my next tin of Ronseal stain at a builder's merchant's.

As I try to suggest ways to fix bad products like this I woud like to suggest that the applicator pad be made out of short bristles like a normal paint pad and then I would think the stain WOULD get into the grooves of standard decking and "pooling" might then not occur.

As I own and run a very busy consumer forum on the site http://www.rippedoffbritain.forumotion.net I will be making comment about this product on my board.

I await a response from you at your earliest convenience and I will report this response on my website too.

Regards.....

Paul R. H ( "Papaumau" on the site ).

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Well folks, I guess we will just have to wait and see the response I get from Ronseal.

Watch this space !

Wo-hoo, cat amongst the pigeons time I think .

Don't know about Ronseal but I can tell you that prices at B & Q are getting seriously high.

Yes Angie, prices at B&Q and at the likes of Homebase and Focus ARE getting far too expensive. They are starting to price themselves out of the game. If I did not get a 10% "crinkly" discount at B&Q I would not shop there at all.

Sadly the builder's merchants do not have the same CHOICE of products as the likes of B&Q have.

Here is the verbatim answer to my e-mail to Ronseal customer services - as promised:

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Dear Paul

Thank you for your email. I am sorry to hear of the problems that you have
experienced and of your dissatisfaction with our product.

I am surprised to hear of the problem that you have experienced as we have
many satisfied customers who have used the Perfect Finish applicator.
Nonetheless I can appreciate the frustration that this has caused.

We do not wish to have dissatisfied customers and so under the
circumstances I would be happy to arrange a refund for the cost of the
Perfect Finish applicator. Please send the receipt for this product to
Ronseal to facilitate this.

We always welcome feedback on our products, and so please be assured that
your comments will be looked into and passed on to our Research &
Development team.

If you have any further comments then please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind Regards

Nick Holland

Ronseal Technical Services

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And here is my verbatim reply to their reply:

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Dear Nick.....

Thankyou for your timely reply to my e-Mail.

I will not apply for a refund on the applicator as the few pounds difference
between the applicator cost and the full cost of the stain and rectangular
container + applicator is just not worth the hassle.

I am more interested in the fact that my suggestion will go to your R & D
team so that this flawed applicator will be redesigned and the "does what it
says on the tin" slogan will be eventually upheld.

As someone who is very experienced in consumer matters - having run my
consumer website for many years - I must comment that in the main, people who
are dissatisfied with any product seldom complain in Britain. ( I call it
"the British disease" ) and this is a trend that really needs to be
addressed. I try my best to address such matters via my website but even
with help British people in the main are just not willing to complain due to
the embarrassment or the hassle factor.

The point here is that just because you have not had floods of complaints
about your ineffectual applicator pad does not mean that it is actually
doing the job that it is intended to do. IT DOES NOT !

I spoke to my local ice-cream man - and personal friend - about this and he
co-incidentally said exactly the same about the applicator pad and now he,
like me, is going to have to finish the job on his knees with a paint brush.

I will post your "explanation" and offer on my website !

Regards.....

Paul.

Typical !

I thought that I should inform your readers that I found an exact replica of this product at eleven quid a pop at Wicks. They also offered a "patent" long-handled applicator and long fibred pad at a very reasonable price. Much cheaper than the Ronseal version.

I think that Ronseal are now trading on their name to far too high a degree !

"Shop around" is always a good way to go !

Well done paps at least you wrote to them but:

"I am surprised to hear of the problem that you have experienced as we have
many satisfied customers..."

Well I never. We always have many satisfied customers....the ones who don't complain but you you nasty grubby git had to complain didn't you!!

Andrew

Yes Andy and it is THAT exact attitude that gets people's backs up when they report a flaw in a product and they are virtually told that they are imagining things.

As a consumer champion I watch - or used to watch Watchdog on the BBC - until it was dropped - and that exact stance is the one that used to appear time after time on the show.

The offending company, whether their product was crap or their customer services were crap, always seem to come away with the argument that "we have thousands of satisfied customers and very few complaints" and we have to take their word for it as we never hear about the DIS-SATISFIED customers until these companies are forced to admit to them.

The final nail in the coffin of British consumer services is the fact that sales telephone lines are always answered in a few seconds and customer service telephone lines are either answered very slowly - if they are answerd at all - or when they eventually ARE answered they always seem to be put on hold or the enquirer is given the run-around until they either give up or lose their temper.

Yes Andy, this IS a pet peeve of mine as it always seems to be the case. Customer services in Britain are abysmal and it is only the visionary companies that ever give a decent service here. They are few and far between !

More power to your elbow Paps !

I have often wondered how many tins of paint Ronseal will have to sell to pay for their very expensive advertising campaigns ?

Mind you at THAT price they will be able to put a large percentage of the cost to advertising. I bet their executive directors and their marketing types are getting a fair whack too.

I also wonder at what point the law of diminishing returns kicks in ?

I mean by that that the more expensive their wares are the fewer people there are that are going to be able to afford to buy them and that is a vicious circle where loss of repetitive sales, because of high cost, is bound to be self-defeating.

Yeah Zath, I have considered those points as well !

Interesting story Paps !

I wonder what Ronseal think about the retailers - on the one hand overcharging for their product, as with B & Q and on the other hand their RRP being cut by a tenner at Wicks ?

Either they have a marvellous markup from the intrinsic cost of making the product or they have a very low wholesale price and allow the retailers a free hand when setting retail prices.

It certainly looks to me as if B & Q are trading on their name and on Ronseal's name, and at least they will until they get a BAD name.

Actually Angie...resale price maintenance or what is commonly known as "price fixing" is illegal even if many companies continue to do it.

At least we CAN find better prices if we shop around for Ronseal or Ronseal-copy products.

I looked at the price and the layout of the Wicks version and was amused to find that at a distance the containers look very much like a Ronseal container, ( same oblong shape and similar artwork ). I am sure that that is not accidental either.