“I ordered a police box from the customiser a few months ago, loved it at first, but then it rained...I’ll get to that in a moment.
First off, communication was patchy. I was told on a couple of occasions that they would be shipping by the end of the week. The end of the week came and went and no update. When I contacted them I was told it was a little more complicated to build than previous models they had built. Ok...would have been nice to have been told that. Again, given another “it’ll be ready by....” email only for the date to come and go. Again I had to email and ask what was happening and was then told there was a shortage of plastic for the windows....again ok, would have been nice to have been told that instead of having to chase
It up.
Now on to the final product. There was quite the snafu getting it to me, but that was the fault of the haulier. At first I loved it, I built it and sealed it and it looked great. But then it rained and the interior turned into an indoor shower. The problem was that despite being told the police box would be going outside, they painted it with one coat of standard interior paint, it wasn’t even waterproof. Water inevitably got into cracks etc and many of the joints opened. Also the paint, since it wasn’t waterproof, started to flake off in several areas. In total I had to spend over £200 on exterior paint, liquid rubber and sealant to fill in the cracks. I contacted Ian about the shoddy paint job and was given the proverbial shrug of the shoulders, no explanation was offered. The fact that they didn’t use exterior waterproof paint on something they knew would be going outside is simply staggering. Even the roof, which was supplied as one prefab piece, leaked in several places due to the non waterproof nature of the paint used.
Also....the base of the police box split in two of the corners, and splits appeared in three of the support posts, which required more repair work. I raised this issue and again wasn’t given an answer. Ian said he would look into it but that was several weeks ago. He did imply that I could have caused the beams to split had I hammered them into position....which they weren’t. This doesn’t explain why the base split though.
Overall, this cost just over £4K and, despite initially being happy with the product, I now dread going into it after it’s been raining as inevitably another leak has appeared. £4k is a lot to spend on what turned out to be an item not fit for purpose.
Edit: The owner claims that the faults with this police box are because of me assembling it....
Fact: The roof was supplied as one unit, no assembly required. It leaked. I fail to see how this could possibly be my fault.
Fact: They, despite knowing it was to be placed outside, didn't use exterior waterproof paint. They used one coat of regular interior paint. But I guess thats my fault too....”
