R
Rating: 2 out of 5
I'm afraid that I cannot recommend Balp based on the experience I had with them. The quality of the product once it was received was excellent, so I have no complaints there. However, the order process leading up to this was pretty bad. Balp took a long time to respond to communication, and they lost the details of our order on three separate occasions because of problems with their email system. We placed the order on 21st July. On 23rd July, Balp said that they would ship the order that week but this did not happen. Balp did not contact me to explain this delay – I had to contact them. They told me that they had a problem with a piece of equipment so the order would take a week longer. Once again, I heard nothing for over a week, before Balp contacted me to say they had lost the details of the engraving for our order and asked if I could send them again. Another week went by, and I heard nothing. I telephoned Balp on a couple of occasions and they promised to reply, but then didn't. Finally, Balp got back to me on 30th August to say that the required materials for our order were out of stock and that the order would take another three weeks! They also said they would add a complimentary item to the order to make up for the constant delays and problems. The order did arrive three weeks later, but they forgot to add the promised complimentary item. Finally, at no point in my long email correspondence with Balp did they mention that we would have to pay 20% UK customs import fees in addition to the French IVA which we already paid on the order. This seems like something they should have mentioned when we enquired with them about the cost of the order.
Response from Balp France
We appologize for the delay and trouble in delivery. We have moved to our new premises and it is true that we have had some processing delays. But the main thing is that the product you received is of excellent quality and we hope that this will compensate for our delays.