My short term Grippatank reel review.

[Reach For The Glass]

Hi guys thought id share my experiance with the grippatank reels and grippatank as a company. 

Now to save time ill paste what ive left as a review on there page.

Ordered 2 hose reels from grippatank. I knew there was a long wait for production which was fully acceptable.

After asking grippa numerous times about when the reels would be delivered i was given dates which kept getting pushed back. Mean while in between emails and phone calls regatding delivery i continually asked for info on fittings for the reels. I was always promised an answer, but from ordering to delivery this was never answered after being promised time and time again. After finally being given a delivery day i dismantled my system ready for install of new reels. I knew id lose a days work because i had to install the reels myself, again something i was fully aware of.

Delivery day came and went no reels arrived, gave it another day and no reels. Phoned grippa and spoke to pete, he assured me the reels would be with me that day before 4pm. You guessed it no reels. So i emailed to ask and recieved emails from oliver stating its delivery companies fault, which was not grippas fault and was rectified by oliver sending 2 new reels out for a pre 10am delivery next day and giving 10% off next order. I finally recieved the reels at 10am next day.

After unpacking the reels they seem good quality although not used yet i cannot comment on quality. After checking reels 1 handle is wrong and needs replacing which oliver said he will send to me. I also have no instructions for installation of quick release base amd reels. I asked oliver for a copy to be emailed over he said sure no problem. No instructions that day. Recieved email The next day asking if id recieved them as they had email issues with attachments, i said no but have still yet to recieve instructions or a reply from oliver, 3 days on now. Used facebook chat and asked for a copy to be sent or emailed over, response was 30 minutes later saying yes of course, 2 days later again no instructions or handle.

Ive found the whole process of dealing with grippa quite poor. What should of been 1 days lost work on my doing, has turned into a week and counting. Products look decent when and if stuff turns up, but should be at the price charged.

Would i use grippa again, maybe, ill let you when my handle and instructions turn up.!

** update.

well further to my review ive had discussions with oliver over my order and he was very understanding and apologetic to the situation. Offered a 10% discount at grippa on account.

i thought he dealt with this well and although some what annoyed and out of pocket i understood SOME of the errors , being the  courier service provided. Oliver assured me he would not stand for his staffs lack of transparency to customers going forward. All was well. 

* further update.

so reel handle turned up and it was the wrong handle.  They sent tge one i had which needed changing. Again i emailed oliver who promptly apologised and personally said he will pack and send a replacement again.  Good stuff.

In the meantime whilst working and using the reels, the handles became loose, reels did not spin true and felt wrong. I mentioned this to oliver who said  he would send handles with new spindles i think was the term used but dont take that as gospel. He said just tighten the handle nut with a 19mm socket and it will be fine until replacements arrive. Again all good, besides reels needing bits replacing after 2 days.

*update 

so after tightening the nuts they just become loose within a few rotations. Eventually tge handles just FELL OFF. Yep fell off. Now i have no reels. This was relayed to oliver who again apologised. 

New handles arrived. When i had a look they are not the same as the original design. I asked oliver what i was supposed to do to repair the reels which he explained. After taking bolts off of the plate which holds the handle on i couldnt remove the metal plate, as it fits super tight around the threads its mounted on.  I again asked oliver how to overcome this and was told they fit this way so the reel spins straight, i was told i need to remove all hose to get the allan key on the inside bolt head so i could loosen threads. (only on 1 of the reels i couldnt remove the bolts off of the other reel as they just spin, again remove all hose to get to inside to stop it spinning).

i havent spoken again with oliver, he has offered to have someone come out next day to do this work, collect reels to do the work.

In all honesty summarising it all up so far both reels and grippa as a company im extremely mixed.

i should not be having to take time off of work, lose my income, to repair reels that are a few days old and cost the best part of £450. I should have to work on them full stop. 

My reels are unusable and have been for 2 days and counting. I had no reels for around 5 days due to grippa misinforming me and delivery company messing up. 

Ive lost alot of money due to not having reels so cannot work, this is the hardest part. Spending £450 on 2 reels and have to replace , change and update parts is just totally unacceptable to me. 

when they worked for all of a day they seemed ok. Worth the money and wait, unsure as its early days.

oliver seems very passionate and this is a good thing for grippa, unfortunatley i cannot say the same for the rest of the staff i dealt with at grippatank.

* good points 

- reels seem of a good quality material

- holds lots of hose 

- easy to fit

- look nice

- olivers attitude to grippas errors.

* Bad points

- grippas reel has a handle design issue.

- delivery

- being misinformed throughout 

- cost 

- im really out of pocket 

I gave grippatank a 3* review and i feel this is generous, if i hadnt of dealt with oliver it would be a 1* experiance. 

Im happy to tag grippatank to this so they know and can feel free to respond of they wish and clarify what / if anything will be amended going forward as a company or with the reels.

@GrippaTANK

Thanks 

 

[scottish cleaning service]

Are the new reels electric?

 

[Reach For The Glass]

No maunal reels. 

 

[Pjj]

Are the new reels electric?

Dont think so he said there was problems with the handles , two electric reels would be double the price , I think the electric ones are out next month 

 

[Minty]

Were these reels tested before coming to market?

a 10% refund would be better than a discount off you're next order. 

Surprised to be honest. 

 

[scottish cleaning service]

Sometimes its better waiting till something new has been out a few years. The early birds begin to undertake free trials for the product. Don't think anyone on here would buy those reels until all the problems have been sorted.

 

[GrippaTANK]

Hi guys thought id share my experiance with the grippatank reels and grippatank as a company. 

Now to save time ill paste what ive left as a review on there page.

Ordered 2 hose reels from grippatank. I knew there was a long wait for production which was fully acceptable.

After asking grippa numerous times about when the reels would be delivered i was given dates which kept getting pushed back. Mean while in between emails and phone calls regatding delivery i continually asked for info on fittings for the reels. I was always promised an answer, but from ordering to delivery this was never answered after being promised time and time again. After finally being given a delivery day i dismantled my system ready for install of new reels. I knew id lose a days work because i had to install the reels myself, again something i was fully aware of.

Delivery day came and went no reels arrived, gave it another day and no reels. Phoned grippa and spoke to pete, he assured me the reels would be with me that day before 4pm. You guessed it no reels. So i emailed to ask and recieved emails from oliver stating its delivery companies fault, which was not grippas fault and was rectified by oliver sending 2 new reels out for a pre 10am delivery next day and giving 10% off next order. I finally recieved the reels at 10am next day.

After unpacking the reels they seem good quality although not used yet i cannot comment on quality. After checking reels 1 handle is wrong and needs replacing which oliver said he will send to me. I also have no instructions for installation of quick release base amd reels. I asked oliver for a copy to be emailed over he said sure no problem. No instructions that day. Recieved email The next day asking if id recieved them as they had email issues with attachments, i said no but have still yet to recieve instructions or a reply from oliver, 3 days on now. Used facebook chat and asked for a copy to be sent or emailed over, response was 30 minutes later saying yes of course, 2 days later again no instructions or handle.

Ive found the whole process of dealing with grippa quite poor. What should of been 1 days lost work on my doing, has turned into a week and counting. Products look decent when and if stuff turns up, but should be at the price charged.

Would i use grippa again, maybe, ill let you when my handle and instructions turn up.!

** update.

well further to my review ive had discussions with oliver over my order and he was very understanding and apologetic to the situation. Offered a 10% discount at grippa on account.

i thought he dealt with this well and although some what annoyed and out of pocket i understood SOME of the errors , being the  courier service provided. Oliver assured me he would not stand for his staffs lack of transparency to customers going forward. All was well. 

* further update.

so reel handle turned up and it was the wrong handle.  They sent tge one i had which needed changing. Again i emailed oliver who promptly apologised and personally said he will pack and send a replacement again.  Good stuff.

In the meantime whilst working and using the reels, the handles became loose, reels did not spin true and felt wrong. I mentioned this to oliver who said  he would send handles with new spindles i think was the term used but dont take that as gospel. He said just tighten the handle nut with a 19mm socket and it will be fine until replacements arrive. Again all good, besides reels needing bits replacing after 2 days.

*update 

so after tightening the nuts they just become loose within a few rotations. Eventually tge handles just FELL OFF. Yep fell off. Now i have no reels. This was relayed to oliver who again apologised. 

New handles arrived. When i had a look they are not the same as the original design. I asked oliver what i was supposed to do to repair the reels which he explained. After taking bolts off of the plate which holds the handle on i couldnt remove the metal plate, as it fits super tight around the threads its mounted on.  I again asked oliver how to overcome this and was told they fit this way so the reel spins straight, i was told i need to remove all hose to get the allan key on the inside bolt head so i could loosen threads. (only on 1 of the reels i couldnt remove the bolts off of the other reel as they just spin, again remove all hose to get to inside to stop it spinning).

i havent spoken again with oliver, he has offered to have someone come out next day to do this work, collect reels to do the work.

In all honesty summarising it all up so far both reels and grippa as a company im extremely mixed.

i should not be having to take time off of work, lose my income, to repair reels that are a few days old and cost the best part of £450. I should have to work on them full stop. 

My reels are unusable and have been for 2 days and counting. I had no reels for around 5 days due to grippa misinforming me and delivery company messing up. 

Ive lost alot of money due to not having reels so cannot work, this is the hardest part. Spending £450 on 2 reels and have to replace , change and update parts is just totally unacceptable to me. 

when they worked for all of a day they seemed ok. Worth the money and wait, unsure as its early days.

oliver seems very passionate and this is a good thing for grippa, unfortunatley i cannot say the same for the rest of the staff i dealt with at grippatank.

* good points 

- reels seem of a good quality material

- holds lots of hose 

- easy to fit

- look nice

- olivers attitude to grippas errors.

* Bad points

- grippas reel has a handle design issue.

- delivery

- being misinformed throughout 

- cost 

- im really out of pocket 

I gave grippatank a 3* review and i feel this is generous, if i hadnt of dealt with oliver it would be a 1* experiance. 

Im happy to tag grippatank to this so they know and can feel free to respond of they wish and clarify what / if anything will be amended going forward as a company or with the reels.

@GrippaTANK

Thanks 

 Thank you for taking the time to review your experience with GrippaTank. 

We appreciate you supporting our brand new product and hence why the free upgrades of the quick release base and roller guides (£149 + vat) were offered to you, even though your order was outside of the offer period.

As advertised on our website at the point of purchase, due to it being a brand new product we were processing pre-orders for dispatch once final production had been completed and that delivery times would be confirmed at the end of January. Whilst it has been extremely frustrating to delay a customers order, its important for us to ensure we are 100% happy with the product before it leaves us. Karen and the team have done their best to keep all of our customers updated with the production progress and any delivery delays on the new product, including a number of calls and emails to yourself each time we have had an update for you. Of course, at any time you were of course free to change your order for a stocked reel or request a full refund, but we appreciate your wish to take delivery of the new product, and thus your desire to wait for the final production quality approval.

We called you and left you voicemails regarding your hose connection queries, which were not ordered at point of order, but we opted to included with your order free of charge based on your patience with delivery time scale.

However, as you correctly mention, you sadly did have issues with our courier, which we apologise for - and for anyone would only compound the above production delays on our new build-to-order product. 

We have over 8000 customers who regularly and actively purchase from us, and 99% of all parcels get to our customers on time. Sadly on this occasion, along with the envitable new product production delays, you also experienced a delay in delivery once the goods were handed to our courier, despite recieving notifications from them to say your delivery was on schedule, and hence Peter providing you the information after confirming with our courier. Upon you reporting via Facebook that you had not recieved this delivery and seeking updates from our courier, we opted to send a replacement order of over £500 for Pre 10 delivery via our parcel carrier based on the urgency of your order, which we are pleased to see you then received on time the next day. We have since had the original order returned to us damaged and broken, and are currently seeking insurance compensation from our courier.

On the 22nd when reporting via email that one of your reel handles was not folding and that you needed mounting instructions, we asked for images on the same day, which you kindly supplied, and we confirmed a replacement handle would be sent along with supply copies of the instructions on the 22nd as well. We then followed up a day later with you to confirm if you had received this email, and sadly you had not. At this point we notified you of an issue we had been alerted to regarding our emails, with our apologies for this.

We have since forwarded to you copies of the above emails and instruction attachments and will call you on Monday morning when we reopen to ensure you have received a copy of these.

As with all our customers, we wish to develop a long term relationship, and for this reason we work very hard to look after our customers, and we are sorry to see that in this instance, we haven't reached your expectations. Our reputation is known for providing good quality UK manufacturered products with a geniune concern for offering good customer support.

We would actively encourage you in future to directly call us on 01223 790049 during office hours so we can promptly address any concerns you have as our friendly team are always very happy to help, including our onduty engineers who can call or Skype Video you and provide you any technicial support you require.

Further to the above:

- We are actively moving away from UK Mail this week based on a number of parcel delays. Whilst this means we will no longer be able to offer our customers 1 hour delivery slots, we feel that Fedex will be able to provide a more efficient service for our customers.

- As you are aware - the handle design issue has now been fixed (not one point contact, but now two points of contact) which resolves this issue you had of the spinning drum should the bulkhead fitting release. Any customers who only have the one point of contact have had replacement handles supplied to them OR the offer to uplift the reel  and replace accordingly.

- We are one of the only companies who offer on site service, hence our offer this morning to send an engineer to you tomorrow in order to refit the two handles - which is above 10 minutes work per reel to unbolt and refit.

We all very passionate about our product, and keen to resolve these issues for you - but we would ask you respond to our email as per this morning in order to help resolve the above accordingly for you.

As emailed earlier, we are happy to:
 

- Uplift the reels and swop out accordingly as discussed (but longer to resolve as discussed)

OR

- Send an engineer tomorrow to swop the handles previously provided.

We can be contacted on 01223 790049 or [email protected] in order to bring this to a swift resolution for you.

 

[Chris33]

Electric are out right now mines are being fitted at daqua right now

Sent using the Window Cleaning Forums mobile app

 

[Reach For The Glass]

@GrippaTANK

Thanks for having your say on my review.

Your response above is correct in places and inaccurate in others. 

As i discussed with oliver on the phone after leaving my review ( or yourself oliver if this is you giving input), messages and calls were left by grippatank AFTER i had to initiate contact on each occasion regarding fittings, delivery etc. These were simply responses to my questions, which in the end were never answered anyway as oliver agreed when i phoned him. 

Hence in my review why i mentioned that oliver is not happy with the way his staff acted and dealt with my order, as it became a string and carrot game, i asked you either ignored me, moved the goal posts or strung me along ( referring to delivery and fittings i requested information on.  I can confirm this also because you phoned me on the day i was promised DELIVERY of the reels to confirm i could now SELECT WHICH FITTINGS I REQUIRE ONLINE BEFORE REELS WILL BE DISPATCHED. Although they were due to be delivered within the following 5 hours, although they were not.

I think grippatank are missing the point here and keep confirming i will be happy with the reels once all issues are sorted, the REAL ISSUE here and reality is i could of bought 5 powerup reels from your biggest reel competitor for the money you have cost me in delays, build issues and false promises. 

 

[dmw]

Speaking as I find, I Had a driveway 500 litre Di fitted over a year ago and any problems or queries etc have been promptly replied to by Oliver or Peter even at weekends.
I've really been impressed by the service and sure they'll remedy your problems.
As I say I can only speak positively about Grippatank.

Sent using the http://Window Cleaning Forums mobile app

 

[Reach For The Glass]

Thats great. As i say oliver has been good in responding to my queries and concerns but this does not takeaway from the fact i have lost out here massivley.

Also as above they state that there are delays etc and the products have been tested to satisfactory standars before being delivered. Yet i find myself with 2 broken reels 2 days in...... who tested these and signed them off.

 

[kevinc250]

Thats great. As i say oliver has been good in responding to my queries and concerns but this does not takeaway from the fact i have lost out here massivley.

Also as above they state that there are delays etc and the products have been tested to satisfactory standars before being delivered. Yet i find myself with 2 broken reels 2 days in...... who tested these and signed them off.

roy orbison tested them

 

[kevinc250]

and peters and lee signed them off

 

[scottish cleaning service]

Electric are out right now mines are being fitted at daqua right now

Sent using the Window Cleaning Forums mobile app
 

Will be good to hear how you get on with them.

 

[Chris33]

Hi guys thought id share my experiance with the grippatank reels and grippatank as a company. 
 
Now to save time ill paste what ive left as a review on there page.
 
Ordered 2 hose reels from grippatank. I knew there was a long wait for production which was fully acceptable. After asking grippa numerous times about when the reels would be delivered i was given dates which kept getting pushed back. Mean while in between emails and phone calls regatding delivery i continually asked for info on fittings for the reels. I was always promised an answer, but from ordering to delivery this was never answered after being promised time and time again. After finally being given a delivery day i dismantled my system ready for install of new reels. I knew id lose a days work because i had to install the reels myself, again something i was fully aware of. Delivery day came and went no reels arrived, gave it another day and no reels. Phoned grippa and spoke to pete, he assured me the reels would be with me that day before 4pm. You guessed it no reels. So i emailed to ask and recieved emails from oliver stating its delivery companies fault, which was not grippas fault and was rectified by oliver sending 2 new reels out for a pre 10am delivery next day and giving 10% off next order. I finally recieved the reels at 10am next day. After unpacking the reels they seem good quality although not used yet i cannot comment on quality. After checking reels 1 handle is wrong and needs replacing which oliver said he will send to me. I also have no instructions for installation of quick release base amd reels. I asked oliver for a copy to be emailed over he said sure no problem. No instructions that day. Recieved email The next day asking if id recieved them as they had email issues with attachments, i said no but have still yet to recieve instructions or a reply from oliver, 3 days on now. Used facebook chat and asked for a copy to be sent or emailed over, response was 30 minutes later saying yes of course, 2 days later again no instructions or handle. Ive found the whole process of dealing with grippa quite poor. What should of been 1 days lost work on my doing, has turned into a week and counting. Products look decent when and if stuff turns up, but should be at the price charged. Would i use grippa again, maybe, ill let you when my handle and instructions turn up.!
 
** update.
 
well further to my review ive had discussions with oliver over my order and he was very understanding and apologetic to the situation. Offered a 10% discount at grippa on account.
 
i thought he dealt with this well and although some what annoyed and out of pocket i understood SOME of the errors , being the  courier service provided. Oliver assured me he would not stand for his staffs lack of transparency to customers going forward. All was well. 
 
* further update.
 
so reel handle turned up and it was the wrong handle.  They sent tge one i had which needed changing. Again i emailed oliver who promptly apologised and personally said he will pack and send a replacement again.  Good stuff.
 
In the meantime whilst working and using the reels, the handles became loose, reels did not spin true and felt wrong. I mentioned this to oliver who said  he would send handles with new spindles i think was the term used but dont take that as gospel. He said just tighten the handle nut with a 19mm socket and it will be fine until replacements arrive. Again all good, besides reels needing bits replacing after 2 days.
 
*update 
 
so after tightening the nuts they just become loose within a few rotations. Eventually tge handles just FELL OFF. Yep fell off. Now i have no reels. This was relayed to oliver who again apologised. 
 
New handles arrived. When i had a look they are not the same as the original design. I asked oliver what i was supposed to do to repair the reels which he explained. After taking bolts off of the plate which holds the handle on i couldnt remove the metal plate, as it fits super tight around the threads its mounted on.  I again asked oliver how to overcome this and was told they fit this way so the reel spins straight, i was told i need to remove all hose to get the allan key on the inside bolt head so i could loosen threads. (only on 1 of the reels i couldnt remove the bolts off of the other reel as they just spin, again remove all hose to get to inside to stop it spinning).
 
i havent spoken again with oliver, he has offered to have someone come out next day to do this work, collect reels to do the work.
 
In all honesty summarising it all up so far both reels and grippa as a company im extremely mixed.
 
i should not be having to take time off of work, lose my income, to repair reels that are a few days old and cost the best part of £450. I should have to work on them full stop. 
 
My reels are unusable and have been for 2 days and counting. I had no reels for around 5 days due to grippa misinforming me and delivery company messing up. 
 
Ive lost alot of money due to not having reels so cannot work, this is the hardest part. Spending £450 on 2 reels and have to replace , change and update parts is just totally unacceptable to me. 
 
when they worked for all of a day they seemed ok. Worth the money and wait, unsure as its early days.
 
oliver seems very passionate and this is a good thing for grippa, unfortunatley i cannot say the same for the rest of the staff i dealt with at grippatank.
 
* good points 
- reels seem of a good quality material
- holds lots of hose 
- easy to fit
- look nice
- olivers attitude to grippas errors.
 
* Bad points
- grippas reel has a handle design issue.
- delivery
- being misinformed throughout 
- cost 
- im really out of pocket 
 
I gave grippatank a 3* review and i feel this is generous, if i hadnt of dealt with oliver it would be a 1* experiance. 
 
Im happy to tag grippatank to this so they know and can feel free to respond of they wish and clarify what / if anything will be amended going forward as a company or with the reels.
 
[mention=1844]GrippaTANK[/mention]
 
Thanks 

I am sorry to hear this though. I also had some initial delays in my build date, communication was fine for me but it is worrying because we all usually know grippa as a company with great quality and service. Not to say that's changed, but all us repeat customers will all be hoping things are taken care of swiftly with these new supplies.

Sent using the Window Cleaning Forums mobile app

 

[spruce]

and peters and lee signed them off

Now you are showing your age. :1f603:

I wonder how many cleaners remember that duo? I can't say that they were my favourite duo by any means but their mention did give the old brain cells a bit of a stir. He always sounded as though he was forcing himself to sing.

I didn't know what happened to them until I looked them up. I see he died of a heart attack before we arrived back in the UK and his daughter was murdered in 2006 by her boyfriend at a caravan park - how sad. But it did point to the obvious that they didn't make much money from their singing.

They sung the Elvis Priestley song Suspicious Minds a few years after Elvis did. It wasn't a patch on Elvis' version so nothing became of it. They got a bit of air time in Africa but not much. 

Anyway, Lennie and Lisa, may you both rest in peace.

 

[Reach For The Glass]

Just an update. 

Reels working spot on now. Alex personally arranged to drive 300+ miles to me to sort everything out.

I can honestly say lovely genuine guy who showed real commitment to his buisness and most of all his customers.

For me i wouldnt hesitate again to buy equipment from @GrippaTANK and i would recommend it to anyone. 

I really appreciated his efforts and i hope that anyone who read this post and had doubts about using him or his products can now rest easy and order from them.

Yes i am out of pocket by some way, this is the bit that still eats away at me, but the reels work. 

Again Oliver thanks alot and im glad everything has ended on a high'ish note. 

 

[Green Pro Clean Ltd]

Just an update. 

Reels working spot on now. Alex personally arranged to drive 300+ miles to me to sort everything out.

I can honestly say lovely genuine guy who showed real commitment to hos buisness and most of all his customers.

For me i wouldnt hesitate again to buy from @GrippaTANK and i would recommend them to anyone. 

I really appreciated his efforts and i hope that anyone who read this post and had doubts about using him or his products can now rest easy and order from them.

Again Oliver thanks alot and im glad everything has ended on a high note. 

Glad the finally for you sorted out but what's to prevent someone else  losing a weeks work in the same boat waiting for someone to drive over and get it all fixed for them?   

You say you'd order again..... would you allow for a week or so of loss of earnings next time? 

Purely curious. 

 

[Part Timer]

I think you posting all the facts on here probably spurred their response. At the end of the day everyone in business understands that  :1f4a9:  happens. The difference between good and bad businesses is how they respond. Personally I would still be wary of a company that only responded after I posted my problems on an industry website. 

I think their problems stems from rushing out a new product. 

 

[Reach For The Glass]

@Green Pro Clean Ltd i understand what you mean but after speaking with Oliver i genuinley think that lessons have been learnt at their end. 

He understands that what has happened is fully unacceptable and i believe he is taking steps to ensure this does not happen again, to anyone.

As i say i cannot take away from the fact that these reels have cost me £2000+ due to lost income and the original cost of the reels. My point here was that i think Oliver was genuinely disappointed that my experiance had happened and took steps to personally try and resolve it. 

Yes some companies may have dealt with it in another way, either positively or negatively. 

Im really happy the reels work and that i can finally work again. BUT i am still annoyed at what i have actually lost in the process, £1500 in work is not small change. 

I suppose in future if this scenario happened again to someone, just know that your equipment will be fixed but you will not be compensated for any part of your lost income, regardless of who is fault. This may be there downfall. 

 

[J and S]

No spare reel so you could at least carry on working?