Arrogant
I think this company needs to improve its customer service - rather than feigning shock that anyone should complain about its prices it should aim to convince the customer that its prices are fair. When I questioned the pricing the individual in question who up until that moment had been obsequiously civil, quickly turned aggressive and made illegal threats unless I paid them within 10 days. Such illegal antics only decrease one's willingness to comply with their ego-driven demands.
I note the responder to Janet's review of Babylon Plants (who also had the misfortune to deal with the same individual and who by pure chance happens to live in my street), claims my case is unrelated yet both Janet and I dealt with the same person. Both companies clearly employ this individual and are based at the same address. The only difference seems to be that Babylon Design does not have any terms and conditions and offers no guarantee of any sort – allowing said individual to ride roughshod over customer service. I have no issues with any of the rest of the team that I have met. He knows, and I know, that at no point did I even hint that I would not pay for the work done. It's just a cheap ruse to take attention away from the real issue: arrogance.
In terms of said individual’s breaking the law - demanding that I pay in full before the work is done due to unfounded "misgivings" about the customer is illegal, as is threatening the customer that if they don't pay within 7 days they will be pursued. There are no signed contracts agreeing this meaning that I have 30 days from the date or receiving the invoice. Funny thing is it makes no difference to me whether I pay today or in 30 days. But illegal threats are a different matter altogether.
Date of experience: 23 February 2023
Reply from Babylon Plants
Tom is at this point just trolling, so I shall just repost my reply to his original review which was taken down.
Tom is conflating his quote for works agreed with Babylon Design 6 months ago with our trade nursery. Tom was given a quote in August 2022 by Babylon Design, agreed it and confirmed it again in November & then January 2023. On completion of the works, Tom decided he would try impose a price on us plucked from the internet. We have simply asked that he pay his invoice as per the quote agreed 3 times. We will take legal action should he not pay the sum agreed. We had asked him to pay in advance because we had misgivings about him. Misgivings that proved correct & indicate this was premeditated. We have threatened nothing illegal & been calm in the face of his ridiculous claims and demands. We have furnished him with other prices from the industry, most of them more expensive than our prices and quote. Sadly it appears that Tom is a complete chancer seeking to get a lower price by posting defamatory reviews after the work was completed. No Illegal threats were made, Tom threatened to not pay, Babylon design pointed out that there was no legal grounds for him not to pay, and failure to do so would result in legal action. (Rick Bennett, Babylon Design)
Update 17/4/23, Just to clarify with Tom's updates, they are 2 separate companies, they have entirely different teams, different management etc etc. Both are part-owned by Rick, but I'm sure that Tom would know leaving a review regarding Instagram on a page for reviews about WhatsApp would be a little irrelevant, even though they are owned by the same people. They are separate companies run by different management structures, with different procedures, different teams, different companies on companies house. I heard from Babylon Design that Tom did say he wouldn't pay the full amount, hence the escalation. The margins on the plants were very appropriate & typical of prices offered in the trade which has been shown to Tom. Besides that Tom had been sent the quote 3 times over 6 months & had agreed the price after plenty of time for him to research and quibble. The point at which he could have gone elsewhere or negotiated on the plants price was prior to agreeing the quote, not after the work was complete. We took down our previous response at the request of Tom before he settled his invoice, but since he has left his review on it requires a response. (Richard van den Broek, Babylon Plants)
Update 27/4/23, he is clearly a chancer, he runs 3 separate Trustpilot accounts, mostly to spam GreenRetreats, clearly a person with some issues.
https://www.trustpilot.com/users/5fecee231d27f3001bfb7a88 https://www.trustpilot.com/users/630d0e1589905900123e9f9a https://www.trustpilot.com/users/64353f5fedbb900014373eb5