Crook and Staple Reviews 

They took £53 in January. I can't speak to someone. AI chat bot just responds with bland email that goes nowhere, I can neither cancel my order, nor speak to someone about a refund.

I have tried changing my questions to direct me to a real person. There dont seem to be real people a Crook and Staple.

Its daylight robbery

Never use this company. If I could give no stars I would.

I placed my order to have a profiling blade sharpened in September 2025. It is still unfulfilled. I chased the order a number of times and each time all they can provide me is a generic message without any details of what is happening to my order.

I ordered items believing there were delivery options available, only to later be told things that are simply not true — including claims about tracked delivery, which they do not offer (I have screenshots to prove this).

When the order didn’t arrive, I was met with repeated automated responses instead of proper customer service. I was also unable to cancel the order because their system shows it as “sent”, yet no delivery was received.

Despite multiple emails clearly explaining the issue, there has been no meaningful attempt to resolve it, just copy-and-paste replies. As a customer, this is completely unacceptable. Under UK consumer law, the seller is responsible for ensuring delivery, yet I have had to chase endlessly.

I would strongly caution others before ordering, as resolving issues appears to be unnecessarily difficult.

I'd give it no stars if I could. Never got a response from them regarding non-delivery of an oboe mandrel. No response to multiple emails, no answer on the phone and the useless chat-bot was just that - useless. Please avoid using this company/website.
In the end I got the bank to refund the money and take it up with them.

Will definitely never buy here again. Website shows items are in stock but do not trust this information because once you've paid they don't all arrive, only what they actually have in stock. Query it and you will be sent an automated message saying they were out of stock as shown on the website when you ordered (!!) and they will take at least 5 weeks to arrive. Try and change to other items in stock - same merry-go-round. Try and cancel to get your money back- website promises email confirmation and refund processing, but nothing happens. Try the 'chat' option, nobody there to respond and again you get the same automated reponse. No phone number and the very best you'll get is a message saying we respond within 5 days, which they don't personally do. Will definitely buy elsewhere. How is this business still going? The customer service is non-existent. Be super-cautious!

I wish I had seen some of this feedback before I ordered!
I have previously had some good reeds from Crook and Staple, and they fulfilled one part of my order from January 2025. But the rest (over £150 worth!) has been silence. Like others here, I’ve had standard replies to emails. A link in the email to an option to cancel the order is not an option once you get to the website. No reply to further email to customer services…
Very poor.

Terrible service.
Express delivery is not express delivery. Items are not shipped on time and the company just sends an AI message when enquiring. Do not use this company

I have attempted to initiate a return by email, website and even Facebook so am resorting to this. The product does not fit my son’s bassoon so I need to return it. Why do you not respond? I have a legal right to return and attempted this within 24 hours of receiving the product. I will take further legal action if you do not respond in the next 48 hours.

I am sad to have to submit this as they made the best bassoon reed I have ever played upon. I put an order in on the 27th January (and paid) with the understanding it had a 6 week wait. I emailed and emailed-no human reply just options for me to cancel the order. It is now over 3 months delayed and I still can't get any answers. I assume they just want me to cancel it to get out of their obligations but I don't want to if the reed is actually being made/on order. Just simple communications would help. Saying that you are professional musicians so you may struggle to respond quickly does not excuse taking money from customers and then ignoring them completely/not updating honestly on the availability of what they have ordered.

It took nearly 2 months to send a small order. No communication to let me know it was out of stock when I placed the order in Feb. The website said it was in stock. It wasn't much, but it was a present for my Mums birthday. Never again, avoid!

The oboe reed I purchased fell to pieces after being played on for a few times. I was curious to get a reed with a metal staple; although I will say that the tone was good, the reed did not last long. The plastic film had not been removed by me, but when I was adjusting the aperture, the reed just came off the staple, and the binding unwound, which is something I never previously had happen (and I am writing as an experienced player). I had sent an email prior to return, which they did not reply to. After posting off the reed I heard nothing and only got a response a full month later after sending several emails. They claimed that the film had been removed and this invalidated any guarantee. They would return the pieces if I paid in advance. It is clearly not worth my time and effort to deal with this company any further, and I shall simply leave them this bad review instead. Deal with Howarths instead, please, as they are completely professional.

I ordered a basoon reed, on a Sunday with express delivery expecting delivery Tuesday due to ordering on a Sunday, item never even so much as dispatched and I'm on Wednesday my daughter needed this for Thursday, I'm fuming, I have sent 3 emails and called 7/8 times with no reply from anyone, do not order from this place

I ordered some cane for bassoon reeds and received a message that this was dispatched two weeks ago. I have not received this yet and so have tried to contact them by email three times and today by phone. There is no response. I am very disappointed with this poor service.

I ordered some oboe accessories on 30th Sept and got an order confirmation - all seemed fine at that point. After more than a week, I hadn't received my items (they were small so no postage challenges) so I emailed to ask what was happening. Heard nothing. Emailed to chase my chaser again a few days later. Guess what, heard nothing..... Eventually I had to post something via social media/their FB page and I got a response. The rather pathetic excuse was:
"Again, apologies for any inconvenience caused. We are a small company with limited staff, 'We've had some urgent admin that we have been dealing with which had delayed some of our customer service responses."
They did eventually refund me but what kind of a business thinks there is any admin more important that dealing with the very customers who keep your business going. It takes 30 seconds to respond to an email.
Will never use this company again - 'Crooks' is about right.

Absolutely terrible customer service. My parents purchased a bassoon reed box from them for my birthday, magnet secured. Unfortunately the lid warped and the magnet closure no longer secured the lid. They took the box back and sent another. Exactly the same issue happened after removing from packaging. Makes me wonder if they sent the original box back. A colleague at Howarths says these boxes are normally reliable. The box was then removed from their sales list and one with a clip replaced it. My mother tried numerous times to get hold of them to request a replacement box, with the clip this time as an exchange. Crook and Staple did not reply. Phones aren't answered and emails weren't responded to. I messaged them myself on their online chat relatively anonymously and received an email the next day asking for further details. At this point I don't believe they had registered the link between my mother and I. I forwarded their email to my mother so she could respond with order number etc. We have not heard from them. After nearly 2 months without reaching a resolution I would firmly recommend that others avoid using this company. I certainly will not give them any of my business in the future. We feel very let down that money has been spent on an inferior product for a special birthday and Crook and Staple do not think this is a problem. Shocking.

absolutely appalling customer service and delivery. I placed an order on 1st March comprising 3 items. 2 of which I received after a couple of week. The cor reed case, however, is still outstanding. They took a while to respond to my email enquiry and advised me that the goods are stuck in customs (from China). we are now a few weeks on and still no sight or update. Do NOT buy from them.

Purchased an oboe reed. It did not work. Contacted Crook and Staple who asked for a photo. They then said I had removed the plastic sleeve off the reed and I should put cling film around it- very strange but there was no plastic sleeve which I informed them about. They refuse to accept this or help to resolve this matter. I have contacted them numerous times through email, messages and left my number. The contact number never gets answered and you are given an automated message saying they are busy and if you leave your number they will call you back but they don’t. Absolutely atrocious customer service. They then proceeded to take money out of my bank account for another reed. I contacted my bank to block future money being transferred to them.

Dire customer service. Took money quickly but now no product.

Ordered a bassoon reed 7 weeks ago and still not been delivered. Payment was taken but I have had no replies to emails chasing it up.
DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY

DO NOT ORDER FROM CROOK and STAPLE - they will take payment but you won’t receive your goods.
We spent £120 a month ago and still haven’t received what we ordered. They took the money straight away and have not responded to emails or phone calls.