Anna Rose

Avoid like the plague!

The suitcases may be wonderful - I’m only using mine for the first time so too early to tell) but the SERVICE IS INCOMPETENCE PERSONIFIED!

I could fill a book on the saga of the still non-collection of a pre-arranged return of one suitcase (though the purchase of the replacement was no problem). Unless you know you will not have to return an item (as Antler permits and includes free of P&O charge) kiss goodbye to your life for the next umpty amount of time. I am about to contact the ombudsman.

This is a problematic system, particularly for older customers. My installation was of very poor quality - thoughtless use of communal space outside the flat to work despite my saying my elderly neighbours needed access to exits without risk of tripping, plus took no precautions to keep clean. I had to organise all of that and move their heavy objects. I watched as one of the fitters botched fitting a radiator with no clue how to measure or work properly. The more experienced fitter did not oversee the younger one as I would expect and was a bit defensive when I pointed out the problems.

The radiators look reasonable from the front apart from the cheap looking central side clips, but if you see them side-on (which I do for one of mine) they are pretty ugly.

When everything works, it’s pretty good but there are annual problems and I fear it’s not as cost effective as hoped (a meter problem has made assessing this quite difficult but my bills are high for a small flat). How will people ever give up gas heating when electric heating, even with modern radiators, is so expensive!

The App has repetitive problems and getting this sorted is very proving very slow meaning the useful remote function is out of action for periods of time.

The thermostats are full of design faults and are complicated and difficult to manage, particularly for weaker hands. I keep asking if they are going to get a better design and they say yes but nothing has happened 2 years later which suggests they are not taking this seriously and they seem unprepared to put money into putting this weakness right.

Some customer service advisers do try to be helpful but can’t solve the intrinsic problems experienced.

I normally research the field when buying anything functional and expensive but I did not do so for reasons of pressures at the time and just went on the sales advice of this one company. I don’t know if any other modern makes function better or more cheaply but I really regret my lack of doing the homework. I would recommend anyone replacing their heating doing some thorough research before buying.

I bought a star for a new nephew a couple of years ago with minimal fuss.
This year I went to buy one for his newly arrived sister only to find (and have had confirmed by the company) that they now use a different company for the purchase process. DONT BUY FROM THIS COMPANY NOW. It’s a ghastly process unless you have a very straightforward order (mine involves gifts to a family in another country). I won’t list the difficulties as you’d die of boredom before I got to the end of the long list. But between April and now in September I’ve yet to make a successful order (and failed to honour this baby’s arrival in a timely way).
I have now had a long exchange with the company and may yet succeed if they can untangle the created tangle. Had it not been for wanting one app to serve both children I’d simply have gone to another company.

Excellent explanation of service offered.

Abdul made sure I’d understood everything and then send a comprehensive email with the information I needed.

So, I’m not a youngie but wanted some stylish frames. I found your shop by chance and the assistants were absolutely excellent - in both the Hampstead and the Clifton branches. I enjoyed trying on loads of styles before shortlisting and finally selecting a pair and your staff were really helpful, encouraging and patient.

There were then some problems - I needed them badly for some demanding work ahead and they came in time but …. there was a problem with the varifocal lenses. No issue in sorting it out but I was without them just when I most needed them (I’d had cataract ops and my old glasses were way out of kilter).

All was organised for them to be sent, when ready again, to where I was staying - tho too late, with the particular task over. Lovely staff again. I needed them refitted a couple of times and this was done with a smile. On return home, they still needed further fitting and the Hampstead branch did that willingly. And said to come back if an issue with the arms persisted.

It was all very fraught but, once in the JF system, everything was managed well.

But please, could we see a few oldies in your ads - don’t be ageist and underestimate how much we too want more choice than is around in the mainstream opticians - so many frames are so samey and boring. We too love the pizzazz of good design!

CLIMASTAR has varied reviews and my experience has been, well, varied. I should say the need to look for new heaters coincided with a very serious family event so I was not at my best. But saying that cannot obscure some serious deficiencies in the process. I had 2 advisors. The first may have been new to the job - she pretty well followed a script without any ability to respond to specific questions. The second was excellent, an experienced heating engineer who was able to answer questions in a knowledgeable and patient way.
I was nervous going ahead - it’s a big outlay but I needed to find a solution to a patchily and inadequately warm home.
I am hopeful this system will work well and be economical to run. It is so mild as yet, it’s hard to judge but signs are good.

But the installation was very flawed. The 2 men were friendly and pleasant enough but they were ill prepared, failed to take notice of my explanation of the need for care in using the communal hallway for tools, removed items etc because we have some very elderly neighbours and a real need to be careful not to obstruct their passage (or risk spoiling carpet). When my explanation failed to result in the care needed, I had to insist on actions needed to ensure safety and care, providing carpet covers and moving dusty objects onto them myself etc.
Then the workmanship proved very poor. I can only hope the electrical fittings are sound but is this really the only standard of work you can now expect? Finish was shoddy, wires that could have been placed inside the partition wall were not, there was no sealing of plastic covers (with gaps left around), measuring was so poor one heater had to be moved in order not to obscure sockets, and then was still out of central kilter (as a complete amateur, I can place a picture centrally with extreme cure!)
The pity is that, on reporting these observations to CLIMASTAR, instead of concern, further enquires and apologies, they gave very cursory and defensive responses as though they had no problem with this level of care and competence. That does not suggest a confident company not prepared to accept shoddy workmanship.
I then had various problems with the settings - my thermostats were out of kilter with the actual temperatures and had to have a fiddly process to put right. I had an unfortunate change of router shortly after so ditto. Then the clocks went back and my thermostats took many hours to change the time, before which I thought there was a problem. The support for these difficulties was kind and helpful.
Getting used to the workings between the heaters themselves, the thermostats and the app does take a bit of getting used to and the instructions are not as well thought out as they could be, tho I like the plasticised sheet presentation. A little more time and clearer sequence of instructions by fitters could also help.
Until we get some really cold weather, I can’t say how effective or reasonable in cost to run these will be. Despite fairly evenly mild weather, my smart meter reads very different amounts each day (and I’d carefully monitored before installation the usage without them) so this is a bit concerning).
These heaters are adaptable and have useful features to attain this but all this does take some learning and trial and error. The programming is good once you’ve got the hang of it but still requires small actions on a daily basis if to run economically unless you have a very predictable personal timetable.
I hope I’ll be back with a higher rating for effectiveness of these heaters once it’s colder outside and this is clearer. If this is the classy product it’s advertised to be, it’s sad it was such a poor experience at the start.

This was a really great workshop.
Very well planned for the time available, the content was interesting and useful, the presentation had a good mix of humour and seriousness and participation by attendees was varied and well thought out. Members with different personalities were all sensitively responded to and we were given both encouragement and serious critique.
This review would be more rounded if I could think of any negatives - sorry but there just weren't any! I for one would like more.