Argh Zooplus / DPD are doing my head in! All I want is my Alexander...

InkyPen · 03-10-2017, 11:04 AM

Finally decided to upgrade Inky to an Alexander, and I was quite excited to have it turn up. Unfortunately, it took almost two weeks to reach me.

As soon as I got it, I opened it up and discovered that it had clearly been dropped on one corner at some point as the base is cracked

Several pieces have broken off.

Zooplus initially told me it would take 4-8 weeks to send a replacement base, despite the cage still being in stock and the first delivery only taking about a week to come. I told them that was too long as I don't have space to store both cages. Then they offered me £30 off if I got it repaired locally, but didn't say how it might be repaired or what sort of tradesman might do it

I declined and said I wanted a new base, asked if I could just return this one and order a new one. No response as yet.

Argh!

Has anyone else had this problem, and if so how did you manage to resolve it with Zooplus? All I want is the cage I've paid for, in a suitable condition!

Coco61 · 03-10-2017, 11:13 AM

Hi InkyPen, sorry about your experience. DPD are usually very good. Sadly dropped and damaged bases are not unusual. My barney from zoo plus arrived damaged. I photographed the damaged and broken pieces and emailed them. They offered me a discount which I accepted as it wasn't too bad. Do you have any heavy weight duct tape? My husband used some to reinforce the cracks on the outside of the base. Not inside of course, no nibbling allowed! Then for the broken pieces we managed to use super glue to put the jigsaw together. Then again reinforced from the underside with more duct tape. The damaged corner is now covered by a shelf so Mocho cannot reach it and has never tried.
The problem I think is that no packaging is used in the box and if it is dropped then there is a big risk of damage. The box can make a good cardboard playpen!
Hope this gives you some ideas.

BorisPasha · 03-10-2017, 11:24 AM

Sounds like you're having an annoying time of it InkyPen. I ordered a Barney cage which arrived broken and it took us about 2 weeks to get anywhere with Zooplus, they asked us to send pics of the damage to the wrong email address so we never got any reply and had to phone again. We left it for a couple of months then decided to order another one, hoping we'd just been unlucky...it was worse than the previous one. They didn't even apologise. I've not had any problems with anything else I've ordered from them and others seem to have had their cages arrive in one piece rather than 40 lol so I think I've just been unlucky. It has put me off ordering cages from Zooplus though

Hope you manage to get it resolved, just keep phoning them if you can. It seems to get resolved quicker on the phone rather than through the contact form/email we found.

Pebbles82 · 03-10-2017, 11:58 AM

Zooplus are normally quite good about breakages. I believe they normally offer you a 50% refund to keep the cage, or arrange for a new one to be shipped out. Maybe because you asked for a new base rather than replacement cage it's taking longer? Did you send them photos of the broken base?

I would try emailing them again, send a photo of the broken base and say you would like the whole cage exchanging rather than a replacement base and see what happens!

InkyPen · 03-12-2017, 05:07 AM

My partner vetoed the idea of trying to repair it, as he was concerned about what would happen if Inky (or a future hamster) started chewing it.

Anyway, having emailed Zooplus back, we have a result!

They've just got back to me and have said that I should dispose of the cage as I see fit, and they'll send a replacement

I'll keep the wooden bits as spares for the future, but apart from that, does anyone know any small animal charities near SW London that might want an Alexander that could potentially be repaired / does anyone want it themselves (collection only)? I can post photos if anyone wants it...

Failing that I'll put it on Gumtree

Coco61 · 03-12-2017, 06:12 AM

The only one I know of InkyPen is Hounslow Animal Welfare Society - HAWS. Could be worth an email to them. They do occasionally have hamsters for rehoming on their website so a cage could be welcome.

InkyPen · 03-12-2017, 06:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coco61

The only one I know of InkyPen is Hounslow Animal Welfare Society - HAWS. Could be worth an email to them. They do occasionally have hamsters for rehoming on their website so a cage could be welcome.

Thanks Coco

I've found these guys Animal Rescue and Care and have dropped them an email as they're in Twickenham/Richmond, which is a bit closer to me, though I live in Zone 2, which doesn't exactly contain many rescue centres apart from the very well known Dogs and Cats Home!

Anyway, if ARC don't want it then I'll try Hounslow, and if all else fails I'll flog it on Gumtree for a tenner and donate that to charity!

Coco61 · 03-12-2017, 07:18 AM

That is closer to me too so I had a look. HAWS used to have a presence in some branches of P@H but that may be over now that the shop does its own adoption thing. Many years ago we adopted Coco, a tortoishell cat from HAWS (explains my username as a tribute to her) and their contacts were widespread in the borough as we are the eastern edge. So someone might travel to you or meet part way. Same for the one you have contacted.

Pebbles82 · 03-13-2017, 09:32 AM

The spare wood items could be very useful

I would happily buy the spare long house off you!

worldturns · 03-14-2017, 11:37 AM

that exact same thing happened to me but the first carrier was Yodel, I called and asked for it to be replaced , I just had to send photos of the damage ( a huge chunk taken out of the corner so an escape would have happened no matter what I did) and they said to dispose of it and they sent a new one to me via DPD at no extra cost.
as penny loves plastic and chewed through the Base of the Alexander (much to my annoyance and panic) I had to put her in a very hastily brought habitrail while I found yet another replacement. she will very soon be living in the skyline Marrakesch 100cm long tank. which did arrive with some damage to a small strip of glass but it looks like the damage was done at the manufacturers as another smaller piece was stuck on top. so rather then send it back I just whipped out the aquatic silicon and sealed it. as she is now 1yr and 3 months old and I plan to put a platform in the way I should not have a problem (fingers crossed)

I totally understand the frustration you have gone through inkypen. and trust me you are going to love the Alexander. I know i did and for me it was worth the wait.....just a shame that penny did not agree with me. lol

p.s. I also kept the spare wood which I still had not used till today which is what the new platform is made out of. saved me a bit of money.