Force4 Reviews 

I required information on clothing and deck paint, the staff at Shamrock and the young lady at the online centre could not have been more help

Online order:first it was sent to the wrong adress, it was redirected in time thankfully but then when it came was missing one of my items and when I called they said they would send it when it was in stock. They seemed compleatly bamboozled by the fact that as a ccer I had no adress asking 'where do you keep your boat?' When I had already explained we are ccers you would think a chandlery would know what that means.
the man I spoke to acted as though it was my fault that they sent it to the wrong adress and my fault they hadn't sent me what I ordered or told me it was out of stock and of course now my fault I didn't have an adress for him to post it to. An absolute joke that they wouldn't admit they had messed up. CCers should avoid ordering from here.

Great service following DHL delivery issue. I bought a dinghy pump and paid extra for next day delivery. Pump failed to turn up, disappointed. Phone force4 the next day and they had problem tracking parcel on DHL site, parcel had definitely left force4 at correct time. Force4 said they would chase it up and phone back, being honest I did not expect to hear back. 5 mins later they phoned back and explained there had been an issue at DHL and parcel would be delivered later, it arrived as promised. Additional cost if 24hr delivery refunded.
Later found txt from DHL and once their website started working then I could see that everything force4 had said was true. Great service and recovered the situation perfectly.
THANKS

We recently bought our boat during the Covid lockdown. Having bought from Force 4 before I went to them for almost everything we have needed to get our new boat up to scratch. Despite the issues that the lockdown presented, Force 4 has been efficient, timely and actually you would never know anything was amiss. Well done to everyone at Force 4. Your efforts are really appreciated out here.

Force4 in Plymouth is brilliant and I read with amazement of poor reviews for shops elsewhere. I have bought very many items from the Plymouth shop (and one or two online during lockdown.) On one occasion a product I didn't like was immediately replaced without question. The staff are always pleasant and helpful and have often pointed me towards a cheaper option. If I phone for advice it's always readily available. I can't fault

I bought a windward folding bike. I ordered it on Wednesday and I received it on Friday. It came in perfect condition. It was a bit fiddly putting it together but I figured it out. I took it out for a ride and the seat went down but it just needed tightening up. Super fast delivery and exactly what I asked for including the free bag which is huge lol. I would recommend you any day. Thank you very much!!

Brilliant customer service. Rang with an emergency and they got something to use within one day during the lockdown.

Just received my order today!...very misleading picture on website shows a 5ltr + 2ltr bottle of wet and forget looks like price is for both, so clicked on quantity for 2 as thought it was a good deal, all I received today was 2 of the smaller 2ltr bottles!

Telephoned customer services very abrupt response.

Would NOT recommend

I just rang Force 4 Chandlery to ask if they would be able to reduce their postage from £3.95 as I wished to order a pair of velcro travel bands at £4.95 which are very small and light weight. I was told that the postage charges are set so they couldn't. They suggested that I pop in and pick them up. I am 87 years old and live in South Lincolnshire, which I explained. He just said that he didn't know that! 2nd class large letter postage incidentally would have been 83p! Add a small envelope for a few pence and I would have been more than happy to pay £1 or even £1.50. Do they really expect anyone to pay almost double for such a small item? This is not a company that I would recommend to anyone. They are obviously only interested in customers who are spending a fortune. They don't appear to possess a jot of human kindness nor have any concern for the elderly and infirm. They will be old too one day!

Awful, awful company and customer service!

The Director is the biggest joke going and the sooner his staff realise that the better!!

Ordered items well before the 12 noon deadline and paid for the next day delivery option.

Waited in for the parcel to be delivered only to receive an email from DHL to say there was a problem and it wouldn't be delivered until after the weekend.

Feedback from DHL was basically vague...

Insisted on a delivery refund but Force 4 are too greedy and couldn't have cared less that the order was for my partners birthday and it wasn't going to arrive in time!

I cannot believe this company is still in business having read other reviews and the poor rating they receive on a regular basis.

Do NOT use under any circumstances...you have been warned.

Great company. Really went the extra mile to get our order to us in an emergency. Good prices as well!

Original review from 2019, new review follows on:

A surreal experience that I have suffered on a few too many occasions.

You know those paintings who's eyes eerily follow you around the room? This is not like that, the avoidance of eye-contact has been raised to a high art form. Ask for assistance? The shop has been equipped with secret acoustic blocking and noise-cancelling devices to allow the staff to continue their private conversations undisturbed. Need to know about different types of rope? The displays are cryptic with no annotation, the intent being that only knowledgeable shoppers should really be in there. No doubt advice from Force4 is that the staff can help, there is a significant difference between "can" and "will". Research first on the internet, advice here, order on the internet as well, Force4 really don't want you messing their lovely stock up and they don't need your money, they've bought all the stock they need already and it isn't going anywhere.

Why are they still in business?

Top tip: there are many decent chandlers along the south coast, many within 50 miles or so. To save your blood pressure take a nice drive in the country to one of their competitors, it will almost certainly result in a quicker and more enjoyable purchase.

Revised, July 2023:
I returned to the store recently and it has changed completely. The staff are now attentive, courteous and helpful. The stock is more extensive and the service is second to none. I've been back several times so it wasn't a one-off. This must be new management. Strongly recommended.

Force 4 at Chichester are one of my favourite shops. The staff are pleasant and very knowledgeable, and they don’t bother you if you spend ages just browsing. It is a very well stocked Chandlery and they can get things from their website in a couple of days. The clothing man Richard is very helpful and experienced with a wide knowledge of the products on sale. Mike is an experienced delivery skipper with an encyclopaedic knowledge of all the ports from UK to the med. He also is an experienced marine engineer who helped me sort out my electrical and cooling problems on my boat,

Well done keep it up!

Michael Bostock

Issue over order, saying money has not been taken and had been taken, phoned up, checked not being defrauded, they blamed Paypal, I checked with PP no issues, sent email, no reply, phoned next day and spoke to a different member of staff and there where no issues and money taken, all very sus....

Living on an offshore island I rely on online chandlery stores for my boating requirements and have used Force 4 on numerous occasions including expensive electronics most recently a Garmin Chartplotter. Their prices are competitive, delivery which is often an issue to offshore islands prompt and reasonably priced with no instances of delayed, broken or wrong deliveries. Queries have been answered helpfully and quickly and I will continue to use Force 4 looking to the future, conversely cannot explain why they have attracted so many mediocre reviews on Trust pilot?

Don't bother ordering from Force4. My item was out of stock but didn't receive an email or any communication to let me know. When i emailed them 5 days after ordering that my order wasn't with me they let me know it was out of stock. Thankfully they've sent the order out but likely wont be with me by Christmas. Also no apology - stay well clear.

Excellent, prompt delivery of items which were ordered for next working day delivery. Even some halyards which needed to be made up by another company were sourced and delivered on time, having been chased by one of their staff to see if this could be achieved.

DON'T USE THIS COMPANY.

I ordered goods online. After 4 weeks they have still not arrived. The company is responding to any emails.

They claim they sent the order internationally by courier but they do not provide tracking details or any other evidence. Shambles!

The order was for about GBP 100. Probably not worth deeper investigation but I will report them to the relevant authorities.

Poor customer service neglected to send out order no communication whatsoever would not recommend

Have a very good catalogue but ordering online can be very frustrating. Their system does not warn you when an item is not in stock and you don't know there's a problem until after you have placed the order. They need a new ordering system.