Proviation Reviews 

If you're the sort of person who likes to pick up the 'phone and talk to someone at the other end, then I suggest you get over the initial lack of human contact at Proviation. Owing to my requirement I really wanted to speak to a human being, and 'phoned a number of times during the website published opening hours without success.
Finally I resorted to the 'live chat' interface. At which point I had a response within minutes, and a follow up 'phone call that sorted out my query.
From there on in the service has been nothing short of brilliant. The product was ordered and received at my flying club the next day (Saturday) before i'd even got there.
So, if your like me and want to speak with a human, don't give up if you call Proviation and don't get an answer. Persevere and you will be rewarded with first class service.

Review regarding a go pro hero 3 black motor edition ordered on the 09/12/2012 yes 2012, not posted due to me mentioning one Christian name who sent me an email and speaking honestly!, nonetheless less they still have my money and I, nearly 11 months later do not have the goods, come on proviation get your act together and give me what is mine!
Steve McGlynn

Within minutes of me ordering (leather jacket) the orders team called me to tell me did I realise there was a 7 day delay on the item, and was this ok for me? I said this was fine, and they would be sending the item on their next day delivery instead of standard when it arrived. Sure enough i received an email confirming the jacket had been sent and I am now in receipt of my first xmas pressie.

To be honest I bought early and being an independent I wasn;t sure what to expect but the service standard by proviation was very high and personal.

The jacket is very good value for the money (£109)

Proviation says all the right things - on it's website, via email and phone but certainly does not act on it's good intentions or policies.
Our experience echoes many poor reviews about Proviation on your site.
We ordered an item on the 23rd July 2013 - a jacket which was supposed to be a present for my daughter's birthday in August.
Proviation took full payment on that date before the item was confirmed dispatched.
The item was delayed - 'due to the manufacturer' etc etc. Proviation told us that this would be a slight wait of up to 10 days.
The jacket was supposedly dispatched on 25th Sept. No goods arrived.
After months of correspondence and broken promises from Proviation we cancelled the order on 18th Oct .
We were hoping to get the refund in time to order the jacket for Christmas direct from the manufacturer but this is looking highly unlikely.
We are still chasing the refund from Proviation at the time of writing this review (23rd Nov).
Proviation is very hard to rate because they mask their poor customer service extremely politely, make plausible promises and then not acting on them.
Very frustrating customer experience - I definitely would not shop with Proviation again.

On 9/10/2013 I ordered and paid for an item. According to their website the item would be dispatched within approximately 7 days. On 15/10/2013 in response to my email, I was told that the product hadn't yet been received. On 29/10/2013, following numerous unanswered emails, I was told that they still didn't have stock. So I finally cancelled my order on 4/11/2013 and was advised by return email, that a refund had been processed. I have sent many emails saying that the refund has not been received with the occasional response asking me to check my bank again in 24 to 48 hours. To date I have still not received a refund.

Update - 21/11/2013

After only receiving sporadic responses to my emails, I was amazed to receive the following email (reproduced verbatim other than personal information) from the owner literally within minutes of posting this review:

From: Owner
Sent: 19 November 2013 14:42
To: Reviewer
Subject: RE: Your Order Update for order no. O-23714 GoPro HERO 3+ Plus Black Edition

Dear Reviewer,

I was about to respond to your email - but I have just seen your review come in, too.

Could I ask I huge favour of you, please? I guarantee to make it worth your while.

We have had issues with refunds going through, and I must stress it is not because of anything we have done here.

It is the response of a billion-dollar card processing company, which in turn is causing people a nuisance and resulting in reviews like yours.

I am really trying to contain any kind of panic resulting from this, and to stop any spread of bad feedback online, since it will insight others. Yours is not the first failed refund, you see.

We are a small family run company. We do want to resolve things in-house before bad things hit the internet. I can't tell you how important it is to me, especially as reputation is everything in the online world, especially for smaller companies like ours where every sale counts.

With the market the way it is, I do feel I owe it to myself and my company to at least ask if you would re-consider leaving this review on Trustpilot.
You are of course welcome to re-publish in future, and taking it offline in no way stops you from being able to re-post it. It just means you'll be really helping me to contain a headache and permanent blemish on my company.
These things stay online for perpetuity.

I will spend my time this afternoon putting this right.

If you can see fit to take this down for now, while you have my full attention, I will try to see you right. I'll send over an SD card for free, perhaps? Or a floaty backdoor housing?

Best wishes,

Owner

When I didn't do this my review was reported in spite of having provided an order number. As of this afternoon, I have still not received a refund despite being told that it would be put right that afternoon.

Having owned my own business I know that things go wrong, but customers tend to judge you not on the problem, but on how well you resolve it. I would not have been in business very long if I had treated my customers the way I have been treated.

Received my package with a very dented can of aeroshell fluid. Obviously mishandled by the courier as the packaging was damaged as well. Called customer service and after checking she said they would send out another can of the product free!

Very pleased with this response which gives me a great impression.

Within a few hours I received a message telling me the items would be delivered the following day and the email I got later told me that it would be here between 3 and 4. It came at 3. Thanks for great service.

Very quick delivery. Very professional team.

Shame about the case being now discountinued.

Thank you

Had a few hiccups, but Proviation got on my refund like boss champ chiefs. Came through yesterday.

Ta :) x
_________
UPDATE 4/12/13

Been in touch with a few former customers of Proviation.

The company seems to offer good products, and when it works fine, it works fine.

I am, however, a little disconcerted about the level of the problem with refunds. Just know as a customer that if you want a refund from the company, you will have to fight for it. I regret having to resort to use reviews as leverage, but it seemed to work for me (just putting it out there)

Please do try and take my review down. I have an order number plus plenty of emails from the company.

Hope this can all be sorted soon - have a good day y'all.

Ordering on line was straightforward

Delivery was sooner than advertised
and we got a VAT receipt (invoice) sent over properly. something you don't often get when buying online... but we needed one and got one without having to ask (there is an option at checkout which is very useful)

Quickest way to loose 700£.!
Placed an order on 29th of August for a zulu 2.0 headset.
Got an email the next day saying that the product was in backorder, but would ship in 2-3 working days. Nothing happened for several weeks, and it was close to impossible to get any contact with Proviation. No response to emails or phonecalls. Was lucky to get a hold on someboddy on the online chat a few times, but to no avail. Conversation was always cut off after they prommised to check on the order...... I have since then talked to them on the phone twice and received a few emails where I have been promised a full refund, but no money has made it to my account. I was so looking foreward to replace my old headset to a new one which wont give me a headache when I fly long missions, but I guess I'll have to save up again so maybe I can afford one next year. Now I will have to go throug small claims court to see if I can get my money back that way. Please save yourself from the hassle of doing business with these people!
Anders.

Proviation know their products well. I'm very impressed with the level of pre-sale advice and follow up after order to check I had received it safely (there was a little confusion caused by me on the address). I'd ordered a budget ANR headset which is most likely the best value item I have ever bought for my 'hobby'.

I placed an order for an item for next day delivery with proviation. The item never arrived. I emailed them to enquire as to the location of the item and was advised that it was not in stock, even though the website offered next day delivery. My order was placed on the 17th October. Proviation promised by email to refund the charge for next delivery and deliver the item the following week once it was in stock. I think they were wrong to take money for an item and charge me for next day delivery when they did not even have the item in stock. I could have gone elsewhere and received the item in time! After emailing and calling the office with no response I emailed the Proviation on the 28th October to ask where my goods were, as still none had been received. In my email I told them that I expected delivery immediately or they should refund me the full amount charged. I managed to chat online with someone called [Name] who said that the money would be refunded. I advised them that it was unfortunate that they could not deliver as promised, as I intended to purchase 16 of the same unit ('butt kicker) £150.49 and they could have had a good size order from me, but now after the lack of service that I had received I was forced to go elsewhere. Later that same day I received a call from [Name], he did not apologise, he was only interested in gaining the order for additional 16 units that I required. I told him to refund my money immediately. He confirmed that the money would be refunded. Following the call I sent an email on the 1st November to advise the orders department that both [Name] and [Name] had agreed to a refund. I received a reply the same day advising that my order had been cancelled and that a refund could take up to 7-10 days to show in my account. I knew that this was waffle as I have made and received refunds on debit cards previously and they do not take this long. However I decided to be patient and give Proviation the benefit of the doubt. Now it is November 12th and no monies have been received. They still do not answer the telephone. I have called them since and no answer. I even have [Name]'s mobile number but he never answers his phone when I call. Avoid this company at all costs. They do not respect or appreciate their customers. They do not the first thing about customer service. They are keen to take your money, don't' be fooled by their website and hand them any of your hard earned cash!

If I could give 0 or negative starts I would gladly do. I have had two transactions with this company and both have ended the exact same way - a Paypal dispute to get my money back after waiting for more than 2 months to get the items I had purchased.

The story was nearly identical on both occasions - item shown in stock, I place the order, it is promptly acknowledged and all looks fine. Then a few days later I would get an email advising of some stocking issues but not to worry - my item will still be on its way with just a few days' delay. Then you wait and wait and nothing happens - calls are NEVER answered, emails only replied to once you show you are treating this issue seriously. The replies promise delivery any day, in fact I was told the item was already on its way a couple of times - lies lies and more lies!

In the end I am left with no other option but to raise a Paypal dispute as it is my only way of ensuring I get my money back. By then it is already 45 days since the date of the order. The Paypal process is completely ignored by the company, I just have to go through the motions of following it through to completion when Paypal eventually decide in my favour and refund me my money.

So the whole process from ordering to getting a refund has taken more than 2 months - a complete waste of time and energy and I would most certainly never have anything to do with these people ever again and would also recommend anyone who does not wish to be messed around to give them a very wide berth too.

Bought a case which arrived the following morning which was great. The case wasn't really quite right. I took a punt as you do online sometimes and the main compartment on their PC 5 was not quite large enough for all my gubbins.
They arranged it to be picked up from my office and sent back and got my refund that same day. No frantic rush on my part but they did all this very efficiently indeed. It's a shame not to have been able to keep the bag.
In fairness to the case it was good quality and i almost kept it on that basis but it wasn't practical.

10/10 on product range, 9/10 on price, 7/10 on delivery. Delivery method was fast but dispatch took a day or two longer than hoped. But 10/10 for emailing to let me know.
The one item was unavailable but was refunded. I'll re order at a later date (their scratch removal kit).

I have been waiting on a refund from this company since January. I ordered a flying jacket for my husband which was not the jig quality jacket I was led to believe it would have been and was far too big. The company were very good at responding to my refund request, unfortunately that is where their efficiency and professionalism ended. I have had numerous false promises from [name] and excuses for the last nine months but it has gotten to the stage where I no longer feel capable of dealing with this issue on my own. As such I have contacted the ombudsman and explained that after countless unanswered voicemails and email opportunities I have now been advised to take them to the small claims court. I am very distressed because all I wanted to do was surprise my husband with the flying jacket he has always wanted. I could not be more insistent that people do not consider this company for any purchases or need if any professionalism. Please help me! Robyn

Ordered and paid for a coat on Dec 4 2012 . Still waiting for any info or response to last e-mail sent on Oct 29. Looks like this will be the second winter without this coat.

I purchased a headset from Proviation 7 months ago, and I have to admit that at first the service was amazing (or so I thought). Actually maybe that's part of the problem. Maybe if the service was bad from the start, I wouldn't have chosen to buy there, but as it turns out their service turns to the worse as soon problems arise.

I live outside the UK, and I had a tight time frame for receiving the headset, and in this matter they helped me and I received it in time.
But then the problems began...
As I don't live in the UK I'm eligible for a VAT refund (£107 in this case), the person that handled my order assured me again and again that I'll get it, but as it turns out he had no idea because he didn't have the proper forms, and didn't even know about them.
Also the package didn't include a spare pair of ear seals (£25).
So I contacted the shop and the person I spoke to promised me that he will find a solution and will post me the spare seals.
...
...
4 months have passed and nothing.
I contacted the shop again. This time someone new answered my enquiry and said she know nothing about about my order (even though it was all there in the e-mail) but she sees that the spares were posted (of course there was no tracking number, and I haven't received them), and now they're out of stock...
When I asked her what's next and how will I get the VAT refund and the seals, she disappeared.
Another month passed and still nothing...

EDIT:
Another 4 months have passed from the time I wrote this review, and almost a year from the original purchase - and still the issue is unresolved.

I ordered an AFE ARC-2W Professional Flight Computer with windarm from this company in July. They took payment for this item immediately despite not having it in stock. I waited patiently for it to arrive and to their credit I was kept up to date with the progress of my order.

In early September an item finally arrived. The only problem was that it was not the item I ordered. They sent an AFE ARC-2 Professional Flight Computer without windarm. This item is different to and of lower value than the one I ordered.

I have e-mailed several times. Occasionally I have had a reply. When I have replied to their reply I have then heard nothing more. A different person has replied each time and treated the matter as a new case meaning that I have had to repeat myself over and over again. Offers have been made for an alternative product however I have made it clear that I want the item I ordered or my money back.

I have asked for a refund several times and have indicated that I am happy to return the incorrect item albeit at their expense.

I looks like I am going to have to contact my bank and try to use chargeback to get my money back. Failing this, legal action.

If you enjoy this kind of hassle then go ahead and order from this company. I for one will never order from these people again. Neither will anyone I know.

Update: 21 December 2013
This morning, the refund I have been asking for finally appeared in my account. I am now happy that the case has been brought to a satisfactory conclusion. It is a shame that we could not have got here sooner.