Bad Experience Renting Horsebox
Rented a box for the first time to take my horse to a local clinic. Very unfortunately, on the way out of the yard to drop the box back, the gate latch was broken, sticking out and scratched the end side of the box.
I had paid a £500 damage deposit prior to driving the box away, by bank transfer. This is not very clear on the paperwork and so i suggest reading this carefully because you can’t hire the box without paying this large fee. If I had known I wouldn’t have rented the box as it’s a lot of money to be out of pocket, cheaper to pay someone to transport your horse!
I was told by Tonbridge Horsebox Hire that the box would be fixed within 2 weeks. Forward 5 weeks on and it’s only just been resolved. There was very little communication from THH about when the box was being fixed, meaning I was having to follow up a couple times a week to find out how it was getting on. There seemed to be no protocol, perhaps because they are a very new business.
By chance a livery at my yard knew the repairman working on the box, so I rang him to discuss the work and get an indication on how much it might cost. I was given a quote by him and told it wouldn’t cost any more than that, he also said he would happily provide me with an invoice once the work was complete. The box was then fixed, but I was not made aware and several days passed.
When I contacted THH for an update I was given a price for the repair which was considerably higher than I had been quoted by the repairman. Following another phone call with the repairman, he had not yet given a cost to THH. So the price given to me by THH was fabricated and dishonest.
Once I had made THH aware I knew the repairman had not yet given them a final cost, the price suddenly dropped by £50, but I know now it still had mark up on it.
Next up, vinyls to be re printed as they had been partly removed when spraying the scratch. Again same as repair, fabricated price.
When I asked for the invoices for repair, having been told by THH that I was only being charged what it cost them to repair the horsebox, I was told categorically no. I was not going to receive invoices from the suppliers who fixed the box. Absolutely not. and at one point received a message saying “Do you want your refund?” this is because the costs I had been told by THH did not match the invoices.
I agreed to receive the remainder of my deposit because I was so worried other costs would be added and I wouldn’t receive any of the £500 deposit back. I did make them aware I knew cost had been added to both bills and suddenly was told a £50 admin fee had been applied. How convenient. A cost that had not been mentioned once over the 5 week period. If admin costs are charged, this should have been transparent from the start, not added to cover up the additional cost.
I am not an unfair person and always agreed willingly that I would cover the repair of the box, having been very upset when I damaged it. It is such a shame that it was dealt with in such an unpleasant and unprofessional manner.
I would suggest anyone looking to hire a box from Tonbridge Horsebox Hire, save yourself weeks of stress and unpleasant messages, if you do accidentally damage the box, which is very easy to do, whether you are an experienced box driver or not, book a driven horsebox transporter.