Balsam Hill mainly sell Christmas trees. They are certainly not cheap and are a premium brand, by any measure.
With a premium brand, you generally go that route so that you get a high level of customer service. I bought a Balsam Hill tree, costing over £500, because I was just going through the motions, as I did not have my daughter in my life to help me choose a real tree; it was an annual tradition.
But that fun has gone now but I still wanted a tree so I thought that by buying a Balsam Hill tree, it would last for ages and long beyond its warranty.
Sadly, this has not been the case. My transformer went and I asked them to replace it under the warranty. They first said that it would be no problem but then said that I would not get a replacement until September 2022. One would have thought that, for such an expensive tree, they would keep spare transformers, especially as they are not fused and are thus unprotected from any surges.
Someone from customer services then sent me a UPS document so that I could return the tree. Fine or so I thought
Then a gentleman called Simeon got in contact and said that I would not have to return the tree and that he had authorised a full refund. I was very impressed with this sensible approach, to the extent that I said that I would consider buying another tree from Balsam Hill.
But I received an email from him just now stating that the refund may (translate that to will) not hit my account until after 30 days.
I pointed out to him that given his initial approach, I was considering buying another tree but if his company, Balsam Hill, was not going to refund me for 30 days, I would just forget about Balsam Hill and go elsewhere.
So what does this story tell you? If you just want to buy an expensive tree for the sake of it, go ahead, but if you want decent customer service to reflect the cost of the expensive product, give Balsam Hill a very wide birth.
UPDATE
The matter has been dealt with to my satisfaction. In the interests of balance, please now read my update post, which can be found by clicking on the link below
David's Diatribe 