Off the Grain

I ordered two shelves from Off the grain on 19 Oct, the delivery was delayed and I had to contact the company. Upon receipt of the products, one of the brackets was bent and the other was rusty. I then had to contact the company a second time for replacement bracket, what I received was completely the wrong size. I ended up receiving a text message from the owner Dom who promised to rectify the situation by dispatching replacement brackets. I reached out and sent a text when nothing had arrived and he told me to contact his head office, I did that and to date I have never received any kind of response or the supposed despatched brackets. Wouldn’t recommend this company at all, from the quality control to communication I’ve had a pretty bad experience.

I ordered a fireplace mantel beam from B&Q Chester on 12 December. From the start, the experience was extremely poor. There was an initial delay in delivery, and when I chased this up, B&Q took no responsibility and simply blamed the third-party supplier (Off the Grain). Eventually, the beam arrived, but it came without any fixings, despite the website clearly stating that fixings are included. I contacted B&Q again and found their customer service completely unhelpful, so I contacted the supplier directly (Off the Grain, Halifax). They said they would send the fixings, but they never arrived. After chasing again, I was told a second set had been sent — these also did not arrive. I then asked if they could be sent by recorded delivery, and was told they would “look into making an exception”, which was frustrating and did not make me feel supported at all. By this point, the beam had been sitting on my living room floor for six weeks. When the fitting kit finally did arrive, it consisted of short screws and only one rawl plug. My husband was understandably concerned about mounting a heavy beam using these fixings. We sought advice from two professional joiners, both of whom confirmed that the screws provided were completely unsuitable and unsafe for fitting the beam. As a result, we are now having to pay a joiner to fit it properly. The customer service from both B&Q and Off the Grain has been extremely poor throughout this process. Based on this experience, I would not recommend purchasing from either.

Unfortunately I had a poor experience with this company. I ordered a monks bench in November 2024 with an estimated delivery time of 4-6 weeks. Six weeks came and went and I hadn’t heard anything so I contacted them and was told it was ‘booked into production this week’, another four weeks pass and still no sign of the item. At this point I am told it is on its way back from the spray booth and dispatch is ‘expected soon’. Another 4 weeks pass and still nothing (now 14 weeks since ordering!). At this point I suspect I’m never going to receive the item so I leave a negative review. This prompts an email and phone call from the owner asking me to take down the review until I receive the product and that he will ensure that it is dispatched in the next week. He also informs me that the delay was due to flooding in their factory at the start of the year, why this couldn’t have been communicated earlier I don’t know. Delivery was made the following week as promised, however that was also a hassle. The driver said it had been booked as a one person job but actually needed two people - I was working from home at the time so had to rearrange a client call to assist bringing in the item myself (from several hundred yards from the house due to the truck not being able to access the driveway). This is very poor, for me it was inconvenient, but for someone who would have been unable to carry such a weight I suspect it would have meant failed delivery and wasted time. I’ve had the product a few weeks now and whilst it looks nice the quality is quite poor. Already the wood strips around the edge of the bench are coming away as shown in the picture and other parts look a bit rough around the edges or where nail gun holes have been filled in All in all I think it’s very poor that only when after leaving a negative review that I got any traction with my order - combined with the nuisance of delivery and the less that stellar quality of the product I would not recommend nor order from this company again.

Unfortunately I had a negative experience ordering from Off The Grain. I ordered three painted coat racks on 13th July, which had an advertised lead time of 1-2 weeks. When I hadn't had any communication from the company I emailed on 25th July to ask if the order would be dispatched soon. The company then informed me they'd had a 'slight delay' on painted coat racks due to an 'unforeseen issue' with their contracted painters and that the lead times had been extended to 4 weeks. After a bit of back and forth this was extended to longer, and I was offered a 10% refund, which I gladly took. I finally received the delivery between 29th August - 1st September (can't remember the exact date) - 7 weeks after ordering - and one of the coat racks was missing. It is now 11th September - almost 9 weeks after ordering - and I still haven't received the missing coat rack or any communication to say it's been dispatched. Regarding the quality of the items I have received, the 'stiffkey blue' colour is very different - much lighter and less saturated - than other woodwork that I have painted in the same colour (see photo). The company explained that the colour can vary slightly depending on the type of wood or material it’s applied to. But I would flag that it appears significantly different. It was also missing a screw. Given the delays and that the colour is not as expected, I would not order from this company again.

The floating shelves I bought look amazing and are of super great quality - they came with the necessary attachments to install them on the wall but I did have to get another set (as advised by Off The Grain) for my very hollow plasterboard walls. Overall, very happy with the experience and delivery was super fast. Thanks!