men selling teak garden furniture door to door

[suzza22]

Has anyone else had 'Chelsea Gardens LTD' call at their door today selling teak garden furniture from their van very cheaply. I was a bit dubious of them and can't find the company on google, so wondered if they were dodgy or not. The furniture look lovely but we were scared to take the risk. They said a lady on the corner had recommended they call on me, and that they had just finished an exhibition in Earls Court. Did anyone buy from them? Just wondering if I'd missed out on a bargain, or not.

[Loz]

They said a lady on the corner had recommended they call on me

Do you know the lady on the corner? If not, that comment would have set every alarm bell I have ringing.

I suspect there was not a lot of teak in that van. Or if it was, it would have been so hot as to be close to ignition point.

[Only me!]

or the boxed stuff you get is not quite as good as the sample seen. Just you don't find out for a few hours ......

[Marmora Man]

They've been around before - it's always an order that has recently been cancelled and thus is "suddenly" available. I did, once, have a look at the goods. Not too bad quality - but at a far too high a price.

On a different "con":

My wife answered the phone to someone yesterday purporting to be from Southwark Council offering a ?7,000 Council Tax rebate providing:

a. My wife had no criminal record (??!)

b. She provided full details - such as name, address and bank details in which the money would be paid.

Being a wise owl she just shouted "scam" at the caller who then terminated the call.

[Pickle]

Yes, they called at my house this afternoon too... "we're delivering to a few of your neighbours and they suggested we call on you too". I did have a look (purely for interests sake as we do need outdoor furniture) and it looked OK. Very dubious though - "this set usually retails for ?2,000 and we're selling for ?400". Too good to be true I fear.

[The Minkey]

Years ago, this woman turned up in our office selling goosedown duvets. The demo duvet was lovely and several of us bought one. The duvets we opened up at home were spiky with quills and stank of dead bird.

[ianr]

There is a company of that name registered at Companies House: http://wck2.companieshouse.gov.uk/ee0202c7008ec4d8e5d9810b2d011004/compdetails

[rshdunlop]

They come round almost every summer. The story I get is that they have just lost the lease on their storage facility.

[bon3yard]

...well, it beats pegs.

[DulwichFox]

CHELSEA GARDENS LIMITED, established 1997-06-04

According to Companies House the status of CHELSEA GARDENS LIMITED is currently Dissolved.

Read Here

I suspect they may be just getting rid of left over stock...

Quite normal once VAT clearance has been given.

[ianr]

I think it's best to rely on the primary data source.

The link that I gave above to my Companies House search result incorporated a time-out, I'm afraid, so was of of little use. Anyone wanting to check their records will need to go to their Webcheck page and enter the search details themselves.

A CH search for a dissolved company named Chelsea Gardens returns the one cited by DF, incorporated 1997, dissolved 2002.

A CH search for a current company named Chelsea Gardens returns company number 05394906, incorporated 2005 and still live.

[johnhinton]

The Chelsea Gardens guys have just been on Dulwich Village: they're about to lose their site lease and are selling off the stock at a 70% discount.

[Penguin68]

I'm afraid this isn't quite true - the furniture being sold is pretty well at the price you can buy it on-line - but it's an effective sales ploy (which they have been using for some time). The actual furniture is of good quality and soundly sourced regarding wood - but it isn't that sort of bargain - its pretty well at list price for internet sales - but you do get to see it and it is delivered - so that's a bonus.

[the-e-dealer]

Funnily enough we were approached in Greenwich while walking to the Museum and asked if we were local as they had some teak in the Van.

[prickle]

I bought one of the garden benches earlier in the year.

I'm pretty gullible and was taken in by the patter :-$, but glad to say that am pleased with the bench. As penguin68 says, the furniture is good quality and the price is what you would pay on the internet. The fact that it was delivered there and then and that I got to see it before I paid was a good thing - or at least that's what I tell myself?

[johnHill]

men selling teak garden furniture door to door is the unique model and the useful designs for the furniture collections....nice post for this one...

[alice]

and who knows of the 'fish lady'

[buggie]

Unsure where they said they were from, but on Adys Road this lunchtime encountered a guy trying to sell teak benches after an exhibition in Mayfair... Remembered this thread & had to stop myself from saying "Isn't this a scam?" out loud!

[Earl Aelfheah]

Personally I wouldn't touch it with a teak barge pole. Anyone selling from the back of a van, door to door, with a story containing words such as 'suddenly available / quick sale / huge discount' is probably not to be trusted.

[treehugger]

Prickle - why did you feel you were gullible? You bought the bench at a price you felt was reasonable and you are pleased with it. What's wrong with that?

i bought some duvets and pillows about 10 years ago, when they were being hawked round offies in the west end. I checked the quality, thought it was a good price and bought them. I have been using them ever since...

Why do we all have to be so super-suspicious...

[Earl Aelfheah]

I would be very cautious of buying goods under the circumstances described. Even if they are being sold at a genuinely bargain price, you can't be sure of their provenance.

[Penguin68]

In my experience the patter is somewhat dubious (they use the 'must go, no storage available' routine, and the prices are what you would pay on the internet, and not the huge discounts they claim (they show a catalogue with stupid prices in it) but they drive a liveried van, give you a headed invoice and you can trace the stuff on the web. And they are so regularly about that if they didn't have title to sell they would be being arrested. The quality of the material is sound (hugely better than what you could buy at e.g. Homebase).

If buying ignore their sales pitch and look at the actual furniture and its build quality and buy based on your own view of value for money (for what's really being charged, not for what the 'reduction' appears to be). At least you don't pay extra for delivery, get the stuff instantly and don't risk sending off money and then nothing being sent to you.

[wee quinnie]

Just been round with me this morning. The furniture looked OK, but I kind of thought teak should be heavier. Sounded a bit dubious to me.

[jonbateson]

They were on therapia today with the same patter so unless they are doing exhibitions every day, it does seem a bit odd...

[helenvanp]

I was offered a Lutyens bench at ?500 which looked the same as one I had been stalking on the net for a while. After a fair amount of haggling I got them down to ?250 and even persuaded them to carry it into position. That was three years ago and it's still looking great.