Hiya!
This site is a forum for airing any complaints about the level of service received from UFO whether it be about kites or about other items such as skateboards or scooters. Please be responsible, give the shop a chance to fix the problem or make a refund, but if they don't sort it feel free to post here. When posting please try to give full information, for example: Did you intend to make a purchase? Did you go to the shop and ask for a specific product, or were you just browsing, or attending an exhibition or display. Were you sold what you wanted or were you pressured into puchasing a different product? Were you promised superior performance which didn't materialise in practice? Did the product work as you expected? Did it break or stop working? Did you return it and did they accept that you returned it? Did you receive acceptable treatment? Or are you dissatisfied? Please be polite and give as full and fair account as you can. There is no pre-moderation but any post which is ott will be removed. Thanks!Temporary Posting Arrangement
Please send your post to mike-wsm@hotmail.co.uk and I'll post it for you. When I get round to reading the manual I'll try to make open posting available. Thanks!
My recent bad experience with UFO
I visited a Kite Festival and walked around the arena. On the way round I was accosted by a UFO employee. I mentioned I had to junk my brand new HQ Symphony when it was pee'd on by a dog. He went straight into pressure sales mode. He told me the Symphony was no good and they stocked a much better kite now. He went on to say just how good it was and became effusive about all its virtues. In particular he stressed how well it took off. Much better than the Symphony, he said. I wasn't going to buy another kite until next year, far too expensive for an oap to buy more than one a year. But he said it was so good, and I made the mistake of trusting him and buying one.
Within an hour I had checked out the new kite so effusively recommended by UFO. It was no good. The flying characteristics weren't a patch on my former Symphony. It wouldn't take off from any but the most optimum of landings, often getting blown into unrecoverable positions, and its colouring was such that I couldn't even tell which way up it was or which way it was facing. Not at all as described. Completely and utterly useless.
I went to the UFO shop. It was closed so I posted the kite through their letter box and went home and sent them an email asking for my money back. Next day I went to the shop and they told me they hadn't received the kite. They thought it "might have been stolen" from their letter box. Then I received an email offering me my money back if I returned the kite. Aaarrrgghhh!!! I already had returned it and they already had denied receiving it.
A few weeks later I was walking along the street some thirty yards from UFO and the same employee of UFO walked all the way from the shop to accost me. After trying to make social chat, which I declined, he again went into the "stolen from our letter box" routine and then the "oh, I've flown it and it's a wonderful kite" routine.
My advice? Don't buy anything from these guys. They are very, very happy to tell you whatever sells their kites. But you don't stand Icarus' chance of a safe landing if you want satisfaction.
