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Happy Hutch Company - thoughts please?

S

steveg

Warren Scout
Well, my hutch did arrive yesterday but won't be built until Monday as the sides had been manufactured wrongly, don't ask, it's a long story).

In addition to the sides being wrong, i had asked for a hinged roof to aid cleaning. The hinges fitted are tiny and do not lock, so the roof would have to be held open.

I also asked for a clasp to secure the roof, this has not been sent.

The instructions are terrible. I have two bags of screws but do not know which ones to use or where to use them. It more or less just tells you to screw it all together.

The legs for the hutch have supports but I have no instructions given as to how to fit them.

The whole hutch feels built down to a price. The floor is a bit of plywood and feels inadequate. The roof is so thin it wobbles and I can't see the felt lasting long.

I already wished I'd paid the extra and ordered from Ryedale. I will update further when i build it on Monday, when the parts arrive.

You live and learn...........
 
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That's odd because a lot of people have good luck with Happy Hutch. Hope you can get something sorted. Have you spoken to them?

I personally never recommend them though as I found their customer service to be poor, and they refuse to delivery to the Highlands of Scotland, even when I offered to pay for the extra charge.
 
I have three custom built hutches from happy hutch, have to say completely brilliant, I put all 3 with runs together in an hour !! all I had to do was add locks to doors :wave:
 
this happened to me. they got what i asked for totally wrong, sent the wrong parts to replace it, then refused to sort it out and give me any money back. they were very rude to me. :evil:
 
To be honest, I was warned off Happy Hutch, and bought from Ryedale. Having said that, the reason I paid so much for Spenser's original hutch is one of the reasons he is still in it! Actually one of the attractions of Ryedale for me was that the hutch would arrive ready built. I'm not exactly a modern miss, and have reached the age of 40 without doing anything in the DIY line! :oops:

Seriously though, it sounds to me as if you have good grounds for being a dissatisfied customer. Would it be too late to ask for a refund and send everything back?
 
I bought a happy hutch a few months ago, and have to say I was very pleased. However, mine was delivered constructed so we only had to put the feet on (I think because it was such a large hutch) - it arrived on a pallett!

Sorry you've had such a bad experience though, it's awful when you are disappointed in something you've spent a lot of money on!
 
Ive had a lot of hutches from Happy hutch when I had my guineas and they were all brill. Mine came ready made though so not sure if that makes a difference?
 
Oh, what a shame, when you had so been looking forward to it :(

I think I would be inclined to ask for a refund and shop elsewhere - I would be worried about how string it was going to be if you already think parts of it are flimsy.
 
I am disappointed. I did my research and made an informed decision but am very underwhelmed by the quality of the product.

But, at the end of the day, you get what you pay for. It was £123 cheaper than Ryedale but i think the Ryedale one would have lasted forever and this one, well, I'll give two to three years at the most.

It may be that Happy Hutch have got greedy and the quality just isn't there anymore, but i can't really comment because I haven't seen the earlier ones, but they certainly sound more robust than what's been delivered to me.

All the parts are stapled together, not screwed. It really does look cheap. I am considering my options...............
 
That's a shame. :(

I got my hutch from them 3 years ago now so things may well have changed but I was impressed by the quality at the time, considering how cheaply priced they were.

Mine came with a hinged roof as standard (although I never opened it as it would have been impossible for me to reach in to clean seeing as the roof was 4ft off the ground :lol:) and they also supplied a hasp and staple lock for it too.
 
having seen ryedales hutches, they are alot sturdier and better made IMO

downside i think you still have to buy the locks yourself or you pay seperate ????

ones ive seen are blimin heavy too
 
My rabbits got taken frmo their Happy Hutch by a fox....fair enough as accidents happen....but I emailed them to ask if they would consider using heavier mesh in future and they didn't even bother to reply.
 
steveg said:
I am disappointed. I did my research and made an informed decision but am very underwhelmed by the quality of the product.

But, at the end of the day, you get what you pay for. It was £123 cheaper than Ryedale but i think the Ryedale one would have lasted forever and this one, well, I'll give two to three years at the most.

It may be that Happy Hutch have got greedy and the quality just isn't there anymore, but i can't really comment because I haven't seen the earlier ones, but they certainly sound more robust than what's been delivered to me.

All the parts are stapled together, not screwed. It really does look cheap. I am considering my options...............
Click to expand...

I would ring him and have a chat...let him know how disappointed you are. He's a nice guy and its awful being so let down by a product. It shouldnt matter that it was cheaper than another product...it still has to do the job described.
 
clutterydrawer said:
My rabbits got taken frmo their Happy Hutch by a fox....fair enough as accidents happen....but I emailed them to ask if they would consider using heavier mesh in future and they didn't even bother to reply.
Click to expand...

:cry::cry: Just how much extra would it cost to use 16g mesh instead of 19g? They could even make it a selling point that it had stronger mesh than the 19g most others use. It's so very sad that they couldn't even reply.
 
KarenM said:
That's a shame. :(

I got my hutch from them 3 years ago now so things may well have changed but I was impressed by the quality at the time, considering how cheaply priced they were.

Mine came with a hinged roof as standard (although I never opened it as it would have been impossible for me to reach in to clean seeing as the roof was 4ft off the ground :lol:) and they also supplied a hasp and staple lock for it too.
Click to expand...

I remember reading somewhere (was last year and I can't remember where) that hutch companies no longer do lifting lids as standard as the RSPCA advised that it was frightening for rabbits to suddenly have the roof lifted and someone looming over them. Wish I could remember where I read it :?
 
If you are not happy and get no joy out of the company contact trading standads :wave::wave::wave::wave:
 
Blackberry & Co said:
I remember reading somewhere (was last year and I can't remember where) that hutch companies no longer do lifting lids as standard as the RSPCA advised that it was frightening for rabbits to suddenly have the roof lifted and someone looming over them. Wish I could remember where I read it :?
Click to expand...

I remember reading that too. I had some cheap hutches I used for fostering last year for very skittish rabbits and they definitely reacted badly to the roof coming up. The Happy Hutch I bought a month or so back didn't even have hinges, you just put the roof on, no fixings at all. Granted it's heavy but not adequate in my opinion. My hutch will be inside an aviary so I won't both to fix it down but if it was outside then I would have done.
 
Blackberry & Co said:
I remember reading somewhere (was last year and I can't remember where) that hutch companies no longer do lifting lids as standard as the RSPCA advised that it was frightening for rabbits to suddenly have the roof lifted and someone looming over them. Wish I could remember where I read it :?
Click to expand...

I don't recall reading it but that makes a lot of sense thinking about it. :thumb: I'd probably find it quite scary too! :shock:
 
I did speak to him today, three times. Firstly to tell him the sides were made upside down, secondly to ask why the roof hinge didn't lock (he said you have to put them up against a wall to keep it open:roll:) and finally to ask which screws went where, not that I was in a position to do anything today.

I did tell him the instructions were terrible. It would take no more than an hour to update the instructions, and just think how many phone calls that would save him taking.

I'm definitely going to upgrade the mesh if i keep it. I would hate the thought of foxes getting in, that must be a terrible, terrible feeling.
 
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