Exchangesails Reviews 30

Having Sailed for many years with a set of sails I was told were new when buying the boat I struggled together her to sail properly. After a lengthy and most informative discussion with John about the correct sail configuration and size for the boat I purchased a secondhand sail he recommended which made an amazing difference now sailing is fun, all because of using this service.

Crooks. I paid £660 for a replacement mainsail for my ageing Albin Vega. The replacement I received was too big, was as old and baggy as the 40 year old sail I wished to replace, foot rope was too small, third reef I paid extra to have sewn in was only half finished, other reefing eyelets so corroded, some were half missing.
Exchange sails took the sail back and agreed I should receive a full refund two months ago. Since then I have been fobbed off, ignored, and despite various calls and emails have failed to retrieve a single penny. As a result I have no sail and no money, thanks to exchange sails.

Provided an excellent #2 headsail that has worked exceptionally well on our Achilles 24.

Supplied heavy weather jib ,altered a sail and made a cover all high quee as kitty and good value

I am still not getting any further with the sails supplied to John Pollard at Exchange Sails. I had emails about 2 years ago confirming that two of the three had been sold, but I cannot get a response to to the question of when I can expect to see the money owed to me.
i see from the Yachting press on google that I'm by no means the only one suffering this.

Life laundry rather than land fill took them to exchange sails. Negotiated to an amicable deal, very quickly. Thank you for your help in saving the planet.

Worst customer service I have ever experienced.
What can I say?
Incredibly poor communication, emails almost never answered, sales ones had a better response.
After lots of emails and calls to nail down a head sail.
I was told they had a 7/10 replacement in stock.
It took a week to check the sail?
Then after despatch I waited a week, only when I asked where my sail was as I had a big sail planned and was hoping to have the new sail I was told no one was home? My ring doorbell said different.
They were very dismissive saying "oh well never mind" not, oh sorry we will look into this so it doesn't happen again as it's just not good enough.
Eventually the sail arrived.
I was told that I was getting an elvestrom sail and got a haslar? The sail was very light.
I sent 3 emails saying this was not the sail I was promised, and it felt too light .
None were answered.
I managed to get to the boat and found the supplied sail was 1.8m too short.
I emailed with pics .. and called .
I was asked how much shorter was it as this may have been a regular occurrence.
Then I was told a mix up with despatch.
No apologise. 2nd sailing deadline missed.
Then even though it was there mistake they would not despatch my sail until they have received there wrongly despatched sail?
It took them 2 attempts to send the return ms notice.
I formally requested a refund and was told we can talk about it ?
I'm sorry but if they had sent the correct sail I would be worried that if my opinion of a 7/10 sail was different from there's I would have a world of pain trying to get my money back.
I threatened a credit card recall of funds .
I then had a reply in a few days saying they would refund my money when they had the wrong sail back.
Sorry this is very poor ...
They sent the wrong sail back ... it's taken them over a week to acknowledge the receipt of the sail .
And I have now been told I will get my money back in 4 days time ? Why not now?
I paid when they asked in good faith.
The chap talks a very good talk ...he comes across really well.
But the lady in the office is different and there seems to be no rush.
And service seems to be an inconvenience to her.
The guy talks the talk the office can't care less and your left feeling it's your fault and this is fine for customer service.
I've now decided to save a little more and buy a new sail. My 2nd hand sail was priced at £840
And new is £1600 but it's all about the service and accountability.
Shame as if the service was as good as the chap talking the talk it would be amazing. Buyer be wear.

just helped us out big time with an order today

During few days we got excellent asymmetric spi for club races in Cyprus . It was showed 9/10 conditions on the web page , in fact we got a new sail . Despite expensive transport to the island and 250 euro import taxes it cost us half price from inexpensive new one. Important to make accurate measurement. Thanks !!!

Contacted them initially for a repair but recommended a cost effective replacement

This is definitely a Dubious company, they will gladly take your hard earned money and fob you off with rubish! My story? After communicating with John at exchange sails i was told he had an appropriate size sail for what i wanted ( an asymmetrical cruising chute) so i ordered and payed for said item, i was told on 2 different occasions that it should be dispatched by the end of the week, yeh ok 4 months and several emails later i cancelled the order ONLY for them to dispatch what can only be described as a desperate rumage through the trash and hope i would accept it, Sorry but after waiting for 4 months and receiving a sail that was too small and horrendous colours ( not red and blue as described in conversation) it was sent back, now almost 2 months since they received it still no refund, also emails have stopped being answered.
But if you insist on using this company then give westaway sails a look as they strangely enough operate from the same building and have the exact SAME pdf for used sails.
Also last look on companies House they were both run by the same family name..

*****UPDATE ******
As of the 25th August this matter has now been settled by way of a refund.

Really awful. I bought a sail which when delivered to my boat in Greece was not the dimensions or condition agreed and moreover did not have the UV strip for which I had paid.

Took my money (£1080) for a used headsail to fit a SHE 33. After a bit of chasing eventually had a call saying they were despatching on a Tuesday to arrive on the Thursday, that was last week. Nothing arrived and have now stopped answering calls or returning texts. Can see this will be a long haul. Assuming that I ever get anything delivered, it's clear that they do not understand the basics of customer service and keeping people updated on the situation. Avoid based and source sails from somebody else based on my experience to date. Matt Willis

AVOID - My Mainsail and Genoa were left with these people in 2021 . Apparently the genoa was sold in 2022 but despite many emails and phone calls they have not refused to contact me in any way regarding payment. They offered a great sales pitch when I asked them to sell the sails but after that the service has been absolutely appalling

Collected my sails ,repaired and returned to a very high standard for a goood price

Supplied a cracking no2 headsail and has performed really well to or Achilles 24

Negotiated to an amicable deal. The sails came with numbers on and they happily paid for them to be returned and the numbers taken off then reposted. I'm using them again now after good communication to have a stackpack made.

In October 2017 following a telephone conversation with Exchange Sails the courier TNT quickly collected my Westerly Storm genoa. Despite countless telephone calls I have received no written communication from them. I do not know when the sail was received by them, their appreciation of its condition or the price that they wished to ask for the sail. I am unable to say what sale reference number was given to the sail. After several telephone calls made two years ago it was sail that they had almost sold the sail, but nothing transpired. In July this year, again after several telephone calls I received an e-mail from John Pollard saying that the sail was almost sold, a deposit paid, with completion of the sail possible before the end of July. Nothing has been heard of since. After several calls made over the last two weeks I said that I would call in on an agreed date to pick up the sail. On arrival their representative Kate told me that the sail was not here, as it was being couriered back from Brighton, likely to arrive either this afternoon or Monday. It is now Tuesday and according to Kate the sail has still not arrived. This sounds familiar does it not? Given the experience of the last four years, and other comments on Trust Pilot, it is extremely difficult to know where the truth lies. Do Exchange Sails still have my sail, are they able to identify it absolutely as mine, has it been sold, or am I being ripped off? With each telephone call I hear another story together with a promise to return my call. It is high time that my relationship with them was satisfactorily concluded. I would warn anybody thinking of dealing with them to be very very careful.

Supplied new asymmetric with no problems and fitted well

A word of warning, never give your sails to these people to sell in your behalf. I contacted them regarding feedback whether my sails are sold because I requested they be returned. Several emails and phone calls later I am still waiting for somebody the get back to me to understand if my sails are still available to return. Daylight robbery and no organisation skills, pandemic or not. No excuse for ignoring emails or not returning phone calls.