Merlin Archery Arvostelua 134

As a relative newbie to the hobby, I was ready to invest a fair bit of money (by my standards) in getting fully kitted out. Once my bow had arrived, I made the 2 hour journey up to Merlin and had a warm greeting from the shop manager, Huw, who then handed me over to one of the technical guys, James. We then spent the next 3 hours making sure my bow was properly set up for me, getting some arrows made, having a chat and a laugh, and dealing with all of the other accessories that I needed. James was very friendly, patient, and gave good honest advice with respect to how much (or little) I really needed to spend on certain add on items.

It was important to me that this experience went really well otherwise it could have ruined the start of this new hobby, and between Huw and James, it went better than I expected. I spent around £1,200 but left there a very happy customer (and my Mybo Origin Compound bow is wonderful).

The one area I would give a bit of feedback on (as a few others have mentioned) is that they need to get their online stock status information more accurate. I was originally going for another bow because it said "Yours in 2 weeks". I placed an order and then got a phone call the next day saying it would actually be more like 12 weeks. I didn't want to wait this long so I changed my order to another bow that also said "yours in 2 weeks". I then had another phonecall a few days later saying this second bow would be more like 6 weeks. Thankfully the weather has been rubbish and so the extended wait wasn't that painful, but it was a slightly frustrating start. They can't help how long bows take to get in but they can help how long the website says it will take.

Apart from that, everything else was really good and Merlin will be my automatic 'go to' shop for all future archery kit. I am extremely happy with every item that I left the shop with and also happy with the service that I got.

These folks absolutely smashed it for me. Despite an initial hold up due to Royal Mail, Merlin re-shipped my order via a different courier and I received it almost next day. They were incredibly quick to respond to my emails and kept me informed and up to date all the way. I've used Merlin a few times for my archery gear and the quality of what I've bought has always been great.

I don’t know why this company has a lot of bad reviews. I can honestly say This company is amazing and quick with the deliveries… I ordered a Man kung XB-25 crossbow and it came within a week! 100% vouch for this company they’ll definitely be getting my money again!

Rubbish customer service, extremely slow, no contact from them whatsoever so I'm doing the run around.

I ordered on the 10th, 'yours in 7-10' days it says. I phoned THEM, confirmed my order was in stock and ready to come to me on the 21st (11 days after). Still nothing.

I call, again, on 24th. (14 days!) and ask why? No actual answer, no sorry, just it'll be sent next week cause they've missed the post cut off. Brilliant...

It's now the 27th, (18 days!) I've called AGAIN, and it's still not even been flagged for posting at 2:20pm when I called on Friday...

(Politely) told them I think they're utterly useless and I won't be ordering from them again. Awaiting promised call to confirm it's been shipped. Will be demanding refund tomorrow most likely.

Just order from the longbow shop instead.

Merlin used to be good
This is now twice I have ordered an item that their site said was in stock only for Merlin to come back to me 3 days later reporting a stock error.
Even paid the extra for next day delivery. Won’t be using them again…

As a newbie I have ordered a few bits from Merlin (including a bow and some limbs) and have always been very well served with service, price, and quality. Thank you to all the folks at Merlin who have made my steep learning curve (and thus changing requirements, very easy and totally stress free)

I'm not surprised that Merlin's TP rating is bad.

Not my first order but it looks as if Merlin have reached a size where customer service is not important to them.

Order placed on the 24th November on 48hr tracked delivery - this was for a member of my archery club who could not access online services. The tracking reference showed "Waiting for the item to be dispatched" for over 3 weeks after placing the order and no-one in customer service gives a damn, just repeating that their T&Cs with Royal Mail mean that they are not allowed to chase RM until a minimum of 14 WORKING DAYS have passed and then leave 2-3 days "grace period" - whoever the hell negotiated that contract wants sacking...

I didn't get a refund until the 19th of December - way past the 48 hours and certainly way past the date my club member required the item.

I used to recommend Merlin to new club members, but not anymore - there are other suppliers out there who will appreciate the custom.

They have had my order for 5 days and did nothing with it. Just received an email saying at 1.30pm 05/12/2022 they shipped my order, I placed it at 2pm on 30/11/2022. When you pay nearly £8.95 for delivery you would expect better service. They had everything in stock when I ordered so what takes 5 days to print a delivery label and send it out. No customer support on weekends either! I wish I had ordered else where.

Online service is awful, I am not sure if they either don’t have stock or only post out once a week. Three orders I have placed with them now and every one shows “Waiting for the item to be dispatched” on Royal Mail for days afterwards. I used them as they show items in stock and prices are reasonable but from now on I will choose different options that other people have in stock. As with others I have found they do not despatch until you call them and chase the order, miraculously every time “it just went out today” forget 48 hour delivery 10 to 14 days is standard.

I've ordered twice from them online, and the first time I made a mistake. They responded quickly to my subsequent email, and were happy to correct my mistake, absorbed the small cost of it themselves and delived everything quickly.

Excellent customer service! Will continue to use them for all my needs.

This review is solely for the online (dis) service. They appear to operate like a drop shop ie they show items you want as in stock, they allow you to order and pay for 48hr delivery, only then do they order them in. In the meantime, you sit waiting for weeks…no goods, no update, no courtesy call. Nothing. If they eventually answer phone or emails, they fob you off with lies. They pretend that there wasn’t enough of the thing you ordered, so they’re waiting for more. You point out that they’re still showing 25+ of the thing you want. They try fobbing you off again but then ignore you. They literally don’t care about customer service. If you don’t mind waiting for weeks, and don’t care about having good customer service, their prices are generally fairly competitive. Their postage policy, however, borders on fraudulent. When you pay extra for fast delivery, you don’t expect the 48hrs to start from when they feel like it. That’s like Usain bolt asking for his 100m to be timed only when he’s hit the halfway mark.

They have an excellent range of stock at great prices. Their customer service team are always very helpful when I contact them via email. They also manufacture the excellent 'Mybo' bows and accessories. I have a Mybo compound bow.

Merlin used to be great. On point prices. Super fast shipping times and always spot on with order.
Recently after moving shop and taking on new staff it's gone down the toilet.
Can place an order and wait the stated time .. to no order, not even dispatched .
Every order I now have to contact the store weeks later to remind them I have an order. Once reminded they send out the same day ..
I feel the new staff have really let the store down massively

Products can show 7 to 10 days to order but after waiting 3 weeks I rang to find they thought it might be another month. In stock or not once you hit the buy button you become of little interest to them despite their policy of emailing stock problems.
Infinite items,zero customer service

The good:
Usually competitively priced
Have some good deals
Postage reasonable
Some store staff helpful and knowledgeable

The bad:
Stock control very poor. Online store allows you to order items that show as in stock, when they aren’t

The ugly:
Having ordered in good faith, goods that showed in stock when you parted with your money, nothing arrives. Nobody has the courtesy to update you…you have to do the chasing. You are then told that there was a lead time clearly displayed when you ordered. Please don’t try and gaslight me. I know damn well that they were shown in stock!!!! Weeks later, no arrivals. You then note they’re showing in stock on website, despite customer ‘services’ telling you otherwise.

Additionally, I’ve purchased arrows in store, based upon staff advice, which turned out to be unsuitable. As a relative newcomer, I’m reliant on expert advice, so I don’t appreciate wasting my money, having discovered they’re the wrong length and spine weight for the bow I purchased at same time!

Buck up, or you WILL lose customers

Good products ......but its the stock level and the slow postage.....done 8 big orders with them ....always something wrong with stock level after purchasing and always 10 days to deliver....

Merlin is simply the best Archery Supplier in the UK.

I spend a lot on archery gear and as a rule I always use Merlin as the prices are always good and the delivery times always fast.

My only criticism of Merlin would be that they don’t stock/offer everything you might need. For example, they sell Hoyt products, but they don’t offer the Hoyt Barebow weight kits for the xceed riser. Now, I don’t particularly need it, but how come they don’t sell it… They also don’t offer some of the more expensive recurve strings, and other bits and pieces. As a result, sometimes you have to use alternative suppliers. I would normally drop a point for these points, however because they are fast on delivery I haven’t done so.

Brilliant service, great communication and knowledgeable staff make Merlin the best archery retailer in the UK.

Third time buying a bow from Merlin. Top service as usual. Totally professional, knowledgeable and super friendly. Can't recamend enough.

As the chair of an archery club we need equipment regularly and have certain requirements. Merlin have never let us down and when we've made a mistake they have corrected it with friendly communication. This has earned our trust and I have zero hesitation in recommending them to all our members for their needs.

We have bought £1,000's of of equipment from them over the years and they are the one store that has never let us down.