BEST SUPPLIER OF COMPOST 2018

Very, very informative and interesting Shiney. Reassuring too to know that Westland are concerned about the quality of their compost. Excellent advice too

 

Well done @shiney And you managed this without waterboarding Antony and Mark
And the same company make Jacks Magic . So Westland make the Wickes compost.

 

Interesting Michael ,I have never used Wicks compost yet as we don’t have a local shop............but a brand new shop is opening here in the next few weeks.
I will certainly try it.

 

The trouble is lots of brands of MPC keep changing in appearance/formulation, so the only time you might notice something is wrong is when your plants are drying out every day, or failing to extend their roots into the compost, etc. and Wickes (+ others) practice of storing unwrapped pallets of compost where it can get drenched with rain can obscure the nature of what's being bought, then by the time you realise it's not up to standard you've got a lost/ruined crop.

The Sale of Goods Act 2015 restricts 100% refunds for being unfit for purpose to 30 days from purchase date, creating a potential problem with no quibble refunds when you later realise there's something wrong with the batch you''ve bought. I for one would not want a like for like replacement of failed compost with and risk losing yet another batch of plants and a whole growing year.

 

Many thanks @shiney. I will contact their care department and yes my nearest Wickes is over 12 miles away AND I already took back the absolutely soaking bags of Jack's Magic which my Daughter who's seriously fit and strong could hardly lift. She can dead lift 120KG!!!I had a close look at the new versus the 2017 Wickes MPC and when you wet both you can see just how much less peat there is in 2018 ...you know what all! I am sure I read somewhere that in Ireland where most? of the peat comes from they burn tonnes and tonnes more of the stuff than the small amount in comparison which goes for horticultural purposes.
Glad you got a result. I will see if they will be prepared to swap the Wickes rubbish for Jack's Magic but not the soaking bags they have at my local Wickes store.

 

Only if you bought the product over 2 years 7 months ago according to Which Sale of Goods Act - Which? Consumer Rights

"The Sale of Goods Act 1979 has now been replaced by the Consumer Rights Act 2015, but you may be able to claim under it if goods you bought on or before 30 September 2015 become faulty"

I've bought 100 L of seed compost and about 1,500 L of MPC so far this year and the thought of several 15 mile round trip to Wickes to buy their own brand MPC, followed by ruined plants, followed by lugging the whole lot back(several trips yet again) to negotiate a refund/replacement, then what?, too late to re-sow, a year lost, all my efforts in preparation, planting and cultivation wasted.

Sorry, but I'll never buy that stuff again.

 

If they use elevator screeners to pile then you get bits that run down the pile to the bottom then that may go through to the baging stage and you can get alot of rubbish bits all in one bag

 

How can you tell the difference between what Wickes sold "last year's" and Wickes sold 'this year's' ? Are the bags of a different designs for 2017 and 2018? (they don't look different on their website). Do Wickes/Westland change their formulation at midnight on 31st December?

The Wickes MPC I bought last year had the same problem as the stuff you bought this year, it dried out quickly.

I've just been to my plot and had a look for some empty bags of the Wickes MPC I bought last year and found some. They will definately be 2017 bags as that's the last I've bought any in some time as I've boycotted Wickes since their last compost fiasco a few years ago.

The first bag I found had no QA code, so I looked for some more and the next 4 all had no QA code. So the carload of rubbish MPC I bought last year (that required me to carry large amounts of water to my plot every day, plus caused reduction in yield and scab on my spuds) could have been from the same defective batch.

I can't recall exactly how much I bought, but I've just counted 22 holes in the ground where my 25 to 30 L potato pots where buried, so it was a substantial amount. I stopped looking for empty bags after the first 5 as they've been rolled up amongst others, used for taking rubbish to the tip, and left behind at the local stables as replacements when collecting bagged horse manure.

Has anybody else still got last/this year's Wickes MPC bags? Please check if they have a QA code as this does not appear to be a one off.

No QA code



No QA codes





P.S. I rate other Westland produced composts amongst the very best available, notably their Gro-Sure seed & cutting compost and Jacks Magic MPC.

 

Yes, the 2017 and 2018 bags are of identical design, so you could have bought the same rubbish as I did from Wickes in 2017, and simply assumed it was some sort of new problem with their compost? (that you dismissed in my earlier posts).

I guess I'll have to take this up with Wickes/Westland using the links you've provided/etc. and keep reporting my progress back on this thread.

 

Just been out to check @Scrungee . Last years Wickes MPC no batch code. Ok but not as good as last years Jack's Magic. Dried out quite quickly but at least felt like compost. This years Wickes has a batch code it's 3257 2 4651, ghastly, it's verging on black and feels nothing like MPC dries out even quicker than last years. Did a test and last years had a fair amount of peat in it, this new stuff has virtually none.
My issue on top of this is trying to get some Jack's Magic which isn't soaking wet. The stuff i go from 2 different Wickes was hideously wet. The bags were so wet I could hardly lift them and took them back. Got a refund but wanted compost not money back. I have emailed Westland to ask if they have an outlet with NOT soaking wet Jack's magic as will need something decent very soon. The Wickes stuff is useless for hanging baskets which dry out quickly at the best of times. If only I could get my mountains of compost and leaf mould weed free but it never gets hot enough. If I could I would never have to buy any of these products.