Marketing and customer service seems to have suffered drasticly in recent months with Oswald Bailey, coupled with two of their flagship stores (Bournemouth having been in operation for decades) closing, one can only assume that their sister company Outdoor Gear Ltd is also suffering the same problems.
Unfortunately i do not see OB lasting the recession, and as a consequence have not bought our regular annual gift vouchers for our grandchildren for the first time in 17 years for fear of the company going bust. We used to get several updates per month on email and facebook of offers, but now just a trickle of mediocre irregular emails which aren't really worth signing up for any more. In-store deals are a regular addition to occasional emails we are sent, but a quick search on the internet reveals they are not really deals at all! Store prices inevitably can not compete with online prices, and even the Oswald Bailey/Outdoor Gear web prices are not even coming close to that of other established online-only suppliers. It really is a shame! We used to look forward to monthly emails to stockpile our summer camping trips with our grandchildren, but even by our silver surfer standards they have become drab and uninteresting since our last holiday in August 2011. Regretfully, I can not recommend to anyone the retail stores any longer. read more