April 11, 2007

Mr. Kevin McCloud
The English Bar Company

Dear Kevin:

Kevin, this is for you. Use it anyway you please.

On April 24, 2006 I ordered a bar through your website. It was an English Pub style (bar 180). There were a couple plan changes early on, but before long the plan was clear and we had hopes of a July, 2006 arrival. Because the bars are shipped via ocean container, and due to the delays caused by other bars that would “fill up” the shipment (originally shipment S), the process took longer than anyone expected.

Exactly 50 weeks later my bar arrived.

So, skipping a thousand gory details, the question is “was it worth the wait?”

Before I answer this question let me say that Kevin is a straight shooter…probably more than he really should be. He is not beyond a cussword here or there, and he will tell you not only that something stinks, but what it smells like! This might take a little getting used to. What I am really saying is he’s not much of a salesman.

On the day the bar arrived I emailed and said how nice the first pieces I saw looked. Kevin responded with well, don’t expect too much. I think he was having a bad day. Anyway, that night some friends and I gathered to unload and install the bar. The first thing we noticed is this is not what you find at your local bar store. It is HEAVY, because it is solid wood. It was all we could do to get it set in place for unpacking, but the moment the wood was revealed the entire group,myself included, just sat back and marveled. It was beautiful. An hour and a half later (that’s with beer breaks), we had it set up.

Everyone was amazed how well it fit into the room. I had built the room to match the specs Kevin had provided, so of course it fit well, but this was better than well. It fit perfect. A little while later my wife, the biggest skeptic in the entire process (OK, she hates the internet), came home and saw the bar. She was shocked. After all the money I had spent building a room, buying the bar, buying the STUFF, she immediately started naming all the things we should get to highlight the bar!!! PERFECT!

OK, so was it worth it? The answer is yes, a hundred times over. Kevin will tell you “well, these are good bars for a good price.” I would disagree. I live in a large city and went to no less than 15 different stores and I spent hundreds of hours searching on the internet…it’s a GREAT bar at a GREAT price. You could not even come close to buying any bar built this well, and this attractive, for 3 times this price. Kevin, if you disagree just tell me where, because I looked and there is not a better bar out there. There may be better furniture, but this is a BAR man! You can’t compare it to a cabinet. It’s not furniture…it’s a lifestyle!

Kevin has had to make some changes and he is not currently offering custom bars. It’s OK. Mine had just a couple small custom items, but to the person just looking these would not even be noticed.

My purpose in writing this letter is to say to anyone who will listen DO NOT HESITATE to buy a bar from Kevin. He must subscribe to the under promise – over deliver theory because I have never been so satisfied with a purchase in my life.

Enjoy your bar!

Dennis L. Frey