Let's TalkGarden & Hire Spares — Magento Support & Agency Rescue
Garden & Hire Spares went from ~70 days affected by downtime to almost none after switching their Magento support and development to Takeoff Digital.
01
The Challenge
Garden & Hire Spares is a specialist online retailer of garden machinery and hire equipment spares, with a catalogue of around a million products, operating in a competitive, niche market where the website accounts for the majority of company turnover.
They were with a large agency where they felt like a very small customer — and the service reflected it:
- Deployments took months, rarely went smoothly, and could take the site down for an entire day
- A single support ticket could pass through half a dozen people before any action was taken
- Automated responses arrived within the hour, but acknowledgement and resolution were two very different things
- Persistent indexing issues meant products and categories kept disappearing from the site, directly affecting customers
- Around 70 days of the year were affected by downtime
The indexing problems were either not taken seriously or blamed on things the client's own team had done. Switching agency felt like a significant risk — in their market, any disruption to the customer experience quickly sends buyers elsewhere — but staying put had become the bigger risk.
02
Our Approach
- Structured agency handover — a complete codebase, infrastructure and knowledge transfer with no gap in cover, despite an outgoing agency that made the transition harder than it needed to be
- Root-cause investigation of the indexing failures — within the first month we traced the disappearing products and categories to a third-party sync module writing directly to the database and bypassing Magento's indexer triggers, fixing the cause rather than treating symptoms
- Codebase remediation — resolving inherited code quality issues, applying missing patches, and putting a proper CI/CD deployment pipeline in place so releases became routine rather than a risk
- Direct-to-developer support — a straightforward ticketing system where Garden & Hire Spares speak to the people actually doing the work, with no account-management layers in between
- Plain-English communication — sensible, practical questions instead of overly technical language, so problems are described once and resolved
03
The Result
- ✨ ~70 days affected by downtime reduced to almost none during the first few months with Takeoff
- ✨ Indexing failures resolved within the first month — after the client had spent years struggling with the same recurring problem
- ✨ Site speed and performance measurably improved
- ✨ Tickets actually completed — quickly, and by the developers themselves
For a business that relies so heavily on its website, restoring reliability transformed day-to-day operations and customer confidence.
“On one of our first calls, I remember Elvin saying, ‘I can tell you hate Magento; I can make you love it again.’ That stuck with me. I no longer blame Magento for the problems we were having.”
04
The Full Interview: Edward Rudge, Garden & Hire Spares
Answers lightly edited for clarity.
What was the situation before Takeoff Digital — what problems were you having with your previous setup?
We were with a large agency where we felt like a very small customer, and our level of service suffered. Deployments could take months and rarely went smoothly. We would often be down for the entire day of a deployment.
Everything was also very process-heavy. A ticket could need reviewing by half a dozen people before any action was taken. We would get an automated response within an hour, but getting an acknowledgement and actually getting something done were two very different things.
What finally prompted the switch?
We were having a lot of indexing issues and downtime, which were directly affecting our customers. We were getting poor feedback and weren't making any real progress with the previous agency. It reached the point where we knew we had to do something rather than keep putting up with the same problems.
Did you have any concerns about moving agency?
Yes, definitely. The website accounts for the majority of our turnover, so moving agency felt like a significant risk. We're an online business in a competitive, niche market, and any disruption to the customer experience can quickly result in people shopping elsewhere.
We knew things needed to change, but we also had to be careful that the move didn't create more problems than it solved.
How did you find the handover process?
Very good overall. We expected some challenges, and our previous agency made the transition harder than it needed to be, but Takeoff handled it well.
Within the first few weeks, the improvement in the site's performance and the fact that tickets were actually getting completed more than outweighed any initial difficulties.
What's the working relationship like day to day?
It's much simpler and more direct. There's a straightforward ticketing system, responses are quick, and we're speaking to the people who are actually doing the work.
Previously, an issue could go through an account manager, customer service, different levels of support and then the development team, before the answer worked its way back to us. Removing those layers makes everything quicker and easier.
The communication also feels more human. We get sensible, practical questions rather than overly technical language, which makes it much easier to explain a problem and get it resolved.
What specific improvements have you seen since switching?
Site speed, performance and indexing have all improved, but the biggest difference has been reliability.
We went from around 70 days affected by downtime last year to almost none during our first few months with Takeoff. For a business that relies so heavily on its website, that is a huge improvement.
Is there a particular project or fix that stands out?
The indexing issues stand out. Products and categories kept disappearing from the website, and we felt the problem was either not being taken seriously or was being blamed on things we had done.
Within the first month of taking over, Takeoff's team identified several underlying issues. Addressing those has made a massive difference, particularly after we had spent so long struggling with the same problem.
What would you say to another business considering Takeoff Digital?
We've only been working with the team for a few months, but they've already shown us how much difference the right agency can make. Problems we had been worrying about for a long time have finally been properly investigated and addressed.
On one of our first calls, I remember Elvin saying something along the lines of, "I can tell you hate Magento; I can make you love it again."
That stuck with me. I no longer blame Magento for the problems we were having.
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