[Saracen]

I have to admit that this sort of thing, and this seems not be be an isolated case, is a worry for me.

I accept that when mail-ordering, this can happen. But it seems to be a bit too commonplace.

I'm self-employed, so being at home for a delivery means either foregoing paying work, or organising my schedule to be doing necessary stuff (perhaps catching up on paperwork). There's only so much of that to do. If I don't have a reasonable level of faith that a delivery will occur when it's supposed to, it makes me wonder about buying mail-order at all. Perhaps I'd be better off at my high street store (and I mean my small, local independent). It'll cost me more but at least I can order, then pop in and collect when it's there.

I have been seriously impressed with the level of support and effort Scan seem to put in to customer service, bearing in mind that no company can win over consumer's expectations every time. But this delivery thing is making me seriously reconsider where I buy from. I understand they have problems and are addressing them, but right now, that doesn't help me a lot.

Perhaps there's a case for a degree of manual intervention in the ordering process, even if it's at a cost. Would it be practical to be able to place a pro-forma order, have it MANUALLY checked for stock and those items reserved and then on the basis that items are available and ready to ship, have the order confirmed, paid for and shipped. Perhaps a £10 "personal service" charge for this? It'd be worth it to be reasonably sure deliveries will arrive when expected.