Let down by Scan - part 2

[Taz]

I'm really sorry to have to tell another tale of woe with Scan. I have used Scan for over 5 years and have generally been very happy with them. My first order this week contained a damaged item. At least Scan have managed to send me a replacement that I hope to receive tomorrow.

Now, on to the second let-down in the same week. After much discussion on these forums regarding a graphics card, I was loyal enough to take Scan's word that they will usually be the first to stock the GT8800 cards. Hence, I put myself down for a pre-order. I got an email yesterday (Thursday) advising me that the item is now in stock. I immediately ordered the item - it was still showing as in stock at the time that I ordered it.

I expected next day delivery and was a little concerned that it estimated my delivery to be next Monday. No matter, only a few days delay and I can build the rest of my system and plug the card in on Monday. Lo and behold, i've just received the infamous 'Delayed Order Notification' email with no indication of when I can expect delivery.

I fail to understand how Scan can reassure customers that they will have stock of an item, send me an email telling me the item is in stock, display the item as in stock when I order it and then send me a 'Delayed Order Notification'.

So, there we have it. Two out of two orders bodged up in the same week. This standard of service is simply not good enough.

[Koolpc]

This is one area they really need to get sorted asap. So annoying!!

[pauleden]

It's such a shame they can't pluck this fly from the ointment.

[Lucio]

To be honest, what's more than likely to have happened is the same as when I was waiting for a Wii. Stock turned up and in the time it took to get told this, they'd sold out.

Only way to avoid this is to give them your money and get placed on the pre-order queue! Stock is *that* limited atm that I don't think there's any other way to be sure.

[Etrigan]

What I dont understand is why they sent Taz an email to tell him they had stock before they had dispatched my order?

No offence but I have ordered and PAID for an 8800gt over a week ago and its still awaiting stock.

Its just seems to me that if Scan got some into stock they should have dispatched them to everyone that had already ordered/paid one before emailing prospective buyers with adverts!

Rant over.

Sorry Taz....that rant was entirely not aimed at you.

Just itching to build my new system.

[Nickg]

to be fair i dont think that anyone can fulfill the back orders... lots of retailers out there have promised dates for 8800gt's but the stock just didnt arrive so they cant ship..

not really the retailers fault.

[Taz]

What I dont understand is why they sent Taz an email to tell him they had stock before they had dispatched my order?

No offence but I have ordered and PAID for an 8800gt over a week ago and its still awaiting stock.

Its just seems to me that if Scan got some into stock they should have dispatched them to everyone that had already ordered/paid one before emailing prospective buyers with adverts!

Rant over.

Sorry Taz....that rant was entirely not aimed at you.

Just itching to build my new system.

No offense taken! I entirely agree with you. Scan should not have emailed me advising me that the card that I wanted is in stock and can be ordered. They now have my money and I have no graphics card. I had the option to order an 8800GT from several other retailers (or even the new ATi card which I would be more than happy with). I took Scan's email at face value and ordered from them based on my previous positive experiences. It's such a shame that a great retailer like Scan cannot simply have a more robust shopping cart system - one that truly reflects stock levels.

[Chris P]

I would like to assure you that our online stock levels are accurate and do reflect real-time the saleable stock levels on our database internally. However, it is possible for stock levels to diminish quickly if there is a huge demand for the same product at any one time. I will try to give you a scenario which should illustrate my point:

Our website shows “in stock” for an item which we have 5 saleable stock for, then 10 people order this product around the same time during the day. The orders all progress chronologically through our systems to the payment stage within a few hours, which is the stage where our database allocates stock or back order stock to invoices. The first 5 customers whose payment is successfully taken are allocated the 5 pieces of stock we have on the shelves and the other 5 would have stock allocated on a back order, in anticipation of new stock arriving in the building. These 5 customers would be emailed with a “delay notification” email later that evening, which will include a lead date for new stock to arrive in from our suppliers.

The stock indicators on the website are there purely as an indicator of what we have physically available at that moment in time. We did have stock at the time when we e-mailed but due to the massive demand stock depleted before your order was processed.

We give our customers correct information, to the highest degree of accuracy possible in such a fast paced and fluctuating environment where stock turnover during the day is massive. I would like to assure you that stock issues of this nature are rare although unfortunately a largely unavoidable hazard when dealing with such unpredictable sales demand. We base our stock levels internally on estimated turnover of stock but if this demand is higher than expected, then out of stock items can occur. However, as we have excellent and efficient connections with many suppliers and distributors across the UK and internationally, we are usually able to replenish our stock very quickly where needed. In this case clearly there has been massive demand for this card resulting in stock diminishing faster than expected...


On a positive note, now your order has been placed on ack order as soon as we receive new stock due November 19h your order will be immediately dispatched.


I hope the information I have given to you is helpful and, of course I truly hope your faith has not been dented beyond repair as we certainly do not wish to lose you as a customer. Our growth and development over the past 20 years has been largely due to return business from long-standing customers, who are all greatly appreciated. Thank you for taking the time out to email us and please rest assured that your comments have been read, understood and are being acted upon already in the background.

[Chris P]

Etrigan

Please can you PM me your invoice number so I can check your order

[Etrigan]

I would love too but I have no idea how to private message. It says I do not have access to the page?

I only registered on the forums this morning.

"Etrigan, you do not have permission to access this page. This could be due to one of several reasons:

Your user account may not have sufficient privileges to access this page. Are you trying to edit someone else's post, access administrative features or some other privileged system?
If you are trying to post, the administrator may have disabled your account, or it may be awaiting activation. "

[Koolpc]

I think you need to have a certain number of posts first?

[Etrigan]

Any idea how many?

[Taz]

I would like to assure you that our online stock levels are accurate and do reflect real-time the saleable stock levels on our database internally. However, it is possible for stock levels to diminish quickly if there is a huge demand for the same product at any one time. I will try to give you a scenario which should illustrate my point:

Our website shows “in stock” for an item which we have 5 saleable stock for, then 10 people order this product around the same time during the day. The orders all progress chronologically through our systems to the payment stage within a few hours, which is the stage where our database allocates stock or back order stock to invoices. The first 5 customers whose payment is successfully taken are allocated the 5 pieces of stock we have on the shelves and the other 5 would have stock allocated on a back order, in anticipation of new stock arriving in the building. These 5 customers would be emailed with a “delay notification” email later that evening, which will include a lead date for new stock to arrive in from our suppliers.

The stock indicators on the website are there purely as an indicator of what we have physically available at that moment in time. We did have stock at the time when we e-mailed but due to the massive demand stock depleted before your order was processed.

We give our customers correct information, to the highest degree of accuracy possible in such a fast paced and fluctuating environment where stock turnover during the day is massive. I would like to assure you that stock issues of this nature are rare although unfortunately a largely unavoidable hazard when dealing with such unpredictable sales demand. We base our stock levels internally on estimated turnover of stock but if this demand is higher than expected, then out of stock items can occur. However, as we have excellent and efficient connections with many suppliers and distributors across the UK and internationally, we are usually able to replenish our stock very quickly where needed. In this case clearly there has been massive demand for this card resulting in stock diminishing faster than expected...


On a positive note, now your order has been placed on ack order as soon as we receive new stock due November 19h your order will be immediately dispatched.


I hope the information I have given to you is helpful and, of course I truly hope your faith has not been dented beyond repair as we certainly do not wish to lose you as a customer. Our growth and development over the past 20 years has been largely due to return business from long-standing customers, who are all greatly appreciated. Thank you for taking the time out to email us and please rest assured that your comments have been read, understood and are being acted upon already in the background.

Hi Chris. I know you guys have gone out of your way to help me with the issues this week and I very much appreciate that. Despite my issues this week, I will still turn to Scan as the first port of call for new orders. I hope my comments are taken as constructive criticism in areas that Scan needs to improve. It's very important that the service from Scan improves based on feedback from customers.

The quality of service is more important to me than the cost of the items.

[kinetic]

Usually you can post the invoice number and the mods will delete it once they have seen it on the forum. I did it a couple of weeks ago although I'm not sure of the security implications.

[rabbid]

I think its 25 posts for PM

[Chris P]

Hi Chris. I know you guys have gone out of your way to help me with the issues this week and I very much appreciate that. Despite my issues this week, I will still turn to Scan as the first port of call for new orders. I hope my comments are taken as constructive criticism in areas that Scan needs to improve. It's very important that the service from Scan improves based on feedback from customers.

The quality of service is more important to me than the cost of the items.

Taz

We appreciate your feedback and can assure you we do take all comments as constructive, as you say this is how we improve our Business by listening to the feedback from our Customers ... as they say, it's not so much the problem but the way you sort it that counts the most, and this sentiment very much reflects the Scan philosophy!