Hello. I see that some, apparently influential, Scan customer service folks read this forum, so perhaps they will be interested in some suggestions for service improvement stemming from my experience this week. I should perhaps say that I have ordered from Scan on a few previous occasions without problems and recognise that my experience may not be typical. However, I do feel I have been let down this time.

My experience this week

I ordered a list of items on Tuesday, for a couple of upgrade projects that I was planning to complete this weekend. I chose to order from Scan because they provide stock information and (I thought) I could be confident of receiving the items in good time. In some cases, and again, to ensure timely delivery, I specified slightly different items than my "ideal" parts on the basis of whether or not Scan listed them as in stock. I paid for standard delivery with CityLink that was scheduled for today (Friday) since that timing was acceptable. I made arrangements for someone to be at my home address all day today to receive the goods. I checked the tracking page yesterday, and as the day wore on became a little concerned that the status was not changing to "picked" but was reassured by the statement there that goods could be picked and despatched at any point up to 8pm for next day delivery.

At 1957 yesterday evening, I received an SMS and an email telling me that one of the items on my order was no longer in stock and that my order was delayed. I tried ringing the service line to find out what was going on, but the answer message said that this only functioned 9am to 5.30pm. I tried sending a message to customer service through the web page, but have as yet received no response.

I rang the customer service line an hour or so ago. A pleasant young woman answered and explained that for some reason the item was not available at the warehouse. (The example she gave was that product on the shelf may have existed but was in fact not fit to be sent out). The rest of my order was available and sitting in the warehouse waiting for the missing item to become available; the expected date is a week away. She said that Scan do not ship part-orders, but I could have the items sent out today, if I cancelled my order for the item that was no longer available. However, I would have to pay an additional fee for "next day delivery" if I wanted to get the items tomorrow. I suggested that this extra cost should be borne by Scan but she said this was not possible, so I asked her to proceed as proposed. I have just received a text message to say that my reduced order has been despatched. I remain concerned that the order tracking page says that I can expect delivery on Monday 14th, but a second customer service representative has assured me that delivery is in fact scheduled for tomorrow.

So - the major areas where Scan could improve its customer service:

1. Don't say items are "in stock" when you can't in fact deliver product. The item concerned (Scan code LN19762) is still listed as "in stock" on your web site. This should have been changed as soon as the warehouse found they did not have deliverable stock.

2. Do tell your customers that you have a problem as soon as you find that out. I can't believe that the issue with that item was only discovered in the warehouse at 1957 last night. If you had told me earlier in the day that the item was not available, I could have contacted your sales team, adjusted the order, and I would have received the goods today as planned. Additionally, the tracking page could usefully have stated explicitly that the rest of the order was not going to be delivered. My wife's time spent sitting at home waiting for the delivery this morning would not then have been wasted.

3. Don't charge your customers extra to cover for your mistakes. I don't think it's reasonable that I was charged for "next day service" (about an additional £15 including VAT) to receive the goods a day later than planned.

For what it's worth, I have ordered the out-of-stock-at-Scan item from overclockers.co.uk for a marginally lower price than Scan's. My order is currently listed as being picked and packed for despatch. Here's hoping they can get it to me for tomorrow.

I hope you will accept this feedback in the constructive spirit intended.