Debit cards, No alternative delivery address?

[atmadden]

I love the way people always come up with the exact same response's as if the responses they give are easy to implement, im not saying how much work it would take to implement a *real time* stock system, but I bet it isnt as easy as people make out.

You say 5 instances how many orders did you make between that time?
I dont know how many orders I have made, not that many, but I havent had any delayed notifications.

As others have said before, some companies will show items that aren't in stock as being in stock just to get orders and on top of that, as you said, other retailes are often more expensive then SCAN.

I was giving my opinion and experience and if you search the forum you will find many threads on this subject. Other companies can do it why not scan? There is always good and bad with every company but no harm in giving feedback.

Nobody is saying its easy so get down off your high horse please.

[Chris P]

Received an email at 19:16 stating NVIDIA Mirrors Edge Game Promo and GByte GA-MA790X-UD4P MoBo are out of stock.

How come this was not known at 10am when I spent the time on the phone with you this morning?

I would have just accepted the mild variance in mobo GA-MA790X-UD4P to GA-MA790X-UD4 and Mildly less clocked Nvidia card.

But no notification email until after closing hours. A phone call earlier would have been nice.

I have a day off work tomorrow to wait in for delivery, I will not have another weekday off for several weeks.

Disappointed to find out too late to do anything about it that you did not have the items stocked

mikepegg

Please can you post / PM your invoice number so I can look into this for you.

Best Regards

[mikepegg]

mikepegg

Please can you post / PM your invoice number so I can look into this for you.

Best Regards

Morning Chris,

Invoice number: 00E****

Cheers.

[Chris P]

You're not the first and I doubt you'll be the last. It's bloody annoying. I've stopped ordering through Scan unless I can't obtain it anywhere else. eBuyer and Novatech don't pull this crap.

Thank you for the feedback, which is sad for me to hear when a customer loses faith in our service. I have checked your account history, which covers 15 order dating back to 2003.

I can see you have had delay's, which we appreciate are annoying, we always attempt to meet the Estimated delivery dates provided. Our system has improved dramatically over the last 2 Years and delay's are happening much less now becuase of the improvements and expansions we have already made and continue to improve to further improce our service. We are not perfect but we are getting better and better.

I can see order's ending ...

[B]2009[/B]
778 - Order dispatched on time meeting estimated delivery date provided.
158 - Order dispatched on time meeting estimated delivery date provided.
029 - Delayed 1 day, due to warehouse volumes

2008
956 - Order dispatched on time meeting estimated delivery date provided.
251 - Order dispatched on time meeting estimated delivery date provided.
738 - Delayed 1 day, due to warehouse volumes
310 - Delayed 1 day, due to warehouse volumes, order cancelled

2007
421 - Delayed 2 days, waiting for stock to land.
384 - Stock delay e-mail confirmed on the evening of dispatch day, order cancelled due to out of stock products

2006
621 - Order dispatched on time meeting estimated delivery date provided.
587 - Order dispatched on time meeting estimated delivery date provided.
058 - Order dispatched on time meeting estimated delivery date provided.
436 - Order dispatched on time meeting estimated delivery date provided.

2005
912 - Order dispatched on time meeting estimated delivery date provided.

2003
023 - Order placed 14/01/03, shipped 15/01/03 - There are no confirmation e-mails for this order to comfirm the estimated delivery date provided

Best Regards

[mikepegg]

Thanks for the email, have responded with the change of motherboard.

[JackOfAll]

I only have email notifications going back one year (rest are archived), so I am going to pick on most recent order that received a 'delayed order notification'.

2009
029 - Delayed 1 day, due to warehouse volumes

2009/01/08 09:00 Order placed
2009/01/08 09:28 Stage 1 - Invoice printed / Awaiting authorisation
2009/01/08 09:28 Stage 2 - Payment authorised
2009/01/08 19:21 Delayed Order Notification
2009/01/09 15:08 Stage 3 - Order picked / Awaiting despatch
2009/01/09 17:18 Stage 4 - Order despatched

This order was not delayed 'due to warehouse volumes', (the reason stated above), or at least that was not what I was told at the time. The 'delayed order notification' stated that 2 line items were not available due to a 'temporary shortage in stock'. All 4 line items on this order were shown 'in stock' at the time of placing the order. Again, does this really matter - no. What matters is that an order was placed at 09:00 in the morning, but it wasn't until 19:21 that you notified the customer that 2 of the line items shown in stock on the website were unavailable due to a 'temporary shortage in stock'. Scan did not know until 19:28 in the evening that the items were not available? I doubt it. This is nothing more than a guess, but based on the fact that every time I have received a 'delayed order notification', (and others too), it always seems to be after closing hours - so I'd guess, that you have a batch job that runs every evening and checks for orders with a estimated delivery date of the following day that have not been dispatched. Only then does the system send the email to the customer telling them of the delay. So, the delay is known about earlier in the day (assuming the order is delayed due to 'out of stock' items, rather than 'warehouse volumes') but not notified to the customer until the batch/cron job runs?

I can see you have had delay's, which we appreciate are annoying, we always attempt to meet the Estimated delivery dates provided. Our system has improved dramatically over the last 2 Years and delay's are happening much less now becuase of the improvements and expansions we have already made and continue to improve to further improce our service. We are not perfect but we are getting better and better.

Well, I'm genuinely pleased to hear you are getting better and better. Now if you could just, a) link the website into your 'core' system so that inventory information is real-time, ie. you mostly eliminate a customer ordering 'in stock' items that are not in stock and b) in the instance that an 'in stock' item is found to be unavailable (eg. last item in the warehouse can't be found, or order at retail counter takes last item while customer is entering CC details on the web) and notify them immediately, rather than waiting until after 19:00 in the evening, you'd win back a disgruntled customer who now only places orders with you when they are not urgent.

[Chris P]

JackOfAll

If you could find the e-mails sent to you relating to this order I would appreciate the opportunity to look into this and from what I can see and have checked agsinst a back step system showing the order was never part picked, which would have indicated a stock delay / issue.

The E-mail I can see that was sent was due to warehouse volumes and not due to stock problems.

It seems that 2 / 15 order's were delayed due to stock related problems and all other order's were shipped on time but If you can see any e-mails that may shed any different light please PM them through.

Confirmation e-mails can be sent up to 8PM is becuase our warehouse picks and packs order's up too this time, but I will pass your feedback through to the relevant individuals.

Best Regards

[JackOfAll]

The E-mail I can see that was sent was due to warehouse volumes and not due to stock problems.

***This is an automated email. Please do not reply***

Invoice Number: *******029
Account Name:   ********************

Thank you for your order from Scan.

Please regard this email as an active notification of a delay in your order, due to a temporary shortage in stock of the following item/s:

1. Noctua NF-P12-VORTEX 120MM
Estimated Lead Date = 09/01/2009

2. TFC-XS1033 120 RADIATOR BLUE
Estimated Lead Date = 15/01/2009

Should you require any further information or assistance, or wish to make any amendments to your order, please log a query using our online Customer Support service. Alternatively, you can contact our delivery support team on 0871 472 4747.

Rest assured your custom is greatly valued and your complete order will be automatically despatched as soon as stock is available. We will send you further emails to confirm the successful completion and despatch.

Thank you in advance for your patience.

It seems that 2 / 15 order's were delayed due to stock related problems and all other order's were shipped on time but If you can see any e-mails that may shed any different light please PM them through.

Erm, I don't agree with your 2/15. I'm pretty sure that the 15 orders you quoted relate to a single account, not all the accounts I have used. But anyway, I'm not sure that any purpose is served by continuing this. DON relating to 029 quoted above.

[Chris P]

JackOfAll

Thanks for the e-mail.

My purpose is to look into a customer complaint, feedback is very important to us the complaints and constructive feedback more so. I can't understand why this e-mail was sent telling you there were stock issues and ETA's provided by our system as the order shipped on the 9th January and stock was available but I can understand the confusion caused and the problem of the e-mail telling a customer there are stock issues when in fact there were none.

I can confirm that the order was delayed due to warehouse volumes and I will look into why the e-mail was sent incorrectly.

I hope this hasn't put you off using SCAN and maybe you will put your next order's through SCAN and give us another chance. If you do have any other issues relating to stock or any other feedback you may have my inbox is always open.

I can assure you our service has improved greatly and stock related issues are even more isolated as they were.

Best Regards

[Chris P]

Thanks for the email, have responded with the change of motherboard.

I have changed the motherboard for you.

I am just waiting to confirm if we have stock of the Mirrors Edge voucher, if not I will OG this so your order can ship for delivery tomorrow.

Apologies for the delay

Best Regards

EDIT: I an confirm the order has now been completed with the Mirrors Edge Voucher and the motherboard change as requested - Your order will be delivere tomorrow.

Best Regards

[JackOfAll]

I hope this hasn't put you off using SCAN and maybe you will put your next order's through SCAN and give us another chance. If you do have any other issues relating to stock or any other feedback you may have my inbox is always open.

CP, I give you guys another chance every time I do place an order with you. The difference is that if I need an item quickly or I can obtain it elsewhere, or the price isn't absolutely compelling, I don't place an order with you.

I can assure you our service has improved greatly and stock related issues are even more isolated as they were.

I'm sorry, but I can't let that go. Stock issues are even more isolated ....... Every day you post a static page with 'Today Only' special offers. It's a stock issue waiting to happen immediately it is posted. Until your web site 'in stock' is actually based on the inventory level you currently have, I don't see it changing. Having a few items in stock at 12:00 when the offers are posted but allowing customers to order it all day long, only for some to be disappointed that they receive a DNO in the evening..... Isolated, you say? Rhetorical question. Please don't answer. We should both quit while we are still ahead. The website needs to show the real-time status of inventory! End of story.

[Chris P]

JackOfAll

I have taken on board your feedback, but we also have to take into consideration the facts, which are that %98 of order now ship on time. I'm not saying that this means all other delay's are not very important just that I don't agree the issue is as prominent as shown in your case and we don't advertise virtual stock, we hold our own stock in our warehouses, which the web stock system is linked to and updated every 10 minutes. But again I understand your point about e-mails on some occasions coming late in the day sometimes.

I'm not sure where some of your conclusions are coming from becuase Today Only offer's are only created when we have more then enough stock to cover predicted demand, sometimes demand for offers outweigh supply though, I agrre - Sometimes the offer's are too good

Of course we don't want to loose any customer so if you choose to place an order again PM me and I will look after you.

Regards

[TAKTAK]

which are that %98 of order now ship on time.

They're so proud of it, it's on the back of every single magazine that i picked up today for college

[Chris P]

TAKTAK

We have come along way and more work to do.

Cool, Which magazines

[JackOfAll]

I have taken on board your feedback, but we also have to take into consideration the facts, which are that %98 of order now ship on time.

Well then, I'm unlucky. I seem to get more than my share of the 2% problems. Just for fun I'll go back through the orders placed through 3 different accounts over the last 3 years and post my own personal Scan stats here.

.... we don't advertise virtual stock .....

What does that have to do with the price of bread? I've mentioned eBuyer and Novatech in this thread? Are you telling me in a covert way that either of these retailers are posting 'virtual stock' numbers on their websites? From my experiences, I seriously doubt that.

we hold our own stock in our warehouses, which the web stock system is linked to and updated every 10 minutes.

Really? I am surprised. Would you mind stating at what point the website inventory is decremented leading to 'in stock' becoming 'out of stock' when the item count is zero? At the point that payment is taken, or later in the day/evening when the order is picked and packed? Obviously if later, then it would explain why the stock situation does not appear to be real-time, albeit with the 10 min delay you state.

Another question..... If I place an order for an item that is currently shown as 'in stock' - let's say I add 100 of this item to my basket, but you only have 5 in stock. At what point will I receive a notification that the order can only be partially fillled? When I add the '100' to the basket, when I check-out, or at 19:00 in the evening when I receive a DON?

But again I understand your point about e-mails on some occasions coming late in the day sometimes.

Sometimes? Every DON I've ever personally seen has come late in the day. Every person I've spoken to who has received a DON has received it late in the day.

I'm not sure where some of your conclusions are coming from becuase Today Only offer's are only created when we have more then enough stock to cover predicted demand, sometimes demand for offers outweigh supply though, I agrre - Sometimes the offer's are too good

My conclusion is that Today Only offers are 'static' and not based on real-time inventory information (10 min lag excepted.)

Of course we don't want to loose any customer so if you choose to place an order again PM me and I will look after you.

I'll keep that in mind. But I shouldn't need special treatment.

[Chris P]

JackOfAll

I'm just trying to help you out here:

There's nothing covert here and take my response as they are written, reading into them to jump to your own conclusions of what you think I'm implying about other Retailer's is pointless and I have no inclination to try to dictate the price of bread / fish or any other food supliment.

Stock is updated once payment has been taken and notifications start once payment has been taken.... But you have a good point regarding ordering a large Qty of stock, which we may not hold and no confirmation is given at the basket stage but through E-mail confirmation after payment has been taken.

We won't be treating you in a special way I am just trying to re-assure you that I will continue to monitor the situation should you wish to place further order's with SCAN.

I'm not trying to cause an argument here, I've looked onto your claims, which are quiet strong and so far unfounded the earlier post shows this. I've tried to explain some of your queries and have informed you that all your points / concerns have been taken on board.

Regards