ANOTHER disappointing experience with Scan

Hi,

Not that I want to whinge but I seem to be one of the (many?) others who have had a less than satisfactory experience from Scan recently.

I placed my first ever order with Scan at about 2PM on the 28th of December for about £550 of new kit. As a Hexus member, I got the free delivery and as I wasn't desperate for next day delivery I accepted that it might take a couple of days longer.

I got no word from Scan until the 2nd, but fair enough - it was New Years and all. Payment taken on the morning of the 3rd and an auto email to say an expected delivery date of the 4th - but no indication to say it was being picked. I email scan and they get back to be by 1PM on the 3rd saying they had delays but check for a despatch note in the next 1-2 days Fine, but I had to contact them for an explanation, they didn't contact me first.

Nothing on the 3rd or 4th, so getting a little impatient I rang at 2PM this afternoon (the 5th) - They answered in 1 minute and said that it was ready to be picked and would I accept delivery on Saturday. Yes, good, fine. Again, I contacted them.

Then at 5PM I get an automated email saying my DVI cable I had ordered for the princely sum of £2.68 was now out of stock, and that I could wait 1-2 weeks or cancel that item. So I try to ring up at 5PM, and I'm on hold for 30 minutes before I give up and go home.

There are three issues here. One is the 'How can this be out of stock? It was in stock when I ordered it!'. This has been covered in this post (http://forums.hexus.net/showthread.php?t=95346) but I can't understand how this can be. I am currently working as a stock analyst for a very large international retailer, so I know more than most about stock control. I'll accept that a stock control systems does not always reflect exactly what is in your warehouse, but this seems to be happening a lot with Scan. I would be a little worried if you are simply letting people order stock and then hoping you have enough left when you come around to pick it. Does it mean that someone could order two days after me but nab my stock because they have paid for next day delivery? Presumably so.

Secondly, common sense. Most other retailers would, if they found they were out of stock of an item, simply ship the rest anyway. Not Scan - I apparently have to tell them that 'No, I'll wait 2 weeks for a £3 DVI cable rather then get the rest of my £550 order now, ta!'

And thirdly, communication. I accept things go wrong in any business, and I accept that Scan is busy at the moment, but customers tend to get pissed off if you don't tell them what is going on. Had I received a phone call explaining my order would be further delayed I probably wouldn't be writing this and wouldn't be considering cancelling my order - to re-order with another PC supplier, from whom I ordered a further £300 worth of stock, who have managed to despatch my goods when they said they would.

I have emailed Scan concerning this and hopefully they will get back to me tomorrow, and hopefully I will get a satisfactory conclusion. I ordered with Scan because of the good press they receive on here, and I appreciate their honest response in the quoted post, but it seems their stock system is just not up to scratch at the moment. It does not fill me with confidence when a company rep says things like 'It's going to get worse before it gets better!'.

There are so many companies out there who I am sure would love my custom, but I would like to give Scan the opportunity to put this right and live up to the customer service reputation they have at Hexus. I’ll keep you posted.

P.s. Sorry for the length! It’s a beast!

UPDATE: Got an automated 'Your order will be delayed' email today (6th), so rang customer services and explained my issues. They apologised but just said they had be too busy to even email to tell people orders would be late. They only got the 'Saturday delivery' order list this morning, so the earliest they can deliver is Tuesday. Told them to take off the DVI cable which was out of stock to free up my order.

The girl I spoke to did sound weary so I guess she'd had an earful from lots of other people. Assuming it does get dispatched on Monday I won't cancel, but I'm not impressed with Scan.

UPDATE (08/01/07) - NOW DISPATCHED

I have the same problem as you m8 as well.

I placed a order on the 2nd early morning (12am) for delivery today(5th Jan). I checked proggress yesterday and item had not even been picked or dispatched. I called scan today to find out and they said the warehouse team had not picked it cos of back orders. They then said that the item will be picked and dispatched today and I would recieve on Monday. So again just now I tracked the progress and again it showed as not being picked or dispatched. And if this is the case I would not see the products on monday that I ordered.

If again they fail i'll probably just ring up cancel my order and get my money back and take my business elsewhere..

If you looked on scan's website they stopped working around 23rd of december, and came back on the 3rd of january (?), so the place was amazingly busy, and there would have been many orders to deal with before yours, so give the guys a break...

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Originally Posted by Nick Smith

If you looked on scan's website they stopped working around 23rd of december, and came back on the 3rd of january (?), so the place was amazingly busy, and there would have been many orders to deal with before yours, so give the guys a break...

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It is easy to say that when its not y our order that you are having difficulties with. I can understand that when you place an order you want it to go as smooth as possible and for things to in place when you are told.

I myself have nothing but praise for Scan's service.

Just remember that for every person that complains, there are probably 100's that have no issues.

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Originally Posted by stuppy

Just remember that for every person that complains, there are probably 100's that have no issues.

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and if there is a problem scan will sort it no problem

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Originally Posted by Nick Smith

If you looked on scan's website they stopped working around 23rd of december, and came back on the 3rd of january (?), so the place was amazingly busy, and there would have been many orders to deal with before yours, so give the guys a break...

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I've got no problem with them being busy - as I said in my OP I expected that they would be. My main points are that a) the stock situation does seem to be a problem for them at the moment and b) they have not bothered to tell people if their orders are going to be delayed.

If they had emailed for phoned me to say there was going to be a problem then I would have been happy, but as it stands I have had to phone them to ask them what was going on, and I'm still none the wiser now. This is despite the fact they claim to inform you if there will be a problem.

I am giving them a break - I would have cancelled by now if not for the reputation everybody gives them - but I stand by my original post abd I don't believe I am out of order.

I will give them a chance to put this right, and I'm sure they will.

I've been a little dissapointed with scan. I placed an order and hadnt received any emails regarding the progress of my order, also I cannot see my order online in my account. So I emailed the customer supported who responded promptly and gave me my invoice nr so I could track it, it was supposed to be shipped on the 5th for next day delivery. Come the 6th and still no emails about progress and the online tracking was showing the order hadnt been picked...I then recieved an email stating that the order will be delayed (on the day I was expecting to receive the items).

Communication has been very poor, the email notification service seems to be non existant but I do understand that they have just got back from the xmas break. Not a good experience considering its my first order with em.

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Originally Posted by fishboy25uk

I've got no problem with them being busy - as I said in my OP I expected that they would be. My main points are that a) the stock situation does seem to be a problem for them at the moment and b) they have not bothered to tell people if their orders are going to be delayed.

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It's not a recent thing mate - same happened when I ordered a (then top of the range) X800XT a year and a half or so ago. Supposedly it happens when you order an item out of office hours (weekends normally, but holidays would count too it seems), and the stock system doesn't get updated until they return - several days after they returned in my case. They do endeavour to sort out the issue though, and other than a disappointing length of time on a pricey phone line, the issue is inevitably dealt with by an admittedly helpful and apologetic customer service guy (and not one based in Delhi).

It's a shame this is still the achilles heel of the company, as every other aspect of them in my experience is spot on, and we're all extremely thankful of what they do for us, I'm sure.

My experiences with SCAN have been wholy positive. Service and communications are excellent - even with the Christmas & New Year break.

I have placed 3 orders totalling over £1200, one on 29/12 - delivered3/1, one on 30/12 - delayed slightly by an out-of-stock item, but despatched 5/1 and will be delivered 8/1 (Monday), and the third on 5/1 which will be delivered whenever... as it includes a Pre Order motherboard, but hopefully I won't have to wait too long. One order - late at night was placed, and then I remembered I had forgotton a small item, an email had it added and communications from SCAN have be excellent all the way.

Things sometimes do go wrong, that is a fact of life, and NO internet supply company is perfect, and people sometimes get it wrong, what is important not that they screw up but is how they react to sort things out, and SCAN score well, because I believe they care.

I have used MANY e-tailers and Scan are by far the best.
OK....so occassionally they get it wrong but all companies do....thats the way it goes.
The MOST impressive thing about Scan is the telephone customer services. 2 or 3 minutes and the call is answered.

OverclockersUK is generally 15-20 minutes and when you get through, the fella on the other end is brain dead (and thats the clever one in the team).

Just gotta remeber that no company is perfect! Scan appear to me though to actually care when things go wrong and help as much as possible.
Thats what people expect and they should be applauded for that.

Just out of interest, how many other electronic/PC e-tailers actually have a forum where you can complain and the world can read about it?
NONE......in the UK anyway.......that should speak volumes for their (right) approach dont you think?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Blitzen

Just out of interest, how many other electronic/PC e-tailers actually have a forum where you can complain and the world can read about it?
NONE......in the UK anyway.......that should speak volumes for their (right) approach dont you think?

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Excellent point Blitzen, I took this for granted and you are absolutely correct. As I said before, my bits should be with me on Tuesday and I'm sure all this will be a distant memory as I surround myself in components as giddy as a plump pig rolling around in its own filth. :p

The fact that I could PM a Scan rep to look into my problems does demostrate how accessable Scan have made themselves in order to solve problems, and the continuing praise for Scan on here stopped me from cancelling my order. I suppose even with my issues, it does show that Scan is in a better class.

I agree, while I do order a heck of a lot of kit from scan some orders have gone wrong, but when you do ring I've never waited more than 30seconds and the person on the other end has always been friendly, well trained and helpful.

Can't say that about more than a handful of etailers!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Blitzen

Just out of interest, how many other electronic/PC e-tailers actually have a forum where you can complain and the world can read about it?
NONE......in the UK anyway.......that should speak volumes for their (right) approach dont you think?

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OcUK do, but whenever you make a derrogatory comment, it just gets deleted and you get banned :)

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Blitzen

Just out of interest, how many other electronic/PC e-tailers actually have a forum where you can complain and the world can read about it?
NONE......in the UK anyway.......that should speak volumes for their (right) approach dont you think?

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I'm going to say Komplett and YOYOTech ;)

I do agree though - Scan put a lot into customer relations and just getting things sorted. If that sometimes means I have to pay a few quid more (and I usually don't), then I don't mind. It's fair to say this issue is their only real one, and as I've said, it's nothing new. To be honest, it's usually a small price to pay if things do go wrong. What may be better would be an estimated stock number, rather than a yes or no. That way, if it's the weekend and Christmas or a birthday is coming, and you desperately need to build I PC for someone, you might skip past the E6300 with only 2 instock and take the safer option of the E6400 with 27 in stock. :)

i have to say i have had a couple of stock issues with scan but overall they have always helped me with stock take for instance ocuk if you buy an out of stock item they dont even email you and tell you you just sit waiting on your order

generally all supliers will have an item as in stock and it turn out to be out of stock

the good thing about scan is they do conatct you quickly and are always pretty helpful

i even put a 3 star rating on trust and someone from scan emailed me apologising that i had a bad experience and was very sincere saying how they do try there best with orders but do have a lot of business so sometimes they dont always meet our expectations

but one thing i can say they do always try

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Originally Posted by danroyle

i have to say i have had a couple of stock issues with scan but overall they have always helped me with stock take for instance ocuk if you buy an out of stock item they dont even email you and tell you you just sit waiting on your order

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I think that was kind of the point of this thread mate - Scan did the same to some of us ;)

I've got exactly the same problems as the first two posters after a £600 order of various bits of stuff.

I ordered on the 1st of Jan with an expected dispatch date of the 4th. No sign of the package on the 5th and no communications from Scan to say there was a problem.

Guess I'll be calling them tomorrow morning to see what the holdup is and why they haven't been in touch like they're supposed to if the order is delayed. While I appreciate that they were probably flooded with orders all needing attention after Christmas I figured that was the reason I was waiting 4 days rather than the usual two.

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Originally Posted by this_is_gav

I'm going to say Komplett and YOYOTech

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I dunno about YoYoTech. I havent had anything dealings with them and i doubt i ever will.

Komplett on the other hand i have found to be average at best and their price points are WAY too high.

My comment was really for the BIG E-Tailers

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Blitzen

My comment was really for the BIG E-Tailers

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Ebuyer do. Although I'm not sure how much weight any comments left on their forum carry. Recently I saw one guy complain there about a computer chair he'd bought which had broken while he was on it and aggravated a back injury. Bloke on the staff then replies with words to the effect of "well you shouldn't be so fat then" :mrgreen:

I have nothing but good things to say about scan.

I rang up for an opteron when they were all the rage (many moons ago ;)) the lady (Michelle) knew exactly what I was on about when I asked about the stepping which I was MOST impressed with.

I've had to return two hard drives a long time ago (IBM old days) and they were nothing short of fantastic with the turn around time. I'm sure some people do have problems and things do sometimes go wrong, but in my eyes they do a fantastic job.

the thing with Scan is and its not a criticism is they don't have live stock (stock levels don't go down as you order only as they are picked) so if you do order at a busy time and its got popular items you are going to have problems.

BTW they where mega busy after the new year (I went in its my local shop) I would expect after a week of internet orders they would be up to there ears in orders anyway its bad enough if you go in on a Monday sometimes

Our website didn't give you misleading information. 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

ChrisP, I think people are still a little confused regarding the stock situation despite the explaination on a similar post the other day (Well I am anyway!). I accept that you do not have enough space to physically pick orders at the time of ordering but surely this shouldn't matter should it? Heres a scenario:

'Whizzo CPU' is showing in stock on your site, so I order one, and I choose 5 day delivery i.e. it won't be picked immediately.

Unbeknown to me, you only have 1 left in your warehouse.

Someone else comes along after me and wants 'Whizzo' CPU. Now, because I have ordered it, the CPU should be out of stock because you have to reserve 1 CPU for me.

...but from what I can see this does not happen. Seemingly, because my order has not yet been picked, you still have 1 CPU in your system available and it shows 'In stock'. Therefore, if this other person orders with next day delivery the CPU which should be reserved for me actually goes to someone else, because his order gets picked first.

The result? Although my product is in stock at the time of ordering, my CPU is 'nicked' (for want of a better term) and therefore I have to wait.

Please explain if this is the case, because if it is not I can't see how it can be 'In stock' when I ordered and then 'Out of stock' for my order 3 days later. (Ignoring the possibility of stock reporting inaccuracies, which can obviously play a factor).

p.s. Sorry if I'm coming across annoyed - I'm not, just confused.

My order is now officially the same as yours fishboy. All products were in stock when ordered, now after chasing Scan I'm being told two of the items I've ordered are out of stock.

Scan have always been pretty good in the past, but this problem is all down to poor communication from them, something for which they're usually praised for. If there was going to be a delay, I should have been notified. If Scan doesn't have stock of said items, I shouldn't be able to order them (if they do actually have real-time stock level adjustment!). I also sure as hell shouldn't be charged when 1-2 weeks before all the items come back into stock. Charge me when you ship my order. Not before.

Very poor show Scan. Think I'll be taking my business elsewhere.

Ok im getting a little bored of these threads.

Scan have explained this many times, and many people still beleive they should tell Scan how to do business.

Scan have openly admitted there IS a problem with the system, they have openly TOLD everybody they are doing something about it, but they also stated that it takes TIME to make these things happen.

Please have a bit of patience here, I know its not ideal right now, but you know the Scan guys and gals will do what they can and you can be sure, as they have openly stated, they don't want the situation to continue any longer than is feasibly possible.

Matt.

If anyone has any urgent outstanding issues with their order please PM myself directly so we can resolve these issues for you.

All other queries should be logged via the link below

http://web6.scan.co.uk/Support/Query.ASP?QueryType=C

Best Regards

Just called them up and they were very good about it all, so decided to let my order go through.

Sorry about sounding like an ranting idiot earlier. I know they're trying to do their best, but if I had known they were out of stock, I could have called and rearranged a few products and had my stuff when I was supposed to, instead of 3 days later.

speaks volumes to me that you can have a forum and actually accept criticism, and also check the forum regularly to ask yuor customer's opinion... i'll certainly keep Scan in mind when i next buy parts...

Thanks :)

Holy Thread Revival Batman

It was Christmas, it was like that everywhere.

It's always hectic at that time of the year but I'm presuming you are now happy with your purchase?

Hope all is well!