I have written a blog three days running, not bad going by recent standards
While writing last nights brief interlude I noticed that 95% my blogs for the last few weeks (or more) have concentrated either on my bike riding or my dieting (or not as the case may be). Well there is more to my life than just those two thing and I am quite happy to blast those who upset me (see the bus drive incident from a couple of blogs ago) so here my latest blast.
Evans Cycles, a major Internet cycle retailers as well as having high street stores. Well on the 4th June I ordered a pair of knee pads from them online, the order stated they were out of stock at the warehouse but were available in store at one of their shops so they would call the knee pads back from the shop and post them onto me.
OK first question, why not post it direct from the shop to me??
Anyway the stated delivery was 10 to 14 days, I was in no hurry for them so I was happy to go with the flow.
On Friday the 19th having heard anything from Evans and not being in possession of any knee pads I checked my online account with them to see if there was any info on my order. I found no detail of my order (apart from it being placed) but they had already charged my credit card for the purchase.
Second question, why charge my credit card when you are not in any position to send the items to me?
So I send Evans customer service department an e-mail asking why they had already charged me and when could I expect delivery, the auto responder on screen said to expect a reply within 24hrs. OK it was Friday night so I was happy to wait till Monday. So Monday 21st came and went and Tuesday evening arrived so I decided to phone customer services. I was told that a second request had been sent to the store and it should be with me by the end of the week. I was also told it was normal procedure to take the money at time of order regardless of delivery time.
Well the end of the week arrived and there was still not the owner of a pair of knee pads. So I phoned customer services. I was told that the department the customer service rep needed to talk to had gone home for the weekend and that he would chase it up for me on Monday 28th for me and promised to call me back on Monday, sounded OK but I was not going to hold my breath. when I asked why the shop could not send the knee pads to me directly, he then let himself down, apparently it was company policy that they had to come back to the warehouse and the probable reason they had not come back yet was there was no room on the van!! for f*** shake they are a pair of knee pads not a complete bloody bike.
Monday dawned and I was working from home and about to pack up for the day when the mobile rang. I did not recognise the number, it was the customer service guy from Evans with the promised return phone call (I had forgotten all about it to be honest). Apparently the department that handles the call back from stores had sorted out the problem and I could expect them by the end of the week (2nd July).
So I come home this afternoon and what do I find has been delivered, yep my knee pads, no explanation as to why it had taken over three weeks. I don’t even know if this was the knee pads the guy was talking about yesterday although I doubt it based on time scale of telling me and them arriving.
So why did it take so long, I have never had this problem with other items I have ordered online with Evans in the past. Then their is customer service, either they do not know what they were talking about or were just fobbing me off?
Ordering on line is a game of trust, you trust the supplier to supply the items at the correct price, to handle the financial transaction appropriately and to supply said goods in a timely fashion or keep you informed if problems arise. In this case Evans failed on all counts. In future I will think twice before I make another purchase from Evans online or recommend them to somebody else. Once you lose trust it is not easy to get back.
