I've found out 2 things over the past couple of weeks..
Play.com isn't in Jersey.. it's on the Indian continent and Royal Mail 1st Class doesn't mean delivery by the next working day
If you don't want to read a moan.. look away now 
A couple of weeks ago, I ordered a new phone from Play.com as a surprise crimbo present for SWMBO. After a few days, it arrived and knowing what the package was, didn't bother ripping it apart there and then. A couple more days past and late on Tue 8th Dec, I decided to open the package to get the phone charged up ready for her to use. Inside was a receipt for the correct phone but to my horror, a completely different phone for a completely different network was in the bag!
Diving online to Play.com, I couldn't find anywhere that could successfully direct me to explain what to do if they had sent the wrong item so I phoned their 0845 number. To my astonishment, someone answered the phone and the time was 2355z. Good service I thought
Unfortunately, the lady on the other end seemed to be speaking from the Indian continent making her difficult to understand due to a)her accent and b)the forced delay you get when making overseas calls!!Anyway.. I eventually established that she was sorry for the wrong item being sent and that the correct item would be sent immediately.. a return authorisation number to be emailed. As soon as I'd finished the call (by this time, it was 0005z on Wed 9th) I checked my email and low and behold, there was the return authorisation..
We are very sorry to hear that you have been sent the incorrect item. We
will dispatch the correct item to you immediately.
Your returns authorisation is (removed by me)
So that you are not charged for the incorrect item sent to you, please
return it to us at the address below at your earliest convenience.
Play.com Returns
Unit 3A
Appletree Industrial estate
Chipping Warden
Banbury
Oxfordshire
OX17 1LL...
The incorrect item was packed as instructed with a copy of the email and not posted at my earliest convenience but that very day at 15:55 from Compton, about 4miles up the road.. 1st Class Registered mail.
By the following Monday (this Monday gone), I was a little miffed that I'd not received a dispatch note from Play.com and signing on showed no outstanding orders
OK.. I'll phone again and hopefully get someone I can understand!WRONG.. the call was again outside this country (proven by an even greater time lag causing us both to be talking at the same time then neither of us talking then both at the same time again!!!!). Mr Gupta took my details and said the return had not reached the warehouse in Banbury but as soon as it did, they would dispatch the correct item
Hang on, I said, your email says the correct item will be dispatched immediately! I'm sorry, said Mr Gupta, but that only applies to items less than £30 Do you get the idea I was more than a little pi$$ed off at this point. I remained calm and didn't swear.That was Monday.. today is Friday and my first class package still hasn't got from Compton to Banbury. A check on AA Routefinder shows the distance between the 2 is 54.6miles and the estimated time is 1hr 21mins. Posted before the last post on the 9th Dec to a location 54.6 miles up the road, I get this off the Post Office Track and Trace site..
Item AGXXXXXXXXX was posted at The Post Office RG20 6NL on 09/12/09 and is being progressed through our network for delivery.
I've emailed them asking WTF has happened to Royal Mail 1st Class and in particular to my package and have received a reply back saying thank you for your query.. it may take between 3 and 5 days to receive a response, possibly longer
I've been through the obligatory 25mins hold at Play.com again today and spoken to yet another lady very many miles away and having explained the situation once more, all she could do was apologise and note my concerns. She was advised that this will be the last purchase I make from Play.com and to in effect, cancel the order. When and if the package arrives at Banbury, I want a full refund including my return postage. I then popped onto Amazon and got the same phone but paid a tenner for 1-2 day delivery. Hopefully, that'll get here in time for christmas!
There are many morals to this story and many points of fact. Play sent the wrong item in the first place then followed it up by misinformation in their email response. They were NEVER going to send the correct item immediately and wouldn't be doing so until the wrong item arrived at their warehouse. Had the email said this was going to be the case, I could easily have returned it posted 'Next Day' but no, the exact wording posted above. I couldn't tell you how many pounds sterling I've spent at Play but a day after my initial order for the phone, I ordered a memory card for it AND a new 30gig iTouch for the offspring. My order history goes back 3 pages with 50items on a page so you get an idea how much money I've spent there over the years! The Post Office.. well, what can I say. While I appreciate this is a busy time of year, I also think it reasonable to expect a 1st Class registered package to take no more than a week at the outside.
I can't say I'll never use the Royal Mail again because of the nature of the beast (unless I die today that is) but will I be using Play.com again.. I think you can work that out
Rant over.. time to feed the dog
ATB
DaveB
