Classic British Flight Sim

Hi Chaps

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

Hi Dave

hope everything will pan out for you on this.. and well done for not cussing them up

btw , ever find yourself talking to them folks trying to add a bit of there accent on top of yours
in hopes they will better understand you?? ....

Joe

Never used play.com but must say I have found Amazon superb over the years, and very efficent in dealing with returns or non delivered items.

Ben Watson wrote:Never used play.com but must say I have found Amazon superb over the years, and very efficent in dealing with returns or non delivered items.

Yep, amazon were superb last year. Mrs C bought me the entire box set of "Family Guy", for a not inconsiderable sum, but two of the DVDs in the set were duplicated, and consequently, one was missing. Go online, request a return, the replacement box set arrived the day after next, and I was able to select when DHL came to pick up the defective copy (amazon will charge you if the original returned item is not received within a month IIRC, therefore giving you the benefit of the doubt).

As for play, sounds a little disappointing. Used them a lot over the past year, although their prices aren't as competitive as they were IMHO.

I shouldn't laugh at your misfortune, but this link will either relieve your feelings or make you even angrier!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1IM37OY0Kg

Chris

Write to BBC's Watchdog & set the dredded Anne Robinson on 'em.

Sorry to hear about your woes though.

Bob

Seen that before Chris and very good it is too

Incidentally, I've heard from one of my staff (her son is a postie!) that everyone is putting the blame on Swindon as far as slow mail is concerned. Ever since Reading closed and all mail went to Swindon, the service has degraded by at least a day so there could be something in it. However, she did say that the majority of mail affected are letters which doesn't bode well for my package which still has to be manually sorted

ATB

DaveB

Amazon generally are good, but I have had a problem with an Amazon Marketplace seller who advertised an item with "Free Delivery" not "Free Delivery in the UK" as is often the case on Amazon.

I was charged £21 delivery although the actual postage cost was £1.21.

Had I scrolled well down the page and clicked on the link to terms and conditions I could have seen the single delivery charge for items to Europe was £21. . . . . . . but why would I do that when it clearly stated "Free Delivery" next to the price of the item. I also would have seen the delivery charge if I hadn't used Amazon's "one click ordering" system.

The seller would not refund the delivery charge and Amazon for their part said that:
a) they can't control sellers on their marketplace and
b) I should not have used "one clickordering".

Jon

throw on some of that medieval stuff you guys got over there ... light some torches and pay'm a visit

Ah.. one click ordering! I've been caught like that before with Amazon which is why I tended to lean toward Play. For the most part, Play has been a little less expensive and of course, they advertise free delivery.

Worth noting with my tale of woe that Play will only refund a 'standard' mail cost for returned goods. Had I posted the wrong phone 'next day delivery', it may well have got there (though I wouldn't guarantee that) but I'd have only been refunded 'standard' mail which for this item equates to £2.14p. I paid an extra 75p to have the package registered/signed for thinking this was a fair precaution but whether I get the additional 75p back remains to be seen

ATB

DaveB