CWC: Have they lost their touch?

[Thomo]

If you put something in your shopping cart and don't pay for it immediately you can not expect CWC, or any other online shop, to keep it for you for ever. Especially if there is a sale on that item. First come first serve. Only after you have paid for it you have the right to call it yours.

Nobody's expecting it to be kept "forever" ... but at least just allow adequate time to process payment.

[Warren_G]

true, my experience is just different. Also I don't rate quick delivery as part of their service, that UTI's good service, but that is just me.

However as their courier service of choice UTI becomes an extension of their business so the blame cannot be passed back to UTI when a customer complains of late delivery...CWC must step up and accept responsibility. In this case it's not the end user's job to keep the courier service in check.

[Mr SingleTrack]

If you put something in your shopping cart and don't pay for it immediately you can not expect CWC, or any other online shop, to keep it for you for ever. Especially if there is a sale on that item. First come first serve. Only after you have paid for it you have the right to call it yours.

additional to the above, imagine some idiot logs in and adds every item on their website to his/her basket, and then goes on holiday for a month without checking out. That will reserve all the stock for this person whom will most probably cancel the sale in the end. Can you see the implications in that?

 

I would have liked the item to be reserved when I add it to my basket, but this method is impractical and not fair on other buyers...

[rouxtjie]

However as their courier service of choice UTI becomes an extension of their business so the blame cannot be passed back to UTI when a customer complains of late delivery...CWC must step up and accept responsibility. In this case it's not the end user's job to keep the courier service in check.

I hear you....but once the parcel left their premises its in UTI's hands...if they don't deliver or something goes wrong, I phone UTI and kuk them out(although that has never happened), but in the same breath, they get the credit for fast and efficient shipping..not cwc.

[Sniffie]

Nobody's expecting it to be kept "forever" ... but at least just allow adequate time to process payment.

How long is "adequate"? Like any thing else on the web the one with the fastest fingers wins IMHO. I agree wit Mr ST's reply.

[Mr SingleTrack]

 

Nobody's expecting it to be kept "forever" ... but at least just allow adequate time to process payment.

I still say that method will not work. Some of us will be able to create mods to "reserve" items by adding it to dummy accounts and to just keep on re-adding it when the item allocation time expires. Thus, a single user will be able to tie up all the stock of an online store with relative easy...

[Hilton.]

additional to the above, imagine some idiot logs in and adds every item on their website to his/her basket, and then goes on holiday for a month without checking out. That will reserve all the stock for this person whom will most probably cancel the sale in the end. Can you see the implications in that?

 

I would have liked the item to be reserved when I add it to my basket, but this method is impractical and not fair on other buyers...

 

The way to do it, that I've seen used by other online retailers, is to load a correct number of items that they have in stock into the system when making the item available online. When, and only when, an item is payed for officially then that item's stock is removed from the website system. Putting it in the basket does nothing to what is reserved. But if you put it in your basket, but when you want to checkout and pay, a message tells you that you can't go through with the checkout as there is now no stock. That way, nobody will be able to pay for items that aren't in stock anymore.

 

Being able to pay for items that were on special but sold out is unnacceptable to me.

[Brogue]

additional to the above, imagine some idiot logs in and adds every item on their website to his/her basket, and then goes on holiday for a month without checking out. That will reserve all the stock for this person whom will most probably cancel the sale in the end. Can you see the implications in that?

 

I would have liked the item to be reserved when I add it to my basket, but this method is impractical and not fair on other buyers...

 

Your example is extreme. I am automatically logged off from internet banking if I don't shift screens or effect a transaction within a specific time frame. Surely all basket items should be cancelled if a customers doesn't "checkout" within thirty minutes? If not, it should.

[Warren_G]

I hear you....but once the parcel left their premises its in UTI's hands...if they don't deliver or something goes wrong, I phone UTI and kuk them out(although that has never happened), but in the same breath, they get the credit for fast and efficient shipping..not cwc.

I feel that the customer should never have to take things into his/her hands and track down the goods, that would be the seller's job and there should be no admin for customers. Customer service means so much during the course of a sale, if you offer superior customer service and create a wonderful customer experience then price becomes less important and it's more likely you will return to the shop.

[rouxtjie]

I feel that the customer should never have to take things into his/her hands and track down the goods, that would be the seller's job and there should be no admin for customers. Customer service means so much during the course of a sale, if you offer superior customer service and create a wonderful customer experience then price becomes less important and it's more likely you will return to the shop.

suppose, I just find it easier to deal with UTI since I can track a parcel on their system...but again, I hear you.

[Gooner101]

The way to do it, that I've seen used by other online retailers, is to load a correct number of items that they have in stock into the system when making the item available online. When, and only when, an item is payed for officially then that item's stock is removed from the website system. Putting it in the basket does nothing to what is reserved. But if you put it in your basket, but when you want to checkout and pay, a message tells you that you can't go through with the checkout as there is now no stock. That way, nobody will be able to pay for items that aren't in stock anymore.

 

Being able to pay for items that were on special but sold out is unnacceptable to me.

I agree fully! We all know trying to get a refund for anything (no matter how reputable the company is) is like drawing teeth.. If there is no stock, don't allow payment. Can't be that difficult surely?

[Skubarra]

I don't think the biggest issue here is that he payed for something that was out of stock (although it didn't help)

 

But the bad service he received & bad communication & delivery issues afterwards when trying to resolve the issue, but I would like to hear the other side of the story as well

Edited June 19, 2013 by Skubarra

[Redlight]

Since CWC moved to their new shop I supported them. It was always nice to go and browse as they had quite a large selection of bikes and parts. I also used their On-line facility a couple of times as it is convenient.

However I have reached the end of the line.

Let me explain.

On the 29th of May I ordered Easton 26" EA90 XC Wheelset 6 Bolt 9mm QR which was on special. When I enquired two days later about when the order will be delivered I was told that they do not have any wheels in stock (yet one cannot place an order if there is no stock) but that the agent will send them new stock. The stock arrived the 31st and I was informed that the front wheel was not 9mm QR but 15mm. They will return it to the agent and have it converted. This was on the 31st of May. When I did not get any feedback on my email requests I called again on the 6th of June. Wayne told me the wheels are not back from the agents and I will have to wait. I was not happy. It was one week later and no wheels or even an idea of when I will receive them. I asked him to cancel my order. He called me back a few minutes later to inform me the wheels are back. I went to CWC on Friday to collect the wheels. When they gave me the wheels, they were 29" wheels. I told them this is not what I ordered. They then hauled out another set of wheels, but this time without the quick release units. The box went back and another box came out, this time with EU70 XC, but no quick release. I was busy loosing my cool.

Chris junior then intervened and promised to have the wheels exchanged by the agents and delivered to me. On the 12th I received a message from Chris that the wheels are back.

I went to CWC again the Friday to pick them up. When we opened the box, the back wheel was a 2nd hand wheel and although they are both 9mm QR there were no QR units in the box. They were also EA70 XC's.

I really had enough at that stage. Chris senior then promised me he will deliver the wheels to my house that evening. If they did not get the wheels from the agents or if they had a problem to deliver it to me I do not know, I received no message or call. I waited until just before 21h00 before canceling the order and ask for a refund.

There are three things I learned from this:

I will never buy Easton wheels as the agents are completely disorganized (my friend sent in a set of EA70 road wheels for freewheel body replacement and received EA70 mtb wheels back!)

Good prices do not guarantee good service

Lastly, bigger does not mean better. Is this where CWC is heading?

 

Dude: www.evobikes.co.za

Or. : www.easybike.co.za

As simple as that...

[Mr SingleTrack]

 

 

The way to do it, that I've seen used by other online retailers, is to load a correct number of items that they have in stock into the system when making the item available online. When, and only when, an item is payed for officially then that item's stock is removed from the website system. Putting it in the basket does nothing to what is reserved. But if you put it in your basket, but when you want to checkout and pay, a message tells you that you can't go through with the checkout as there is now no stock. That way, nobody will be able to pay for items that aren't in stock anymore.

 

Being able to pay for items that were on special but sold out is unnacceptable to me.

how you described it is how I understand their system to work. I once added an item to my basket but only checked out 5min later. When I checked out their system notified me that the item is no longer in stock. Remember, they don't only do online sales but they have a shop as well. This adds complexity seeing that someone can go into the shop and buy an item at the same time as another online user. There would be a delay in the system as the POS device in the stoor that scans the item will not tell you the item is out of stock when it is scanned (if an online user baught the item a second ago. The instore sale will go through and the person will walk the item out of the shop. Another example is if staff steel an item. The stock on the system still shows 1 item in stock but the item already made its way out of the shop. These things happen and there is no bomb proof way to stop it unless the stoor is prepared to keep bigger stock quantities (resulting in cash tied up in inventory).

 

The only way shops can deal with this is by ensuring they 1. Refund the client if such an event happen, or 2. Source the item if the client is happy to wait...

[Antoo]

Fortunately for CWC and all other bike shops, in SA and abroad, for every unhappy customer, there's probably a good couple happy shoppers, or they would have to close their doors.

Human nature is such that when we're unhappy, we want to gather a support group, who'll leave with us - even juju is following the trend.

 

I totally understand when guys want to point out a lapse in service to the provider, but it would be especially great when we leave without trying to start a support group.

 

One thing for sure, is that CWC, like most of us, are pretty fallible.

[Warren_G]

I don't think the biggest issue here is that he payed for something that was out of stock (although it didn't help)

 

But the bad service he received & bad communication & delivery issues afterwards when trying to resolve the issue, but I would like to here the other side of the story as well

Exactly, the crux of the matter is the poor after sales service received, that being said I'm not even sure we can call it a sale as the customer never actually took possession of his order after paying. It's not about the fact that they made a mistake, everybody makes mistakes, it's about the way they handled the delivery issues but would also like to see CWC Online's response... Edited June 18, 2013 by Warren_G