Online Shopping Disappointment

Sadly I can no longer order from John Lewis, as I live in a block of flats and my last parcel was stolen before I could get to it.
I can only order from Amazon, who will deliver to my private
lobby and let me know the parcel has arrived.

Not a good nose for a bargain then Witzend

I’ve noticed this with grocery shopping online lately too. I’ve booked a shop, checked it out and then when I’ve returned to it to make changes, there are alerts to say things I’ve added days ago are out of stock, and suggesting alternatives. And yet on certain items your choice seems to be firm, as you can’t alter the quantities after a certain time. Tesco seem to do this a lot. I’ve been after a speciality gin from them for a while now, and every week they let you add it to the basket and then substitute something else on delivery.

The Next online sales irritate me too. They give you a preview and then make you book a time to shop the sale. You get access at your allotted time, make your selection, you’re allowed to add it to your basket and then when you get to the checkout you find they’ve sold out. So frustrating.

Witzend. Maybe the order picker was dyslexic and got confused with 'the eyes to the right' and the 'nose' to the left! ?

M and S are the pits, not only this but if you have to return stuff as they have closed the stores near to me they have also stopped accepting returns at food stores. Such a faff returning stuff do not bother ordering anything online they must be losing money and customers.Plus there is very little of m and s clothes all sorts of companies using their platform.

Witzend I absolutely love your comment! Guess your purchase is for teddies or similar … but the way you have written it has made me laugh ?!!!

I think a lot of companies have a 30minute maximum. They do after all want to sell items.

Purpledaffodil

cc totally agree about charging for click and collect when they are obviously going to be making deliveries anyway. Cotton Traders do it, so I won't order from them now. Doubt they will notice though

Yes it makes it pointless doing click and collect if they charge almost as much as for delivery. John Lewis did it last time I ordered and collected in Waitrose, but don't know if they still do it.

Here is my chance to ask about returning clothing purchases. I cannot get to shops and buy all my clothes online. Up to about two or three years ago parcels contained asticky label to return things by post. Very convenient until the Post Office in my village closed down and never reopened. Now I receive parcels with no paperwork and have to hunt online for instructions or am sent an SR square thing which I don't know whar to do with. Do photograph it with my tablet and it will it show me what to do? Seems more and mor,so called improvements save oey for businesses and inconvenience customers. Somebody help, please.. I have discovered that SR means Speedy Reply. Ha!

@Bazza

If you want something badly enough, don’t delay! It’s not yours until you pay for it as it would be in a shop.

But would you expect someone to come along and take something out of your basket if you were physically in a shop or would you kick off if someone tried?

cc totally agree about charging for click and collect when they are obviously going to be making deliveries anyway. Cotton Traders do it, so I won't order from them now. Doubt they will notice though

Having an item 'in your basket' online is not like being physically in the store where it is actually in your basket.
You have to think of it as though you've put a ticket on it saying you'd like it but if someone else does the same then pays for it before you, they get it, you miss out.

I like the companies that have a 'save for later' option. But sometimes when you return they are unavailable. But yes it is annoying when you spend ages choosing items only to find they are out of stock when you check out!

Different companies have different policies. Asos for example have a '1 hour' policy. It's taken out of basket after this but they do send a reminder... Totally fair....

The shortest "make your mind up" time I know of is seven minutes. Sometimes, as in the seven minutes one, they will run a clock at the top of the page saying how long you have left.

It will depend on the business and how fast their stock moves. If you haven't paid you haven't completed the sale. If someone else is prepared to, selling is their business so they will make that possible. You can always go back and check if there is more stock but they do need it to be available for those who actually pay.

The superdrug sales model is one other companies use too. In some cases an item will only be available at certain stores.

Nannan2

Superdrug also have so many items that you can only buy if you getting click & collect instore, but not if you're having them delivered- its madness, by then you might as well just go to the blooming store to buy them anyway!

I think it is simply because they don't hold so much stock in their main warehouse. When you choose which store to visit they can check whether they have it there. Argos work in the same way and they tell you which local branches have stock. Much better than having to visit stores to see if they have stock.
Not all stores work like this though, many actually send the items to your branch for your order.
What irritates me is when they charge for click and collect, when they're obviously making regular deliveries to the store anyway

SpringyChicken

I think it's fair to empty the basket after half an hour. It's a real problem for businesses to have stock tied up in online shopping baskets. And imagine if a competitor played dirty tricks by monopolising items with no intention of buying.

This seems fair to me too. I've had Amazon Warehouse deals vanish very quickly and think this is perfectly reasonable if you don't check out immediately.

*you're?

Superdrug also have so many items that you can only buy if you getting click & collect instore, but not if you're having them delivered- its madness, by then you might as well just go to the blooming store to buy them anyway!

Hate superdrug for that, not ordered from them for a bit cause of that.Also, delivery takes ages.And the 'order for half hour delivery' doesn't apply in my area.Apparently..M&S though are fond of the empty basket routine if you leave it too long.Maybe it's emptied quicker in the sales time? But make sure you log in first, then you should get a reminder, though maybe not in sale time.Once i found an M&S item i liked, (household) and thought I'd go back to it after choosing clothing, but when i went back, it had completely disappeared from their website! Totally. It simply was there anymore- not even to say its sold out! Didn't see it again for weeks, when i grabbed it straightaway, but still its a mystery where it went.??

A minor one, but I ordered a pack of 6 brown toy safety eyes the other day - and received 4 black noses.
I won’t be using that company again.

I think particularly if an item is on sale it’s fair game to give it to someone else if you haven’t paid for it. Uniqlo particularly make that clear. I have had a sale item in my basket, gone to the checkout page and still been beaten to it! If you want something badly enough, don’t delay! It’s not yours until you pay for it as it would be in a shop.

Quite a common occurrence. Some companies warn you, others don't. Superdrug is dreadful. It lets you fill your basket with goods but when it comes to payment, you are told that many of the items aren't in stock. What a waste of time.

It was M& S and I have had that experience with them too of emptying or removing something from my basket after checkout. Or it says only one available and yet you can’t check it out! So frustrating. Also when picking up online order at local store I always check what’s in it before I leave because twice I have had someone else’s order in my name. And their customer service! well least said the better

It could be that someone else had bought the last of the stock, and therefore your basket was emptied automatically.