Really cheap food...however

hallnaomiuk

i know what you mean, i dont want to email and phone - and add to the chaos.

rather just wait and hope - just looking forward to having some nice things to munch on just be nice to have some sort of date to look forward too getting it.

jaytin

If you look at the items available on the site now it seems that a lot of what was available a couple of weeks ago is now all out of stock. This is the most likely reason that new orders are being delivered and older ones are stuck in the warehouse. There simply are no items left to fill the orders, resulting, I would assume, in a lot of part-filled boxes with no hope of getting some of the other items. I did look into going to the warehouse myself to pick up my order but it will take over 2 hours to get there and the same coming back. :eek: I really don't know what is best to do at this point, cancel it or not?

Wolfsbayne

I dont drive so can't pick up my order so im stuck really, it is a difficult position for everyone concerned really. It would be great if Dan could contact customers in this particular situation with a list of what would be coming in during the next 7 days so they could choose from those items to make their order back up and get it dispatched - that way Dan would also get an idea of whether those new products would do well or not and be able to get more for everyone else.

tricki1

Wolfsbayne wrote: »

I dont drive so can't pick up my order so im stuck really, it is a difficult position for everyone concerned really. It would be great if Dan could contact customers in this particular situation with a list of what would be coming in during the next 7 days so they could choose from those items to make their order back up and get it dispatched - that way Dan would also get an idea of whether those new products would do well or not and be able to get more for everyone else.

second this idea, I'm one of the ones on the backlog and having an email of a list of what things are likely to be on offer will help me to decide what I want so it will be quicker to sort out the replacement, best for both parties.

angelatgraceland

I placed my order about a week ago BUT there was a message on the site saying he was 12 days behind. Therefore I dont expect to hear anything for at least 12 days. If I hear nothing after 14 days then I may email or phone but Im not going to add to their backlog even more my pestering them.
I think a lot of us on here back AF because they are "ordinary working people" not the "big boys" who are raking in millions. Power to the working man I say-if your good luck means I have to wait a bit so what-if we truly understand we will be patient. Otherwise go to Makro.
When someone tells you they are nearly 2 weeks behind you do not wonder what is happening a week later-I think that while he is this busy we are all taking a bit of a gamble in placing orders/getting them fulfilled. Before you order think about whether you can wait 2 or 3 weeks-if not-wait until things have calmed down.

tricki1

wookie wrote: »

Well i am well chuffed, like my other post, ordered on 25th jan, got my dispatch email yesterday, while i was at work this morning it tracked at the Hatfield depot, and it has now arrived, all present and correct, now i cannot fault this kind of service, 5 days wow. just waiting for the other order which was place on 27th:rolleyes: well done ( A F ):T

The fact you got your order without hassle is likely because you ordered after the crash as it were, so you didn't order things already out of stock because the flood of new orders ran the stock out and new people ordering the out of stock items without realizing it.

Dan and Approved Foods had their own Stock crash! only the opposite of the Stock Market crash; too much buying as a pose to too much selling!:D

This shows that all the delayed orders are ones with items missing, and it is taking time to sort them out individually. Dan could have just stuck to refunding the missing items, but it seems he didn't want to disappoint customers by making them feel like they were wasting postage, so has gone for replacement. I imagine if it were a few small weight items missing customers wouldn't mind a refund, If customers orders were like mine (with 10 litres of liquid which weighs a bit, and several tinned items); the items being unavailable makes it seem you've wasted postage, so an exchange might seem fairer to the customer. So it looks like he decided he should contact them separately to offer exchange.

So by trying to keep customers happy by keeping it a fair deal he risks customer dissatisfaction by the delays caused by going through the backlog and sorting out whats missing from what and contacting each one. Tough thing to do, but a blanket decision to just refund could be more controversial even if it is more efficient.

One thing that he could do is offer to refund a bit of the postage costs as well as for the items missing, perhaps based on the weight difference. Only to clear the log jam a little this one time until things get sorted out. And only on this site rather than from customers who have found the site from the media publicity who probably wouldn't understand the problems hes having. I'm not convinced that sort of policy would work all the time as I do not know his cost margins etc, so it might lose him money or make it too hard to work out his cash flow to make that the normal policy.

If he posted here and said that if anyone with a backlogged order wanted to do this then they should email them quoting his post in order to get their order quicker, minus a few items, but with a small refund of postage. It means readers of this post might get their order quicker, without having to be contacted, thus saving time and letting AF sort out the rest of the backlog with his chosen method.

cruella_de_vile

I wasn't offered a substitute Tricki1, I got a refund notification, so I'm not sure he is doing what you think he is

Applepie_2

Tracking explanations from a very helpful person at DHL:

'Shipment Data Received.' Is a generic scan that appears when Approved Foods have created the label and booked the courier to collect parcels.

'Departed Depot.' As Approved Foods are based in the Sheffield the nearest DHL Service Centre will collect the parcels from them. This scan refers to the parcels leaving the DHL Service Centre. After leaving the Service Centre all parcels have to pass thought either 1 or 2 Terminals. (Hatfield, Hamshall, Bristol.)

'In Transit.' Refers to the movement of the parcel inside the Terminal through conveyer belts, scanners, weighing machines and security checks. This can also be a scan in a Service Centre too.

If you have any further questions please just email them over.

Email = thor@SaleTrack.co.uk

Hope this helps.

princess_loki

very pleased! order has arrived!! placed order on 15th jan so the 12 days was not far out. had 1 jar beetroot, some chocolate and crisps refunded. was not contacted about replacements (even though i sent an e-mail stating that i would like duplicates of other stuff). but thinking about it it was a credit for £4 and the weight of these things was not huge so all in all very happy:T

are the beans on the website yet??? (hurries to change browser and check!)

loki x

hallnaomiuk

no not yet, well they wasnt last time i looked earlier...