Approved Food - general discussion thread

mdecker_london

COOLTRIKERCHICK wrote: »

obviously YOU are not sparing the judgements either as you called Dan a crook...

with the volume of orders coming into his email box.... i dont think anyone could have gauged what was ordered.. until they actually got to getting round to picking the order.. so how the heck can they give a refund until the order was actually taken from the order tray ready to be picked and packed... bare in mind the orders were coming in their thousands....he was prob frantically trying to get more stock as well to forfill these orders....

and the way you have condemed this mans as being a crook, he couldnt do right for doing wrong... which ever way you look at it...

You're missing the point - this thread is for comment and judgements on Approved Foods, NOT for criticising other posters for sharing their experiences.

And it remains true that the vendor is either incompetent or a crook.

Your excuse for him now seems to be that it wasn't his fault that he accepted so many orders, and it wasn't his fault that he didn't know how much stock he had in his warehouse, and it's not his fault that he took people's money on the day of the order yet only refunded them for missing items three weeks later.

The facts are that he took money for items not in stock, and took money from peoples' accounts when he knew the delay in shipping was running into weeks. This is a legitimate matter for concern, not levity.

pinkprincedss1980

I have to have my say on some of these issues as after going to the warehouse to buy items last week an talkin to Dan an some of his staff some of the things said are complete rubbish in my opinion.

Firstly from around the 8th Jan when I first logged onto the af site there was a notice stating a backlog and everytime I have periodically gone back onto the site there has still been one there so if ure sayin you didnt see it when you ordered on the 24th jan i think you must have just missed it as I'm sure it was there.

Talking to Dan last week when they first started they used to pack items in the one warehouse but since it has gone crazy they have taken over another warehouse accross the way from the original one where they pack and deal with all the internet orders. From what I saw last week it seems most of the internet stock is kept in the internet packing warehouse.

There seems to be items that you can buy in person from the warehouse which you can't on the internet and vice versa.

Again after talking to Dan and his staff last week I have to say from what I saw there is nothing dodgey, illegal or crooked about the business or Dan himself. He is one of the most genuine people you could meet and both him and his staff in my experiance go out of there way to help and nothing is to much trouble.

Like with any business that grows so rapildly there is bound to be teething problems and I think we have to be patient while they are ironed out.
I live in Cornwall and will certainly be using af again an most likely will be goin up in person to collect and choose the items myself, however I wouldn't hesitate to order the items to be delivered and I would expect payment to be secured once I have clicked on submit as with af still being a small company in comparison too the big supermarkets etc you can't expect Dan to take the risk of money not being in the account etc once the order is dispatched an then he looses out.

Anyway that's my experince and opinion, I don't want or mean to upset or offend anybody but had to get that off my chest lol.

[Deleted User]

pinkprincedss1980 wrote: »

I live in Cornwall and will certainly be using af again an most likely will be goin up in person to collect and choose the items myself,

Yes Princess as stated previously you are mad:D

As I stated tho` some people need to chill out and have patience if they want to buy from AF.
If this is a problem for you go to Tesco et al and pay their rices:rolleyes:

mdecker_london

pinkprincedss1980 wrote: »

I have to have my say on some of these issues as after going to the warehouse to buy items last week an talkin to Dan an some of his staff some of the things said are complete rubbish in my opinion.

Firstly from around the 8th Jan when I first logged onto the af site there was a notice stating a backlog and everytime I have periodically gone back onto the site there has still been one there so if ure sayin you didnt see it when you ordered on the 24th jan i think you must have just missed it as I'm sure it was there.

Talking to Dan last week when they first started they used to pack items in the one warehouse but since it has gone crazy they have taken over another warehouse accross the way from the original one where they pack and deal with all the internet orders. From what I saw last week it seems most of the internet stock is kept in the internet packing warehouse.

There seems to be items that you can buy in person from the warehouse which you can't on the internet and vice versa.

Again after talking to Dan and his staff last week I have to say from what I saw there is nothing dodgey, illegal or crooked about the business or Dan himself. He is one of the most genuine people you could meet and both him and his staff in my experiance go out of there way to help and nothing is to much trouble.

Like with any business that grows so rapildly there is bound to be teething problems and I think we have to be patient while they are ironed out.
I live in Cornwall and will certainly be using af again an most likely will be goin up in person to collect and choose the items myself, however I wouldn't hesitate to order the items to be delivered and I would expect payment to be secured once I have clicked on submit as with af still being a small company in comparison too the big supermarkets etc you can't expect Dan to take the risk of money not being in the account etc once the order is dispatched an then he looses out.

Anyway that's my experince and opinion, I don't want or mean to upset or offend anybody but had to get that off my chest lol.

I didn't say there wasn't a notice re delay - yes there was a notice when I ordered on the 24th January on the site that there would be a delay (it was the same for my first order), but it was not until some time later that it was changed to 'two weeks'. I wouldn't have ordered some of the things I'd ordered had I known the delay would be at least two weeks (let alone the three weeks it actually took), and I might not have ordered at all.

Again it would be helpful for you not to tell people they 'have' to be patient. It's patronising and untrue, particularly when customers a) haven't been told about the delay and b) aren't told for nearly three weeks that much of their order will be missing.

Your comments regarding the risk of AF losing their money if they waited until despatch to take the money demonstrate that you're not clear on the payment process with regard to 'authorisation' of a particular amount, and 'charging' of that amount. In short, there is no risk to the retailer because the amount has been pre-authorised.

So I'm not sure what was 'complete rubbish' - all I can tell you is what happened to me with regard to my two orders from this vendor.

mdecker_london

treboeth wrote: »

Yes Princess as stated previously you are mad:D

As I stated tho` some people need to chill out and have patience if they want to buy from AF.
If this is a problem for you go to Tesco et al and pay their rices:rolleyes:

Again, this thread is for customers to report their experiences of buying from AF - it is patronising and impolite for posters to tell people who have had bad experiences that they 'need' to 'chill out' and 'have patience'.

tricki1

mcallister1 wrote: »

You are right that the experience of ordering for people who had been on the forum was quite different and inferior from how it would have been for those who saw the site in the papers. And in part that is where the arguments come from between you and others on the site who feel they have been communicated with properly because AF came onto the forum to post. As a result some of us feel invested in the business even though our only investment has been lots of time on the thread and possibly too much time spent ordering stuff from him.
I really think that the discussion between you and cooltrikerchick- who I would also have quoted if I knew how to do that- is going nowhere.
You are clearly very unhappy with AF and have every right to be so. You have identified a problem with the way they are dealing with the payments which seems wrong- although it is likely that it is not deliberate, more a result of being overwhelmed-and you are entitled to raise it. Because of the way some others on the site have felt invested in AF over the last few weeks, they have reacted defensively. Its up to you both ,of course, but unless either of you has something new to say, maybe its time to give the argument a rest- your comments will stand on the thread and people can see them.

You are right about the argument - was about to get out the popcorn I was saving for the previous arguments.;) I think both need to realise they are not going to convince the other no matter what they say as they both view things very differently. Btw the double quote needs you to open a new tab or new window on your browser with the quote you want to copy, then you hit quote button on both posts and copy one quote with the [.quote] tags intact to the window that you are doing your reply into. Can just copy the text and add the quote tags, but easier the other way.

mdecker_london wrote: »

You're missing the point - this thread is for comment and judgements on Approved Foods, NOT for criticising other posters for sharing their experiences.

And it remains true that the vendor is either incompetent or a crook.

Your excuse for him now seems to be that it wasn't his fault that he accepted so many orders, and it wasn't his fault that he didn't know how much stock he had in his warehouse, and it's not his fault that he took people's money on the day of the order yet only refunded them for missing items three weeks later.

The facts are that he took money for items not in stock, and took money from peoples' accounts when he knew the delay in shipping was running into weeks. This is a legitimate matter for concern, not levity.

You are correct that it is a matter for concern, but name calling isn't helping YOUR public relations much. No matter how much you think it is true, constantly saying so is just making people not want to listen to you; as you are stuck in the broken record mode, and people can recognise that your words make you look to be blindly distrustful just as easily as you can spot others seemingly blind faith.

You won't be able to stop others making excuses for someone that they have bonded with, so calling him a crook isn't helping you make your point.and I feel you might find people more receptive to your criticism if it were broached in less harsh terms.

Only my opinion ofc - I could taking your words in the same wrong way that I have described before and misunderstanding you, so if I am wrong, don't take it the wrong way - just want to help.
Edit: I just read your comments about you feeling that telling someone to have patience is patronising. As advice it can be a little irritating to hear when you are angry, but its usually meant well and not meant to belittle anyone. I understand where you are coming from, but do not think you will succeed in getting people to refrain from doing it. in the same way you can't get a mother to stop fussing over a son or daughter who is too old to need it, its too ingrained in some peoples psyche to stop with appeals to logic

mdecker_london

tricki1 wrote: »

You are correct that it is a matter for concern, but name calling isn't helping YOUR public relations much. No matter how much you think it is true, constantly saying so is just making people not want to listen to you; as you are stuck in the broken record mode, and people can recognise that your words make you look to be blindly distrustful just as easily as you can spot others seemingly blind faith.

You won't be able to stop others making excuses for someone that they have bonded with, so calling him a crook isn't helping you make your point.and I feel you might find people more receptive to your criticism if it were broached in less harsh terms.

Only my opinion ofc - I could taking your words in the same wrong way that I have described before and misunderstanding you, so if I am wrong, don't take it the wrong way - just want to help.

Not taken the wrong way. Yes, I think the key is that people are making excuses for someone they've bonded with and lionised as one of their own. The problem is that it makes them partisan, blinds them to legitimate criticism of the vendor, and they will attack anyone who dares post anything other than a paean of praise.

Not interested in a PR victory; just in dragging this thread back on topic: This thread is specifically dedicated to customers' experiences of AF, and a moderator should ensure that stays the case. It is *not* the place for personal attacks on those of us who are unsatisfied - it is rude and inappropriate for AF fanatics simply to tell other posters to 'go to Tescos' or to just put up with bad service.

Re. 'crook', I guess I'm just using that as shorthand for 'someone who took money while knowing items were unavailable, and took money from accounts while knowing he couldn't deliver within a reasonable time period'. Is that a little less harsh?

And what I actually said was that he was *either* incompetent *or* a crook. I'll come up with a softer version of 'incompetent' too, if that'll help - 'someone who took money while items were unavailable, and took money from accounts while he couldn't deliver within a reasonable time period'. See the difference? The crook *knows* he's being dishonest, while the incompetent person just stumbles around in the dark.


I really don't think he's a crook; but I don't think he's much of a businessman either - and that's a recipe for danger. I hope he's a quick learner - if he's still around in six months and I could be reasonably sure of a) getting what I ordered and b) getting it within a few days then I'd try him again.

tricki1

mdecker_london wrote: »

Not taken the wrong way. Yes, I think the key is that people are making excuses for someone they've bonded with and lionised as one of their own. The problem is that it makes them partisan, blinds them to legitimate criticism of the vendor, and they will attack anyone who dares post anything other than a paean of praise.

Not interested in a PR victory; just in dragging this thread back on topic: This thread is specifically dedicated to customers' experiences of AF, and a moderator should ensure that stays the case. It is *not* the place for personal attacks on those of us who are unsatisfied - it is rude and inappropriate for AF fanatics simply to tell other posters to 'go to Tescos' or to just put up with bad service.

Re. 'crook', I guess I'm just using that as shorthand for 'someone who took money while knowing items were unavailable, and took money from accounts while knowing he couldn't deliver within a reasonable time period'. Is that a little less harsh?

And what I actually said was that he was *either* incompetent *or* a crook. I'll come up with a softer version of 'incompetent' too, if that'll help - 'someone who took money while items were unavailable, and took money from accounts while he couldn't deliver within a reasonable time period'. See the difference? The crook *knows* he's being dishonest, while the incompetent person just stumbles around in the dark.


I really don't think he's a crook; but I don't think he's much of a businessman either - and that's a recipe for danger. I hope he's a quick learner - if he's still around in six months and I could be reasonably sure of a) getting what I ordered and b) getting it within a few days then I'd try him again.

Yes I think that you explained your self enough to please even the most ardent AF "fanboy"

You can see how quick easy terms can send the wrong message, and make you appear to be more partisan than you really are as your own examples show, its another reason I am so long winded - I choose my words carefully so as not to inadvertently cause offence.

I think people are realising the problems with AF now, just the natural instinct to protect a fellow pack mate kicks in when harsh words are used and hilarity ensues :rolleyes:

sellercheckuk

Dan,

I'm now hesitant to place any more orders because it's clear that you and your system is not able to guarantee supply of items which your web site has allowed to be ordered (i.e. both added to Cart and order accepted) with full payment for all items taken via Google Checkout.

Would you please update 'us' on both
a) Your intentions as to how your online ordereing system will work in the future for items that are 'Out of Stock'. i.e. Will you continue to accept orders on the basis that anything that's actually not available for supply within a week (7 days) will be refunded?
Or will you delay charging the full amount until you are sure that ALL items on an order that has been accepted can and will be despatched within 2 weeks of order date.
Or will you notify the customer of any items that are 'Out of Stock' with the option to cancel the order for a FULL refund before despatching a partially fulfilled order?
and
b) The general status of orders, i.e. your current expectation of processing time from date of order placement to date of despatch.
Your announcement on your web site page ( http://www.approvedfood.co.uk/ ) currently (as of NOW, 3.04 am on 19th February) is still dated (4/2/2009)....:confused:

Important information:

Due to the large number of orders that we continue to receive, there is a temporary backlog of about a week.
For those who plan to place an order with us we would like you to be aware of this delay for the time being.

The store is open daily for local customers who may wish to shop in person.

We ask for you to continue to be patient over this period whilst we work around the clock, literally, to ensure orders are sent out to you ASAP.

Thank you all for your support, especially Martin Lewis and all the Money Saving Experts at www.moneysavingexpert.com

Please visit Approved Foods again and feel free to register for our newsletter.

Regards

The Approved Food Team (4/2/2009)

http://www.approvedfood.co.uk/

The temporary backlog of about a week.doesn't 'make sense' to me because yesterday (18th February) I received a partial refund (3 items) via Google Checkout with Reason: Item out of stock against the order placed on 8th February (10 days earlier) which is when you (Approved Foods) charged my card.
I had NO prior notification or contact from Approved Foods since placing my order.
i.e. I was NOT advised of any shortages and NOT offered 'substitutes'.

By the way I've received an email with Subject: "DHL Shipment Notification" email (dated Wed, February 18, 2009) from "approvedfood-sales" which includes the following:
WEIGHT : 1.00
PIECES : 1
PRODUCT : PAD
CONTENT : FOOD AND DRINK

I am wondering what does a Weight of "1.00" mean?
Also there is not a 'link' for tracking information is not 'clickable', but is a full URL that does work by copying and pasting it into the web browser address bar.

(For my previous orders the email subject was "Your Order from Crags Cash and Carry has been Dispatched" and it came from "dispatch@saletrackparcels.co.uk" and their was a working clickable link for tracking.)


Thank you.

Mistymaid

jaytin wrote: »

I have ordered from hundreds of online retailers in the last 10 years, I don't care whether they are a huge international company or a small business run from someone's garage. I do not expect to get charged for items until they have them in stock and they are being packed. Like a lot of people here I have not complained about AF taking payment long before dispatch, to Google, or to anyone else. I realise Dan has had a lot of problems, but if in 6 months time this kind of thing is still happening then maybe that would be unacceptable. Also I would like to point out that when I said 'people' had orders that 'went without a hitch' I was not referring to anyone in particular so I have no idea why anyone would assume I was.

Could be wrong but I think you may be referring to my post here, but when I was talking about 'hitches,' I wasn't thinking of you - just clarifying that I too have had a few problems - to be honest I can't actually think of anybody who has had a recent order go 'hitch' free ...