Christmas Blanket Was £15.00 get it for £2.25 delivered @ Laredoute

cte1111

ljfx wrote: »

My blanket (empty parcel!) is due to be delivered today? Should I refuse to accept it, or accept it and then ring them up?

I would refuse it, it saves you having to ring them to get a refund. I also had the £2.25 letter, absolutely unbelievable incompetence.

BOBBIE12

Hya, got my empty parcel too yesterday, so I phoned them up. I had 3 alternatives of which I chose £12 off my next order. CS tried to tell me I needed a minimum spend. Stood my ground and said letter I received never said anything about minimum spend, so he put me through to someone else. Went through it all again and nice lady cs let me put my £16 order through minus £12 discount. I also mentioned letter said I could get my gift/order/exchange free of charge, which she agreed to. So was expecting to pay £4 when cs said oh wait you have a credit of £2.25 (cost of Christmas blanket) so total to pay £1.75, for a gorgous £16 dress (for my daughter, out of new catalogue) Didnt really want the blanket anyway, only went for it because thought I was going to get a bargain. Phoned 0845 no. Hth.

ljfx_2

cte1111 wrote: »

I would refuse it, it saves you having to ring them to get a refund. I also had the £2.25 letter, absolutely unbelievable incompetence.

Thanks
will give it a squeeze to check it's empty though first!!

MrsAnnie

BOBBIE12 wrote: »

Hya, got my empty parcel too yesterday, so I phoned them up. I had 3 alternatives of which I chose £12 off my next order. CS tried to tell me I needed a minimum spend. Stood my ground and said letter I received never said anything about minimum spend, so he put me through to someone else. Went through it all again and nice lady cs let me put my £16 order through minus £12 discount. I also mentioned letter said I could get my gift/order/exchange free of charge, which she agreed to. So was expecting to pay £4 when cs said oh wait you have a credit of £2.25 (cost of Christmas blanket) so total to pay £1.75, for a gorgous £16 dress (for my daughter, out of new catalogue) Didnt really want the blanket anyway, only went for it because thought I was going to get a bargain. Phoned 0845 no. Hth.

I hope you get your dress Bonnie!


IMO, I think this is what the company's strategy.

Laredoute execs probably sat around the boardroom table and wondered how to deal with hundreds of below cost blanket orders. And cleverly thought, lets take payment on Monday knowing that NO blankets would be going out on Tuesday, still send out all the relavant emails (order dispatched, money taken, hope you enjoy your balnkets blah blah) and even if it miffs some customers off, some customers will still will call up and order something else instead (hopefully at a higher price so that we can recoup some of the costs).


What a con!

katie444

Here's my experience with La Redoute - I hadn't used them before and won't use them again. I would urge people to consider whether it's worth the risk.

On 11th December I ordered the christmas blanket and a few other things. This was done online, all items were shown as in stock and I received a confirmation email within a few minutes.

A few days later I tried logging into my account to check for an estimated delivery date. I discovered that I needed a customer number (which doesn't seem to be sent to you until you receive your first order) so I contacted them online to ask for the customer number and an estimated delivery date.

On 16th December La Redoute sent me a letter saying that one of the items I'd ordered was out of stock and there would be a delay (no dates though.) Because this was sent during the Christmas post it took a week to arrive.

On 21st December I called the freephone number (0500 777888, found on 'say no to 0870' website). They were able to find my customer number for me. I explained to the call handler that I needed the order for Christmas. I was first told that the weather had caused issues but the items would definitely reach me on Tuesday 22nd. I said "so they've already left the factory then?" "err no" "well they won't reach me tomorrow will they?". I was given contradictory info about stock, delivery dates etc and said I wanted to cancel the order. That wasn't possible "because the order was being processed" even though one item was out of stock with no estimated date (not the blanket, incidentally) and also, the order hadn't been made up! I spoke to a senior person and said I wanted to cancel if the order wasn't coming before Christmas, again they said "not possible" but could not give a delivery date. (BTW The call handlers are from an outsourced call centre and don't know much about the company although they did say that online orders are not really orders, they are processed MANUALLY a few days later, by which time the item may have gone out of stock. My order date is shown online as 4 days after I actually made the order and received the confirmation email, so this sounds accurate.)

I suspect that the call handlers know that they don't have up to date information about your order (would you trust what the order status is recorded as?) and so the call handlers are left trying to fob you off with vague information, or making it up as they go along.

It's now a month since I made the order. The items haven't arrived, I've not been able to cancel the order and am fed up with this company. Their stuff's not a bargain if it causes this much hassle.

I checked my order online today and the christmas blanket is marked
"Apologies item now unavailable"
I expect that may still receive an empty parcel though.

Also - I wish this company did not have my personal info (including credit card number) as they seem incompetent. It might be useful if the thread title could be changed to include "use this company with caution!"

UPDATE - I received a letter from La Redoute today, saying that unfortunately I wouldn't be receiving the Christmas blanket. And it was just a letter, not an empty parcel. Why they send letters to folk who ordered online I do not know....

Jugs

I agree this is a total shambles by La Redoute. I got my empty parcel yesterday and i called the customer services today. I asked why they charged my card, even thought they knew the blanket was not going to come, and they just gave some feeble excuse. I have got my refund but was told i could not have a free gift, as i wanted the refund, even though they have messed me around.
I will never use them again, and find the way they do business is unbelievable !!!

SallyD

Just rung the 0800 027 0008 number and was told the number is for people with financial difficulties! was referred to the 0844 842 2222 number. The Customer Services lady was very pleasant and immediately offered to refund - just a complete muck up and apologized for the inconvenience..........once I get my refund I shall forget all about La Redoute....shame would have loved the blanket, but hey, there's loads of other useful bargains out there.

Simbacat

My empty parcel just arrived now- didn't get a chance to refuse it as it was just put through the letterbox.

I have phoned for my refund and to be honest felt very sorry for the lady on the phone, I could almost feel her cringing when I said why I was phoning lol!

This fiasco has obviously not done La Redoute any favours, it appears there are a great number of us who will never use them again and who will recommend others don't as well. :mad:

susancs

SallyD wrote: »

Just rung the 0800 027 0008 number and was told the number is for people with financial difficulties! was referred to the 0844 842 2222 number. The Customer Services lady was very pleasant and immediately offered to refund - just a complete muck up and apologized for the inconvenience..........once I get my refund I shall forget all about La Redoute....shame would have loved the blanket, but hey, there's loads of other useful bargains out there.

I just did the same, although I have yet to receive my parcel of leaflets, as hold out little hope of getting the blanket. Mistakes do happen, but as this is the first time I have used them, I would not use them again. The poor CS lady asked if I wanted to be put through to the survey and I said there was no point as although she had been very professional, the company would get a 0 rating from me.

weanie

I ordered a blanket too and received the same emails, a debit from my card, an empty packet today and a fruitless phone conversation with the financial hardship team [free number]. I have to admit that when I spoke to the lady on the 0844 number, she was suitably apologetic. She says that she can refund my card, take a note of my conmplaint and that the blankets are now back in stock and I will be receiving one free. Time will tell - plenty of time for it to arrive before Christmas!
Good luck to others