Toolbox.co.uk (Plumbworld) - NOT RECOMMENDED - A bad experience!

Garytheexulted_2

:mad:

I have not used this company before. Online, I bought a 36v Bosch drill from them. The drill was in-stock. Their automated checkout system took my order and took my money (£238 on 19-04-10). I last received an email from them on 23-04-10:-

"Thank you for your email.I apologise for the delay in response.

I have spoken with my colleague and this item has now been discontinued, however, we do have a brand new drill with the 12 month warranty in the warehouse QC but this does not have a case.

Please advise if you require me to arrange this for you.

Kindest Regards
Emma

Customer Service Advisor

Your query to Plumbworld (toolbox) is being handled by Emma Wood."

I replied within an hour asking Emma to telephone me so that I could ascertain what the make, model and details of her "deal" to me was. I have heard nothing from the company since then, I have sent several emails each day to a number of departments. I have not received a single reply nor acknowledgement from any department including the lady who sent the original email!

I have emailed the Managing Director every day this week but have had no reply nor acknowledgmet. The original email stated from the MD:

"In the unlikely event you have not had a reply within two working days then I would appreciate it if you would email me directly on my personal email (below) so that I can sort things out for you.

I want you to be delighted with the service you get from my team so when your enquiry has been dealt with you may be sent a short online survey to report on the performance of the customer services team member who deals with you.

My aim is to achieve 100% customer satisfaction and the only way I can do that is if you tell me when we fall short of your expectations.

Regards,

James Hickman
Managing Director
TOOLBOX.CO.UK"

The company is a website only online retailer. The telephone number shown on their website is an answerphone which states that they don't take calls and they prefer to deal by email.

WHAT CHANCE HAVE I GOT IF THE ONLY MEANS OF COMMUNCIATION IS EMAIL AND EVEN THE M.D. DOESN'T REPLY!!!

THEY HAVE £238 OF MY MONEY, I HAVE NO GOODS AND THEY WILL NOT REPLY. I AM EXTREMELY ANNOYED AND ANGRY ABOUT THIS COMPANY. THEY ONLY PAY LIP-SERVICE TO CUSTOMER CARE.

I WOULD NOT USE THIS COMPANY AGAIN NOR RECOMMEND THEM TO ANYONE.

...........................:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:.........................

imho

If you paid by credit card cant you claim the cash back ?

JenFeet

Hi there

We had similar problems with this company a couple of years back - the way I got it sorted was to obtain advice from Consumer Direct and follow this with recorded delivery etc. Also sent it to the MD's and all company directors home addresses and heh presto - was sorted very quickly.

I'd recommend speaking to them and getting advice and a reference number.

Jen

Garytheexulted_2

Thank you to those who posted comments.

imho - thanks for your reply. Yes, I am pursuing a refund from the card company.

jenfeet - if the refund doesn't work from the card then I will pursue your recommended course of action.

Have a nice Bank Holiday Monday!

:T

Plumbworld_2

When I saw this post I was very concerned, being the Managing Director of Plumbworld and Toolbox ;-)

It highlighted a problem with one of our systems which in rare cases prevented emails from being handled correctly. This has now been resolved.

My Customer Services Manager has spoken to "Garytheexulted" and offered him the last drill without the case at a substantial discount, which he was happy to accept. It should be arriving with him today.

Unfortunately no company gets it right 100% of the time, but we have been operating online for over 10 years and generally have excellent feedback.


Regards,

James Hickman
Managing Director
Plumbworld
Toolbox

Garytheexulted_2

On Tuesday (4-5-10) I received an email from a Customer Services Team Leader. She apologised for no replies to my emails and blamed it on an IT problem. She explained the reason for the email problem and it seemed viable.

She sent me details and photographs of the the drill that they were offering me. It was the same model number as the one I had ordered with two Lithium-ion batteries but no case. She agreed the discounted price and didn't charge me for the courier delivery.

I received the drill yesterday. I am happy with it.

This morning and without any prior knowledge I received a hand written apology card and a £10 toolbox gift voucher from the Customer Services Team Leader.

I am happy with the eventual outcome but I would rather not have had the drama and worry of the last two weeks. I will probably try them again but if there is any repeat performance I would be writting another blog very quickly on this site!

:j:T

badmumof1

Hang on I get a threatening message from the MD saying if i dont remove my libelious comment i will be sued. Whay hey its been removed but not by me.
I wonder is other companies can have the same treatment even if something that someone has posted like mine is true.

RobinGB

I am also having problems with toolbox.co.uk. I was in such a rush to order two items I forgot my own rules of ordering over the internet which are: 1) only order from companies that provide a telephone number (toolbox don't), 2) be aware of any company that says "In stock" AND "2 or more days to ship", 3) If I haven't used them before google the companies name and "problem" and see what comes up.


I ordered two items over a week ago both of which said and still say "In stock" but I get an email every few days from them telling me "Our suppliers have advised us of revised expected arrival dates of items within your Toolbox web order ..." pushing the delivery date back by 5 days each time. Hence I googled "Toolbox.co.uk problem" and found this thread.


I have checked with the manufacturer of the items and they are out of stock, but the issue is the toolbox website still says "in stock".


Good luck,

RobinGB

trogdor

I'll add my own recommendation to everyone else's that this site is to be avoided. After almost a week of radio silence, they emailed me last night with a rather rude dispatch notification saying that I needed to arrange someone to be in today (from 7am to 7pm; i.e. with less than 12 hours notice). Fortunately my work is rather flexible so I could stay in to receive it. (Amazingly, I received an order from Tesco yesterday via the same courier, where I got a text message the night before asking if I wanted to change the delivery date – which I didn't, as Tesco actually tell you when your order will arrive before you order it.)

It arrived this afternoon, and it turns out the product has already been opened. The box was torn, there was shipping label on the side of it, and the product was no longer in its bag (which was scrunched up at the bottom), and showed signs of wear. Nowhere on the product description did it mention it was pre-owned or even refurbished. (Neither did it claim it was "new", but isn't that what you'd generally expect from "the UK's fastest growing online tool retailer"?) The ends of the box had been resealed with thick layers of tape. I haven't checked yet to see if it works, as the weather isn't really that suitable. Even so I'm not going to order from them again (I only ordered from them this time as almost everywhere else was out of stock), and I'd recommend every other potential customer to avoid them too.

docphi1

I agree - avoid toolbox.co.uk at all costs. It's just not worth dealing with a company who only does customer services by email. I placed an order with them, only to find out several days later that most of the items were not in stock - despite being labelled as 'in stock' on the site when I ordered.

They now say they sent an email an unspecified time after the order was processed saying that some items weren't in stock - this I didn't receive at all. And it certainly doesn't explain the 'in stock' labelling on the site.

My experience is that their customer services department is really slow to respond - if they respond at all. Despatch and delivery dates have been extremely vague - no-one will give me a specific arrival date, let alone a time of day. This is a big problem as the delivery requires a signature.

Next time, I think I'll check on here before ordering anything online.

londonTiger

thanks for the warns. was about to order from them. I think I'll pass now