Warning: Carphone Warehouse Christmas Delivery Meltdown

stubey1970

Many of you will have noticed CpW's Christmas offers for mobile phone packages: essentially buy a phone and get an Xbox as part of the package.

The snow earlier in December has thrown Carphone Warehouse's logistics company: DHL now have an insurmountable backlog of deliveries to overcome before Christmas.

This situation typifies the disjoint between marketing and reality. The CpW website reads that deliveries to Scotland have been resumed:

(sorry can't post link: go to cpw's website and delivery tracking online)

Meanwhile DHL, CpW's logistics company has stated that they ARE NOT taking any new assignments for delivery to Scotland. Go figure.

CS are overwhelmed by angry customers who's online tracking status has been stuck on "Parcel data received awaiting collection" for over a week. In other words, the order is waiting in one of the Carphone Warehouse logistics depots for collection for DHL who STILL haven't picked it up. They're at least 9 days behind and orders are spiking.

So here's the bottom line: if you're thinking of ordering online for CpW's phone & gift, DON'T. With more bad weather on the way it's a given that it won't reach you for Christmas. DHL are saying that last week's "next day" orders won't be processed until the end of this week / beginning of next week.

If you have ordered online then:
1. Phone CS and demand that they locate a local store that has stock and put it aside
2. Cancel your online order and go and pick it up from the store.

That said, the overwhelming demand for the "free" (ahem) gifts in particular the Xbox/Kinect package has meant that stores are incredibly short of stock. There are entire sales regions running out of stock.

freyal

Wow, that's bad - but it all boils down to the logistics company, surely? Carphone Warehouse arent the only ones hit by the problem

Exhortation

I'm not entirely convinced that this is just down to the weather. A colleague of mine ordered a card and flowers for his daughter from Moonpig last week and they still haven't arrived - and she lives in Kent, which hasn't been hit too badly by the snow. I'm not sure she'll be wanting the flowers by now!