60% off at Hamleys - website glitch now rectified

flufff

ive also checked my banking online and my funds despite email have not been released back yet.They best had be by morning or I will be ringing.

The_Londoners

I shall do same - I think if everyone concerned calls and emails they will have to respond - if everyone emails through the website it will be very slow - may not bother Hamleys now but will do if emails of complaint continue into new year when everyone is competing for the 'sale' market.

To me, where Hamleys have put themeselves into the wrong is by taking so long to cancel the orders and release monies, had they done so immediately, we couldn't really have complained, but this is very poor customer relations - I have shopped at Hamleys in the past as I collect limited edition Steiif bears, shall shop elsewhere in future - Harrods customer relations have always been excellent and prompt in settling any problems.

jayok

BargainMad wrote:

You are right but the retailer has ringfenced the money in anticipation of completing the order. Once they decide not to fulfil the order (cannot or will not) they remove this "ringfence" as it is not needed but there is a timescale between this occurring and it showing at your bank and this varies between banks. All this time though the retailer has not "received" the money into their accounts - just a "promise to pay" which the banks remove from your available funds so you can't/don't spend it elsewhere.

Which effectively means the customer has had money taken from their account to cover the 'promise to pay' ie they have paid and cannot use that money. For Hamleys to do this from Saturday till now is not on. Hamleys should have cancelled on Monday and ensured that the money is immediately available for their customers to use.

And as for your next order - well that could have been the one you placed today if the stock had been available...or the funds had been available in your account. It looks like you have been put in the worst position of having funds unreleased so you could not re-order stock that had not been released back into the warehouse anyway! I do sympathise because I think that underneath the CEO of Hamleys could not care less for your situation or for anyone else in the same boat.

Which is not the same as what you telling everybody especially that you condemned the Guardian for getting it wrong. It is now obvious that Hamleys were going to honour these orders and told the media this, they then changed their minds!

zoezoe_3

BargainMad wrote:

I have read the site but there is only "customer relations" friendly speak of "sorry we cannot fulfil the orders had we had hoped" - and that is it. No mention of renegading on the promise to honour orders AFTER the loophole was spotted.

The message was posted on the website 3 days after the event, and 2 day after they had released their promise to fulfil to the media.

Yes I did get the email and that is rather my point. In teh email they say they have to cancel due to the breaking of terms and conditions and on teh website they say that they *had* hoped to fulfill orders. If Hamleys cant get their story straight then yes I will beleive th quote in teh Guardian.

zoezoe_3

Just got this from Guardian website

Hamleys backtracks on promise


Bobbie Johnson
Wednesday December 20, 2006
The Guardian


Hamleys angered shoppers yesterday by backtracking on a promise to deliver gifts to customers who used an internet loophole. The toy retailer had blamed a technical error for the fact that web surfers had been able to exploit a glitch on its website to claim huge discounts.
The extent of the fault became apparent on Saturday, when users of a bargain-hunting website shared details of the loophole with thousands of shoppers. By combining three separate discount offers simultaneously, shoppers were able to rack up as much as 60% off popular items.

The company had initially responded to the problem by promising to fulfil those orders. But following a more detailed investigation, Hamleys revised its position yesterday, saying that the orders had breached its code of conduct and that it would not be honouring them.

"Further and detailed investigation does reveal that multiple use of discount codes contravenes the terms and conditions of the offer," said a Hamleys spokeswoman. "As a result these transactions are fraudulent and we are unable to fulfil these orders."

Customers who had made use of the loophole were instead being offered a 25% discount on their original purchases, as a goodwill gesture to those shoppers who may not have realised that they were making a fraudulent transaction.

The revelation led to a deluge of purchases, which brought the Hamleys website to a halt. The company's volte face has enraged customers who contacted the Guardian. "This is very disappointing," said one shopper. "My daughter's first Christmas will be ruined by a lack of presents, as I ordered most of them from the Hamleys website on Saturday."


SO YES THEY CHANGED THEIR MINDS - and they are wrong. It was not multiple use of *a* discount it was use of multiple discounts. Hamleys are so very very wrong. I never expected orderd to be fulfilled but they are just liars.

abijanzo

I like a bargain and a loophole as much as the next guy, but if it doesnt come off I dont see the point in getting all disgruntled and indignant.
I did see the loophole on hotukbargains but after looking at the site and realising it was more expensive than most other toy shops I decided it really wasnt 60% off what I'd realistically purchase items for anyway. Added to that, I didnt think Hamleys would honour the price as the site was obviously being hammered and therefore thousands of orders were being placed.

I dont mean to sound self righteous, it just winds me up when people start saying 'Hamleys spoilt my daughters first Christmas' when lets face it people were trying their luck. Who can blame Hamleys for not wanting to lose stock without making any profit (or a much smaller one than they allowed for)?

Dont shoot me, it's just an opinion.

zoezoe_3

I think most people are not annoyed that the orders are not being honoured but are annoyed that

1) they first promised to honour
2) they cancelled orders over 3 days after them being placed
and more importantly
3) HAVE STILL GOT OUR MONEY !!!

as a PR excercise they really have messed up. They did also cancel orders that used no codes at all !

Zoe

The_Londoners

Of course everyone's entitled to their opinions, I'm not aware of anyone saying Hamley's ruined their Christmas, common opinion seems to indicate that it's not what Hamleys did (ie cancel theorders) but they way in which they did it (ie after 3 days, having first agreed to honour it and rignfenced our money without immediate release) that is irritating - although if money being 'ringfenced' does result in people not being able to buy presents elsewhere, it hardly makes for Christmas cheer for the unlucky ones, does it?

00XXLISAXX00

Today in The Sun newspaper there is an article about this discount code that says Hamley is going to be refusing to honour the discount because using multiple codes is against rules, But they are offering to all the people that ordered on the 60% offer, a 25% discount as a gesture of goodwill.

It also states that the code was only aimed at employees and their familes.

BargainMad_3

If anyone still has their money ringfenced I suppose they could now make a case that they are unable to spend it elsewhere and have missed most of the big retailers last Christmas dates for posting or even buying on the high street. Of course you would have to imply that you used your very last funds for the Hamleys order and have no access to other funds on other cards (having worked in finance, this scenerio is all too common especially at Christmas!). You need to construct a timeline of what happened to the funds. Add this to what Hamleys was saying was happening to your orders - OFFICIALLY - and not hearsay from the newspapers - get the actual Hamleys press releases. Of course you could just have got your money back and chalked it up to experience. Particularly as it transpires the discount codes were not for Joe Public anyway.