PC World - Non Delivery

Dreaming_of_Kubera

Hi,

I hope someone here can give me some advice as I've (luckily) never had a problem like this before.

I ordered a PC & monitor from PC World online yesterday (12th September) and purchased next day delivery before 12 noon. The money left my bank immediately and the last email I had from PC World was "We are now preparing your PC World order for delivery before 12 noon on 13th September".

At 12.30pm today I called them as it hadn't arrived, I was told the items are not in stock. I was not informed of this when I ordered (it was showing in stock online) and I did not receive an email or a phone call informing me of this. I was told I could wait until they get more stock in but they couldn't say when that would be or I could have a refund. I said I'd opt for a refund so I could go to the store and pick something else, as it was for my sons birthday (which is Saturday 14th). Unfortunately the refund will take between 3 - 5 working days. I was buying it so close to the birthday as I was saving up for it and couldn't afford it until yesterday. If I had of been made aware that the item was out of stock I would not have 'purchased' it.

I am disappointed and just a tad cross. Can I tackle PC World about this? Any help will be great.

Thank you
Rae xx

frugal_mike

Until they accept your order then there is no contract in place. If there is no contract in place then they have done nothing wrong by not supplying the goods. Contracts online are normally formed when they notify you the goods have been dispatched and not at the point you checkout. The terms and conditions will tell you exactly when you agreed the contract would be formed.

That doesn't change the fact that their customer service was terrible. They shouldn't allow you to purchase next day delivery for items that are not in stock. I suspect they would have instantly been in breach of contract had they accepted your order after the 12 pm deadline as you had ordered next day delivery.

I would complain about their poor service and see if they make a gesture of goodwill.

Dreaming_of_Kubera

Thanks for that Mike, I'll give it a try.

frugal_mike

I also suspect they might have been a little naughty taking your money before being able to fulfill your order. other people may know more about that though.

earthstorm

frugal_mike wrote: »

I also suspect they might have been a little naughty taking your money before being able to fulfill your order. other people may know more about that though.

taking the money depends on what sort of payment provider they are using.

If they are using a direct payment provider where PC World/DSG do not have access to your CC.DC details then the payment will be taken at checkout.

but if they are just use the online service to take you payment details ( card number etc.) and then manually take the payment when they dispatch the goods.

so they are not being naughty taking the money before they fulfil the order/dispatch the goods.

just think if they had 6 of these items so they do show online and you are the 7th person to order then they cant provide you with what they dont have and until the final click is performed after making the payment they will show the item in stock.

Dreaming_of_Kubera

Quick update: I called PC World back and told them I'd like to make a formal complaint about service received. My main gripe being that the last communication I had from them yesterday was an email saying "We are now preparing your PC World order for delivery......" leading me to believe all was in stock and would be delivered.

They said it may have happened as the monitor was in stock but not the base unit, but regardless they can see that it was poor performance on their part and it shouldn't have happened. They have given me a case number and I should get a phone call later this afternoon to see if we can resolve this problem to my satisfaction.

So all positive so far!

Thanks again Frugal Mike for your suggestion - think I just needed a confidence shove to call them back!

Dreaming_of_Kubera

earthstorm wrote: »

so they are not being naughty taking the money before they fulfil the order/dispatch the goods.

just think if they had 6 of these items so they do show online and you are the 7th person to order then they cant provide you with what they dont have and until the final click is performed after making the payment they will show the item in stock.

It sounds like this was the case for me

frugal_mike

earthstorm wrote: »

taking the money depends on what sort of payment provider they are using.

If they are using a direct payment provider where PC World/DSG do not have access to your CC.DC details then the payment will be taken at checkout.

but if they are just use the online service to take you payment details ( card number etc.) and then manually take the payment when they dispatch the goods.

so they are not being naughty taking the money before they fulfil the order/dispatch the goods.

just think if they had 6 of these items so they do show online and you are the 7th person to order then they cant provide you with what they dont have and until the final click is performed after making the payment they will show the item in stock.

I agree that they can't deliver what they don't have, and that its entirely possible for them to go out of stock as they are processing the order.

However I don't think they should be offering next-day delivery if they have no ability to avoid the above scenario. They need to either:

1. Operate a transactional process such that if OP completes the ordering process then they have an item available to deliver to them. They could do this by reserving an item for a short period while the buyer checks out. If there were none in stock the buyer would be prevented from checking out.
2. Inform the buyer very quickly after checkout that the item was out of stock and they will not be honouring the next day checkout.

Just doing nothing and leaving the buyer unaware that they are not getting what they think they are is very poor service.

earthstorm

frugal_mike wrote: »

I agree that they can't deliver what they don't have, and that its entirely possible for them to go out of stock as they are processing the order.

However I don't think they should be offering next-day delivery if they have no ability to avoid the above scenario. They need to either:

1. Operate a transactional process such that if OP completes the ordering process then they have an item available to deliver to them. They could do this by reserving an item for a short period while the buyer checks out. If there were none in stock the buyer would be prevented from checking out.
2. Inform the buyer very quickly after checkout that the item was out of stock and they will not be honouring the next day checkout.

Just doing nothing and leaving the buyer unaware that they are not getting what they think they are is very poor service.

yes their who delivery system is messed up. we had an issue ordering from Currys. ordered fridge freezer and was given the choice of chosing the delivery date, so picked a date and waited day come and went, so contacted currys to be told as it comes direct from supplier then this has not yet been processed by supplier as they should call us to arrange date of delivery, so we had to wait for LEC to call us to ask when we wanted the item delivered.