Clove Tecgnology

albertds

I was in contact with Clove Technology earlier today reference a thread I'm sure I saw here about them.

I have purchased from them before but it wasn't the smoothest of experiences. I placed an order, they took my money but it took a good 6 weeks after their due to date for it to arrive. They blamed Sony for the delay and that they were doing everything in their power to get my order sent out.

Somewhere and I'm sure it was here I came across a post that said they have made staff redundant due to a drop in sales to the pretty impressive figure of 50%. This was off the back of others explaining that they had the same experiences with orders as I have above.

When I got in touch with Clove Technology I asked if the drop in sales was fact as I was a little reluctant to place an order with them if that is the case. The response I got was they have seen a drop in website traffic but not really in business which for an internet based company would not add up?

With no prompting the person also advised that their status is a partnership and that nobody could know about their figures. They didn't confirm or deny the drop in business question, simply offered me free delivery or collection if i placed an order.

I guess if I place an order with a credit card all is OK but it's asking for trouble if I pay by debit card. I am thinking of not placing one as it sounds as though they are in a spot of bother and could well cause bother if they do go under?

nsabournemouth

I used to work for them. I can confirm that they made me redundant with a drop in revenue or sales to the figure you quote. I can't remember if it was revenue or sales. I'm really not surprised that it happened as sometimes we would be posting out fewer than 20 orders a day.

I guess that as you have been offered the option to pick it up you are local? I don't think you would have seen anything about the above on here you would however have seen it on my social media account. Link can be provided if asked. Please PM. The fact they had advice from the FSB brought a little smile to my face though and shows how immature as a business they are even though they have been going for 20 years.

There are a few reasons why I wouldn't buy from them. One being the awful way in which the owner handled my redundancy. Being told by someone who drives a Ferrari and is building a house in an expensive part of town that your £8 per hour job is no longer affordable is quite the insult.

Towards the end of my time there I remember the self appointed business development manager (owners nephew) asking another family member who works there to write reviews on products on the website. Handsets that had been returned by customers were often sold on as new and to get round the opened boxes or broken seals they would send the product out with a bit of paper saying it had been checked for quality control.

The LG G4 was an example of this. Lots went out but then lots came back. At one point most of the ones on the shelf had a 'quality control' ticket on them. I've got a picture.

Quite a few people would wait in some cases a month or more for something. If an order for a case came in and we didn't have it we would wait for more orders to come in as they wouldn't get one case in for one order so customers would get annoyed.

You say that you had to wait for your handset to be delivered long after the due date. That was quite normal and was not their fault though. With some launches some like Sony couldn't keep up with demand for some handsets and accessories.

Samsung and HTC however didn't want to sell through them as they ship handsets to international customers so if a handset 'lights' up abroad it messes with their marketing numbers.

They did manage to get hold of EU models and that would have put a little wait on some orders.

They do mange to get some good prices on phones. That is down to the likes of BlackBerry and Motorola using some marketing to get the price down.

I can confirm that the above is a true and a factual reflection.

albertds

Thank you for the reply. Based on your dealings I'm surprised they're in business. Remeber now that it must have been Facebook that I saw your original rant.

Yes I am local and was hoping to avoid postage costs and pick it up but they refused last time. Easier and cheaper for me as I pass them on my way through.

I got the feeling from my first purchase that something wasn't quite right. I have already advised that I won't be taking them up on the offer.

Thanks again for your reply.