Beware: Dunelm "Three Hour" Reserve and Collect is actually "within 48 hour response"

Purplesagerider

BEWARE OF DUNELM's "THREE HOUR" RESERVE AND COLLECT.

Dunelm's three hour reserve and collect is not a three hour reserve and collect service at all. Once you have reserved your product (which is of course in stock at the store of your choice on the computer system) and you have received your e-mail reservation number, Dunelm unertakes to let you know within two days (up to 48 hours) when the product is ready for you. The soonest, or minimum that it undetrtakes to provide a response to you is the three hours. The problem is that this gives staff up to 48 hours to locate the product in the store/warehouse and put it aside for you before sending you a ready to collect text/phone. In the meantime it may be sold, damaged (Or I guess conceivably be stolen even) BEFORE the staff member "Deleted_User"/"selects" the product for you (as I discovered).
Once you have received the ready-to-collect text/e-mail/call it will hold the product for 48 hours for you. As I was told it is an "up to 48 hour" reserve service.
Amazing, but true. It is unlike most of the other retailers who once the give you a reservation number have already put the product aside for you
After my encounter with this system over the past 36 hours I thought that UK consumers should at least know what they were letting themselves in for when they "Reserve-and-Collect" at Dunelm.

mije1983

While it's not the best for their customers, they do clearly explain most of your complaints on their website.

We'll let you know when your order is ready to collect, please wait to receive confirmation.

Reservations are usually ready within 3 hours.

Don't worry if you can't make it to your chosen store straight away, as we'll hold on to your order for 2 days.

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

In case of doubt about the three hour wait and yours being two days, all is pretty clear to me here!
http://www.dunelm.com/info/help/delivery

Purplesagerider

Guys! The website may say "usually filled within three hours", that may be what they are saying happens, the actual TERMS and CONDITIONS are what is important as I discovered when they did not have the product at the branch having allegedly accepted my reservation, they just don't let you know until you chase up through customer services, THEN you discover what Dunelm is actually saying it will do:
I was lectured by a customer services/can we do better person that:
1) We commit to a response to your reservation request in the form of it actually being reserved and collection confirmation being sent to you in a minimum time of three hours (once we have accepted it and e-mailed you a reservation number),
2) We commit to responding with the collection confirmation information within 48 hours to your reservation.
3) We will keep it for 48 hours once we have responded to your reservation by providing you with collection availability confirmation saying that it is ready in store for you to collect.
The grey area is between when you get your reservation number which you get very quickly and which you placed on the assumption that the stock shown that you ordered when the computer system says is there is actually reserved for you from the moment the reservation was accepted and when a staff member actually physically "reserves" it for you after which you get sent the ready to collect e-mail/text/phone.
They don't have to do anything for two days since you got your reservation number if they don't want to and if there is no hurry what you ordered in good faith may be sold to someone else or may have been damaged or lost. They will not necessarily let you know that they do not have the stock or that it has been sold from under you until you chase it up through customer services later on. In the meantime it has probably been sold out in the other Dunelm stores meaning that you cannot get hold of it by reserving it from another Dunelm store.
My advice therefore is do not use the Dunelm reservation system for reserving products, use it to identify whether a product is in stock at your local store and then get down there as quickly as possible. Remember if you reserve it that just means at some point someone in the store will get around to picking it up in the store or identifying that they do not physically have it in the following 48hours and it may be sold/lost/damaged (or even possibly stolen) in the mean time.

Blackbeard_of_Perranporth

I’ll get the tea and biscuits. Going to be a long day!

robpw2

Thing is if the store doesnt have stock then they have to wait for it to be sent hence that it could take up to 48 hours for them to tell you its ready to collect.

Only if the items already in stock can you pick it up within three hours.


I think your worrying about nothing

Francesanne

I needed a new touch table lamp and spotted one on their site late last night. Checked and it was in stock at local store. Decided to reserve and pay in store. Had confirmation am to confirm item was ready for collection. Have used this system several times and have never been disappointed.Unfortunately took a look in store before collecting lamp and didn't like it but found one I really did like.Apologised when cancelling reservation.

Nick_C

My nearest Dunelm is hopelessly slow. I usually reserve and pay online to get cash back or avios, and then go to the store and find the items myself.