Farnell (UK) and payment over the phone - nightmare

[Infraviolet]

Talking of Farnell, anyone else noticed that orders which are supposed to be next day from them usually end up arriving two or three days later. Before this summer they were always really prompt, even an order placed at like 1730 would leave their warehouse that night and be with me before the end of the next day. Nowadays even an order placed in the morning doesn't leave their warehouse until morning next-day at the earliest.

[Whales]

Talking of Farnell, anyone else noticed that orders which are supposed to be next day from them usually end up arriving two or three days later. Before this summer they were always really prompt, even an order placed at like 1730 would leave their warehouse that night and be with me before the end of the next day. Nowadays even an order placed in the morning doesn't leave their warehouse until morning next-day at the earliest.

(Other side of the planet and a few years ago) after having some orders take well past the "X days in metro areas" to get to me I called them and found out that they consider all speed promises to be about the shipping stage, not the packing and dispatch stage.  As a customer I care about the time it takes from paying for an order to it arriving onsite, but internally they seem to have a culture that only considers the last leg timed.    

[jc101]

A update.

I was informed, absolutely, Farnell didn't have my money. I sent in evidence they did. After being pinged around several teams who said it was nothing to do them, Farnell finally accepted they had my money. They shipped a replacement order on Tuesday.

The curtain closes on Act I of the comedy.

Act II starts with a UPS man on my doorstep today, with my order. It only too 4 days to get here.

The UPS driver, however, would not let me have it. It was flagged as "intercept", and the driver took it away again.

After 35 mins holding for UPS, I am informed that the shipper, Farnell, has requested it be held for return to them.

Anyone know how to lodge a complaint with Farnell? They have ignored previous e-mails to try and raise one.

 

[Marco]

You could considering taking the loss and accept that your business relationship with Farnell is probably shot.

Painful, but at least you can get the money back, tell the bank to reverse the charge, send Farnell a letter to tell them you didn't receive the shipment and have reversed the charge, let the chips fall as they may.

It might be headed down the collection agency -> lawsuit route then though, so maybe try a little longer :/ No easy answers.

PS. one thing to do for certain though, ask the bank what the term limit is to reverse the direct debit charge.

[jc101]

The downside is Farnell is one of a few suppliers who actually have stock in the UK, so for some items it saves a 3 day wait. Which if your on a short lead-time project is very useful.

I know I shall never attempt to buy test equipment from them again. I only went with them because of the long lead time elsewhere, which is kind of funny in a way now.

I'll be back on the phone again to them Monday. If it ever arrives and I get the usual "please leave a review of your recent purchase", I hope the text box will be large enough....

[Psi]

My guess would be that someone there tried to force the order out quickly to fix the issue for you and they did not set it up correctly in the computer system.
So an automated system detected an order had shipment without matching payment (because it was not linked correctly) and it automatically triggered the intercept to get it back.

Lots of companies have automated systems running daily to detect and handle edge cases, like stuff shipping without attached payment.

It's been my experience that if you instantly complain about mistakes and demand they fix it ASAP the employees often make mistakes trying to help you, or they try to do things in the wrong order to speed things up, and that cause even more problems for you later.

I find it's better to give them a few days to figure things out, for payments to clear, for order systems to detect payments/refunds, etc..
Otherwise you end up arguing with them about the facts because what you're saying doesn't match what their computer is telling them.

You can argue that their computer system should be better, and yes that's true it should be.
But it is what it is, and it is what you have to work with.

[amyk]

Agreed. Things are in an "unsynchronised" state in their systems, and the more you prod it, the longer it'll take to settle down.

[Whales]

Keep evidence of this failed delivery.  Does the tracking show it as failed?  Save a copy.

[jc101]

Final update. Called Farnell first thing Monday morning, they claim no hold on the package and would ask UPS. My normal UPS driver tried to deliver again a few hours later. His terminal also signalled intercept, which threw him somewhat. I explained I did want the package, and Farnell wanted me to have it too. So he called his supervisor at the depot, as he could not override the problem on his terminal. After a few minutes discussion, he left the package with me. He said he hadn't had this happen in 15 years with UPS.

Farnell have not responded to any e-mails to them, nor the made any comment on the complaint I raised with them. It's be radio silence, unless I called them. The only person at Farnell who has attempted to do something positive is an agent in the support team called Alex. I hope he has great Christmas.