Recently, I’ve been getting annoyed with online suppliers.
To start with, postage costs are becoming a joke – you can buy something which costs less than £5.00, and then get stung for postage of £6.50 or more.
Then there is the delivery time – online ordering used to be famous for being quick. But not any more. You can order from Amazon and other places, then find yourself waiting for two weeks for something that is actually in stock. If it isn’t in stock, you can wait several times longer.
What makes all this worse is communication. To be fair to Amazon, they do keep you informed – but I ordered something on 28 December from another retailer and I had to chase it up on 20 January, because it hadn’t arrived (and the website said it was in stock) and I had heard nothing from the supplier. They told me that they were waiting for it to come back in stock and it would be delivered to them “next Wednesday” (i.e. 27 January) and they’d ship it then. On 3 February (the next Wednesday) I chased it again – this time to be told it would be another 3-4 weeks.
Now, I don’t mind waiting if I know what is happening, but having to chase it all the time is just not on. When you combine lead time and postage costs, then factor in sheer ignorance, online ordering is becoming less and less of an attractive option all the time.
So it is pleasing to announce that something I ordered on Sunday was shipped on Monday and delivered this morning (Tuesday) before 9.30am. They sent an automatic confirmation of my order (which is standard) and a shipping email (sent by a human being).
The company is called ToolStop, and they sell tools and accessories.I would recommend them to anyone.