I'm just having a moan because you'd think in this day and age it would be easy to buy things without too much grief .
Back just before Christmas , having done my Christmas shopping and seen to family , with a little bit of cash left over , I decided to treat myself to a couple of toys .
Hence , on Christmas Eve , I placed an order with a well known UK video equipment dealer ( I'm not at the stage of naming and shaming ) for a new tripod head and a microphone for my camcorder . Although the website was quoting 2-3 days availability , I didn't expect anything until after the holidays , beyond the automatic acknowledgement of my order , and on Tuesday 6th January I had an email , sent on the Monday , saying the order was shipping - great , thought I .
I waited through that week , nothing came by Saturday , so I phoned up just before closing time on Monday ( 12th ) , expressing concern that it might have gone astray ..... only to be told the order hadn't shipped because they were still waiting for the microphone ! Although slightly taken aback , I knew it was just after Christmas and some supply lines would have been stretched , so agreed to wait since they said they expected it in 'soon' .
Patience being a virtue , I let it go until the end of January , then decided to wait for my bank statement to see whether they had taken my money ( I was reasonably sure they had ) . When the January bank statement arrived on Monday 9th February , I could see they had taken full payment on the 6th January , so I again telephoned , this time pointing out they had had my money for over a month and no delivery , nor any communication .
I was put on hold for a couple of minutes , to be told " Oh , we're still waiting on the microphone " . Of course , I retorted with 'you told me that a month ago - what is happening' . After a pregnant pause , I then asked if they had the head , to which I was told they did , and asked if they could then at least send that out in the interim , and if they did so , I wouldn't mind waiting a bit longer for the microphone . I was assured that I would receive the head within the next couple of days .
In anticipation of this head arriving , I ordered a bowl adaptor for my tripod legs to suit this new , smaller head - from another dealer .Adaptor ordered Tuesday morning , and in my hands Wednesday lunchtime : proper service .
Alas , the week went by : no head , so on Saturday 14th I sent the email below , giving them 14 days to deliver , or refund .
So far , the email has not even been acknowledged ! I'm now wondering if this company are a bunch of con artists ( been trading as a family business since 1961 ) or whether they are in financial difficulty . At least I paid by debit Mastercard and I have the option of chargeback in the event of non delivery .
I'll wait until the 28th , then in the event of no delivery , will request a refund within 7 days ; failing that , I will initiate a chargeback .
I just feel that I shouldn't need all this hassle ...
This was the email I sent on the 14th :
"Dear sir ,
On the 24th December last year I placed the above order for a Manfrotto 504 tripod head and a Sony ECM MS2 microphone .
While I fully appreciate than an order placed on Christmas Eve is unlikely to be processed over the holidays , I was happy to receive the attached communication ( dated 5th January ) that my order was due to ship on the 6th . Although I would have anticipated delivery later that week , I waited until Monday 12th before telephoning to enquire what was happening , my concern being that the order had gone astray in transit .
At that point , I was told that the order had not shipped after all , due to non availability of the microphone , but that you were expecting delivery soon . As I knew these microphones to be generally in short supply , and appreciating that you would only have ordered it after the holidays , I was not too concerned and stated that I didn’t mind waiting .
Having heard nothing further by the end of January , I started to become concerned . I waited until my January bank statement arrived on Monday 9th of February , at which point I was able to verify that you had taken payment in full on 6th January , before telephoning again .
On this occasion I pointed out that you had had my money for over a month with nothing having been delivered and asked what was happening ; I was put on hold for a couple of minutes , then told ( again ) that the hold up was because you were still awaiting the microphone . Having worked in retail some years ago , I do appreciate that these things can happen , but when I asked if you had the head in stock and could that at least be sent out , I was told I could expect it ‘within the next couple of days’ .
Alas , that was on Monday 9th ; this is now Saturday 14th and nothing has arrived ! To say that I am disappointed would be an understatement .
It has now been almost six weeks since my payment cleared and apart from one email to say my order was shipping , which turned out not to be the case , I have had nothing delivered and no updates as to what is happening .
I have tried to be patient over this matter and whilst I realise this is a relatively small order for my own personal home use and the first time I have ordered anything from yourselves , I would not have expected to be left for this length of time without any communication , beyond those initiated from my end . I might be completely wrong in imagining that I have been all but forgotten about , and perhaps you have been working tirelessly to obtain this microphone , but you must appreciate how it looks from my end .
In contrast , and in anticipation of the tripod head arriving last week , I ordered a Manfrotto 100mm to 75mm bowl adaptor for my tripod from CVP on Tuesday morning , and had it in my hand by lunchtime the following day : this is one of the suppliers I use at work where we have a substantial budget for broadcast equipment and , despite it being a small personal order , is the sort of service I would have hoped and expected to receive from yourselves . While on CVP’s website , I noted that they have both the head and microphone in stock .
If I am honest , I have to say that I ordered from yourselves rather than CVP ( one of my usual suppliers ) because your prices were lower , but had I known that I was going to have to wait this length of time I would have gladly paid the extra £40 or so .
In order to try to be fair to yourselves , I must now give you a deadline for delivery , after which , if the goods have not been delivered , I will regrettably feel obliged to cancel .
Since I write this on the 14th of February , I will allow a further 14 days for delivery , but if nothing has arrived by that date I will cancel the order and will expect a full refund of the £459.98 which was debited from my bank account on the 6th of January .
I would appreciate either a firm delivery date for both items or an early refund .
It gives me no pleasure to do this , but you must appreciate that I cannot and am not prepared to wait indefinitely for these goods . Had I at least received the tripod head as an interim delivery , or some regular updates then I might have been inclined to wait longer .
Yours faithfully ... "
Am I being too lenient ???
Back just before Christmas , having done my Christmas shopping and seen to family , with a little bit of cash left over , I decided to treat myself to a couple of toys .
Hence , on Christmas Eve , I placed an order with a well known UK video equipment dealer ( I'm not at the stage of naming and shaming ) for a new tripod head and a microphone for my camcorder . Although the website was quoting 2-3 days availability , I didn't expect anything until after the holidays , beyond the automatic acknowledgement of my order , and on Tuesday 6th January I had an email , sent on the Monday , saying the order was shipping - great , thought I .
I waited through that week , nothing came by Saturday , so I phoned up just before closing time on Monday ( 12th ) , expressing concern that it might have gone astray ..... only to be told the order hadn't shipped because they were still waiting for the microphone ! Although slightly taken aback , I knew it was just after Christmas and some supply lines would have been stretched , so agreed to wait since they said they expected it in 'soon' .
Patience being a virtue , I let it go until the end of January , then decided to wait for my bank statement to see whether they had taken my money ( I was reasonably sure they had ) . When the January bank statement arrived on Monday 9th February , I could see they had taken full payment on the 6th January , so I again telephoned , this time pointing out they had had my money for over a month and no delivery , nor any communication .
I was put on hold for a couple of minutes , to be told " Oh , we're still waiting on the microphone " . Of course , I retorted with 'you told me that a month ago - what is happening' . After a pregnant pause , I then asked if they had the head , to which I was told they did , and asked if they could then at least send that out in the interim , and if they did so , I wouldn't mind waiting a bit longer for the microphone . I was assured that I would receive the head within the next couple of days .
In anticipation of this head arriving , I ordered a bowl adaptor for my tripod legs to suit this new , smaller head - from another dealer .Adaptor ordered Tuesday morning , and in my hands Wednesday lunchtime : proper service .
Alas , the week went by : no head , so on Saturday 14th I sent the email below , giving them 14 days to deliver , or refund .
So far , the email has not even been acknowledged ! I'm now wondering if this company are a bunch of con artists ( been trading as a family business since 1961 ) or whether they are in financial difficulty . At least I paid by debit Mastercard and I have the option of chargeback in the event of non delivery .
I'll wait until the 28th , then in the event of no delivery , will request a refund within 7 days ; failing that , I will initiate a chargeback .
I just feel that I shouldn't need all this hassle ...
This was the email I sent on the 14th :
"Dear sir ,
On the 24th December last year I placed the above order for a Manfrotto 504 tripod head and a Sony ECM MS2 microphone .
While I fully appreciate than an order placed on Christmas Eve is unlikely to be processed over the holidays , I was happy to receive the attached communication ( dated 5th January ) that my order was due to ship on the 6th . Although I would have anticipated delivery later that week , I waited until Monday 12th before telephoning to enquire what was happening , my concern being that the order had gone astray in transit .
At that point , I was told that the order had not shipped after all , due to non availability of the microphone , but that you were expecting delivery soon . As I knew these microphones to be generally in short supply , and appreciating that you would only have ordered it after the holidays , I was not too concerned and stated that I didn’t mind waiting .
Having heard nothing further by the end of January , I started to become concerned . I waited until my January bank statement arrived on Monday 9th of February , at which point I was able to verify that you had taken payment in full on 6th January , before telephoning again .
On this occasion I pointed out that you had had my money for over a month with nothing having been delivered and asked what was happening ; I was put on hold for a couple of minutes , then told ( again ) that the hold up was because you were still awaiting the microphone . Having worked in retail some years ago , I do appreciate that these things can happen , but when I asked if you had the head in stock and could that at least be sent out , I was told I could expect it ‘within the next couple of days’ .
Alas , that was on Monday 9th ; this is now Saturday 14th and nothing has arrived ! To say that I am disappointed would be an understatement .
It has now been almost six weeks since my payment cleared and apart from one email to say my order was shipping , which turned out not to be the case , I have had nothing delivered and no updates as to what is happening .
I have tried to be patient over this matter and whilst I realise this is a relatively small order for my own personal home use and the first time I have ordered anything from yourselves , I would not have expected to be left for this length of time without any communication , beyond those initiated from my end . I might be completely wrong in imagining that I have been all but forgotten about , and perhaps you have been working tirelessly to obtain this microphone , but you must appreciate how it looks from my end .
In contrast , and in anticipation of the tripod head arriving last week , I ordered a Manfrotto 100mm to 75mm bowl adaptor for my tripod from CVP on Tuesday morning , and had it in my hand by lunchtime the following day : this is one of the suppliers I use at work where we have a substantial budget for broadcast equipment and , despite it being a small personal order , is the sort of service I would have hoped and expected to receive from yourselves . While on CVP’s website , I noted that they have both the head and microphone in stock .
If I am honest , I have to say that I ordered from yourselves rather than CVP ( one of my usual suppliers ) because your prices were lower , but had I known that I was going to have to wait this length of time I would have gladly paid the extra £40 or so .
In order to try to be fair to yourselves , I must now give you a deadline for delivery , after which , if the goods have not been delivered , I will regrettably feel obliged to cancel .
Since I write this on the 14th of February , I will allow a further 14 days for delivery , but if nothing has arrived by that date I will cancel the order and will expect a full refund of the £459.98 which was debited from my bank account on the 6th of January .
I would appreciate either a firm delivery date for both items or an early refund .
It gives me no pleasure to do this , but you must appreciate that I cannot and am not prepared to wait indefinitely for these goods . Had I at least received the tripod head as an interim delivery , or some regular updates then I might have been inclined to wait longer .
Yours faithfully ... "
Am I being too lenient ???