[nheather]

<RANT>

Having problems with both Zavvi and TheHut - I suspect they are part of the same group because apart form colour schemes their websites emails and processes are identical.

Order three DVD boxsets way over a week ago (over £100 worth).

Was getting worried that they were stuck in the postal strike but when I received a pacakge from Play today that was sent on thursday I decided to follow up.

Seems that they have done the trick that is becoming all to common with this group of companies

Declare an item in stock
Take your order
Then on a weekly basis claim they are still trying to source it

And for each order the status from day 1 has been 'Awaiting Despatch' which adds to the impression that it is stock and you will be getting it soon.

I've had way to many problems with this group of companies that I now consider them unreliable.

</RANT>

Cheers,

Nigel

[Alan CD]

Hi Nigel

All the DVD suppliers are guilty of that, even Amazon.

I check if the items are in stock and place an order like everyone else. Check the following day and if any of the items are "out of stock" I cancel the order but leave the "awaiting despatch" items alone.

If after a week of waiting the items are still "awaiting despatch" I cancel the order.

Alan

[krish]

The Hut Group's sites include:
TheHut
Zavvi
Sendit
Asda Entertainment
Tesco Entertainment
Dixons Entertainment
Currys Entertainment
Borders
WHSmith Entertainment
LoveFilm Retail

I always take "Awaiting Dispatch" with a pinch of salt, whoever the retailer, and cancel the order if I feel like it - if it's at a stupidly good price (which is usually why I order things most of the time) I'm usually prepared to wait; unless of course I'm alerted to an even lower price (sometimes with the same retailer) and am able to cancel.

... one thing I can't stand is Amazon locking you in within a few minutes of placing an order ("these items are being prepared ...."), but still taking yonks to ship

[nheather]

Check the following day and if any of the items are "out of stock"

The problem is, that the group of companies in question never change it to 'Out of Stock'. They leave the website implying it is in stock and leave the order as 'Awaiting Despatch'.

They never declare it is out of stock until you start getting the weekly messages saying "we are trying to get hold of stock of this item".

I find Amazon, Play, HMV very honest by comparison.

Cheers,

Nigel

[nheather]

UPDATE

This morning I placed a cancel request on each of the orders and the status under 'Awaiting Despatch' showed 'Processing Cancellation'.

I've just gone into my accounts on both Zavvi and TheHut and my cancel request has been removed, with no reason given or any communication at all.

Gobsmacked.

Cheers,

Nigel

[hopeless]

ive just had the same problem with play. Ordered a set of sennheiser hd650 headphones last week which clearly says in stock and usually dispatched within 24 hours, which has only just been posted.

They said they were having problems sourcing the item

[SurveyofSociety]

The Hut group must have some kind of central supplier the other websites try to get stock from or something because it's the same situation with all of them. I bought something before and had them send me three despatch emails for different dates. Apparently it had been "damaged" and returned after it had been despatched. I asked how this made any sense and was told that that a warehouse despatches it to some other section that then posts the orders or something and they have a qualiy control dept. in there somewhere.

There's 10 websites mentioned above and it's ten good reasons not to buy online and stick to retail shops. It's just not worth the hassle over saving a quid or two. It's nothing short of scandalous really. No consumer rights apply apparently because these "companies" operate out of the tax haven that is the Channel Islands which is outside of EU law.

[_dark_blu]

Originally Posted by SurveyofSociety

No consumer rights apply apparently because these "companies" operate out of the tax haven that is the Channel Islands which is outside of EU law.

Well I managed to get thehut to bow down to pressure over an item they had agreed was lost but promptly told me before they'd even consider a refund or replacement I had to await the outcome of a full RM investigation (which I know can take weeks) and that was that! I advised them that under DSR I am entitled to cancel any order at any time before receipt (even in the case of missing items) so I promptly told them I wished to cancel the contract and received a refund within 48 hours.

[UrbanT]

My last order with Zavvi took over 3 weeks to arrive, and my online account still states 'awaiting dispatch, will be sent by 3/12'.

After a while you learn that your order will almost certainly arrive, you just have to be patient. If something is urgent, or I can get the same deal elsewhere, I'll use somebody who I always find reliable such as Amazon.

[johnscarlet]

Originally Posted by krish

TheHut
Zavvi
Sendit
Asda Entertainment
Tesco Entertainment

I know they are all part of the same group but I have ordered from all the above this year and have recieved all my packages with no delays. I must admit that I do set a limit on my online shopping to the first week of December only
I was more suprised at the price differences between the sites considering they are all the same

[SurveyofSociety]

Originally Posted by _dark_blu

Well I managed to get thehut to bow down to pressure over an item they had agreed was lost but promptly told me before they'd even consider a refund or replacement I had to await the outcome of a full RM investigation (which I know can take weeks) and that was that! I advised them that under DSR I am entitled to cancel any order at any time before receipt (even in the case of missing items) so I promptly told them I wished to cancel the contract and received a refund within 48 hours.

Is the distance selling regulations an EU law or has the United Kingdom got its own law? Even still, Channel Islands are neither EU or UK so I can't see how those laws could apply. Fair play though for getting tough with them and getting the refund.

Originally Posted by johnscarlet

I know they are all part of the same group but I have ordered from all the above this year and have recieved all my packages with no delays. I must admit that I do set a limit on my online shopping to the first week of December only
I was more suprised at the price differences between the sites considering they are all the same

Yeah this is the thing, it's very suspicious. They're the one company or "group" yet there's so many different sites. I'd love to hear the truth about how these places operate from someone that works there. I reckon when it says "In stock usually despatched..." that means that one of the companies has it or one of the company's suppliers has it or something. It's so very dodgy and just a pain to use.

Good thing there's a decent forum here to warn people though.

[Steven]

The Regulations have been integrated into UK law. You are right they do not apply to the Channel Islands as a non-EU territory but if they obviously did not know that

[SurveyofSociety]

Originally Posted by LFC_SL

The Regulations have been integrated into UK law. You are right they do not apply to the Channel Islands as a non-EU territory but if they obviously did not know that

Slightly confused by this bit

Are you saying that Sendit don't know that the distance selling regulations have become UK law or are you saying they do know that they don't apply to them?

I checeked the gov's website with regards to the distance selling and came across this PDF which says :

There were five sites based in Jersey and four in Guernsey. Currently, regulations similar to
the DSRs are not in force in the Channel Islands, although similar regulations are due to be
introduced to Jersey in 2008.

Similar regulations were to be introduced to Jersey in 2008? Doubtful if they were actually implimented.


HM Revenue & Customs: Distance selling into the UK from other EU countries and VAT

Sales to the UK from outside the EU

Distance selling only occurs when goods are sold from one EU country to another. So if you're outside the EU and you sell goods to customers in the UK then this is never distance selling for VAT purposes. Note that the Channel Islands are not part of the EU. However, your customers should be aware that they may have to pay UK import VAT on the goods when they arrive in the UK. They may also have to pay duty.