Ordering HTPC parts from Scan - what's your experience? Had delays?

Croker

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Hello!

First off, sorry if this isn't the correct forum for such a thread, but I wasn't sure which one would be most suitable, and as a lot of forum users seem to source their HTPC parts from Scan, I decided that this would be the most appropriate. Mods, please feel free to move this somewhere more suitable (should such a place exist! :D)

Anyway, those of you who read my "Help me before my head melts!" thread here will be aware that I have recently been planning to build an HTPC. Having finalised the spec, I ordered all of the parts on Wednesday evening - basically everything except the case is coming (or rather, was coming) from Scan. Free delivery, too, thanks to the AVForums offer.

Although I placed the order on Wednesday night, I didn't get any confirmation emails, which I found unusual, as these things are usually sent automatically. A bit worried, I called Scan direct this morning to see if my order had gone through. The girl on the phone assured me that, as they only work from 09:00-17:30, the order would only just be getting processed. She was very helpful, and said I should get two emails, close together, but added that I should call back if I hadn't had them by 09:45 or so. Typically, as soon as I checked my email after getting off the phone, the emails she'd mentioned had arrived, so off I went to work.

I didn't get any more emails throughout the day, but presumed that I'd just get a "your order has been dispatched" email at about 6pm, or suchlike. Come approx. 7:30pm, I started to get a bit twitchy...you see, my mate is assembling the HTPC on my behalf, but can only do so this Saturday. He goes away on business after that, and won't be back for a month. Sadly, I don't trust my own "abilities" (an overstatement there if ever there was one!) to not destroy something expensive whilst assembling it.

Scan's website wasn't telling me anything else, either, other than that they'd taken payment for the items. At 8:15pm, I got this email:

"Please regard this email as a notification of delay in your order due to unexpected volumesin our warehouse...Your order has still been booked for a next working day delivery from the point of despatch and we will send further emails to confirm this."

To be honest, I knew I was taking a bit of a gamble ordering on Wednesday night and hoping for delivery by Saturday at the latest, but the company I've ordered the case from don't seem to have had any problems! That's beside the issue, though - there are two things about this situation that really stuck out like a sore thumb.

First of all, their excuse is so vague as to be ridiculous. "Unexpected volumes in our warehouse"? Unexpected volumes of what? Killer bees? Zombies? Porn? I'm assuming they actually mean that they've unexpectedly run out of stock of something I've ordered, but why not just say that, and even - shock horror! - tell me what it is that's out of stock?

Second, as of right now, every single item I ordered from Scan is showing as in stock on their website. When I ordered the stuff on Wednesday night, I even had to order the OEM version of the dual format drive I'd ordered, because the retail version that I wanted to buy was out of stock (and the OEM version was not only about £2 more than the retail bundle, but it then dropped in price after I ordered it to about £2 less than the retail bundle! Talk about unlucky!)

Something else struck me as odd, too. There was no-one there on Wednesday night to email me with confirmation of my order, because they don't work after 5:30pm, according to the girl on the phone. However, there was someone working there at 8:13pm tonight to email me to say that my order was delayed?? Make your minds up, eh? :rolleyes:

So, has anyone else had HTPC kit delayed in a similar fashion when ordering from Scan? Can anyone else shed any light on potential reasons for the delay (seeing as the excuse used in the email is incredibly vague, and all the items I ordered are still showing as being in stock, some 3 hours after they emailed me to tell me that it would be delayed)?

Cheers! :thumbsup:

PS: I've decided to call them first thing in the morning to see what the situation is. I'm prepared to drive to Bolton on Saturday morning (it's not that far from me, in Sunny Liverpool) to get the gear, provided it's either (a) all there or (b) something non-necessary is out of stock, e.g. the replacement case fans I ordered. Obviously, this isn't ideal, but I'll do it so I can get the HTPC assembled sharpish. I'll let you know how I get on - assuming anyone here cares, obviously! :rotfl:
 
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I think Scan are suffering from their own success - none of my recent orders have been shipped the same day I've ordered. The problem I find most annoying though is their stock reporting on the website - I've had quite a few orders delayed due to out of stock items which are still listed in stock on the website.

As you've noticed they don't tell you of a delay until late in the evening when there's sod all you can do about it. With regards to the items being out of stock an earlier email would be better so you can do something about it if you want to items next day - Ebuyer seem to manage this whenever I've used them.

Mind you, they've been quite cunning and don't say they promise next day delivery, or give definite delivery dates - they're all estimates.

Si
 
I think Scan are suffering from their own success - none of my recent orders have been shipped the same day I've ordered. The problem I find most annoying though is their stock reporting on the website - I've had quite a few orders delayed due to out of stock items which are still listed in stock on the website.

As you've noticed they don't tell you of a delay until late in the evening when there's sod all you can do about it. With regards to the items being out of stock an earlier email would be better so you can do something about it if you want to items next day - Ebuyer seem to manage this whenever I've used them.

Mind you, they've been quite cunning and don't say they promise next day delivery, or give definite delivery dates - they're all estimates.

Si

Ah, so it's not just me! Cheers.

To be fair, I never hold a gun to a company's head regarding delivery, unless I've specifically paid extra for a delivery service (e.g. £20 for Saturday morning delivery, or somesuch) - I wouldn't demand they deliver by Saturday if they haven't promised to - but telling me at 8:15pm that they can't fulfill my order is bloody hopeless, to be honest.

Obviously, telling me earlier - or even telling me what item is out of stock would be useful! I could then source the items elsewhere, or cancel non-essential ones and then come and collect the rest of the stuff in person.

You would think, too, that if they've had to delay my order because something's not in stock, the person sending the email might think "better list that as out of stock for now"...but no, all the items I've ordered are still in stock, apparently :rolleyes:

I must say, though, if they don't tell me exactly what's out of stock when I ring in the morning, I'm going to be sorely unimpressed.
 
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Ive had the same problem with Scan. I took advantage of the free delivery and ordered £500 worth of gear. The expected delivery date came and went so i emailed them, turns out the order was delayed because of the cheapest item, under £1.50.
Its just not good enough that they dont tell you, unlike almost every other online retailer. Even those that dont tell you directly have the information on their site in your order tracking/progress section, Scans order progress and order history system is very poor. Going back to Ebuyer, who now have reasonable Saturday delivery charges.
 
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I too have had the very same problem with Scan and have vowed to never use them again.
I did a very expensive order with them, all items showing up as in stock at the point of ordering. My card was debited and the order didn't arrive.
After a couple of inquiries I was told that there had been a bulk order at the same time and that took preference over my order, on top of that they wouldn't part-ship the order as it wasn't their policy.
As it was they were very unsure about when new stock might arrive so I cancelled my order and then had to go through hoops to get my money back.

As a good-will gesture I was offered free postage on my next order.
 
First of all, their excuse is so vague as to be ridiculous. "Unexpected volumes in our warehouse"? Unexpected volumes of what? Killer bees? Zombies? Porn? I'm assuming they actually mean that they've unexpectedly run out of stock of something I've ordered, but why not just say that, and even - shock horror! - tell me what it is that's out of stock?

That got me off to a good start for the morning! :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

I had the opposite, got my stuff from Scan, and in the forum thread about free delivery, my delivery had been mucked up, and the rep from Scan that posted there answered my questions straight away, and I got all my stuff quick as though Flash himself had delivered it.
 
Ive had the same problem with Scan. I took advantage of the free delivery and ordered £500 worth of gear. The expected delivery date came and went so i emailed them, turns out the order was delayed because of the cheapest item, under £1.50.
Its just not good enough that they dont tell you, unlike almost every other online retailer. Even those that dont tell you directly have the information on their site in your order tracking/progress section, Scans order progress and order history system is very poor. Going back to Ebuyer, who now have reasonable Saturday delivery charges.

Just waiting to call Scan now - the phone message is still saying they're not open, but I imagine that'll change in the next few minutes.

Anyway, I've been on to eBuyer, and can get all of the items I've ordered from Scan delivered tomorrow (Saturday) morning for £9.99...and the overall cost will still be £4 cheaper than Scan! The only fly in the ointment is that I'd have to order a slightly different motherboard from eBuyer, the GA-MA78GM-S2H, rather than my desired choice of the GA-MA78GM-DS2H. However, both of these motherboards do the HTPC job perfectly well, so that's a compromise I may be willing to make (unless anyone here can see reason why I shouldn't, of course). That, and they don't have the Sharkoon fans in stock - although, Scan might not either! The fans aren't a problem, though...the case I've ordered comes with 2 fans, and the Scythe Mini Ninja comes with another. I'll put up with noisy fans for now and replace them later, to be honest.

Will let you know what Scan have to say for themselves when I call them!
 
Aha, we have a result - of sorts.

I've just spoken to the helpful girl from Scan, and she told me that all of the items were showing as in stock. It eventually transpired that although everything was in stock, there was "a query" on the hard drive, and although it "hit the warehouse" a few days ago, they'd been "stupidly busy" and somehow hadn't got it to the right kind of place, stock-wise.

Yes, I thought it all sounded preposterous, too.

Anyway, she told me she'd get it all sent out today for a Monday delivery. I pointed out that I needed the stuff for tomorrow. She said she could arrange Saturday delivery, but it'd cost £15, a charge which she couldn't waive. I pointed out that eBuyer had almost all the same stuff in stock and could deliver tomorrow morning for £9.99, so she offered to price-match them.

It's not the ideal solution - it's costing me £10 more - but at least I will have the stuff tomorrow, and will get the motherboard that I want, along with the fans.

So, thanks for your assistance in resolving this, Scan, but I'd think hard about using you again because your website and emails are so unhelpful when there's a problem. On the plus side, your customer services people are very good on the phone.

I bet, after all this messing, the case (which is coming from a different company) won't arrive :eek:
 
Scan's customer service is very good tbh, and they're even more helpful on another forum they frequent - its just a shame I seem to have to use them for every order just to get it delivered in good time.

Si
 
Hmmm! Well, I've had an email from Scan, saying that my order is being picked, and that I should expect delivery on 08/09/08, for crying out loud!

However, in the attachment to the email, they list all of the items, as well as a £9.99 charge for delivery, which at least looks like I'm paying for City-Link to deliver tomorrow.

I'll give it until 4pm today, and if I haven't had an email with a City-Link reference (or suchlike) by then, I'll have to call back (again) and chase it up.

I'm not too worried, though, because I know that if Scan fail to organise delivery for tomorrow, I can cancel and get eBuyer to deliver tomorrow morning instead (which they will, provided I order before 8pm tonight).

Still, it's just been a bit of a headache, all this. I'm not suggesting it's the end of the world, but it's irksome because it's seemingly so easy to avoid with just a bit more forethought/organisation on Scan's part.

I'm also forced to wonder, assuming I hadn't rang and chased them up about it, if they would have even got the stock together in the warehouse for me today. Given my experience so far, I have my doubts! :rolleyes:
 
With my experience of Scan, they seem to pick and despatch twice during the day - once just after lunch and then again about 7pm. You should therefore get your despatch email (stage 4) pretty soon.

Si
 
Well, things are looking a bit brighter now - I've had a dispatch email, as well as a text saying the items have been sent via City Link, so I feel a lot more confident that they will turn up tomorrow morning, as promised.

However (and how many times have I had to say that since ordering from Scan, I wonder??? :rolleyes:) the City Link reference they've given me doesn't actually work on City Link's website. I'm hoping that will change later on tonight, when it gets scanned in to City Link's premises, or something, but God only knows if it will.

Still, I'm reasonably confident that I'll be able to draw a line under all this tomorrow morning. Fingers crossed! I hope this has been of interest to those of you considering sourcing products with Scan.

In more positive news...THE CASE HAS ARRIVED! :D
 
I just had a large order from scan , took 6 days to arrive (weekend slowed it down a bit).They were a bit slow due to stocking problems but i had a hd4870 instead of a hd4850 in the box which compensated nicly :thumbsup:

No other probs so would recommend
 
I don't want to turn this thread into a mud-slinging contest but........as Scan seem to be getting a bit of a hammering.

I personally wouldn't touch Ebuyer with a barge pole. They might be able to deliver at the drop of a hat, but if anything goes wrong their customer service, in my experience, is appalling. They never respond to my emails and denied receiving a complaint via Recorded Delivery. (Here's my thread if you'd like to have a peruse http://www.avforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=795580 :boring:)

I have had some minor problems with Scan myself, but at least they replied. I think all retailers have their issues, but some more than others. It's good to talk!
 
Hi,
I too had a problem with Scan; showing items as in-stock but not delivered and poor communication regarding this. the e-mails I had referred to 'delays in the warehouse'; reallity was one item on my order was out of stock.

Why not simply ship the in-stock items and inform me of the reason for delay on the out of stock. Well this went on for a week and in the end I called customer services.

As seems to be the theme here Scan customer services is slick, professional and polite; profuse apologies were received and a prompt refund following my cancellation.

I think the moral here is do not place time sensitive orders with Scan; they do seem to be very competitive on price and seem to receive stock of 'new' items, eg the new gigabyte board with sideport memory, which no one else seems to have yet.

I've received both better and worse service elsewhere and have developed a priority list according to quality of service, stock, price and delivery. I will use scan again but only if my preferred supplier has no stock or is prohibitively more expensive. It is simply a matter of trial and error.

Croker, did your delivery arrive yet?

Antz
 
I should point out that, although I was disappointed with the turn of events that made me start this thread, I didn't start it to give Scan a kicking. I do like to think that I've been even-handed about them, though. In particular, I agree with everyone else that Customer Services, when called, are uniformly excellent.

I also agree that their prices, and the stock available, represents good value.

However, it's just these niggling issues that I - and others - have identified which mean that the experience of ordering with Scan is not as pleasant as it could be. What's even more frustrating is that Scan's got all the difficult stuff absolutely right (professional, courteous and knowledgeable CS staff, for example) - the problems we've shown are easy to fix, provided Scan show willing.

I suppose what I'm saying is that I would recommend Scan, but not unreservedly.

Antz - the Scan delivery I'm waiting for was put on a City Link delivery van at 06:33 this morning, so hopefully I won't have too much longer to wait! :D

Assembly will go ahead this afternoon, all being well.

Will report back once I get things a bit more organised!
 
Ive ordered from scan once and had exactly the same problem as the OP so ever since ive used microdirect which have always been the cheapest overall if ordering a number of parts. I've spent over £3000 with microdirect now and not once have i had a problem, the RMA, stock and order history systems are very good as well.
 
I must say that having had a long history with Scan - as of today - I will NEVER EVER use them again.

My issues are many, but mainly three experiences stand out:

I was going to buy a 24 Inch Monitor and wanted it delivered on Sat morning, while it was something like 20/30 quid cheaper at Ebuyer, I thought since I get free delivery from Scan and Ebuyer has a bad reputation I will pay a little extra to get it from Scan who I trust. When I placed the order of course, Sat delivery was not included in the free delivery agreement. Fine, I can understand that, so I checked the delivery - it was 25 quid. Went back to the Ebuyer site, found that saturday delivery was 12.95. When I brought up the price difference and delivery difference with Scan, I was rudely told that they dont use cheap poorly tracked delivery service and thats why its more plus they wont match the price because their products and service are better. Both of them use CityLink and it was essentially the same service, plus the product was the same, and I was not feeling the service. I order from Scan, only to have the incorrectly print the label, the monitor was delivered to the local depot, I had to spend my saturday picking it up and pay for cabs there and back.

Could happen to anyone right?

The second time I used the free delivery, they told me it was only for orders over 20 quid... again fine.

The final straw came when I order some items, noticed the free delivery was not added. So DIRECTLY after placing the order I used the online contact page to send them a mail, did not get a response. Sent them another.

By the time they answered the third email, they told me the "accounts had all be reset and avforums members had to reactivate this through the weblink on the forum". Fine I said, I did it but asked for a refund on the carriage. By this time, I had received the items and had no word back on the refund.

Today, I was told that basically, they cant find my emails and I should forward them the sent mails so they can refund them (obviously its an online webpage so I dont have them). I have basically been accused of being a liar, and told that pending me magically sending them the emails sent through their "contact us" webpage, I can basically swivel before getting a refund.

I have spent more than a few thousand quid with Scan, I dont appreciate being called a liar, and I dont like having to squabble over a delivery charge.

End of Story, I no longer use Scan, I feel better for having vented, I would like to know if anyone else has had such shoddy service. And if some can suggest a decent retailer to take up the slack. I used Overclockers a bit too, bit expensive on the delivery but good value otherwise.
 
I thought since I get free delivery from Scan and Ebuyer has a bad reputation I will pay a little extra to get it from Scan who I trust.

I almost always use ebuyer:

a) Cheap
b) Had one faulty product - returns process was quick and painless (including refund of the return cost)
c) Use super saver delivery and 9 times out of 10 it turns up next day anyway (!)
 
I've never had anything from Scan delivered to be honest. I live close enough to have a quick blast down the motorway..

Their "order, pay online and pick up" service (it's called Q-Collect or something) is excellent. There's a special queue in the warehouse/shop, you go up with your email, its all there waiting for you.

I remember buying 3.5 inch floppies from their first premises in Little Lever when I was a boy. :D

I've gone off topic there. Sorry ;)
 
I've only had one issue with ordering from scan over the many many years I've used their service:


Snapshot of my recent orders, 1 in progress, most are sent out the following day:

Date Print Date Payment Authorised Date Picked Date Despatched Date
25/09/2008 25/09/2008 25/09/2008 25/09/2008
16/09/2008 16/09/2008 16/09/2008 17/09/2008 17/09/2008
08/09/2008 08/09/2008 08/09/2008 08/09/2008 08/09/2008
08/09/2008 08/09/2008 08/09/2008 09/09/2008 09/09/2008
05/02/2008 06/02/2008 06/02/2008 07/02/2008 07/02/2008
 

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