Robertsons Online

A

Adele

Guest
Just thought I'd post a copy of my email to Robertsons complaining about the service I received from Robertson Online when purchasing my Toshiba 32ZD26.

I'm not saying that anyone should or shouldn't use these guys - I was maybe just unlucky with the service I received (FYI the manager has NOT yet replied to my email - I'll let you know if I receive any reply or apology).

*****************************
Date: Tue, 22 Oct 2002 14:24:59 GMT+01:00
To: [email protected]
Cc:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Attn: David McDonald
Manager.

I placed my order (AS_3HW20004776) for a Toshiba 32ZD26 on your website on Friday the 16th of September (and by phone gave my debit card details and requested a Saturday delivery as I had previously received an email from David McIlroy stating that you offer free Saturday delivery in the Edinburgh area)

Facts of the matter:

1. Delivery took 4 weeks instead of the usual 2-3 because my order seems to have been "overlooked" at some stage (your staff's own words!)

2. Despite me clearly saying over the phone that my debit card was in my maiden name rather than my married name when giving my card details, Robertsons managed to use the wrong name on the address verification check, which probably contributed to the delay (however, this didn't seem to stop you taking the money from my bank account on the day I ordered!)

3. Throughout the 4 weeks wait, I had to call to enquire about the delay. No courtesy calls were made by yourselves to explain what was happening with my order.

*I called on Saturday 5/10 and was I would receive a call back that day when they looked out my paperwork. nobody called.
*I called on Monday 7th at 4pm and again was told that they would call me back - no phone call.
*I called again Tuesday 12.40pm and was on hold for ten minutes whilst they looked for my paperwork - they then said they would call me back in one hour as they couldn’t find it. I got the call back two hours later saying that the TV was in and that my order had just been "overlooked". They confirmed that it would be delivered on Saturday the 12th of October.

4. On Saturday the 12th, the delivery van turned up (a courier) with ONE delivery man. He asked me who was going to help him lift the TV into the house as he "couldn't do it by himself as it had taken 2 of them to get it in the van".

It just so happened that my husband was at home (he usually plays rugby on a Saturday but was off due to a shoulder injury - second degree separation of the AC joint ) he had to help carry the 54 kg TV into our hall.

I'm absolutely furious that we were expected to help get the TV into the house (and lifting the TV hasn't helped my husband's shoulder injury!) If he hadn't been there the TV would have probably gone back - more delay!! The delivery man wasn’t even apologetic - he just seemed really grumpy at having to do a bit of hard work!

5.The TV was delivered without the stand - I called Robertsons and was told that nothing could be done about it until Monday. I complained about the general service I had received and was informed that the manager, David McDonald, would be asked to call me on Monday the 14th (you don't seem to have made any effort to contact me)

I was initially told that Toshiba didn't actually deliver a stand to Robertsons and that you only got my TV. However, I received a call on Monday the 14th saying that you did in fact have the stand in your warehouse and that someone from one of your stores would deliver it after 5.30pm on Tuesday (which, all credit to Robertsons, they did)

The staff members that I DID speak to were very friendly, helpful, polite and apologetic about the lack of stand and the fact that we had to help carry the TV - however, the general incompetence shown throughout this order is such that I will never purchase anything else from Robertsons in future. I will not be recommending Robertsons On-line to anyone and will freely relate the facts of my experience to both colleagues and to the What Video & TV Forum.

Adele Sneddon.
******************

I think I may have been having a bad day at work when I wrote this!!
 
Adele - I have written a number of similar emails / letters after bad experiences but don't hold your breath as most companies are too embarassed to reply!
Hope the Tosh was worth it ;)
 
Thanks PaulBoy - I ain't holding my breath for a reply (none received yet - email not even acknowledged) but it would be nice to get one!

The TV thankfully seems to be fine - and what a corker of a TV it is too!

It's a shame how some internet companies let themselves down with their customer service and delivery (I've bought all my AV equipment on the net - the two best suppliers I've had experiences with have been HiFi Bitz and Supradirect - very helpful. HiFi Junkies are excellent too, but their delivery methods aren't quite as flexible for someone like me who works full time and can't take time off work Mon-Fri to sign for goods)
 
Adele,

Are you sure it wasn't Comet you bought your TV from because, apart from only one delivery man, it sounds just like my experiences with them when I ordered by Philips 32PW9617!

I was deliberating at the time whether to use Robertsons or Comet but chose Comet as they had a special offer on at the time which nearly matched Robertsons price and that they were a huge national retailer so if there were any problems I'd be OK.

Huh, so much for that! I didn't receive my stand until 11 days after my TV because it was out of stock when I ordered and no-one told me. The TV case then got a crack in it and after sending someone to look at it said it had to be written off and I'd get a new one.

They then rang to say there weren't any available and I'd have to choose something else. I didn't want anything else but they couldn't update their computer system to make a note to ring me when they were getting some more in, I had to keep ringing them if I wanted to know. I couldn't stop the direct debit payments (I'm not paying for something I don't have) without cancelling the order :confused: and it took about a dozen phone calls just to find someone who knew what they were talking about :clown:.

They never ring back when they say they will :mad: and generally you end up getting more and more frustrated over something that just shouldn't be that difficult to sort out.

Eventually they just happened to find one in a store that was only 30 miles from my house. This was delivered by two friendly men who even unpacked it outside, put it on the stand and took the packaging away with them again :) They did say to contact Currys should there be anymore problems though ;)
 
Nightmare!

Sorry to hear of your experience with Comet. Hopefully you've now got a TV you're happy with though!

I went with Robertsons mainly because of the price, but also because they have stores in Edinburgh that I could visit in person if there was any ever major problem with the TV (the old "start shouting in the shop on a busy Saturday" routine ;) )

This has put me off buying anything else from them - shame really, as they're a long established local company with a fairly good rep.

Adele.
 
Oh dear,

For much the same reasons, I live in Edinburgh and would favour a local shopfront, I was going to buy through Robertsons. Do let me know how they respond to your email. I dont mind you telling them that future business is at stake ..

I have been lurking on this TV section for ages, and have posted elsewhere ('4 stage AV upgrade' in Speakers) that I planned to buy either a Tosh (and had zd26 or z?29 in mind) or a Phillips (Pixel+). Having been to see both, I was beginning to come down in favour of the Tosh. If the Tosh, then it was to be Roberstons; I have another shop in mind for the Phillips.


Ditton
 
Adele, good to see a correctly presented thread on shoddy service from a retailer.Others take note on how to present this type of scenario.
I hope you get all matters resolved to your satisfaction as a matter of urgency.
 
I can recommend QED in Doncaster. They delivered free to the far south where I live, delivery was spot on (8am in the morning), with two men to carry the 50" set through to the lounge.

When there were problems with the set they were sorted with no questions asked and the second delivery (and collection) was as good as the first.

To top it all, they had the best price I could find on the web (this was August of this year) and the saving exceeded the cost of my computer and online charges for a year! 110% recommended.

I have used them since for other electrical goods and have received the same good service. No connections.
 
PA28 - Were the two men reigning Power Lifting Champs :D
50" clucking bell - my missus is going ape over my 28" > 32" upgrade - she'd pack her bags if I suggested a 50" (hmm you may have something there ...)
Paul ;)
 
FYI - no response yet from Robertsons Online!

I'm away to check the email address I've used just in case they didn't get the message or something then I'll email them again.

Lynx - glad to hear that this posting was okay! I was deliberately careful not to be subjective and leave myself open to any legal action!
 
Adele,
I entirely sympathise with your plight and would advise people to give Robertsons a (very) wide berth. I know people have had good service from them as the reason I went with them is that I'd seen them recommmended on these forums. However, here's my catalogue of woes....
1) I ordered a Tosh 36ZP18P on 20th September. The girl who took my order was impolite and seemed inexperienced - I put it down to being 17:00 on a Friday.
2) The girl rang me back half an hour later asking for my credit card details again - it appears she couldn't read her own writing.
3) Three weeks later I still hadn't heard anything. I'd been told it would take up to 4 weeks so I didn't panic but I at least assumed I would have a delivery date. I rang Robertsons up and was told they had no record of my order. They had however taken the money off my credit card and had my address etc, but had no record of me ordering a TV. The salesman said he would find out what had happened.
4) He rang me back 10 minutes later to ask my name to see if the order had got mixed up with someone elses. When he ascertained it hadn't I was told it would be sorted out tonight and that they would ring Toshiba in the morning and sort it out post haste. They would also ring me back to confirm this. Guess what, they didn't!
5) I rang again and a saleswoman told me what I already knew. They had my credit card details and name etc but no sign of an order. I asked them to put another order in. She said she was reluctant to do that in case the first order was live 'somewhere' and I'd end up with two tellies. I said 'Surely two TV's is better than none at all!'. She said she would (reluctantly) do another order and ring Toshiba up herself to stress the urgency of this. Then she would ring me back and confirm this to me. Guess what? She never did!
6) I rang again the day after and a salesman said he had no record of the transaction or my conversations to his colleagues but he would put in an order himself and ring Toshiba. He would ring me back to confirm this. Guess what? Well to his credit he did. Toshiba have contacted me and the TV should be delivered tomorrow but I'm not holding my breath.

I know this is probably atypical but once burnt....
 
Logan, sorry to hear that you've had a bad experience too with Robertsons.

Given that I had received no reply from them to my e-mail sent on the 22/10, I sent the following message to them on Monday:

************************************************
Subject: [Fwd: RE: Order AS_3HW20004776]
Date: Mon, 28 Oct 2002 13:56:11 GMT+01:00
To: [email protected]

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Your website states

"If you have a complaint please phone us free on 0800 052 1425 or email us at [email protected]. We will do our best to amend your problems and assure you that we will acknowledge receipt of your complaint within 48 hrs"

..however, I have yet to receive a reply to (or even acknowledgement of) the complaint e-mailed to you on Tuesday the 22nd of October relating to my recent order (AS_3HW20004776).

Although my order has been completed, I would have thought it only polite that I receive (at least) an explanation of why I received less than satisfactory service, if not an apology.

I am very disappointed with the lack of reply. I would be very grateful if you could at least acknowledge that someone at Robertons has actually taken the time to read my complaint.

Adele Sneddon.

************************************************

I received this reply yesterday

********************************************
Subject: RE: [Fwd: RE: Order AS_3HW20004776]
Date: Tue, 29 Oct 2002 18:36:19 -0000
From: Robertsons Online <[email protected]>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Adele

I do apologise for the lack of communication on our part. Your original
email has been passed to David McDonald.

Regards
David McElroy
Internet Sales Department
Robertsons Electrical Ltd.
*********************************************

This email comes ONE WEEK after my initial complaint.

I'll keep you posted on what the manager says when he finally gets around to contacting me.

Bye for now,
Adele.
 
Just thought I'd let you know that I DID eventually get a full apology from Robertsons Online about their handling of my order from David McDonald (Internet Sales Manager)

They've accepted that mistakes were made in the handling of my order and stated:

" Please be assured your comments have not gone unnoticed, we are striving to increase our efficiency particularly for our local customers."

They've offered me an additional two years warranty to compensate. Not bad at all.

Hopefully my bad experiences won't be repeated for others!

Adele.
 
Sorry for pulling out an old thread but seeing that this is about Robertsons Online :);

I ordered my Tosh. 36ZT29B from them about 2 weeks before christmas. I ordered from their website and the next day (monday) they phoned me at about 9 o clock pm, which was good, as my parents were home and not at work :). Their phones lines were constantly engaged but faxes went through very well :) .

They said 2-3 weeks for delivery; I was expecting probably a lot longer but on jan 5th the tv was delivered as stated (I received a letter from tosh), nice and early in the morning! 2 delivery men came (I think they were from Tosh. not actually from RO) and they set up everything, not bad, seeing that the tv was 150kg!

Overall, it has been a superb experience for me; lots of people have been saying about bad experiences but for me it has been fantastic!
 
I had significant problems with Empire Direct and contacted many sources. It was only when I emailed RETRA that a manager at Empire was informed and contacted me straight away.

Once the manager (Niah Pyne) was on the case I cannot fault the service I received from Empire and would like to thank Mr Pyne publically for his help!

Basically my advice to anyone experiencing problems with an order, contact RETRA and/or endeavour to get hold of a senior manager.

Regards

Tom
 
For what it's worth, my TV order from them went flawlessly.

Ordered a Panasonic on Thursday, received it on Monday.

Also, I had to upgrade the software in the TV (it is an iDTV), and they sent out the upgrade card immediately.

Overall, quite impressed...
 

The latest video from AVForums

Is 4K Blu-ray Worth It?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom