In process

[MinxyKitten]

I know we've all moaned about this in the past, but I really can't get my head around why a huge company (2nd only to John Lewis) takes (sometimes) 5 days to process an order. Eh? Then add on the 5 days delivery; are they serious? How can they realistically hold their own compared to every other company out there? Even small companies dispatch within 2 days.

I don't buy any of the excuses they give. Card companies give an instant decision on whether to allow the transaction - otherwise we'd be at the supermarket checkout for up to 5 days!

This is really annoying and totally unacceptable in this day.

If I place an order one evening, I would expect it dispatched the day after the day after, at least! Fri evening order, dispatched Sunday.

I think we need to demand answers. We know they can do it quicker as they do in the run up to xmas. What's their excuse? Why do they get to hold onto our money for so long without delivering the goods?

 

[donna255]

They have always said their warehouse is the size of two football pitches(no doubt bigger now), and perhaps like Amazon they pay crap wages? So the warehouse staff are not going to kill themselves for min wage to rush things out. The thing I do is give it two days then phone CS and ask about my order, saying I am worried something is wrong??? I usually am told its going out that day and it does. So whether they contact the warehouse who knows? Never had five days but three seems to be the norm, if it goes out quicker I am usually very surprised.

 

[loveallthingsitalian]

I have a very low expectation of Q 's delivery times so am never disappointed !

 

[Akimbo]

Maybe it's those fraud checks they don't do!

I've had to phone and ask them in the past and on one occasion the parcel had been sent but the order history hadn't been updated, and the item arrived later that day. Rubbish software or human error?

They most ofter blame the credit card company, saying they're waiting for authorisation - bollox I reckon!

If I took as long to post my ebay sales I'd be shot down with negative feedback and I'm not a big business with warehouse and logistics set up for the couriers/TNT/Royal Mail come to my address everyday to collect everything, I have to troll off to the PO!

I think, given the postage they charge, we should ask for a full or partial refund of the postage when the item takes 5 days to arrive. Complaining alone won't work but if we start expecting a postage refund they might buck up their ideas (doubtful I know).

Slightly off topic, when I've spoken to buyers and other Q staff at customer events about posting everything separately their stock answer is that the warehouse was historically based on the US model which had this already in place and it wouldn't be possible without fundamental (ie expensive) changes. However, when they launched QVC in Italy and Japan they set up their despatch differently and charge a flat rate for items ordered within 24 hours so it's time to bite the cost bullet Q and change your UK shipping to the same flat rate and if that means revising your warehouse to reduce their costs then you now have the Italian and Japanese templates to follow! Just get on with it! :mysmilie_10:

 

[Huggles]

And don't get me started about their c**p on-line tracking, what's the point when 99% doesn't get a tracking code?!!!

 

[louise66]

I don't have a problem with delivery from their warehouse - direct dispatch is extremely tardy - but, when I view an order in "my account" as "in process", if I want to cancel it, I still phone CS and, 99% of the time, they can do it for me. So what "in process" actually means, I don't know. I think it indicates the order details have been sent to the warehouse.

 

[Loveinamist]

I don't have a problem with delivery from their warehouse - direct dispatch is extremely tardy - but, when I view an order in "my account" as "in process", if I want to cancel it, I still phone CS and, 99% of the time, they can do it for me. So what "in process" actually means, I don't know. I think it indicates the order details have been sent to the warehouse.

Have you hit the nail on the head there louise? Their delivery of 3-5 working days is really a cooling off period in case we want to cancel our "panic buys" to try and reduce their returns figures.

 

[Akimbo]

Why do they remove the order cancel button so soon after the order is placed? It should stay right up until the point when the warehouse can't stop its despatch. You're right it would reduce the rate of returns but the cancellation button disappears within minutes in some cases, now if that could be taken as the moment of despatch I wouldn't mind but we know it can't!

 

[Dave]

I never understand why the process from order to delivery takes so long in the UK! I ordered a lens cap for my video camera from a well known on line site (cough ebay), on Tuesday, and was delivered the following Saturday - oh, bye the way, from Hong Kong. That was what I call great service. Second to JL - I don't think so.

 

[nicnac]

IMO Q only came 2nd to JL because they must have been the only 2 companies involved!

I rarely use Q these days, with their ridiculous P&P and the long, long wait to receive items. Then there is the the faff returning it.
I've found better deals £££s wise, free P&P AND free returns else where online. And most other places are loads quicker delivering!

Agree with Dave about that other well know site, ordered camera stuff from there on a monday, and it arrived from the US on the saturday morning!

 

[Letz-be-avenue]

Why do they remove the order cancel button so soon after the order is placed? It should stay right up until the point when the warehouse can't stop its despatch. You're right it would reduce the rate of returns but the cancellation button disappears within minutes in some cases, now if that could be taken as the moment of despatch I wouldn't mind but we know it can't!

I agree, I really cannot see why they can't leave the order cancel button on your order until the item is being got ready to be dispatched, like Amazon do, and the time in which it is removed differs I have noticed, sometimes it seems about 30mins other times it is a few minutes, I would not mind so much but they take so long on occasions to get the stuff out, they least they could do is leave you a bit longer to change your mind. Perhaps they just hope we will keep the items or pay to return them and they make a profit on the postage, who knows.
I always thought "in process" means the order was being processed rather than them carrying out any sort of checks on us, perhaps I am being naive :blush:

 

[donna255]

Hell, I ordered an eye pencil Japanese brand only sold in the Far East gorgeous peach colour. Free shipping from Taiwan it arrived in 3 days and only cost £2+

 

[Craftalot]

why a huge company (2nd only to John Lewis) takes

Given that John Lewis now sells a lot of Made In China tat at vastly inflated prices, why would you want to be so closely associated with them. Customer Service can only carry John Lewis so far - the quality is distinctly average now.

 

[Moth]

Like a lot of forumites, I've ordered items via ebay from China and had them arrive more quickly than QVC can get their orders out of the warehouse! It's a disgrace. And even if they do pay crap wages like Amazon, Amazon still manage to get the goods out quickly!

It really bugs me the way Chloe and Ali K say, in effect, that you will have your goods within "three to five days". I thought it used to be working days? In the words of Jim Royle, my arse! They can barely get it ready to dispatch in that time! And that's another bugbear of mine. When you order, the value of the order is put into a pending bin, for want of a better description, by the bank. QVC are taking so long to despatch that the money goes back into my account then gets taken again when the order finally goes out the door. It makes a complete mess of my bank and makes it very hard to keep a track of what is going on with orders. Does anyone else have a similar issue? This has happened twice in the last week and I have to be careful not to spend that money to avoid going overdrawn when QVC finally get their act together.

 

[louise66]

Have you hit the nail on the head there louise? Their delivery of 3-5 working days is really a cooling off period in case we want to cancel our "panic buys" to try and reduce their returns figures.

This could be believable, but another post today, about the superior appearance of products on air, to the actual quality of the item received, would suggest otherwise, as this will incur more returns. So, I don't think so. If you remember back in the day, when we had the option of paying by cheque, a lot of people - myself included - would put an item 'on hold', have a think about it, and decide whether we actually did want it or not. I don't think they want to give us any time to change our mind, exactly the opposite. They bank on us, when we see the "in process" on the order, keeping the unwanted item when it is delivered.

 

[louise66]

Why do they remove the order cancel button so soon after the order is placed? It should stay right up until the point when the warehouse can't stop its despatch. You're right it would reduce the rate of returns but the cancellation button disappears within minutes in some cases, now if that could be taken as the moment of despatch I wouldn't mind but we know it can't!

I have always been able to stop an order via the "cancel" button.

 

[Akimbo]

But once the cancel button disappears you have to throw yourself at the mercy of the CS person who answers you call. The button is only visible for a matter of minutes now, when it was first introduced it hung around for days (v useful).

 

[MinxyKitten]

I have been advised, when I have called to cancel in the past, that you have 15 minutes from the time of order. Their whole system in antiquated and I don't know how they get away with it these days. The operator usually advises to refuse the order. That's only good if you're in when the courier calls!

 

[Sazza]

Like a lot of forumites, I've ordered items via ebay from China and had them arrive more quickly than QVC can get their orders out of the warehouse! It's a disgrace. And even if they do pay crap wages like Amazon, Amazon still manage to get the goods out quickly!

It really bugs me the way Chloe and Ali K say, in effect, that you will have your goods within "three to five days". I thought it used to be working days? In the words of Jim Royle, my arse! They can barely get it ready to dispatch in that time! And that's another bugbear of mine. When you order, the value of the order is put into a pending bin, for want of a better description, by the bank. QVC are taking so long to despatch that the money goes back into my account then gets taken again when the order finally goes out the door. It makes a complete mess of my bank and makes it very hard to keep a track of what is going on with orders. Does anyone else have a similar issue? This has happened twice in the last week and I have to be careful not to spend that money to avoid going overdrawn when QVC finally get their act together.

We've had couple orders from Amazon recently which have taken several days before despatch, in fact a QVC one came quicker!!!!

 

[alan1302]

If I place an order one evening, I would expect it dispatched the day after the day after, at least! Fri evening order, dispatched Sunday.

I think we need to demand answers. We know they can do it quicker as they do in the run up to xmas. What's their excuse? Why do they get to hold onto our money for so long without delivering the goods?

I think the answer lies in the number of people they employ at this time of year. Not enough!
Only reason they get away with it is that there are enough people ready to buy from them despite the wait.