Pre-orders are SOOO annoying!

[MissMagpie]

Gems must have worked out that there is some commercial benefit in pre-orders; but as a customer, they are hopeless. Many items don’t even get presented properly on screen, because they’ve sold out in advance; while as a customer, if you don’t want to miss out you’re forced to buy the item without knowing the price! Then of course if you don’t like the price, you have to phone CS to cancel the order; meanwhile, they could have sold that piece to someone else. It really is the most infuriating business model.

 

[MissMagpie]

Grrrr.... So I decide to take the plunge and go for the pre-order, and the item—which on the basis of previous auctions I expected to go to maybe £399 or £499–stops at £999!!! So obviously I will either be cancelling the order before it ships, or else waiting for it to go to a more sensible price for a price-pledge and sending it back if it doesn’t. How does that benefit Gems, I ask myself?!

 

[MissMagpie]

Grrrr.... So I decide to take the plunge and go for the pre-order, and the item—which on the basis of previous auctions I expected to go to maybe £399 or £499–stops at £999!!! So obviously I will either be cancelling the order before it ships, or else waiting for it to go to a more sensible price for a price-pledge and sending it back if it doesn’t. How does that benefit Gems, I ask myself?!

Well, whadda you know? The same pendant came up for £499... I'd already cancelled the original one, so I ordered it at the new price.

 

[Dazzles]

Yeah, this is one of my bugbears with the channel. If an item is reaching limited stock, they need to stop waffling and go to the price.

 

[user 17461]

Gemporia could have the Holy Grail on pre-order, but if I don't know the price, then I am not going to buy.

Their in-house ads make it sound like a game, "And here's how you play". But potentially paying more than I am prepared to part with isn't fun to me.

 

[MissMagpie]

Gemporia could have the Holy Grail on pre-order, but if I don't know the price, then I am not going to buy.

Their in-house ads make it sound like a game, "And here's how you play". But potentially paying more than I am prepared to part with isn't fun to me.

I think I would find the pre-orders tolerable if it were possible to cancel an order yourself online with a few clicks if the price was too high, rather than having to phone CS every time. They are always very friendly about it, but you have to wait on the phone and it’s a pain. I’m sure they’re deliberately making it slightly difficult so that some people won’t bother.

The other problem I have is that, while we’re constantly told cards won’t be charged until the item is despatched, they never tell us whether cards are authorised at time the order is placed. That could potentially be quite a problem if the pre-crash price is huge relative to the final price, since unused card authorisations can take 24 hours to clear I believe.

 

[mand]

I think I would find the pre-orders tolerable if it were possible to cancel an order yourself online with a few clicks if the price was too high, rather than having to phone CS every time. They are always very friendly about it, but you have to wait on the phone and it’s a pain. I’m sure they’re deliberately making it slightly difficult so that some people won’t bother.

The other problem I have is that, while we’re constantly told cards won’t be charged until the item is despatched, they never tell us whether cards are authorised at time the order is placed. That could potentially be quite a problem if the pre-crash price is huge relative to the final price, since unused card authorisations can take 24 hours to clear I believe.

Another reason i do not buy anymore.

 

[mand]

Why are people buying on Gemporia the items have gone before the price is on screen. It is so unfair. I used to spend hundreds on the channel but would not buy a thing now.

 

[Anna]

One of my main bugbears with Gems, is that they are so slow with refunds. You complain, and they still don't do anything. In fact, if you complain about the length of time they take, 17 days last time for me, I reckon they deliberately take even longer with the refund. Just puts me off buying from them now. I am not here to give them a bank loan. On Trust Pilot a lot of other customers are saying the same.