Last Resort.com more like it (lastminute.com)

Member Name: SpankMarvin

Product:	lastminute.com
Date:	09/10/03 (476 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy website to use, I was called soon after complaining

Disadvantages: Dude, where's my card radio?, No stock, but they still took my money, No one let me know until I had complained

Ah, Father’s Day – created by greetings card companies and chocolate firms after the immense success of – Mother’s Day, created by the same companies at times of the year which happen to coincide with low sales. When was Father’s Day? June? Certainly a while back, but I remember sitting down and thinking “I really ought to get a present for my dad, it’s really soon.” And what better present than a holiday?

Well, for me, anything, because I couldn’t afford to buy him one. So I thought, where to go on the internet which would let me get something reasonably priced at the last minute? Ooh, of course – lastminute.com. I had a peruse of the website, and soon found a rather cool sounding “Slim-Gym Radio”, a radio the size of a credit card, for use in the gym. Hence the name. Now, as it happens, my father had for some months faithfully been attending the gym, and although he had a portable music player I thought the ability to listen to some LIVE RADIO would be a perfect, thoughtful present. Treadmill and The Archers, weightlifting and Wogan. I swiftly ordered the product on the website, fully aware that it would arrive a bit late, but nonetheless relieved that dad would have a present soon enough.

The ordering process was easy, the website easy to navigate, and my money was taken out quickly – useful if you don’t want to lose track of your expenses. fine, no probs.

So I waited. And waited. By the end of June, I was somewhat concerned about the whereabouts of my radio, but thought that perhaps due to a backlog of customers who, like me, had ordered last minute, it was going to take a little while.

At the end of August, I returned from a two-month trip to the States. Suddenly I remembered the radio, which, having sifted through the collection of bills, credit card junk mail and library reminders, I discovered STILL had not arrived. I went o
n the website looking for blood – sorry, I mean a telephone number. Nothing, although this could be due to my searching skills. I had to leave a note through a comments form, which prompted a fairly speedy response by telephone. The poor man at the other end – who had obviously been given the dogsbody work – had to sheepishly explain that the radios were out of stock so I wouldn’t be receiving my radio, but I could have a refund. When I asked why I had not been informed of this perhaps two months ago, I was told that they “can’t check all their orders for availability”.

Essentially, this means it’s a lottery as to whether a) you will receive your item, and b) whether you will be informed that you WON’T receive your item. I received a refund, but my dad did not receive a present.

How does a business like this work? Why was the product available to buy if it wasn’t in stock? This is surely the plus side to internet ordering? Even though it was out of stock, why was my money taken out despite no order being processed? Why could no one let me know? How can a company not bother checking orders and just blindly take money out assuming the order will go?

In terms of buying, I had no problems. And, to be fair, when I lodged a complaint through their website I was called personally within a short space of time. However, it was clear that the person calling had no responsibility for the error, and so it made no difference how unhappy I said I was with the service.

I will not use them again. It seems “Last Minute” is an apt description for lastminute.com’s communication abilities, even within departments. Next year, dad’s getting Old Spice from Boots. At least that way you know where you stand…

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