Less Reliable Than Halley's (Comet.co.uk)

Name: blackjane

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Product:	Comet.co.uk
Date:	22/01/01 (252 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap

Disadvantages: Poor customer service

Comet (www.comet.co.uk)

[Background: www.comet.co.uk is the online arm of the large electrical retailer Comet. Present in several (around 260) edge of town or out of town retail developments, Comet claim to the second largest supplier of major electrical appliances in the United Kingdom.]

I believe that I am a shrewd shopper, and I like to feel that I am getting a good deal, particularly when I am paying hundreds of pounds for a major electrical appliance.

Surprisingly, considering the large marketplace and the demand for these goods, there are a limited number of major retailers from which to choose. I am talking primarily about major purchases, such as washing machines, fridge/freezers, and television and audio equipment.

The major players at present are Comet, Scottish Power, Dixons and Currys (although Currys is actually part of the Dixons group as well).

Comet is part of the Kingfisher group, which also includes Woolworths, B&Q, Superdrug, MVC. They advertise heavily in national press with strong price promises, and more often than not seem to be able to deliver on this front, with its sheer size allowing it huge economies of scale in its buying contracts.

However, despite this apparent advantage Comet appears to be unable to press home its position in the market as it consistently fails to deliver on the customer service front. It is all very well assuring low prices, but if the company structure is not geared up to cope with demand then customers like me are likely to recount their poor experiences in forums such as Dooyoo.

I have now had a couple of instances of poor customer service with this company, with the most recent being downright inept. The past instances were not sufficiently serious to prevent me from ever buying from Comet. An example is a badly trained trainee sales person who took more than an hour to complete a purchase, managing to charge me twice in the process. However, this was
sorted out satisfactorily, so I decided not to bear a grudge.

This time, I needed a new freezer. It was the cold snap between Christmas and New Year, and my old fridge/freezer, which is located in my garage, was only working in fits and starts due to the very cold weather.

I need a new freezer, and badly, before the old one packed in. Due to my previous experiences inside a Comet store I decided to order from the comfort of my own home and duly visited the Comet website. I saw a freezer I liked, that was the right size and in the right price range, and then used a number of price comparison sites to see how competitive Comet were. The item was at least £10 cheaper than all of the other sites I looked at. So that was decided, Comet it was to be.

The ordering process, similar to the original layout of the site that allowed me to find the relevant products easily, was very straightforward. I selected my item, filled in all my details, and chose the date of delivery from the list of dates and time that were offered to me on the site - Wednesday next. 'Great', I thought to myself, and got on with the rest of my Christmas and New Year.

The following Wednesday came. I had specified a morning delivery and had even arranged for someone to stay in for me and take the delivery as I was back in work that day. Noon came and went and nothing arrived. 'Strange' I thought to myself. As I had ordered via the website I left my email details as well as a telephone number. No-one had phoned me to let me know of a problem, and I had also checked my email before I went to bed the previous night. Out of curiosity I checked my email from work, and sure enough Comet had sent me an email at 11:50 m on the Tuesday night requesting that I give them a call. It did not say what the problem was, or even if there was a problem - just to call them.

I called them, when I finally got through to speak to a human being, and I was told that t
he freezer I had ordered was not in stock, and wouldn't be until January the 15th. I informed them that their inability to inform me about this earlier meant that someone had to stay in and they agreed that it shouldn't have happened. I requested that they waive the deliver charge (£11.95), which they reluctantly agreed to, and arranged for the item to be delivered instead on Saturday the 20th.

On Friday the 19th I had a phone call to say the item was a little bit late coming in from Whirlpool and could they deliver on Sunday afternoon instead. This suited me fine, and I agreed, thinking how good it was that I was contacted in advance.

However, Sunday came and the Comet delivery man with my new freezer never arrived. I had been told it would arrive between 1pm and 6pm. It didn't. At 6pm I tried to call Comet, but their lines close at 5pm on a Sunday.

I now plan to email Comet them with the details of their inadequacies in this matter, and then follow this up with a phone call at 8:30am tomorrow morning when they open their phone lines again.

The moral of this story appears to be that although it maybe cheaper to shop at Comet, the poor levels of customer service may mean that ultimately, in terms of your time, telephone calls etc., it may effectively be cheaper, and certainly less hassle to shop elsewhere. I'm not saying that all customers experience problems with Comet, but my dealings with them cannot be put down to just 'isolated incidents', so beware of major corporations who are unable to back up their strong advertising promises with anything substantial at the back end.

{An original Dooyoo opinion
© Blackjane 2001}

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