Good site if not busy, strange delivery (debenhams.com)

Member Name: olly374

Product:	debenhams.com
Date:	06/01/06 (1920 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good site

Disadvantages: Iratic delivery

Debenhams.com has been around for while but I have not bothered shopping from it simply because I use to have 2 Debenhams stores within half hour easy travel of me.

Anyway I moved and decided I needed some items for my new place e.g pans, bedding and as I have injured my knee couldn't be bothered to travel to the nearest store (which is now 40 minutes from me).

I logged on to the site and notice they were having a sale. All good I thought I will get the stuff I want but cheaper than normal. Debenhams products are branded and are generally not more expensive than else where.

Website
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Depending when you log on the website is very slow or down. In the past 2 weeks the website is slow during normal business hours, which are long as this is the Christmas Sale period. However the website seems to be taken down every night for 6 hours. This would be ok except having worked in retail and being an IT professional it is not acceptable business practice to take down your website during one of the busiest periods of the year when you make the most money.

The website itself is easy to navigate and use as it is mainly black and white, which means if you are colour blind you will have no problem distingushing the colours from each other. It also has very good images of the goods. All these are displayed within a matter of seconds if you have a broadband connection and are not shopping at a busy time.

If the site is busy and you perform a search you will get a "sorry the site is busy" page with telephone numbers you can call which are not much use outside normal office hours (9 -5.30) , and are even more useless when you realise they are for Debenhams credit cards, flowers etc. exactly what you don't need if you are trying to buy clothes, bedding or pans.

Even more annoying is the fact that if you use the website search facility with 2 browsers on your PC you will discover that you get 2 different lots of goods in your search results. For example I searched for double duvet covers in the other section and each of the browser windows I opened got different results. Yet I eventually got the duvet cover I wanted.

The website is very slow during the hours of 8am to 8pm and at around 11pm the website is taken down. This means it can take 2 hours to buy stuff if you are not certain what you want.

Payment
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When I first brought goods on the site everything went well until I paid. When I paid the payment screen took 15 minutes to recognise the fact then timed out. This pissed me off as I had spend about 2 hours choosing stuff I wanted and then my payment failed. Luckily I opened my email client, Outlook, and discovered that I had actually purchased the goods I wanted as Debenhams sends you email confirmation.

The second time I used the site the payment screen also failed.This annoyed me a lot.

The reason for my annoyance is Debenhams gives you the option to register your details and if you have a nectar card you get nectar points from shopping at Debenhams which is made easier if you register . However Debenhams also likes you to register a debit or credit card with your account. This I refuse to do as if you give your details to retailers they are more open to fraudulent use.

Delivery
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The delivery costs £3.50 unless you are buying home items costing over £300.

Delivery normally takes 5-7 days for clothes and small household items, and 7-10 days for electrical goods and small furniture whilst large furniture and uphostery takes 8 to 10 weeks.

Delivery is either by courier or by Royal Mail depending where the goods are delivered from i.e. Debenhams or a supplier, quantity and type of goods ordered.

Deliveries can be split up and delivered by Royal Mail or the courier. This generally means you can order say 2 pillowcases and other items, recieve one of the pillowcases with the other items you ordered via courier and the other pillowcase by Royal Mail 3 days later.

The courier company is not named which allows Debenhams to use any courier company that suits them.


Customer Service
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When you place an order it is vital to check whether you recieve a confirmation email. This is due to the slowness of the Debenhams website at busy times and it's random crashes.

The email lists what you have ordered and gives you the range of delivery times. The email also clearly states when you form a contract with Debenhams, how to return goods and that you can check your rights with the Citizens advice bureau.

My Delivery
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I ordered a mixture of homewear and clothes and recieved my order within the time specified. My order was broken up and delivered by 2 different couriers and Royal Mail. This was annoying as Debenhams don't indicate anywhere on their website that your order will be split up to this affect, or on the delivery receipts.

The courier companies did ring up before hand to confirm that I would be in at the time they wanted to drop the delivery. I thought this was a nice touch as often if you don't know when goods are going to arrive the courier just comes and you have to ring them up to arrange a redelivery.


Pros-
-Able to get Debenhams stuff without walking out of your door
-Wider selection of products than in some smaller stores
-Confirmation emails that are legally compliant
-Website that works in all the many browsers I used and suits those who are colour blind.


Cons-
-Website search engine that doesn't work properly
-Spliting of orders and not telling you.
-Delivery is not organised to tell you that you are to recieve more items.
-Website being down or timing out randomly during one of the most busiest shopping seasons of the year.

Rating-
5 out of 5 for range of items.
5 out of 5 for website design and usability
2 out of 5 for website performance including search results and down time.
4 out of 5 for confirmation email which clealy states your legal rights and when a contract is formed with you.
2 out of 5 for delivery

Summary: Be prepared for a 3 hour session during the sale period and eratic delivery