Surprise for Christmas spoiled! (gadgetshop.com)

Member Name: cdsmiler81

Product:	gadgetshop.com
Date:	14/10/09 (18 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very fast delivery, good discount.

Disadvantages: Package came unwrapped so Christmas surprise spoiled

This is the first time I've used the Gadget Shop Online and I'll have to have a think to see whether I shop with them again.

There's currently a 'Month of Madness' special daily offer taking place, and yesterday they had a pro Golf Game reduced from £39.99 to £2.99! As my husband is quite keen on golf, but rarely gets a chance to have a go even at the local driving range, I thought this would be an ideal surprise Christmas present for him.

So I stick it in my basket, register with the site, and go through to check out. They've added on £3.99 postage. As a regular online shopper I was surprised to see this (granted it was on the front page clear for everyone to see) as many online shops don't have postage costs anymore. But I didn't mind on this occasion considering the alleged cost of the game itself at it's RRP. I complete checkout and everything's great. I receive a confirmation email and am told that I will receive another email to let me know when it's dispatched.

Imagine my surprise when I find out that the game has been delivered this morning! Less than 24 hours after my initial order! I'm very impressed! Briefly....

It's quite a large box due to the nature of the game, and therefore the delivery man had to knock on the door for someone to accept it. Unfortunately, I had already left for work, and the only person home...was my husband. Now, normally with online orders, this situation isn't a problem. It's not easy to tell what's in the packages when they arrive. However, this didn't arrive in a package!! They had just taken the game in its normal box and stuck a delivery note on it! Now, I can understand with other large packages you might have delivered that it's silly and impractical to wrap them up (after all, you wouldn't expect your washing machine turning up with extra packaging wrapped around it to hide what it is!). Surely, this well established large company is unaware that this is the type of item that that you don't buy as a necessity, but as a present for someone? Especially in the lead up to Christmas (and the increase of people buying early due to the credit crunch and impending Royal Mail strikes!). Even a bin bag wrapped around and taped would have been better than nothing. Is it too much to ask? Really?

So there's my surprise for my husband spoiled. A great shame. I have emailed the Gadget Shop expressing my disappointment, but I'm not expecting much of a response to be honest. A little note next to the item saying "this is a large item and will not come wrapped" wouldn't have hurt - I could have arranged for it to be delivered to a friend or my parents house.

I haven't been home to see the game itself, but on chatting to my husband, it looks good from the outside. Which is a blessing. Even if the surprise has been spoiled.

It's only due to the assumed quality of the game and the incredibly fast delivery that this site is getting a 3 star rating. They are very lucky!

Summary: A bit more common sense from a well established company would be nice.