www.insight.com - UK site (insight.com)

Member Name: sakura8

Product:	insight.com
Date:	23/12/08 (135 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheaper than other sites

Disadvantages: Not honest about stock levels

I ordered a camera case for a Christmas present from Insight as it was one of the few websites that had it in stock. I chose Insight over the other websites because they offered the cheapest price (including postage and packaging costs). It was easy to order from the website and I received an email to confirm my order was being processed and I therefore assumed there would be no problem with my order.

However, after a few days I checked the status of my order (by logging into the account I had to create when ordering) and it said the order was 'pending processing' as they did not actually have any in stock! This was really annoying as I had no idea if it was going to arrive in time for Christmas and I could have ordered it from somewhere else.

I needed to ask them if my item was going to arrive before Christmas, but as it was the weekend and their Order Advice Telephone Line is only open Monday to Friday, my only option was to contact them through their Customer Support Centre on their website. This involved opening a 'Customer Support Ticket' and selecting an option which best describes your query - the closest option for me was Backorder Enquiries. Opening a ticket was easy and I just had to fill out a short form regarding my query including my order reference number and my contact details.

I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a response within 24 hours (especially as this is the only customer support they offer at the weekends) and as I didn't get a response within this time frame I was seriously annoyed. Insight's website was very misleading about what they actually had in stock and it is critical that online stores are honest about their stock levels so that consumers can make a fair decision about whether to purchase from them or not. If I hadn't checked the status of my order then I would have been none the wiser as they made no attempt to inform me the item wasn't in stock.

I managed to cancel my order by sending them another 'Customer Support Ticket' which they did respond to and confirmed my order was cancelled. Luckily they didn't debit any money from my credit card otherwise I would have really got angry!

However, I am pleased to see that they have now changed the ordering process for the camera case on their website and it now states that it is 'Ordered upon request' which is much more honest.

Summary: Make sure you check the status of your order!