Happy Birthday, Get Fat (thorntons.co.uk)

Member Name: SpankMarvin

Product:	thorntons.co.uk
Date:	01/12/01 (66 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A quick service, easy to use, Can order via telephone if necessary or preferred

Disadvantages: Can be a little expensive, Certain items cannot be delivered for certain days

Recently, one of my friends had her 21st birthday, and decided to go home for the weekend to celebrate, just north of London. I hadn't bought her a present yet, and so it was too late to give her one face to face. My only option was to use the internet or the telephone, and have something delivered to her door on the birth-day.

But what to buy a 21 year-old single girl who is on a weight-watchers diet?

Simple - a HUGE box of chocolates.

And this is where Thornton's came in. On their website, they offer a delivery service for the next day of many selections of chocolates which can be viewed (but not, unfortunately, tasted) online.

The deal was this - Order before 1.30pm and your chocolates will be delivered to your desired UK location the next day. You must register, and use your credit card to complete the transaction, as with any online order service.

The website itself is easy to navigate, and contains all the price/delivery information you need. It also contains additional info such as chains across the country, along with their telephone numbers.

BUT what if you're too late, as I was? It was 1.45 and I was desperate, and so I had to put Thornton's customer service to the test. I started by looking for the nearest chain to my friend, and giving it a call.

"Hello, Thornton's?"
"Hello, is that Thornton's?"
"Err, yes."
"Do you deliver please?"
"I'm afraid not sir, but I can give you a number so that you can order by speaking to a real person."
"Thank you."

So I phoned the number and, sure enough, no holding, no automated service, no classical music to a drumbeat. Instead, a nice young lady (or perhaps a decayed old lady but with a young voice) was ready to help me out. I explained that I was late for next-day delivery, but it was my friend's birthday, was it still possible? N
o problem, she said, I can do it now for you provided we don't leave it too long.

Now, here I came across some difficulty. I wanted to order champagne and chocolates, but because I was ordering on a Friday for the Saturday, the Royal Mail service meant it wasn't possible to send alcohol for the next day. Ok, I'll order the chocolate and teacup set. Same for ceramics, she said. The Chocolate Cascade, which I saw on the internet? Internet orders only I'm afraid, she said!!!

SO WHAT CAN I ORDER? I asked.

But she was lovely, and suggested a few nice ideas which I WOULD definitely be able to have delivered for the next day: a huge oval of about 200 chocolates, perfect. £36 plus about £5 for delivery, not too bad for a next-day service…

I added a little message, and the lady took down my number in case of any problems. But thankfully there weren't any phone calls except from my friend on the Saturday morning screaming at the fact that she was going to put on a stone in a day, but secretly thankful for a genuine excuse to scoff chocolate.

The service was, overall, very good. The only problem was with what could and couldn't be delivered promptly, so it pays to check this with a bit of time to spare. However, this problem was mainly due to mail regulations and to those of Thorntons themselves, and aside from this, I really couldn't have asked for a better service.

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