re: UKNM: Online retail pays no attention to detail.

[pete bresser]

  >Thing is,I am ready to shop online but is anyone ready to serve?

  >My advice is only to book holidays if you are prepared for stress and

  >disappointment, I've had more relaxing times at the dentist thanks!


You are SO right! I've actually stopped buying stuff over the web now

because of so many disappointments. I've been playing with this stuff a long

time now, mainly because I have been immersed in technology all my working

life (now a forty something) and along the way I have always defended the

technology and the business practices that go along with it. Now, though, I

can't bring myself to go through the agonies of buying on-line and then

sorting the sodding mess out on the phone!


A case in point: I made an appointment to see a company in Leeds and another

contact in Barnsley the following day and decided to travel by train. So

onto the trainline.com to check times, ticket types etc and purchase the

ticket leaving plenty of time for the tickets to be mailed to me. That all

worked well, travelling from Kings Cross at a reasonable time in the

morning.


Unfortunately, the three days before the trip the Barnsley meeting blew out,

meaning I could come back from Leeds the same day. Never mind, I thought, I

can get the ticket altered for a fiver and I claw back a precious day. The

only trouble was, you had to alter the ticket by phone, not over the web.


Calling the number provided on the site got me through OK and I started the

process of changing the tickets. No problem they said we can make the

changes, but because of the time-scale you'll have to pick the tickets up -

but you'll have to pick them up from.. Euston!


'But I'm travelling from Kings Cross' I said. 'Yes I know' said the

operative, ' but Kings Cross won't make the ticket alterations we send them

by fax (fax, for christ's sake! Not the most demanding of *new*

technologies) so we have to send them to Euston's ticket office (by fax) and

they will issue you with new tickets.


I then went into a moan for twenty mins about booking on-line for the

convenience and having to travel to two stations (Ok, OK; I know they're not

that far apart - but it's the principle) was just about as inconvenient at

it gets. Obviously, he didn't give a hoot.


And there are other examples: the Christmas tree from Let'sbuyit.com (DON'T

get me started on THAT one!), the books sent as a gift to a friend that

ended up with me...


I've stopped telling my family and mates about these internet cock-up

stories now because although a year ago I thought they were funny and -

hey! - the industry's still finding its feet, a year on and its pathetic .


These experiences show you can't simply put a nice face on a creaking old

distribution system, or say you'll put the delivery partnerships in place

later on, because it ain't good enough! With 30percent of the population now

able to log on, these organisations better get their acts together NOW! or

we won't have a credible industry.


Pete Bresser


Visionet New Media Marketing Ltd.

Company No. 3699279 Registered in the UK

See us on the web - http://www.visionet.co.uk

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