UKC

Anyone else had trouble with cotswold outdoor?? i ordered the mammut ice 45 rucksack from them about 2/3 weeks ago. after a week i emailed them to ask when i could expect my order to arrive and i got an email back saying they had cancelled my order due to it being out of stock and had allready emailed me to say this. I have checked emails and no such email has arrived. So i emailed them back saying i hadnt recieved an email and that i still wanted my order and as far as i am aware they cannot cancel an order with out your permission..
If its out of stock say so on your website.
After all this i call them when you get through to a computer with the usuall rubbish, after pressing one about 3 times in answer to the same question. i then get through to a person who says i have called the wrong number and to call a different number, which is the same number that i have allready called. this has now happened about 4 times. so i asked them to pass on my details to the correct people and they say they should get back to me with in a day, i have now done this twice the last time being monday. still no reply!!!!!!!!!!!
ARGH!!!!!!!!!!

Sorry for the rant guys, its just starting to annoy me..

In reply to Sam Edwards: I've always thought cotswolds were a bunch of ar&es, too expensive and not very helpful. Ideal for rich sunday walkers after labels.

In reply to twm.bwen:
i thought they are all right, as long as you don't ask questions.
always happy to offer discounts. 10% bmc, 15%Bcu and 20% for some student groups.
i dont no why kayakers get more than climbers

In reply to Sam Edwards:
I've always had good service from the Cotswold shops in Glasgow and Livingston. Very knowledgable, and very helpful.

In reply to twm.bwen:

Well you would be talking through your arse then. Admitted some stores do not have a lot of experts on everything, but some have keen climbers and walkers as well as the ones who know little but the brochure.

The Betws one has some people who have climbed hard all over the world, but you would just see an old bloke selling stuff.

It is the same in all mountain areas, obviously nobody knows everything, so ask for the expert in the section you want to buy from, after all, you would not go into harrods and expect the butcher to advise on the best design of chair they sold, or which is the best suit for a trip to Morroco.

In reply to rob_lee:

It's to do with how much business goes there way. I find if your order is a reasonable size and you push for it, they will give you the 20% anyway.

In reply to Sam Edwards: a discount would be nice but at the moment i just want a reply from them or for them to acknowledge that i exist or something

In reply to Sam Edwards: I have had nothing but great service fom the Preston Branch, I get at least 15% discount, sometines 20%

In reply to Sam Edwards:

I DO NOT WORK FOR COCKSWORLD!!! But I do know some stuff about this stuff.

From experience in the field working in the mail order section can be difficult and sometimes systems don't send the emails they're supposed to (particularly to hotmail accounts which tend to get blocked for some reason) We get days when 50 plus orders come through a day, we try to call but the numbers given are almost always ones that mean we can't contact the person during the daytime (yes thats when we work too!) and so things get delayed. If something is out of stock when its saying in stock on the website it is due to many reasons, the main one being someone else has already ordered the item you're after and the website does not update until the end of the day when the item has been issued! Sometimes there are then system issues where the server isn't connected to the control hub, and so doesn't update.

Basically, if your order was in stock it will be dispatched the day after you ordered it, same day if you're lucky. A week later and no emails, call them to see what has happened. It may be that your credit card hasn't authorised, or the delivery address is wrong and we've recieved it back and been unable to get in touch with you because of a typo when you placed the order or when it transferred to our system.

Believe me I used to be in your position and hated mail order companies. In particular the one I then went to work for. But now having seen them in operation I have some advice to get the best service:

1) Always be polite when you call us up. We don't like messing up and if you're nice and we have genuinely effed up we are nice back and send you free things. Like a pair of socks to go with the boots that have been on our shelf inexplicably for a week. But you were lovely and understood we messed up, people do mess up, so we'll be lovely back.

Thats it really!

But then again COCKSWORLD have no effing excuse! Huge huge company. I work for a very small family run business, and yeah you may be disappointed that someone else has already been allocated the cheap offer bargain trousers that won't be coming back into stock or the backordered bothy bag is taking it's time. But please just be nice. No money goes until its in our hands ready for dispatch, and if you are nice to us we'll do everything we can to help you. And there are no computers to talk to!

And that is MY rant over!!!

In reply to Sam Edwards:
I personally have always received a good service in the various Manchester branches and have found them helpful and knowledgeable.
James

In reply to ligemidio:

cocksworld? please...

In reply to Sam Edwards:
Hasn't the anti/pro cotswold thing been done and done again in previous threads? coming to the conclusion that they were not great but shouldn't be shouted at too much and also that it depended on where you went e.g. betws= great as staff are experienced, city centre stores=not so great.

In reply to gethin_allen:
"betws= great as staff are experienced, city centre stores=not so great."

I have found the Manchester staff very helpful and knowledgeable.
James

In reply to almost sane: i too found the cotswold staff very useful, particularly in the new manchester one when i was trying on new rock shoes

In reply to Sam Edwards:

One of my clients turned up with prussiks they purchased from Cotswold Liverpool - 3mm cord!!!

However I have had nothing but friendly welcomes, expert advice and customer ser4vice well beyond the call of duty from Cotswold in Betws - excellent store. and Rock Bottom also

In reply to Sam Edwards: cheers guys. yeah i was doing all this online as there isnt a store very near to aberystwyth. i'm gonna try calling again tomorrow to see if i can get through to who i need to get through to and if not im gonna be up in capel curig over the weekend so may pop in and see what they have their. also may give you an email tomorrow at some point if thats ok?

In reply to Ian:

My ex worked there, thats how they knew it as, i like to share the humour

:-D

In reply to ligemidio:
was he shop staff?

In reply to Sam Edwards: A shop has every right to cancle your order if they have no stoke, or even if they just don't want to surrply you. They don't have to sell a customer anything if they don't want to, just like you don't have to buy anything if you don't want to.

But never the less its not very good customer service.

In reply to gethin_allen:

The London Leyden Street branch had one of the most patient and knowldgeable boot fitter's I've met. They were also very good re: getting a helmet for me so I could test the hood out on waterproofs, advising about intended use etc.

In reply to lamb: Are you angling for a promotion Craig?

In reply to David Hooper:

As far as I know Cotswold don't sell prussiks - just cord by the meter. Presumably your client just asked for the wrong diameter cord to be cut for them?

In reply to Sam Edwards: finally go through to who ever i was ment to get through to today and a very nice lady explained that it was cancelled as they were out of stock and not getting anymore so i caouldnt just wait. but she did offer me discounts on any other gear i order from them for the hassle and also that she would ring me back if they get any returns. so all happy now but this does mean that i am now on the lookout for a 35-45 ish litre rucksack....

Sam

In reply to Willy: haha, that wouldnt go a miss billy, you off to corran this weekend? has there been as much of a dump of snow up west? hoping of getting out next weekend if faithers enthusiasm can be rallied, even if its just a jaunt upto ben lui

In reply to soveda@work:

Ditto, if you know what you're talking about, you get good service and the guys in the city store are very helpful. There are a few too many 'lifestyle' items in there - I remember a £800 ski jacket that was royally taking the piss- but to be fair that is probably catering for their main clientele.

I've also got them to order in stuff that isn't on their catalogue, dealing directly with suppliers so they can do the personal service too.

Though now I think about it another time I had to help the staff show a customer how to use a gri-gri, but that's not typical of the place.

In reply to goingupintheworld:

No - they specifically asked for prissik cord - I told them to go into Rock Bottom in Betws and talk to the (climber) staff there.

They were shocked - replaced the cords with 6mm and I believe they were going to inform their head office of the incident.

Cheers

David

P.S. I reckon 3mm would hold your weight, but once the knot tightened you would really struggle to loosen it again - not good.

In reply to Sam Edwards: Try www.joe-brown.com he was selling the 35ltr version in the sale. Got me a 45ltr Iceline last year-hope the 35 is as good for ya!

In reply to Ian:

Yup! In Nottingham. He was the type that would give advice to people that wasn't in stock. "Oh you'll need to go to ...... but it's much better than what we stock".

I only use the term with good humour, they are our closest competition nowadays after all...