UKC

Cotswold outdoor - a rant !

New Topic
This topic has been archived, and won't accept reply postings.
 Ciderslider 27 Nov 2015
Do not rely on cotswolds website stock checker - it's about as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike !!!
If you are going to make a journey, make sure you phone to check they have the item in store.
Don't do what I did and travel to the store to be told cheerily, "Sorry we haven't got any in stock, but you can order it online" - Oh not I can't !!!

Rant over

Ps this is not the first time !!!
1
 PPP 27 Nov 2015
In reply to Ciderslider:

Just order online and collect it in the store?
OP Ciderslider 27 Nov 2015
In reply to PPP:

Yep there is that option - but my point is WTF have a store stock checker when the thing usually totally f@cking wrong.
 ianstevens 27 Nov 2015
In reply to Ciderslider:

Has "phone before you go" not always been the rule? For all their convenience, computer systems are not infallible, especially when things can become hidden in stock cupboards, on manikins in-store or simply don't exist as some innumerate shop assistant counted them wrongly in the first place.

I'm certain Cotswold are not the only retailer that this has happened to.
In reply to Ciderslider:

Maybe someone bought it whilst you were traveling to the store.
 elsewhere 27 Nov 2015
In reply to Ciderslider:
B&Q were the same. The thing I wanted never sold out because it wasn't on the shelf for anybody to buy so it was always in stock and not re-ordered.
 Climber_Bill 27 Nov 2015
In reply to Ciderslider:

What gear could you ever possibly need? I saw the contents of your gear bag the other night...you could lead every pitch of The Nose leaving every piece behind.....

TJB
OP Ciderslider 27 Nov 2015
In reply to ianstevens:

Usually do - but my point is that their stock system recently very rarely works - so why have it
OP Ciderslider 27 Nov 2015
In reply to yesbutnobutyesbut:

No definately wasn't the case
In reply to Ciderslider:

I bought something recently and was told that they are having problems with their stock management program not telling the internet and stores where stuff is etc. My package was there for a few days but on the pc was logged as still being at the warehouse. Hopefully just a temporary issue.
OP Ciderslider 27 Nov 2015
In reply to Climber_Bill:

This is true but still doesn't alter the fact that cotswold are getting a bit crap ! Ps at withdean ????
In reply to Ciderslider:

Sympathise but ... they are not the only company to have inaccurate stock levels. Losses and thefts in store cause problems. Just last week I was in a large retailer and they said we have x no. of y item shown here in store but we can't find them. They said their computer system does not immediately update following a sale and can take take some time to accurately reflect their stock even forgetting thefts.

If making a special journey best to either phone to check and get whatever put aside, or order online for collection in store although with some companies this often automatically adds on time for delivery to store, so not usually available for the day. Cotswolds though do do a same day collection I think if it is indeed in store stock. These ways you have good reason to complain if you arrive and no stock.
OP Ciderslider 27 Nov 2015
In reply to sam.sam.sam.ferguson:

It's been going on a while now
OP Ciderslider 27 Nov 2015
In reply to Climbing Pieman:

Yep totally hear what you're saying but at the moment something woeful is going on with their stock checking
 LastBoyScout 27 Nov 2015
In reply to Ciderslider:

Happened to me in Halfords last weekend - stock said they'd got 4 of an item, but staff couldn't find any of them.
In reply to Ciderslider:

Just remembered the one and only time I did an order online and collect in store with Cotswolds, I collected four items as ordered and later they emailed to say one of the items was still waiting for my collection. Phoned them up and they had records showing that I collected just three of the items and not the fourth item despite the whole order being four items! They thanked me for my honesty ... says something about their system does it not?
 Neil Williams 27 Nov 2015
In reply to Ciderslider:

Is it not possible that someone bought it between your checking and turning up? Click and collect solves that, they do do it.
 Neil Williams 27 Nov 2015
In reply to Ciderslider:

How do you know? Did the staff confirm they had never had any? Could it have been stolen?
 Pbob 27 Nov 2015
In reply to Ciderslider:

On the subject of Cotswolds - be a little cautious about the advice on climbing gear. Given some dodgy advice once.
 lanky and weak 27 Nov 2015
In reply to Pbob: Do continue... This sounds interesting!

In reply to lanky and weak:

No it doesn't. It's a chain not a specialist independent.
 JoshOvki 27 Nov 2015
In reply to lanky and weak:

I agree it sounds interesting. I also wonder if anyone mentioned to the store manage a member of staff needs more training.
 PPP 27 Nov 2015
In reply to Pbob:

Could you elaborate that?
In reply to Ciderslider:
Ok, so you've said the following:

"Ps this is not the first time !!!"

"WTF have a store stock checker when the thing usually totally f@cking wrong"..note "usually"

"cotswold are getting a bit crap"

"It's been going on a while now"

So, you've had this problem at least once before.....and still don't bother to phone up to check whether a problem you have had before there is going to affect your current order? You're not exactly boxing clever here are you?!
Post edited at 21:12
 mike123 28 Nov 2015
In reply to Ciderslider:
In the interest of balance I was in Cotswold keswick on Thursday morning looking at gps watches ( see previous thread asking for info) , the first assistant said he was not the best person to talk to so went and found his colleague who knew more. Assistant 2 spent well over half an hour showing me the ambit and Fenix and how they worked. He then got the new suunto ( traverse ? ) out which has just come out and does pretty much what I want and went though what it did and didn't do. All in all very worthwhile advice from a knowledgable assistant . I know that cotswold and go outdoors don't have the best reputation for advice on here, but it's not always the case. I also know it's quite possible to be thoroughly patronised in the specialist retailers , not in my experience around here ( lakes) but certainly in the peak.
Post edited at 10:10
 Gazlynn 28 Nov 2015
In reply to Ciderslider:

Can I also say that I ordered some trousers that they didn't have in stock but I knew ME had them in stock. They ordered them in from ME and the trousers were delivered to me in 3 days. I did pay full price for them mind, but still a good service.

cheers

Gaz
 Neil Williams 28 Nov 2015
In reply to mike123:
I suspect you'll find the advice is better in places like Keswick as it will be much easier to get genuine outdoors enthusiasts as staff. A member of my family used to be their new store opening trainer (he's now a prison officer, how's that for a career change?) and he said that was often a constraint - it sounded like their product training was excellent, but in retail someone who has a genuine enthusiasm for the product will always give better advice on it (that's why, for example, Maplin staff are all electronics/IT geeks).

If their IT systems are crap that's a different issue, I guess.
Post edited at 13:02
 Pbob 29 Nov 2015
In reply to PPP:

Looking for tape to re-sling a hex. Advised to buy a dyneema sling, cut, and knot again. Perhaps something not everyone would be aware of. Many years ago when I ran a gear shop I wouldn't have known that that was dangerous, but I'd like to think I wouldn't have given advice without knowing for sure it was safe.

Anyone out there working in retail - if you don't know just say so.
 LastBoyScout 30 Nov 2015
In reply to Neil Williams:

No necessarily so. Reading Cotswolds certainly used to be staffed by several members of Reading Uni mountaineering club during term time and during holidays by locals that were away at other Uni mountaineering clubs.

That said, you will find that weekend staff don't tend to be the best trained, due to time constraints - staff that work during the week will have more time to sit down and go through the manuals and have a play with things. They are also the ones that are more likely to have had direct training from the manufacturer's reps, who visit stores Monday to Friday. Even then, they won't have the room to get all the tents out and put every one of them up, especially the family size ones. Cotswolds have run out of hours evening training and even done weekends away testing gear, such as tents, but you won't get all staff to all sessions. Note also seasonal changes - it takes a bit of time to get to grips with the new winter stock, for example.

I agree that staff shouldn't try and bluff their way through - if you don't know, refer the customer to someone who does and then stick around to learn for next time
 PPP 30 Nov 2015
In reply to Pbob:

I was told by one lad in the shop (Cotswold Outdoors) that I do not need helmet for sport climbing or winter mountaineering (somewhat true, though). A minute later he was talking about the via ferrata he was doing (he never wears a helmet on VF either) and had to use his rucksack to protect himself from the rockfall... I think it's personal preference. It just sounded like he wouldn't sell me the helmet!

Other than that, Cotswolds and Tisos are pretty good, but I don't expect every shop assistant to be geekier than some of us.
 Neil Williams 30 Nov 2015
In reply to PPP:
I would consider that highly irresponsible. I am not always pro-helmet (they make me overheat), so whenever I wear one it is because the risk assessment looks really bad. But I would not contemplate VF or multipitch without one - unlike single-pitch there is simply no way to ensure to a reasonable chance of no rockfall from above, nor any way to move out of the way of it, and falls, if they occur, will be violent and poorly controlled.

As for sport, if someone chooses to wear one it is rather poor to seek to put them off. Nobody should ever attempt to put anyone off using any safety equipment they wish to use.
Post edited at 10:56
Removed User 30 Nov 2015
In reply to Ciderslider:

I just don't know why anyone would buy from them in the first place. There's literally no store that charges more than they do, even non-specialised stores charge less for the gear than cotswolds do. I've got a 20% discount there due to the membership I have with a climbing gym who partners with them and even then their shit is more expensive than most other places.
Wiley Coyote2 30 Nov 2015
In reply to Ciderslider:

My 'favourite' Cotswold experience was the young lad who tried to sell me an 80m rope as a wall rope. When I said; 'No I want a wall rope' he cheerily - and slightly condescendingly - assured me there was need to worry because 80m was plenty long enough for walls. To be fair, that is true but he clearly had no idea what a wall rope was even though he was on the climbing counter and presumably dispensing equally well-informed advice to all and sundry.

New Topic
This topic has been archived, and won't accept reply postings.
Loading Notifications...