Terrible experience with Amazon/Parkers of Bolton

barrybridges
barrybridges Posts: 420
edited February 2009 in The bottom bracket
Well, to be fair, it's not Parkers of Bolton's fault, but Amazon's.

I need a new chain for this weekend as mine is getting a bit past it and the recent icy/salty weather hasn't been so kind to my chain.

So, I placed an order on 13th Feb for a new chain on amazon.co.uk, from Parkers of Bolton. I paid using a £20 gift voucher I'd received for Christmas: the chain (inc P&P cost £13.68) so I had £6.32 left in my account.

I expected service to be quite quick, so when I hadn't heard anything by today I was a bit curious and visited my amazon account to see where it had got to.

My account said 'Your payment revision required', suggesting that there was something wrong with my payment method, but I looked at my account and it had all been paid fine.

So, I phoned amazon and spent 21:32 on the phone to someone in the US who told me:

I can't use gift vouchers to pay for items from the 'Amazon Marketplace', and so Parkers could not have accepted my payment

As a result, my order can't be processed and had to be cancelled

This a policy that has been on amazon for a while, but at no point during the order process was I told that gift vouchers couldn't be used

As a result, I'm not going to get the chain in time for my race this weekend

I'm pretty appalled by this shambolic service. I placed an order fine. I received no alert or email to tell me that there was a 'problem' with my payment method. I was not told that gift certificates can only be redeemed when a product is bought direct from amazon (I didn't know that products could be bought in any other way!). And to top it off, it's only because I got concerned and called them that I found out my order couldn't be processed and would have to be cancelled: otherwise I'd have been waiting and waiting with no-one contacting me.

To make matters worse, when I look in my account, the remaining £6.32 isn't even there: it's been taken away.

What a shambles! I hope other people read this and check that they can use gift certificates for their bike purchases on amazon: what a joke!

Comments

  • softlad
    softlad Posts: 3,513
    As a result, I'm not going to get the chain in time for my race this weekend

    does your LBS not sell chains..?
  • cougie
    cougie Posts: 22,512
    I'd not fit a new chain and the next ride is a race - rather give it a few rides just to make sure its all ok.

    How much is the chain thru amazon than direct from Parkers ? Wiggle are very fast if you need a chain too.
  • Alas, no LBS for me as I'm out in the sticks. I'd hoped it would be here today so I can put it on and give it a few ride first.
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,665
    Borrow the chain of one of your other bikes (assuming you have more than one bike)?
  • Is your old chain completely past it, could it not be pressed into service one more time?. Also it's only 1pm on Tuesday, if you order from say Wiggle or Chain Reaction or Merlin right now they'd probably dispatch it today and you'd probably get it tomorrow or Thursday at the latest.
    'Hello to Jason Isaacs'
  • never had problems before with parkers, but if you want something fast then wiggle is the place to go.
    I've ordered at 4 on a friday and the stuff has turned up at 8 the next morning
  • I only have one bike which doubles as my trainer and racing machine, but fortunately I managed to get my GF to give me a lift into town so I could buy a new chain.

    The problem wasn't with Parkers; it was with Amazon really. Basically, if you have a gift voucher then you can only use it to buy stuff direct from Amazon, and not the 'Amazon Marketplace' which includes all the third-party shops and other sellers.

    I was just annoyed because at no point did it tell me that this is the case. In fact, it should have prevented me from doing so but it was their own website glitch that allowed it to go through. And then, because it went through but shouldn't have, Parkers didn't have any awareness of it and all that was happening was that my order was sitting in the ether somewhere gathering dust.

    I guess I was just a bit disappointed that amazon screwed up and didn't tell me that I couldn't use my voucher. It would be like you paying for something on a credit card, waiting and waiting for it to turn up and then when it doesn't, having to phone them and them telling you 'oh sorry, we don't accept mastercard', after you've paid.

    Bit of a shambles really. They didn't even offer me a voucher to say sorry or anything.