OnlineRetailer charged me for orders when they have no stock

dee4life2005

Hi All,

Bit of a problem here (not to Bungle levels, but still miffed).

Placed a couple of orders recently with an online cycle retailer ... website says "in stock, delivery 1-2 days". I place my order, they take my money. Then they say they have no stock and it's on pre-order and will be delivered in about 2-3 weeks (if I'm lucky, the date has already slipped once). Still says "in stock" on their website,

I could have placed the order elsewhere at greater expense but went with them as they were slightly cheaper. Wish I hadn't now. Got in touch with them and it's up to 5 working days for refund to be processed, so I'm now stuck waiting for the refund to clear before I can place an order elsewhere - just what you want when it's an urgent need for a new rear wheel on your commute bike, and this un-expected delay means you now need to order elsewhere to get it quicker, but can't until the refund clears. Awesome, thanks.

The last time I had this happen with the same retailer was last year when ordering a new bike ... they kindly waited until the "estimated delivery date" to inform me that they had no stock, and the bike was discontinued and they wouldn't get more in. Seems to happen with almost every order I place with them.

Am I just unlucky or is this par for the course with some retailers?

timothyw

Given they've done it to you twice I'm baffled why you aren't naming the retailer.

Fool me once, shame on you...

fenix

That is annoying. I can't remember the last time it happened to me though - the retailers I use seem to have good stock keeping.

cooldad

The 'up to 5 days' is a disclaimer as to when it may appear in your account.

The shop should process it immediately, and generally the money appears a lot quicker than 5 days.

Have you checked?

sungod

sounds like at least three times, once last year and a couple recently

either you are remarkably unlucky, or their inventory management has issues, could be people/software/process, probably a combination

if it were me, i'd avoid using them in future, online shopping is supposed to be hassle free

bendertherobot

Are they based in Wales?

redvision

bendertherobot wrote:

Are they based in Wales?

I suspect this is the usual Swansea store!
Seems common practice for them.

bendertherobot

If them, it does seem to rear its head more often than not.

gethinceri

I've had the same experience with Tredz but they delivered gloves of a different size from what I'd ordered, advised I return them and order again, which I did. They then delivered the same wrong size again. On contacting them they said that the required size hadn't been in stock, why they then delivered a different size is beyond me but they did. They refunded the money and allowed me to keep the gloves, which are too big. I used them when I went to the pub in the snow.

dee4life2005

Your guess is indeed correct - it was Tredz.

Nothing against them really, have used them in the past a few times without issue - and I've had no complaints on the odd occasion I've had to use their customer service for exchanges etc. No complaints with the refund process, as it's common to have to wait for a refund to clear sometimes ... just a tad annoying when its for something that was listed as in stock when it wasn't - and I guess exacerbated by my need to get the item urgently. Not the first time I've had it happen elsewhere either, but twice with two orders in a row did make me wonder if it was something up with their website or just my bad luck.

Seems I'm not alone, although perhaps a bit unlucky in this instance. I'll take their "in stock" with a pinch of salt next time I'm in a rush for something.

Ta.

drexel1975

Also had this happen with Tredz but they phoned to say the parts wouldn't be in for 5 days despite the email saying the parts had been picked.

stevie63

I believe it’s because tredz do a lot of drop-shipping direct from their suppliers and so they use supplier inventory information for the stock control of these items. Still frustrating mind.

Anonymous

pro bike kit did the same to me 2 weeks ago....Ordered a cassette removal tool.....clicked order then told '' out of stock - on back order''. Tried to cancel ( read - applied to have my order cancelled ) and was told that my order could not be cancelled...no other reason so had to wait for the item to finally arrive....Pro Bike Kit have some good prices but have censored customer services.

cooldad

Pay by Paypal and it's easy to get it reversed.

Any company that tries to force a sale when they don't have stock is worthy of blacklisting, IMO.

Pippy aston

Owned by Halfords! I'll stick with Merlin or Wiggle!

Grill

Tredz are drop-ship specialists. They don't hold stock and request from the distro when an order is placed. Avoid.

JoshH79

Tredz might be owned by Halfords, but Wiggle aren’t exactly a family business

I had a helmet on order from Tredz and they rang me to explain that it was being shipped over from Belgium and that it’d take six days, but that they could do a more expensive helmet at the same price as the one I’d ordered and send it straight away. I was happy enough to wait. An extra few days was no problem at all, but nice of them to let me know.

No doubt you’d be able to find a bad story about any shop.

Matthewfalle

Pippy aston wrote:

Owned by Halfords! I'll stick with Merlin or Wiggle!

So what if they are owned by Halfords?

Care to explain?

spankwilder

Most web retailers have little stock of what they advertise, especially if it's a low demand product or 'pictures and pricing'

Five days will be the time it takes for the issuing bank to make the reversal. That's just censored banks.

ballysmate

Used Tredz for first time last week.
Order arrived in 2 days plus a 10% discount code. Must be used by end of month though so no great use to me.