dabs.com update

Well they finally provided a 'manual reply' which included the courier (UPS) and my tracking code. Hurrah!

Now I just need to make sure someone is around at the right time...

UPDATE

I just checked the UPS site FAQ on tracking. The status of my delivery is set to:

"Billing Information Received: UPS has received the electronic transmission of package details from the shipper. It does not necessarily mean that UPS has taken possession of the package." (My emphasis)

This rather sounds like dabs has not actually sent my TV on its way. Not exactly 'completed' in dabs-speak: "This means the order has been fully packed and has been loaded onto the delivery van, which may well have left the premises."

Bah.

dabs.com

Dabs can provide some very good pricing on various electronic goodies. Their fulfillment of orders can be excellent. Can't you just hear that 'BUT'?

Well here it is: their customer service is practically non-existant. Their 'Customer Promise' page carefully avoids mention of handling queries so that for example, when I asked about delivery regarding my LCD TV they replied:

"We can now confirm that your order has left our warehouse, and will be with you very soon."

When I asked quite specifically for the day of the delivery and a tracking code to use with the courier, they replied:

"We can now confirm that your order has left our warehouse, and will be with you very soon."

How very helpful.

I knew they were like this. I ordered on the price point. So serves me right. The moral of this tale? If you order from Dabs expect to be given the cold shoulder if you need to talk to them.

I swear if the TV doesnt work I will drive down to their offices and return it with extreme prejudice.

Update - On their 'help' pages I found this:

"Dianne Dillon, Operations Director of dabs.com explains the reason behind this: "Electronic retailing is all about empowering customers to serve themselves - in many cases more efficiently and effectively than by traditional means. Following the fine examples set by other leading Internet retailers, we firmly believe we can satisfy the needs of our consumer customers more readily via electronic means, than we've historically been able to achieve with a hybrid telephone and electronic approach"

In my experience with online retailers only dabs.com seems incapable of genuinely offering 'electronic means'. When the online help/FAQ is not good enough you need to be able to correspond with a person who can actually help. That person needs to read your email/message and respond in a relevant manner according to the context of your message.

If they honestly believe they come close to the likes of say amazon then they are delusional. The 'empowering customers' says it all. Hooked on buzzwords and hype they can sit back and reap the benefit of an efficient fulfillment system resting on an automated 'customer service' system designed to frustrate and deter.

The Ryan Air of electronic online retail? That'll be the dabs.

Doing some quick price matching on froogle, dabs.com isnt actually all that competitive on the majority of items. Is this a sustainable business model? I don't know - but it works nicely for the no-frills airlines... and many other businesses where price is largely the deciding factor.

Back at last

When you have to rebuild your PC it is irritating to lose all of those nice auto-logins. In my case, that includes the login to my blog.

Duh, etc.

Well back again and this time with the excellent 'Performancing for FireFox'. Darn good it is too.