Play.com / Parcelfarce

ali.james · Wed 30 Jan, 2008 10.41

Hello, I don't post here very often. Thought I'd share a little horror story with you.

On the 17th January I decided to buy an iPod nano for £120 from play.com. It's ten pounds cheaper than Apple's price, free delivery, and we've never had any problems from play before. I placed the order that evening, and immediately I got a confirmation email. The following day I got another email saying the item had been posted. Brilliant so far. Play.com use a "special delivery" service for electronics over £80 which is supposed to take 3-5 days. After 5 days, I'd had nothing. I had been checking Parcelforce's track/trace website to see the progress, and it hadn't changed since the 18th, where it said :

18-01-2008 23:49 Birmingham South Depot Out for delivery
18-01-2008 23:25 Birmingham South Depot Arrived at delivery depot
18-01-2008 20:30 National Hub Sorted in hub

I began to get suspicious. I hadn't realised that they used Parcelforce, and after looking at reviews, I began to regret placing the order. I've read loads of reviews saying parcels have been lost, thrown about by drivers, arriving damaged, even stolen by staff. So by last Thursday, the 24th, I phoned play.com, who were very helpful and said that the parcel "has probably been lost in the post by Parcelforce". They asked me whether I wanted a refund or a replacement, and I asked for a refund. They told me they would be sending a claim to parcelforce and that I would receive a refund within 3-5 days. Well, 4 days have passed now and I havn't had a refund. I'm really vexed now, and wish I'd never bothered at all. This will be the last time I ever use either play.com or Parcelforce. It's shambolic.

By the way, parcelforce's sad excuse for a track and trace site finally updated yesterday, where it now says:

29-01-2008 07:11 Birmingham South Depot Parcel cannot be located

Pete · Wed 30 Jan, 2008 10.46

changing tack slightly, I now avoid iPods like the plauge having had both of mine break on me. My current MP3 player is one of these Sony Walkman jobs and its fab. No sonicstage bullshit either, just drag and drop onto the USB stick and it plays, vastly superior sound quality too.

Plus am I to understand you're one of our few users who didn't find us though TVF? Please correct me if I'm wrong.

all new Phil · Wed 30 Jan, 2008 12.04

I got my MacBook direct from Apple and it arrived a day earlier than they said. I've never had a bad experience from UPS - well, apart from their vans looking a bit sinister. A bit like the truck from Jeepers Creepers.

nidave · Wed 30 Jan, 2008 12.53

when I moved into my New house we bought a new Plasma TV - they sent the wrong one. The courier was city link.

They delivered the correct one - with a seperate collection of the old one ????

When we help him cary the TV to the van - it was empty...
the guy left it uprright in the MIDDLE of the van, didnt secure it an any way. I was straight on the phone to the company to warn them about this saying any damage is not my fault. The courier came driving back down the street after making a u turn and as they went round the corner there was this huge crash. one ruined expensive TV.

Gavin Scott · Wed 30 Jan, 2008 13.49

CityLink have merged with Target.

I had their rep in looking for my business yesterday. I'm heartened to hear that the new organisation is buying back all of the franchises and making them a national chain - which removes many of my concerns.

Even he was candid enough to admit that choosing a carrier is simply finding the best of a bad bunch. I had a customer contact me today to say that he hasn't received his delivery. When I checked with TNT I find the parcel has been signed for by some random man who nobody at the client's address knows.

Quite how I'm supposed to resolve this is anyone's guess.

cdd · Wed 30 Jan, 2008 13.50

Hymagumba wrote:No sonicstage bullshit either, just drag and drop onto the USB stick and it plays, vastly superior sound quality too.

Wow. This is fantastic, I have been looking for ages for a SIMPLE drag and drop mp3 player. Do you know if it comes in a bigger format?

ali.james · Wed 30 Jan, 2008 19.50

Hold on...
Is there any chance I will not get a refund? I'm worried now. This is my birthday money!! I bought an item and it hasn't turned up !

ps: hyma, no, i found myself here through tv forum, where i'm known as alisterj.

Pete · Wed 30 Jan, 2008 19.53

ali.james wrote:ps: hyma, no, i found myself here through tv forum, where i'm known as alisterj.

ah well that's ok, I was going to ban you as an outsider.

is the refund showing as an invoice on play.com or has it just not appeared on your bank statement? Refunds have a habit of taking longer to appear than payment I find.

fusionlad · Wed 30 Jan, 2008 20.43

ali.james wrote:Hold on...
Is there any chance I will not get a refund? I'm worried now. This is my birthday money!! I bought an item and it hasn't turned up !

ps: hyma, no, i found myself here through tv forum, where i'm known as alisterj.

Of course you will get a refund. Phone Play.com back, and chase it up. They normally process a refund while you are still on the telephone. It then shows up in your Order HIstory almost immediately.

ali.james · Thu 31 Jan, 2008 18.04

I phoned play.com up, and they were very helpful. Said that Parcelforce have lost the item in the post and have failed to respond to their claim but that they would do the refund immediately and it's come up in the order history section.

I would strongly advise against using Parcelforce - have spoken to a few others who have shared similar experiences. Thanks for all the responses. I might just consider that sony player too.

Nini · Thu 31 Jan, 2008 18.10

Most problem I've had with Parcelforce is some idiot not getting their package on time because they never bothered to reschedule and having a go at me for failing to get it to them on time as if it's my fault.