Jump to content
 

Hattons trunk service restriction


MikeB
 Share

Recommended Posts

  • RMweb Premium

I received an e-mail from Hatons today headed "Your Trunk will need to be shipped soon", which went on to say  "Time is running out to ship your Trunk in time for our stock-take. We're anticipating a surge in shipments, so we recommend that you ship yours as soon as you can.  Any unshipped Trunks will automatically be sent out to your default delivery address by Wednesday 25th August 2021."
Have others received this?

 

I was surprised as I have a few small items in my trunk that I don't need urgently and was planning to ship everything when a pre-ordered item arrives, which is likely to be in early September. It now looks as if I'll have to have two deliveries, and pay postage on one as the order value will not be high enough to qualify for free shipping.

 

I 've since seen that when Hattons introduced the trunk service one of the FAQs says  "During the Coronavirus outbreak, we will not be placing any limits to the holding time for items in your Trunk.   It is anticipated that after everything has returned to normal, a nominal 6-8 week limit but this will be reviewed and announced prior to any time limits being put into place."    It's clearly up to Hattons what time limits they impose, but 6-8 weeks appears rather limiting to me, especially given the current various supply shortages.

Edited by MikeB
correction
  • Informative/Useful 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

I recently spoke to Hattons given I was after an item and the options were 1) Purchase a DCC fitted version and ship out with a large order now or 2) Wait until the DC version was in and lock all in the trunk.

The answer on the trunk I received was that they are looking to have people empty their trunk by the end of August as they wish to do a full stocktake of items. I recommend giving them a call to confirm this, but this was what I was told.

Link to post
Share on other sites

So the good news is that they are ready to move on from the virus.

 

Hatton's have been very considerate and the trunk service has been very useful to many people.  If they are about to do a stock-take they will want to clear their shelves so there are no mistakes made with sold items being counted as being in stock.

 

Being in the Colonies I have a desire that  shipments are as economical as possible, but from time to time I have had to accept that a shipment is made before another item comes in.  This is annoying but with today's shipping schedules, is only to be expected.

  • Agree 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

On 16/08/2021 at 15:46, Bishdurham said:

If they are about to do a stock-take they will want to clear their shelves so there are no mistakes made with sold items being counted as being in stock.


I thought the "trunk" was a completely separate area of shelves so surely this wouldn't be counted as any stock take as everything there is sold?

https://www.hattons.co.uk/newsdetail.aspx?id=777

That's what I gathered from the picture.
Although perhaps the picture is just of their warehouse and that's how they store items, which I'd say is a little mis-leading.

Link to post
Share on other sites

I cant see a problem with what Hattons are doing asking people to ship their trunks items.

 

Maybe they need the space occupied by the trunk storage to move things around in their warehouse to allow them to do their stocktake.

 

I, like many others, have saved a fair amount of money by being able to put items in a trunk whilst I built up enough to ship either for free or when I required them.

 

Rather than being criticised, Hattons should be applauded for offering the trunk service.

  • Like 2
  • Agree 4
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

I've never had to do it, but from what I've seen stocktaking is a right PITA. The less stuff there is to count, the better.

The sooner it's done, the sooner we can get back to 'normal'.

  • Like 1
  • Agree 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium
2 hours ago, Sir TophamHatt said:


I thought the "trunk" was a completely separate area of shelves so surely this wouldn't be counted as any stock take as everything there is sold?

https://www.hattons.co.uk/newsdetail.aspx?id=777

That's what I gathered from the picture.
Although perhaps the picture is just of their warehouse and that's how they store items, which I'd say is a little mis-leading.

 

I would very much doubt if goods in the trunks are isolated physically - only on the computer stock holding system.  Physically isolating goods in peoples' trunks doubles the amount of picking that has to be done.  That is a very time consuming action beaten only by counting and reconciling stocks in a stock take.  

  • Like 1
  • Agree 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

The stock in people's trunk needs to be counted as part of a stock take - it's usually a requirement of the auditors. It's stock in the warehouse - albeit pre-allocated to a customer order. Therefore it makes sense to get it shipped out beforehand so that they don't have to count it. This simplifies their stock take significantly. No warehouse wants to count stock if it can be avoided, so shipping out the contents of these trunks makes a lot of sense. I don't have a problem with Hatton's request and I shipped my trunk contents fairly soon after Hattons broached the subject.

 

I don't see what Hatton's have said as affecting the fundamentals of the trunk service. They have seen it adds value, particularly for their numerous customers outside the UK, so they will want to keep it going. I suspect they didn't think people would leave stock in their trunk for as long as they have...

  • Agree 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

Last year I received an email informing me that when someone went to 'pick' an item to put in my trunk they found that it wasn't there. They gave me a refund instead. This was before I had decided to ship anything in my trunk. This indicates to me that items do get 'picked' and placed in a 'trunk' in advance of any decision to ship, probably using spare time between normal 'picking'. This would save time overall as it means items in your trunk are ready to ship straight away. It also prevents those items being accidentally picked by someone else.

I expect this is all managed by a clever computer system, with the flesh-bots doing what it says, including stocktaking. :wacko:

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium
43 minutes ago, Nile said:

........................... This indicates to me that items do get 'picked' and placed in a 'trunk' in advance of any decision to ship, probably using spare time between normal 'picking'. This would save time overall as it means items in your trunk are ready to ship straight away. It also prevents those items being accidentally picked by someone else.

 

 

 

If you physically pick and place the items in a trunk, then when the shipping order arrives, you have to go to the box (picking) and physically check that al the items are there.  That does not save any time.   People do make mistakes and items might be put into someone else's box.  So there is just as much work picking from a pre-loaded trunk as doing the original picking.   So you are doing twice the work.

Link to post
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, Jon Harbour said:

I don't see what Hatton's have said as affecting the fundamentals of the trunk service. They have seen it adds value, particularly for their numerous customers outside the UK, so they will want to keep it going. I suspect they didn't think people would leave stock in their trunk for as long as they have...

Which raises another issue for Hattons - risk.  Items in the trunk are sold items which have been paid for, the longer items that Hattons no longer owns are stored on their premises the greater the risk of something averse happening to them (fire, flood, theft) or the person who paid for them simply never asking for them (forgotten, passed away).  In the case of something happening to the items they have to purchase insurance to cover stock they don't own, in the case of the latter, how long do you keep something in your warehouse that is never going to be asked for?

 

Then there is the physical space trunk items inhabit, which they might not have control over if lots of people start using the service to minimise postal charges etc.

  • Agree 2
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium
30 minutes ago, Andy Hayter said:

That does not save any time.

 

Yes it does. The items are all in one place, rather than spread over a large warehouse.

  • Like 1
  • Agree 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium
1 minute ago, Andy Hayter said:

It saves time on dispatch

 

That was my point. And I did say trunk picking could happen between normal picking if spare time was available. It comes down to resource management. It may be that if normal orders are keeping everyone busy then it doesn't happen.

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium
1 hour ago, Nile said:

This indicates to me that items do get 'picked' and placed in a 'trunk' in advance of any decision to ship

 

Actually, Neil, no they don't.  I've talked with Hattons about the process on a couple of occasions when they've given me a refund because 'the item wasn't there'.  When you ask for something to be put in your trunk, it gets allocated to your trunk but doesn't physically move.  It only actually moves when the picking list is raised, after you've asked for your trunk items to be shipped. 

 

So, in electronic stock control language, for 'picked' read 'allocated'.

 

For 'the item wasn't there' read  either 'our stock quantity was wrong' or 'you got pipped at the post by another customer', the latter being more likely than you'd think.  There is a very short period of time when it's possible to accidentally allocate one item to two customers, if they both order it within a few seconds of each other, before the stock control system has allocated the item to the first customer.  At that point, the system has to be manually unknotted, the customer who ordered the item first gets the allocation and the second customer gets the 'item wasn't there' email.  I'm told this happens most commonly during the scramble of customers to buy items from the pre-owned list after it's published every day. 

 

Pete T.

 

  • Thanks 1
  • Informative/Useful 3
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium

Thanks, that would explain why they want all trunks emptied before stocktaking. I've been pipped at the post a few times, but before I got to pay for them. 

  • Like 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium
11 minutes ago, Nile said:

I've been pipped at the post a few times, but before I got to pay for them.

You're welcome.  I've had it happen to me before paying, too, but I've also had it happen a handful of times after paying, which requires manual intervention on the part of someone at Hattons to sort it out, as you can probably imagine.

 

Pete T.

Link to post
Share on other sites

Of course they use separate boxes. They are just like component boxes.

 

They pick the items, put them in the box. Then pick more items next time. Put them in the box. Then when ready for dispatch they check the items on a handheld device and put them in one of Hattons huge boxes and send it to Warrington.

 

That doesn't take any longer than leaving them on the shelves. You are also talking about professional pickers that are capable of picking thousands of items an hour.

 

I think some of the people here need to do a few hours in a modern warehouse. It's common practice, particularly in the motor industry. I have a feeling that one of Hattons warehouse managers used to work for JLR where he probably used the technique.

 

I don't buy it when people say things like "I used to be a manager in a warehouse" as warehousing techniques have definitely changed over the last few years.

 

 

Jason

  • Agree 1
Link to post
Share on other sites

51 minutes ago, PJT said:

 

Actually, Neil, no they don't.  I've talked with Hattons about the process on a couple of occasions when they've given me a refund because 'the item wasn't there'.  When you ask for something to be put in your trunk, it gets allocated to your trunk but doesn't physically move.  It only actually moves when the picking list is raised, after you've asked for your trunk items to be shipped. 

 

So, in electronic stock control language, for 'picked' read 'allocated'.

 

For 'the item wasn't there' read  either 'our stock quantity was wrong' or 'you got pipped at the post by another customer', the latter being more likely than you'd think.  There is a very short period of time when it's possible to accidentally allocate one item to two customers, if they both order it within a few seconds of each other, before the stock control system has allocated the item to the first customer.  At that point, the system has to be manually unknotted, the customer who ordered the item first gets the allocation and the second customer gets the 'item wasn't there' email.  I'm told this happens most commonly during the scramble of customers to buy items from the pre-owned list after it's published every day. 

 

Pete T.

 

 

That's buying/selling though. Nothing to do with the warehouse. That part of the operation used to be located in Smithdown Road. 

 

Most of the bargains go "online" when the warehouse staff have left for the day. They move them to the boxes the next day. They start very early and finish about three. That's why the dispatches stop at two.

 

Maybe watch this. Pre trunk. But you get the idea.

 

 

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

  • RMweb Premium
28 minutes ago, Steamport Southport said:

I don't buy it when people say things like "I used to be a manager in a warehouse" as warehousing techniques have definitely changed over the last few years.

Ah, well, I didn't just 'used to be', I still am very much in that industry.  That's been my job for the last 35 years, working in and managing car parts manufacturing and distribution.  That includes working with/for Jaguar Land Rover, BMW, MG Rover, Unipart, Caterpillar, Autoflow, etc. (used to be an employee, now freelance, doing exactly the self same work), so I do have a fair degree of experience in current warehousing and distribution techniques.  Doesn't mean I always know what I'm talking about - far from it - but I assure you I wouldn't have written what I did above if I hadn't got it from the horse's mouth and understood it from a professional viewpoint.

 

Pete T.

 

Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...