spikey

Hurrah! We have a result. I have finally got an email just now from the firm concerned in which they undertake to deliver the goods I ordered as soon as circumstances permit, and to keep me updated meanwhile on the EDD. That's what been lacking all along. All I've previously had is waffle and excuses. Now I'm resigned to waiting it out, and making an S75 claim if they go bust in the meantime. I can live with that. Thank you once again, gentlemen.

Mrs Spikey has just pointed out that we don't actually want to cancel the order because they can't deliver it in a timely manner. What we want is the roofing sheets which we have paid for which they are currently unable to deliver, and that's a different matter. When looked at like this, we seem to be getting into force majeure, as Jeremy C suggested earlier. I'll email them now and see what happens ...

Further enquiries seem to indicate that the firm I ordered from merely takes orders which it then passes to firms which deliver using their own transport. The sheets were ordered from a pull-down menu of various lengths in 6" intervals. No provision to specify an exact length, so I assumed they were stock sizes, not custom cut. However, I didn't notice the small print cunningly placed way down the page which stated that the sheets are custom cut. So they're sort of "custom cut" in the sense that the firm listing them offers a choice of cut lengths, but not custom cut in the sense of cut to the customer's exact requirement. I still need the sheets for repair, but not now urgently.

Indeed, and I didn't imply that they had. What they did do is fail to appraise me of the prevailing situation as it developed, as a consequence of which they sit on £135 of my money for an indefinite period. But enough from me. I'll pursue an S75 claim or a chargeback whilst mugging up on force majeure and report back in due course if and when I have a result. Thank you to all who offered opinions and suggestions.

Oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh. Good point, Jeremy. I certainly need to look into that. Thank you.

Exactly. But instead they kept schtum until the sheets were actually cut, at which point, according to the small print on their website, the punter has no choice but to let them deliver the goods whenever. But whatever, life goes on and I'll have a crack at S75. One thing I will never understand, especially in the light of my own experience in keeping stressed-out punters happy over long timescales, is how come so many firms still do not understand that keeping the customer in the dark is always counter-productive.

Thanks gents. To my surprise I've now been favoured with an email to the effect that I can't cancel the order because the sheets have already been cut i.e. they are a custom product as stated on their website. And indeed it does state that on the page I ordered on, but in small print at the bottom of 19 spaced-out lines of guff about other stuff you might need, how to account for sheet overlap, why choose this product etc. So ... the position seems to be that they cannot deliver my order because "the depot from which it was to be delivered has closed due to CV", they do not know when it will re-open, and they will not refund me on the grounds that I ordered a custom-made product. I'll therefore give it while to settle and try for a Section 75 ...

Thank you, gentlemen. Always useful to get the opinion of others. Given that they're not answering the phone and that it was an upbill struggle getting the delivery prmise from them which they''ve now broken, I've emailed cancelling the order. I requested a refund, pointing out that in the present circumstances I can no longer afford to have the funds tied up indefinitely.

The Grocer's website is reporting a 10% rise in the price of chickenfeed, so stand by for the price of eggs going up before much longer. I wonder why, exactly. And whether other cereals will follow PDQ. And how much longer we've got before we have to get used to the inevitable price rises across the board ...

That's my biggest concern - as I understand it, Section 75 doesn't apply because the goods are under £100. It's only the addition of the very high delivery charge that takes the total over £100. On the one hand I can see that in the present circumstances I could allow them some leeway, but on the other all I've had since early last week is obfuscation and a broken promise of delivery. ATEOTD it's not vital that the goods get here today, tomorrow or even next week - but it is vital that I don't end up £135 out of pocket.

On 16th March I placed an order online for some roofing material to be delivered to my home address. Estimated delivery time was 7/14 days, and the total cost was £134.34 made up of £56.43 product, £78.00 shipping and handling (!) and £22.39 VAT. I paid by credit card, which was debited immediately. A week later, the order was still showing online as "processing", so I phoned to enquire why. I was reassured that that was normal, and I should not be concerned. Long story short, after two more phone calls and three emails, I finally got an assurance that the order would be delivered "Mon-Wed" this week. It's now Wednesday, the order is still showing as "processing", and I have given up what little remaining hope I had of seeing the goods delivered as promised. If you were in this situation, what would be your next move?

They've probably been checking up on you and decided that you don't quite fit their ideal customer demographic. I wonder, do you buy enough expensive biscuits in packets with pictures of trees on? Order only single-estate Fairtrade coffee? The finest Kalamata olives hand-stuffed with sundried heritage tomatoes? Unpronounceable artisan cheeses? I assume that your subscription to Country Life is paid up? And that you wear only natural fibres? Perhaps if you could tick just one more box on their list, they'd let you spend your money with them again ...

Maybe. All I know is that according to the driver (a pleasant young chap wearing a facemask) our order came from the "depot" at Gatwick, not a supermarket. I guess he meant a dark store. Gatwick is 25 miles from us!

I remember walking through a building site around 1982 and noseying round the nearly-finished houses. IIRC, as you went from one house to the next, the bathroom suites were avocado, peach, pink, blue, avocado, peach, pink, blue, avocado ...

Looks like the situation might be easing at Tesco online too. We've just been favoured with the delivery I booked back in the days when you could actually get a slot (i.e. nearly a fortnight ago), and to my complete amazement and delight, one substitute and one OOS-no-subs-allowed out of a total of 71 items!

I'm not sure how instructions on how to make yourself a mask are irrelevant to those who don't have masks, but maybe that's just me being thick

OK, in the perhaps vain hope that I can post this without provoking a whole heap of argument 'twixt believers and non-believers in masking up, here's a nifty DIY guide which somebody might find of interest. Apparently this has been particularly well received in the Czech Republic, where persons are encouraged to mask up if they're outside their homes by the slogan "My mask protects you, your mask protects me" ... https://btnmask.gitlab.io/

Or those sorely afflicted by The Farmers ...

Did he perchance say why?

Acknowledged to be bluff at the time. It was merely a ruse to allay suspicion that the reason for night-fighters suddenly becoming more successful was actually the introduction of the first AI radar sets.

Yes. I read it this morning. I merely posted the link in the hope, as i said, that somebody might find it useful - perhaps somebody who doesn't look at the BBC website?

OK guys ... don't shoot the messenger: I am merely posting this link in case somebody here finds it useful. https://www.fox2detroit.com/news/sanitize-groceries-discard-takeout-containers-immediately-doctor-demonstrates-sterile-technique

I'll vote for that. Until such time though I'll gladly settle for being elderly but not vulnerable. BTW, am I right in assuming that, in the UK and in this context, "elderly" means aged 70 or over?

I wonder ... would that be elderly customers and venerable ones, or just the very few who might be both elderly and venerable?

They did it to annoy you.