Your company makes all this money...

[MichaelD]

So it's another "this etailer needs to wake up" thread. :roll:

This is the second time in 6 months I've ordered from Directron.

This is the second time in six months that the website has shown "in stock" or more accurately did NOT SHOW "OOS" or "NS" for said item. Many items on their website show such a designation, indicating "out of stock" so I duly ignore said items. The item I chose had no such "OOS" designation.

AND this is the second time in six months I get the "Dear customer, sorry for the inconvenience but 123xyz is OOS" email. :roll:

I mean, c'mon people~! Get your shit together and hire someone to tie in your stock tracking system (if you have one) with your website. Many etailers including much smaller ones do this very successfully. Some (like Provantage) even have a REAL TIME stock check function! If you click the checker launcher button thingy several times over the course of the day you can EVEN SEE the stock level drop! :Q Wow...who'da'thunk'it?

So yes, now I will take my $200 and buy the case somewhere else. Like you care about $200, right? Well, you should.

/flushes toilet

Ah, I feel much better now.

ps
Yes, I got the customer-service-oriented email in a semi-timely (about 2.5 days) manner. That doesn't change anything.

 

[slsmnaz]

if only warehousing was that simple

 

[iamwiz82]

Ever put your keys somewhere and forget where they were? Now multiply that by 5,000 different part numbers and 5,000 different possible locations.

 

[MichaelD]

Originally posted by: slsmnaz
if only warehousing was that simple

I'm no expert, but how about this? Every item your company sells gets a barcode label (or number written in magic marker) placed on the box/bag.

When you get stock, you go into the database and add "24" or "402" of "item 123456" into the system.

When you pick the item(s) from the bin for the order, you enter that into the database.

You have your website reference that database several times an hour. Websites are static content...this is not that difficult.

Am I close? Newegg gets it right (99% of the time) and Provantage has never been wrong and I order for my JOB thru them. (Big $$$$$$$ orders).

 

[slsmnaz]

You described the exact process very well (except for the RF guns ). However, you forgot that there are humans handling/putting away material. Just because it say "Goto location A01 and put item away" doesn't mean it always happens. Or there could be 10000 on the pallet and the receiving dock counts wrong. See where I'm going? Two times in 6 mos does not show me a trend.

 

[MichaelD]

Originally posted by: slsmnaz
Two times in 6 mos does not show me a trend.

If you're a business analyst it might not show you a trend. But if you are Joe Consumer (that would be ME) and you've ordered from the same place twice in six months and both times your order has to be canceled, that would definitely be a trend.

 

[Chronoshock]

While your complaint is valid, and its frustrating, its a non-trivial task. In realistic situations you need to buffer all stock amounts by some amount to deal with the nature of online purchases. When do you deduct from the stock? When someone puts it in their basket, orders it, has it shipped, or other? Each option has problems. It's impossible to give an exact number, the best they can do is probably an approximation to within a few hundred I imagine.

 

[slsmnaz]

Originally posted by: MichaelD

Originally posted by: slsmnaz
Two times in 6 mos does not show me a trend.

If you're a business analyst it might not show you a trend. But if you are Joe Consumer (that would be ME) and you've ordered from the same place twice in six months and both times your order has to be canceled, that would definitely be a trend.

:Q that's exactly what I am

 

[BigJ]

Originally posted by: slsmnaz
You described the exact process very well (except for the RF guns ). However, you forgot that there are humans handling/putting away material. Just because it say "Goto location A01 and put item away" doesn't mean it always happens. Or there could be 10000 on the pallet and the receiving dock counts wrong. See where I'm going? Two times in 6 mos does not show me a trend.

Seriously. The human end of things will make stock vary in all stores/warehouses. Whether it's miscounting, entering improper information, damaged goods not properly entered, or misplaced goos, there are a hundred things that can throw off the count when it comes to the people on the floor.

 

[13Gigatons]

I've never thought very highy of Directron. Stick with newegg.com and the better e-stores.

 

[MichaelD]

Just ordered a different case from MWave. Never had a problem w/them either. Of course it just works out that the case I wanted wasn't in stock anywhere else except Newegg. And they wanted $35 more shipping than Directron did.

So, I got a different case...and Directron lost business b/c they are complacent.

I wonder how many of you guys would NOT feel the same as I do given the exact same circumstances (see the OP). Hmm.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Newegg and MWave are the only PC parts vendors where I've always been able to trust the "in stock" listing.

I've never been burned by an Amazon.com in-stock-ships-immediately listing either, but anything that says "ships in x days" is a gamble. I had an import CD delayed several months before I cancelled and bought it sealed for half the cost from their "used" sellers.

ZZF and Directron are decent companies but their stock listing of "yes" really means "probably." Buy.com's "usually ships in 1-2 days" leaves out the " . . . or 2-3 weeks, do you feel lucky?"

I still order from Directron once in a while, but only for parts like fans and controllers that newegg doesn't carry.