rutlands customer service (not)

[markwuzere]

took a look at rutlands clearance offers the other day and ordered 4 600mm clamps as spares and a stuby pozzi2 screwdriver came to £17.75 plus £5.95 p&p only worth it coz the clamps were £4 each. Received an email yesterday after i got home from work to tell me that the clamps were gone so couldn,t have them so i emailed a reply cancelling the order as it was to late to phone them,

oh no in there wisdom they sent me the screwdriver and it arrived today
£ 1.74 + vat and £5.17 + vat p&P total £7.95 inc vat

so i rang them to ask if it maybe didn,t occur to them that i wouldn't want the screwdriver and that £5.95 p&p for a jiffy bag in the post wasn't a bit much.
ah say they item already posted when they got my email to cancel but they would reduce the p&p to £3
No that's still way to much for a stubby screwdriver and that common sense should have told them that and seen as id spent about £1000 with them so far this year i didn't think that was reasonable

Sales man says will consult with his boss and phone me back and does 30 mins later. his answer £3 p&p is best they will do
i asked if they were prepared to loose a customer over such a small sum of money and there reply
yes
so have removed myself from their email list and will not use them again

obviously they don't realise companies need customers to survive

ah and my work shop build starts this week so axminster it is for my goodies

sorry for the rant but feel better now

 

[MickCheese]

I have found their customer service to be very good. I ordered something from them, got it within a day or so as usual and then got an email with the item I had received discounted. A bit tongue in cheek I emailed them saying I was miffed that the item was now reduced and they credited my card with the difference.

I do understand you are angry and like you I think they should have at least offered to cancel your order when they realised that the bulk was not available.

Are you cutting off your nose to spite your face?

Axminster also has their critics.

Mick

 

[CNC Paul]

Mark,

Sorry to disappoint you Rutlands are owned by Axminster

 

[Mr Ed]

Mark,

Sorry to disappoint you Rutlands are owned by Axminster

Really? thats interesting, is it a recent acquisition?

Ed

 

[phil p]

Hi Mark,

don't blame you mate.

I had abit of hassle with them last year, nearly the same scenario and won't bore everyone with the details however it was regarding "sale items" and I too got nowhere with them.

I think its some sort of sales ploy they have.

Again, good on ya, and as you say in the long run, your trade is their loss!!!.

 

[Rob_H]

I've used them once a few months ago, experienced very poor customer service, and avoid them like the plague now.

 

[markwuzere]

Mark,

Sorry to disappoint you Rutlands are owned by Axminster

Really? thats interesting, is it a recent acquisition?

Ed

didn't know that , so not axminster then, ah well have always got on fine with dm tools and am sure if i look around i can find a few more places to deal with

 

[markwuzere]

Are you cutting off your nose to spite your face?

Axminster also has their critics.

Mick

no i dont think i am to be honest and if axminster is owned by rutlands i can see why they have their critics, however i have never dealt with them so can't say

 

[Chippyjoe]

I can understand your frustration with Rutlands over their attitude to the postage.
I for one have to say that on all the orders I have had with them,they have been ok.

I think that your reasoning over not ordering with Axminster is strange,I realise that some people on here have had problems with them (I'm sure every company has some bad feedback) but I have always found them to be very fair,helpfull and customer relations first class.

Only my opinion,and good luck with who ever you end up ordering with.

Mark.

 

[matt]

I would say they are in breach of their own order acceptance DSR statement:

Order Acceptance Terms..

Pressing the confirm button at the end of the checkout process will generate an automated order acknowledgement email detailing all of the products ordered. This is not confirmation of order acceptance by Rutlands Ltd.

Acceptance of your order and creation of a sales contract will only take place upon despatch of your order. If we are unable to accept your order, we will notify you by email or telephone.

Your order will not be accepted if:

1. The product ordered is no longer available from us.
2. We are unable to obtain authorisation for your given payment method.
3. The order is a result of an incorrect product description or price.

An email will be sent to you upon despatch of your order.

You are entitled to cancel your order at any time prior to despatch. If you wish to cancel once your order has been despatched, our returns procedure must be followed.

Given that P&P is charged on a per order basis then they shouldn't have accepted your order because they were unable to satisfy it. Their acceptance statement is too ambiguous and describes an "order" in terms of both the collective manner for a number of items and then referring to items in a singular manner. However, I would venture that this ambiguity should fall in your favour if they really want you to press the point.

I despise companies that deliberately fail to see how their lack of attention costs customers money.

In effect they've conned you in to placing an order. Imagine if you'd ordered enough to qualify for free delivery and then they'd been unable to supply products that caused your order to drop below the free delivery charge.

It would be different if they were offering to supply the clamps free of delivery charge at a later date but here they've blatantly sucked the value out of your purchase and left you to spend more money on P&P because you have to order the clamps from another company.

It's just not on. I would challenge them on it. You can be confident that each and every person at Rutlands would not be happy with being shafted in the way they've treated you and yet they all choose to hide behind it kinda not being their decision.

Makes me so angry.

 

[matt]

...and another thing:

What if I am unable to deliver the goods or start a service in
the time agreed or within the 30 days statutory limit?
3.17 If you cannot meet the 30 day deadline to deliver the goods or
perform the service, you must inform the consumer before the expiry
of the deadline. You and the consumer may agree a revised date
for delivery of the goods or performance of the service. But the
consumer does not have to agree to a revised date. If they do not
agree to a revised date, the contract must be treated as if it had not
been made, apart from any rights that the consumer has under it as
the result of the non-performance.
3.18 If you are unable to meet the deadline and have not agreed an
alternative delivery date with the consumer, you must refund all
money paid in relation to the contract including the postage and
packaging. Please see paragraph 3.49 for information on additional
services that may have been provided under a different contract.
The refund should be made as quickly as possible and within a
maximum of 30 days.
3.19 Any credit agreement associated with the purchase is also
automatically cancelled. For more information about refunds see
paragraphs 3.46 to 3.54.

So, my interpretation, is that they could not supply the goods in the time period agreed (or statutory 30 days) and therefore should have given you the option to cancel.

You should get the screwdriver for free IMO!

Right, I'm going to watch TV before my head explodes.

 

[andycktm]

I very much doubt if the salesman spoke to his boss.
He would have easily have had the power to waver the post himself.
It depends who you deal with, some salesmen/women act as if its coming out of their own pocket.
If you have spent £1k and wish to keep on shopping with them i would write to the m.d. tell him the facts.
And if you get no where then take your business else where they lose.

 

[Woody Alan]

Matt,

Thanks for taking the time...I'm with you 100% I was thinking it but lacked the enthusiasm to write it....calm ...I must be calm...Actually if you speak to your credit card company, they (rutlands) failed to deliver the original order, therefore you are entitled to refund and they collect at their cost at a time of your choosing. I have had to do this before with a company who refused to see the error of their cust service (so called) ways.

Alan

P.S I hope your head didn't explode

 

[Jake]

They are inconsistent - I had a similar experience with non-availability, but received a polite email saying that they could not fulfill the rest of the order, but could send one item. I was a bit slow responding and received another saying:

>
> Dear Mr [Me]
>>
> Thank you for placing your order with Rutlands Ltd.
>>
> As unfortunately all items on your order except one of the 488560-Festool Stop Flags on your order is now obsolete, we have cancelled these outstanding obsolete items from your order.
>>
> However, if we are to despatch the Stop Flag on your order, it would carry its own standard £5.95 carriage charge.
>>
> Due of this, please reply as soon as possible confirming whether you would like us to despatch this lone product and we will act accordingly. Please note that you can also add or amend the order in any way if you wish.
>
> We will hold your order until you are able to reply to prevent any further inconveniences.
>
> Please accept my sincere apologies for any inconveniences caused throughout your order with us.
>>
> If you have any enquiries or wish to amend your order in any way, please do not hesitate to contact Rutlands Ltd and we will assist as much as possible.
>
> Kind Regards,
>
> [Him]
>
> Customer Services

 

[big soft moose]

They are inconsistent - I had a similar experience with non-availability, but received a polite email saying that they could not fulfill the rest of the order, but could send one item. I was a bit slow responding and received another saying:

>
> Dear Mr [Me]
>>
> Thank you for placing your order with Rutlands Ltd.
>>
> As unfortunately all items on your order except one of the 488560-Festool Stop Flags on your order is now obsolete, we have cancelled these outstanding obsolete items from your order.
>>
> However, if we are to despatch the Stop Flag on your order, it would carry its own standard £5.95 carriage charge.
>>
> Due of this, please reply as soon as possible confirming whether you would like us to despatch this lone product and we will act accordingly. Please note that you can also add or amend the order in any way if you wish.
>
> We will hold your order until you are able to reply to prevent any further inconveniences.
>
> Please accept my sincere apologies for any inconveniences caused throughout your order with us.
>>
> If you have any enquiries or wish to amend your order in any way, please do not hesitate to contact Rutlands Ltd and we will assist as much as possible.
>
> Kind Regards,
>
> [Him]
>
> Customer Services

do they know you're a lawyer ? that might explain the difference in attitude

a freind of mine who's a journo allways uses her companies headed paper for such corespondence and gets very good service as a result.

 

[big soft moose]

Mark,

Sorry to disappoint you Rutlands are owned by Axminster

Really? thats interesting, is it a recent acquisition?

Ed

didn't know that , so not axminster then, ah well have always got on fine with dm tools and am sure if i look around i can find a few more places to deal with

ive never had a problem with axminster or d&M but if you really want top notch service Peter Helmsley at Toolpost is a good guy to deal with - though his range isn't as big as the big boys

mind you for run of the mill tools like clamps and a screw driver i would probably use screwfix or toolstation - their service isnt 100% either but they are cheap and decent value.

 

[oddsocks]

i invoked my 2 year rule on rutlands some years ago - I had ordered a planer thicknesser and had a confirmed delivery date. It passed, salesman said it was on the dock in UK....next call it was still at sea, next call (some more weeks later) it had not left china....at which time I cancelled the order and vowed not to order from them for 2 years.

That time has passed and I have used them a few times since, but only for their sale items and have actually had good service, but I doubt if I would order anything big or that needed a warranty via them - as the numerous posts on this forum have shown, their response is variable.

 

[Nick.]

Mark,

Sorry to disappoint you Rutlands are owned by Axminster

:shock: :shock: :shock: :lol:

are you sure about this CNC Paul?????????

That's news to me if it's true...I'm 99.9% sure that's not the case though

Internet conspiracy theories get better by the day.

I was in Axminster last week and spotted Lord Lucan welding their bandsaw blades together in the machine shop - 100% true now it's been said on the net :twisted:

 

[Digit]

I was in Axminster last week and spotted Lord Lucan welding their bandsaw blades together in the machine shop

Rubbish! He works in my local B and Q!

Roy.

 

[CNC Paul]

Mark,

Sorry to disappoint you Rutlands are owned by Axminster

:shock: :shock: :shock: :lol:

are you sure about this CNC Paul?????????

That's news to me if it's true...I'm 99.9% sure that's not the case though

Internet conspiracy theories get better by the day.

I was in Axminster last week and spotted Lord Lucan welding their bandsaw blades together in the machine shop - 100% true now it's been said on the net :twisted:

That's what I was told, as you say yet another Internet conspiracy theory.


You lied about Lord Lucan... I was told it was Bob Marley 8)