Internet ordering in the World of Archery

Newalpost

New member
I guess many of you have had similar experiences with ordering stuff over the internet but this is the first problem I've run into in the World of Archery - and there's a clue there.

I live on the Ilse of Skye and internet shopping is extremely useful. In the majority of cases delivery charges are no different from the rest of Great Britain. Some companies however do have a lack of understanding of geography or they have their own interpretation of UK Mainland. I once had a company who said they would only deliver as far as the ferry, when in fact we have a piece of tarmac that allows me to get to Lands End or John o'Groats without getting my feet wet.

I decided to order a layered foam target boss and did some searching around to get the best price including delivery. The supplier that seemed to offer the best had no way of indicating delivery costs unless you went through the process of actually ordering i.e name, address, email etc - something I'm reluctant to do if the final price is then not acceptable. So I used a fictitious name and address but same post code and got an acceptable delivery charge. ?16.75 + vat. After which I then went in to correctly place the order.

The money was taken and then I got an email to say that the delivery cost would be another ?30 - making it over ?50 on an ?85 boss. I was told this was the cheapest option and it would be Fed-Ex. I decided to cancel rather than put up a fight and they did refund the money quickly - or so I thought. Because of the vagaries of the banking system it would appear that it may take over 30 days before it appears bank in my account. Leaving me with the problem of not having the money to re-order somewhere else.

As it happens it took only 4 days. So I emailed another company, Merlin, and asked for the delivery charge. The told me ?19.95 +vat; I ordered; its been shipped.

Quite a number of companies we use only take payment just prior to shipment, a practice I think others would be wise to put in place if they don't want to loose business, since I wont be going back to the original on-line shop. But then I guess the majority of orders they take go through without problem and they don't care about loosing me.

Buyer Beware
Colin
 

dvd8n

Supporter
Supporter
AIUK Saviour
It does seem a ridiculous extra amount of money considering the bridge is only 500m long and there's not even a toll.
 

Rik

Supporter
Supporter
I get hacked off when a huge delivery charge is whacked on for delivery to NI, where, if they used Royal Mail, it should cost no more than the rest of the UK... I'm talking about small packet items rather than things which require a courier.

<edit> And all those sites trumpetting "Free UK delivery" which need a "(but not you)" subtitle :bang:
 

Whitehart

Well-known member
I don't think the OP was referring to us.

The problem is the larger items where weight/size not value are the main factor in pricing. I would guess the majority of packages shipped by dealers fall into the "Small Package Category" and the most efficient route where couriers require a surcharge for "remote areas" is to use Royal Mail. Most couriers will go out of their way not to accept bosses of any size, basically they take up too much room in the van and reduce the number of deliveries a driver can do in a day. Even Parcel Force have length limits which also preclude the majority of bosses. You should see the reps faces when you tell them they cannot have the easy stuff if they don't take the harder stuff at a sensible rate.

Couriers also work on postcodes for pricing, not the real world so you could only be 10 minutes from a major town but your postcode says otherwise and incurs a surcharge even when the courier drives by your house on the way to the next town.

Couriers want an easy life to make a profit - with the growth of the internet they can afford to be picky with drivers averaging 90 - 100 deliveries a day a 90cm boss can be the equivalent of 10 deliveries at ?3 or ?4 each.

Another factor is the conveyor belts do not take kindly to bosses and they have to be manually transferred from collection/Local Depot/Central Depot to Local Delivery Depot and on to the Van.

Fedex Finest Work.jpg
 

Rog600

Member
FWIW Colin, we're heading up your neck of the woods in summer and if we've room in the van, I'll happily bring archery clobber your way. (You're not and landy nut from Dunvegan are you by any chance?)
 

Newalpost

New member
Rog....

If I increase the poundage ten fold I could probably hit Dunvegan - with a following wind. We have a club in Dunvegan, which meets every other Sunday at the school field; and one in Portree which meets every Sunday, in the community hall, but has an adults only session every other Sunday. Both on Facebook if you do that sort of thing.

Thanks for the offer but the deal is now done with Merlin.
 

Newalpost

New member
Whatever the business model of couriers is it still doesn't explain why some suppliers have vastly differing shipping costs considering their geographical location. In my case Merlin are further away than Archery World, yet the shipping cost difference is almost 2:1

But the case still exists that some on-line shops take money long before they ship and as my case has shown decide to change the actual overall cost after they've got it.
 

Gold Flinger

New member
Fonz Awardee
My biggest gripe is sellers who advertise items as "in stock", take your order and then inform you that you'll have to wait a week while it comes from their supplier!

I had this problem recently when ordering from Red Frog Archery in Irvine. Unfortunately, I fell into the trap and placed the order thinking it was a big seller with a good range of stock. I couldn't have been more wrong and my subsequent, ongoing problems are detailed on another thread.

In future, I'll stick to Merlin who have been fantastic. I've had a great experience so far from Longbow Shop too, not the cheapest but excellent customer service... And I imagine they understand consumer law too!
 

Newalpost

New member
My biggest gripe is sellers who advertise items as "in stock", take your order and then inform you that you'll have to wait a week while it comes from their supplier!

I had this problem recently when ordering from Red Frog Archery in Irvine. Unfortunately, I fell into the trap and placed the order thinking it was a big seller with a good range of stock. I couldn't have been more wrong and my subsequent, ongoing problems are detailed on another thread.

In future, I'll stick to Merlin who have been fantastic. I've had a great experience so far from Longbow Shop too, not the cheapest but excellent customer service... And I imagine they understand consumer law too!
Back to back ordering has been around for many, many years. There are a couple of Archery Shops I've come across that do this and although when you order it says shipping 3-5 days, they mean once they've got around to actually sending out their door. However, I'm not usually in that much of a hurry so if the price is good I'll wait. The biggest irritation though can be Amazon Marketplace. Usually I'm pretty careful now at looking where the goods are coming from but once in a while my mouse finger twitches prematurely then I find the goods are coming on a slow boat from China.

My target boss arrived yesterday, so many thanks to Merlin. Now I need some good weather.
 

Gold Flinger

New member
Fonz Awardee
Is it legal? If you're advertising goods as "in stock", surely they are being sold on that basis. Not "in stock at my wholesaler who will deliver to me and then I'll forward it on"...
 

Newalpost

New member
Is it legal? If you're advertising goods as "in stock", surely they are being sold on that basis. Not "in stock at my wholesaler who will deliver to me and then I'll forward it on"...
Tricky one really. Twenty people view an item on line and only 2 are in stock. They all push the buy button but who gets it and who has to wait?
 

Gold Flinger

New member
Fonz Awardee
But that's not really the case - the seller even told me, when challenged - that he couldn't possibly stock everything and that he ordered from his suppliers when he got orders!
 

KidCurry

Well-known member
AIUK Saviour
But that's not really the case - the seller even told me, when challenged - that he couldn't possibly stock everything and that he ordered from his suppliers when he got orders!
I don't think archers expect shops to hold everything but you do expect them to hold everything that is listed as 'In-Stock'. I mean, what else could it possibly mean? I just had a look at a few of the respected suppliers and to be fair they do list as: In-stock, limited stock contact us, special order, 3-10 day delivery and it is quite clear what they have. Checked some smaller suppliers and found items listed as: 'available'?, check our supplier, and 'In-stock' for the whole range of Hoyt Prevails in all colours, weights and draw lengths. No small supplier or even large supplier will stock all these.

When I started my online company I really underestimated the time it takes to control stock well, and I only supply a small range of manufacture-to-order archery items. I guess these smaller companies just don't have the manpower to deal with online stock control. I stick with my tried and tested suppliers.
 

dvd8n

Supporter
Supporter
AIUK Saviour
I'd be pretty upset with a company that claimed to have stuff in stock that wasn't. I'd much rather that they were honest and estimated time to supply.
 

Gold Flinger

New member
Fonz Awardee
I'd be pretty upset with a company that claimed to have stuff in stock that wasn't. I'd much rather that they were honest and estimated time to supply.
I agree, I placed the order with Red Frog on a Monday morning hoping I'd have it in time for the weekend. I then got a reply saying it wouldn't be delivered to HIM until the Friday!
By that point, it was too late to try and find another supplier that would be able to get it to me in time for the weekend, so I had to suck it up.
What annoys me more is that he took ?7.95 off me for 3-5 day delivery and I didn't receive it until 7 or 8 days later... It's dishonest.
 

fbirder

Member
What annoys me more is that he took ?7.95 off me for 3-5 day delivery and I didn't receive it until 7 or 8 days later... It's dishonest.
In that situation I demand a refund of part of the delivery cost. It's part of the same legislation - The Sale of Goods and Services Act.
 

Gold Flinger

New member
Fonz Awardee
In that situation I demand a refund of part of the delivery cost. It's part of the same legislation - The Sale of Goods and Services Act.
I think you might be right fbirder... I took a screenshot of the page saying it was "in stock" when I ordered, and I've just checked - his delivery option clearly states 3-5 days delivery.
I think I'll pass this information on to Trading Standards as part of my ongoing claim against Red Frog Archery.
 

Jimbow

New member
Have the same problem here in Inverness and we are definitely "Mainland". There is a north of Scotland tariff. Some of it is the couriers they charge on volume as well as distance and if they are sending one million parcels a year to Edinburgh and one thousand a year further north then they up the price. They also transfer to smaller couriers the further north it gets, you may start with one courier but they can transfer to another at Perth etc. I think suppliers could do more but is it worth their effort for the relatively small amount of sales in the highlands?
 

Marcus37

New member
I have yet to have any of these issues when ordering archery kit online, mind it's been arrows and small bits n bobs. But I did have this issue when cycling was my hobby several years ago. Some items are heavy and did incur extra shipping costs, as much as this annoyed me I realised it was just part of online shopping.

But I do think that websites saying things are "In stock" when they are not is just wrong, a few times I ordered bits I needed for the following weekend to receive a email telling me my item will take up to 10 days to arrive as it has to be ordered from a supplier, this winds me up no end. So far so good with archery kit though fingers crossed.
 
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