I ordered a quantity of Lager from a 'prime' concern , who stipulated that
the recipient must show identification before delivery. I was disappointed
to see the carrier was a notorious dallying mob. Having had dealings with
them before I expected the delivery to take weeks, but the tracking said
it will be delivered the next day up to 8pm. The day came and went and no
sign of delivery. I contacted the supplier and cancelled the order due to carriers not meeting the delivery point. Amazingly it was delivered the
next day, with labels stuck all over it showing it was a next day prime delivery.

The funniest part, was that the delivery man dumped the package on the
doorstep without any identification and ran off.

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A few weeks ago I wanted to buy a shirt suitable for semi-professional occasions like committee meetings, but all those I could find in the
local retailers and online did not have top pockets - except one or two
in odd sizes which were clearly the remains of last year's stock. When
did top pockets go out of fashion? I find them invaluable for holding
a pen, or my rail tickets, or even a small screwdriver. Of course you
can get extra pockets on shirts sold by the Jermyn Street retailers at
£50 a shirt or more, but that seems a bit much.

Finally I found what I wanted on the website of Debenhams.com - to my
surprise still trading online. I ordered one shirt, it came promptly
and fitted me ok. So I ordered two more in different shades. These
came but in a package with two items that I had not ordered - a pair of trousers and what I think was a women's blouse.

I tried to work out how to send just these items back. After several
email exchanges they emailed me a returns label. So I sent back just
these two unwanted items. In due course my entire order was refunded,
which I hadn't asked for. I don't think this was generosity, I think
their system just couldn't cope with a mistake being rectified via their returns system and they failed to notice I was returning just 2 items
out of the 4 that they had sent. I guess some unfortunate customer is
still trying to find out where their trousers and blouse have got to.

I'm now in two minds about ordering from them again, but in the mean
time I gather that Debenhams has been acquired by the Boohoo group. No
doubt they needed a shake up, but will this make their system worse or better...


--
Clive Page

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On Fri, 28 Mar 2025 11:09:16 +0000, Clive Page wrote:

A few weeks ago I wanted to buy a shirt suitable for semi-professional occasions like committee meetings, but all those I could find in the
local retailers and online did not have top pockets - except one or two
in odd sizes which were clearly the remains of last year's stock. When
did top pockets go out of fashion? I find them invaluable for holding
a pen, or my rail tickets, or even a small screwdriver. Of course you
can get extra pockets on shirts sold by the Jermyn Street retailers at
£50 a shirt or more, but that seems a bit much.

Finally I found what I wanted on the website of Debenhams.com - to my surprise still trading online. I ordered one shirt, it came promptly
and fitted me ok. So I ordered two more in different shades. These
came but in a package with two items that I had not ordered - a pair of trousers and what I think was a women's blouse.

I tried to work out how to send just these items back. After several
email exchanges they emailed me a returns label. So I sent back just
these two unwanted items. In due course my entire order was refunded,
which I hadn't asked for. I don't think this was generosity, I think
their system just couldn't cope with a mistake being rectified via their returns system and they failed to notice I was returning just 2 items
out of the 4 that they had sent. I guess some unfortunate customer is
still trying to find out where their trousers and blouse have got to.

I'm now in two minds about ordering from them again, but in the mean
time I gather that Debenhams has been acquired by the Boohoo group. No
doubt they needed a shake up, but will this make their system worse or better...

It's not just Debenhams: Asda are still suffering tech fallout from
their separation from Walmart nearly four years ago. <https://www.theregister.com/2025/03/19/asda_walmart_tech_divorce/>

Nick

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Clive Page wrote:

the website of Debenhams.com - to my surprise still trading online.

Just the brand name of the defunct Debenhams Plc, now owned/operated by
Boohoo ...

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On 28/03/2025 11:09, Clive Page wrote:

I'm now in two minds about ordering from them again, but in the mean time I gather that Debenhams has been acquired by the Boohoo group.  No doubt they

Years ago, but they are now rebranding to Debenhams.

needed a shake up, but will this make their system worse or better...

https://www.dematic.com/en-us/events/webinars/2023/e-commerce-distribution-made-easy/

Ocado don't seem to want to handle returns, even with non-perishable
goods and their own delivery service.

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In message <m4neasFnak2U1@mid.individual.net>, at 11:09:16 on Fri, 28
Mar 2025, Clive Page <usenet@page2.eu> remarked:

A few weeks ago I wanted to buy a shirt suitable for semi-professional >occasions like committee meetings, but all those I could find in the
local retailers and online did not have top pockets - except one or two
in odd sizes which were clearly the remains of last year's stock. When
did top pockets go out of fashion? I find them invaluable for holding
a pen, or my rail tickets, or even a small screwdriver. Of course you
can get extra pockets on shirts sold by the Jermyn Street retailers at
£50 a shirt or more, but that seems a bit much.

I feel your pain. Last year I had a similar requirement, and when the
shirt arrived it turned out the top pocket wasn't a pocket, but just
some extra stitching which made if look like it had a top pocket.
--
Roland Perry

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