Cumulus Support

I am new to this forum. I have seen many people refer to Maplin, and didn't know what it was. So I Googled it and found it. Wow! This place is cool. I wish there was an outlet such as this in the US.

Radio Shack? - if they are still going?

Isn't RadioShack pretty much the same thing? We used to have "Tandy" shops in the UK, which were RadioShack under a different name, and I seem to remember them being broadly similar to Maplin.

Yea..Radio Shack is still around. But they are not nearly as good as they once were. I've gone there several times for some pretty common stuff, and they very often do not have it. They are nothing in comparison to Maplin for diversity of products. Radio Shack used to be kind of a "one stop shop" for electronics. But not any more. And as far as I'm concerned, they are way over priced as well. Therefore, I do most of my electronics shopping online.

Jim

Jsears wrote:I am new to this forum. I have seen many people refer to Maplin, and didn't know what it was. So I Googled it and found it. Wow! This place is cool. I wish there was an outlet such as this in the US.

I'd count your blessings if I were you - having a total nightmare with them right now. They have both the money and the goods and now expect me to wait 2 weeks or maybe 2 months. That can leave a pretty nasty taste as retail experiences go. 21 e-mails so far this week. Grrr...

Yeah, I know, no one ever said life would be fair. Oddly, knowing that, and all the other cliches, does not make it feel in the slightest bit alright.

I think I'd be trying to get a refund, and re-ordering the merchandise from someone else, unless it's an absolute killer price, or you can't get it from anyone else.

Jsears wrote:I think I'd be trying to get a refund, and re-ordering the merchandise from someone else, unless it's an absolute killer price, or you can't get it from anyone else.

Hehe, yeah, I started out asking for a replacement because it was a killer price, well after a fashion, but hindsight is 20-20.

They sent a courier to pick it up, however while packing it for return it became clear that it was a lemon all the way through. Anyway, once they got it back, they decided it was the right time to mention that they were not going to have any stock until November 28th this year.

I decided that this was not entirely realistic, so said I felt it made sense to switch and opt for a refund since they were not able to supply the goods in a reasonable time frame.

I had not realised that this would cause them to invoke their special 14 day delay clause, and this is for technical staff to check the goods first!

I'm not convinced this is entirely reasonable. Partly reasonable, perhaps, but not entirely, there are better ways this can be handled. There's quite a bit more to it than that, but I don't want to bore all and sundry rigid with it, especially since it's mostly rather unpleasant stuff. No customer needs treating this way. I know this from significant experience in retail.

Anyway as a customer experiences goes, this one soon feels pretty shabby once you get to experience it. It's clearly one of those companies which gets it's kicks staying within the letter of the law, but right on the edge of it and therefore only just within it. In spirit of course they are right out there in the bad lands. Exasperating children really.

Well in Maplin's defence I have to say my experience is completely the opposite.

Admittently my experience started with them sending me the wrong goods, but I rang Customer Services and they couldn't have been more helpful. Return code issued with Freepost return in original parcel, and replacement goods dispatched that day and received the day after.

So all I can say is it depends on the circumstances of your order Flying Eye!!

I accept you have to take as you find but I have to agree with you David, my experience with their Customer Service has always been good

water01 wrote:Well in Maplin's defence I have to say my experience is completely the opposite.

Admittently my experience started with them sending me the wrong goods, but I rang Customer Services and they couldn't have been more helpful. Return code issued with Freepost return in original parcel, and replacement goods dispatched that day and received the day after.

So all I can say is it depends on the circumstances of your order Flying Eye!!

Agreed, if they have what you need in stock, and they can get it to you, and it's not faulty from day one, then it's a wholly different experience.

However if it requires good stock control, and any sort of in depth customer services then it's likely to become a bit of a horror story, I really wish I'd googled about that before buying. I have now, and found mine is far from a rare situation apparently. The company appears to have not done so well in a number of areas since it's last buy out. It's very sad to see. First Tandy, and now Maplin, and I don't think there is another waiting in the wings. To be clear, the staff I've dealt with are fine, as far as their brief goes, but those in upper management have used red tape to tie their hands to the point where those doing the job of delivering a good outcome don't actually have one to deliver.