Problems ordering from Cousins?

[louisella76]

Hi - has anyone ever had problems when ordering from Cousins Tools? I placed an order for a Foredom pendant motor earlier today (I was ridiculously excited as have been coveting one for so long) and at the end of the processing received a message to say that that although the order was complete and payment taken, they weren't sending order confirmation emails (which seems odd); the order wasn't showing in the history in the self service area on their site either so I called them to check - unfortunately I seemed to get the rudest customer service advisor who wasn't remotely interested in helping - she just said she couldn't see the order and all she could suggest I do was to call my bank to see if payment had been taken! Just wondered if anyone else has had problems with their site / service before as they seem to have a good reputation from what I can tell (and sadly it did burst my pendant drill bubble a tad!)

[mizgeorge]

Whilst the guys in the showroom are lovely, I've always found their telephone people absolutely atrocious. Unhelpful, uninterested and nobody there has the faintest idea about any of the products. I once range to ask a question, and was told I'd need to ring the showroom for an answer. I asked if I could be transferred, and when that wasn't possible asked for the phone number to call direct. The answer was to try directory enquiries - they didn't know the number there....

I would check with your bank - if you have online banking it should show pretty quickly, but I find the bit about not sending confirmation emails very odd, I'm sure I've always had them in the past.

[Tabby66]

Aaaaw, louisela!!
I'm not surprised!! That does sound poor :(
I've not ordered off them online for past 6+ months at least, but their service has always been impeccable and (though I see you're Devon based, if you can ever get to the Birmingham shop) they could not be more helpful.
I do know that their on-line depot is based elsewhere to their shop(s?), I google searched a bit to get the B'ham shop number, when I had some confusion and they sorted it in a flash!!

Hopefully their service hasn't gone down the pan :(

[Didi]

Hi louisela
I have to agree with you. Their telephone people are truly dreadful. However, if you can get to the shop they are the most helpful, friendly, courteus guys. Never had a problem in the shop, with the quality of products but buying on line from them ..... avoid
Didi

[Tabby66]

Think George and Didi have said what I meant far more succinctly.........

[kymbi]

Oh dear, customer services don't sound too helpful but fortunately, I've not had to ring Cousins. I did an online order from them recently and got an email confirmation of my purchase order immediately, so I don't know what's happened there. Hopefully, it's just a computer glitch and your Foredom is on order....fingers crossed.

[silken]

Aww, I'm sorry! Isn't it such a huge let down when you've paid (a lot of money) for a new tool you've been wanting for so long and the customer service is useless. I know how you feel. Don't let it burst your bubble, I was eyeing up the Foredoms today in the jewellery quarter and was wishing my bank account would somehow grow some more money so I could buy one!

I was actually in the Cousins shop in Birmingham today and can echo what everyone else has said, they are very friendly and helpful and go out of their way to help, even when I bring in a huge list of product codes from their website and they have to run around the shop to find all the items. I've never had to phone them before though. Anyway, a company is obliged to acknowledge your order within a reasonable amount of time as far as I'm aware so this seems very odd. Maybe you might get more help by phoning one of the stores, I think they have access to customer accounts but I'm not 100% certain. If they do, I can guarantee that they will try to help you :)

[ps_bond]

I'm chuckling about discussion of a nominal competitor on the forum...

I've not had the negative experience on the phone myself; I had an order go astray a wee while back and they were very helpful. Turned out that it had been sent to an address that hadn't been on my address book for a good while, so it was interesting trying to track down where that had been retained. A day or so after flagging it to them & it arrived safe & sound.

[Tabby66]

Hi Louisella

If you're still having problems, or just want to let them know what problems you've had, give the Birmingham boys a call at the shop on 0121 237 5600

They'll get you sorted and feedback to the boss!!

Tabby

[Anna Wales]

This is the 1st firm that I have dealt with that refuse to accept returns from a business customer! The telephone chap was polite but totally uninterested in listening to my enquiries. Certainly the 1st and last time I deal with this lot.

[Dennis]

Yes their terms and conditions state that their sales are business to business transactions, so distance selling regulations don't apply. A bit of a turn off.

[Anna Wales]

Certainly turned off me in a big way as a potential business customer, Dennis.

[silken]

Ouch, that's bad! I've not had any problems with them but I would be furious if I bought something faulty or not up to scratch and they refused a refund. Just bad practice as far as I'm concerned. DSR's should be relevant to all internet/telephone/catalogue sales because even as a business, we are still consumers and still don't get to inspect the product until it arrives. How are we meant to know if it is suitable or not until we have received it? That is what the DSR's are meant to protect us from, unsuitable goods that we cannot physically inspect until they arrive (amongst other things)...oh well, meanies.

[Tabby66]

Oooer!! BIG ouch!!
Well, since I would now count as a business to business customer, I will definately NOT be ordering online from them again :(

[SJEgan]

You're not alone I ordered a bunch of repousse hammers, 5 of them for approx £70 quid altogether and some were rusted some were visibly scratched all were marking the metal in some way, so I rang them, was told to return online, I did, and I waited and waited heard nothing after about 2 weeks logged in and they had completed my return form several days back, by saying these hammers are not for texturing therefore does not matter that they are scratched, despite their description saying it was one of the uses. I phoned again was told to go online I said I had and that I couldn't do anymore on there and they said well we can't do anything, it was a circular argument in the end he said I could try writing a letter, but not like he believed it would help. I was eyeing up a few things on their site but since this is my first order with them I will be avoiding them like the plague!

[louisella76]

Hi all - very interesting to see the of commments about this. Thought I'd post an update about my order - after going rounds the houses (numerous times!) including calls to Cousins and my bank, I finally managed to get things sorted.

Tabby - thanks so much for the number in Birmingham, you were right, the people there couldn't be any more different to those on the helpline. The guy I spoke to was really helpful and although he couldn't access my online order, he arranged for the manager to call me to discuss what had happened.

It turns out Cousins were upgrading their site on Thursday and it messed up about 300 orders - I'm usually very patient if there's an IT issue at fault as long as a company's customer services department can find out what's happening- sadly the person I'd spoken to wasn't remotely interested (ironically when I spoke to the manager, he said had he been aware of the website problem earlier, they could have put steps in quicker to stop it - he only found about 3 hours after my call so they haven't really helped themselves)

To give credit though, from the point he called me, he dealt with it really well and I'm now the proud owner of a pendant drill (I don't think I've ever been so pleased to have been woken up by Royal Mail so early on a Saturday morning!). He did also mention that any feedback submitted on the website goes directly to him so may be worth using that as a point of contact for anyone having problems (not sure he'll thank me for that but at the end of the day I think it's important a company knows where they're doing well / not so well)

I think it's a shame when some people work so hard to represent a company well and it only then takes the odd few to ruin a reputation. From what I've read on here about problems with returns etc I think I'd be rather reluctant to place a large order with them again.

For now, I'm off to play with my new toy.... :o

[Dennis]

Ideally, someone who appeared to care should be sent a link to this thread on the forum, just so they know how ill fame can spread.

[Anna Wales]

Glad you've sorted your order out.

Why do they have this policy as far as returns from business customers though? I've not seen it anywhere else, jewellery related or otherwise. Taking the reaction from just this thread, it's stopping business orders and these would be potentially repeat customers.

[louisella76]

Ideally, someone who appeared to care should be sent a link to this thread on the forum, just so they know how ill fame can spread.

Hi Dennis

I sent them a message this morning and included the link - the auto response states that comments are reviewed by the management team and they're unable to answer directly by reply (which again doesn't appear very customer friendly when someone's taken the time to provide feedback in the first instance). Whether it'll make a difference or not who knows....

[Patstone]

Well I have to say as I find, I have ordered two pendant motors (I am not greedy, but I bought one for my daughter for her birthday) and numerous other small items and never had a problem with them. They have always been very helpful.

[silken]

Glad to hear you got your new toy!

From now on, I shall be wary about what I buy from them and definitely won't be ordering online. I have the advantage of living very close to the jewellery quarter so it is much easier for me to go there and peruse their collection and pick what I want. I've always found them very helpful, even when I'm being fussy and asking them to go and get the nicest, shiniest hammer or the best set of punches, etc, they're more than happy to help. It would be really great if their service was this great both in store and online.

Any decent business should have a good returns policy whether it is business to business or not, it's just good customer service. Bad reviews travel fast on the internet so it's always good to try and keep your customers as happy as possible. Cousins, are you listening? ;)

[Tabby66]

I had tried to send them a contact message, for information, just before posting the telephone number for the Birmingham shop, for the very same reasons that have been stated.....however, I didn't seem able to do so, I am glad you have louisella.

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