m3eu Posted January 21, 2015 Posted January 21, 2015 (edited) Hi all, I just received an email form Shop @ Home telling me my order is cancelled, due to exceeded demand. Perhaps this is not the right forum for this post, but I feel I have to share this as I'm extremely amazed and disappointed with LEGO. For the very first time. Apparently the stock status at the Shop @ Home website is not a realtime status! I ordered two NXT battery packs when the were on sale a couple of days ago. They were in stock according to the website. Two days later they sent me a message informing me that delivery is delayed.Ok that can happen. And just now I received a message saying “the demand exceeded the expectations….and the order is cancelled” And any payment will be refunded. This mail exceeded my expectations and experiences with this very strong brand. Unfortunately not in a good way though. It seems ordering online is not a real time transaction :( Anybody had any similar experiences? Is there anything I can do about this? Edited January 21, 2015 by m3eu Quote
9v system Posted January 21, 2015 Posted January 21, 2015 Hmmmm interesting never seen this happen before you could try brick link I use it all the time for my motors. Quote
weavil Posted January 21, 2015 Posted January 21, 2015 Someone in the General section had that problem with her santa workshop. Quote
tkatt Posted January 21, 2015 Posted January 21, 2015 There was this post earlier today- http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=104929 Quote
DrJB Posted January 22, 2015 Posted January 22, 2015 it might be very well that their web page ordering system is not on par with their actual stock, but not sure u can blame them. In these modern days most companies outsource their IS and unfortunate such events do happen. your best bet is to call and talk to someone live. I'm sure they'll find a way to make you happy ... somehow. Quote
TheLegGodt Posted January 22, 2015 Posted January 22, 2015 it might be very well that their web page ordering system is not on par with their actual stock, but not sure u can blame them. In these modern days most companies outsource their IS and unfortunate such events do happen. i completely disagree! In these days of big data and massive amounts of processing power, not to mention many best practices in real time stock management, there is NO EXCUSE other than POOR OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT here. If you combine this with other things going wrong like miserable launches of new sets (e.g, Exosuit) and poorly socked stores on the 1st / 2nd of January when a bunch of new sets went live, I think it is time that senior management stars kicking in and implements new measures. On the other hand, perhaps these are isolated events that are blown up here. I really hope so and fortunately I have had no disappointments myself with ordering online but what I mentioned about the store was personal experience as well as others here on the forum... Quote
Rumpelmuck Posted January 22, 2015 Posted January 22, 2015 On the other hand, perhaps these are isolated events that are blown up here. I really hope so and fortunately I have had no disappointments myself with ordering online but what I mentioned about the store was personal experience as well as others here on the forum... Strange! In Germany it actual seems to be a general issue. At 1000steine.de there are several threads claiming canceled orders. I totally agree with TheLegGodt that in times of enormous processing power the dismatch of online shop IS and background reality mustn't appear! In my eyes totally missmanagement or weak Operation Management. Quote
jodawill Posted January 22, 2015 Posted January 22, 2015 (edited) The S@H website really sucks. There are a lot of bugs. Example: Go to http://shop.lego.com and do a search for, say, "baseplate." It will just reload the homepage, but with a slightly different URL. Now do your search again and it will work. Another bug is that the star ratings are often displayed incorrectly on the search page, but will show correctly on the product page. They will either be grayed out or 5 stars, when they may in fact be 2 stars, like that new green baseplate. The crazy thing is that these bugs have been around for a VERY long time. I don't know what the deal is. Anyway, I wouldn't be surprised if this issue is due to the poor web management. Edited January 22, 2015 by jodawill Quote
andythenorth Posted January 22, 2015 Posted January 22, 2015 (edited) An alternate situation people have reported is 'out of stock' on the website, but available over the phone by S@H. Which is maybe similar root cause, no real-time inventory control, and/or poor sync between S@H phone orders and web orders. The cancelled web orders might be because phone orders have depleted stock. Eh, this is just navel gazing, running databases at scale is hard, anyone who tells you otherwise hasn't tried. But TLG seem to have more problems with this than they should, and yeah, for years the website has been weird and/or low quality in too many places, at least for a brand with such a reputation for quality and good design. Edited January 22, 2015 by andythenorth Quote
Askan Posted January 22, 2015 Posted January 22, 2015 I do not know for sure, but I doubt that they keep everything in a big warehouse, waiting to be sold. It could very well be that things you order are things that are planned to be shipped from the factory or even planned to be produced in the next few days. If something goes wrong with a supplier, a machine, transport, etc, that could mean delays and cancellations. Quote
Jim Posted January 22, 2015 Posted January 22, 2015 Perhaps this is not the right forum for this post Indeed it isn't. Please post these kind of things in another forum section, like General Discussion. Or in the Embassy: http://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?showforum=108 Quote
Tariq j Posted January 22, 2015 Posted January 22, 2015 This sort of thing seems to be happening alot lately. There is an big want for supply and demand. Quote
Faefrost Posted January 22, 2015 Posted January 22, 2015 Rechargeable batteries are a particularly annoying thing. They are batch products and the factories that make them are not always the most predictable (as in it does not take much to have an unacceptable batch). Anything like that puts the merchant like Lego at the mercy of a third parties process and predictions. Quote
mvshabeer Posted January 22, 2015 Posted January 22, 2015 MIne got cancelled since they dont ship to freight forwarding services like Aramex Quote
dr_spock Posted January 22, 2015 Posted January 22, 2015 (edited) Or they double counted inventory or entered wrong values into the database. Don't think big data and massive computing power is a god send solution. It still boils down to how good and accurate the data you put in. There's a saying, "garbage in, garbage out." MIne got cancelled since they dont ship to freight forwarding services like Aramex LEGO had too many problems with fraud. That's their policy. Find some friends or family in the country of shipping and have them buy it and forward to you. Edited January 22, 2015 by dr_spock Quote
TheLegGodt Posted January 22, 2015 Posted January 22, 2015 Or they double counted inventory or entered wrong values into the database. Don't think big data and massive computing power is a god send solution. It still boils down to how good and accurate the data you put in. There's a saying, "garbage in, garbage out." I agee it is a comprehensive issue that needs a holistic approach. It isn't easy but then what is when it is worth having? But it is perfectly possible to do and there are many real-life examples. My reasons for wanting LEGO to up their game in this area are completely selfish ones: in the short term reliability for myself and in the long term a company that remains healthy in all aspects of their business so we can keep enjoying their wonderful products! Rechargeable batteries are a particularly annoying thing. They are batch products and the factories that make them are not always the most predictable (as in it does not take much to have an unacceptable batch). Anything like that puts the merchant like Lego at the mercy of a third parties process and predictions. The thing is, LEGO needs to consider whether they want to be so dependent on such unreliable suppliers since it rubs off badly on their own reputation as well. Witness this thread. Many companies consider integration (e.g. Acquiring critical suppliers or distributors) as long as the business case is there. Thing is, it is LEGO's business how they conduct their operations but we AFOLs are expressing concerns and I hope TLG is paying attention. Quote
DrJB Posted January 22, 2015 Posted January 22, 2015 (edited) For sure there are many who disagree on here and that is their fair right. My point is/was that you'll always find similar situations whether with TLG or any other company ... instead of letting such inconvenience get to you and cause you blood pressure to hit the roof, do this the old fashioned way: pick up the phone and call someone live ... This is a HOBBY people, and NO, I refuse to lose sleep or get stressed about it. Go ahead and complain all you want, if that's your way to help you 'heal', by all means. As for me, I'll look into alternate ways to find what I need. *peace* Edited January 22, 2015 by DrJB Quote
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