talkmagic.co.uk

Just a minor rant...

Why can't online magic stores indicate stock status before you part with your money?

Alakazam have never managed to fulfil one of my orders in one shipment, and I usually get my stuff in dribs and drabs over two or three weeks.

The Magic Cavern is pretty much the same, although they have the decency to let me know via email that I'll be kept waiting for one or two items.

And I've had similar gripes about Hank Lee.

I have an online store for my music video label. It's CubeCart, and free to install. And it also manages to state whether items are in stock or not. It shouldn't be brain surgery for magic stores to do the same.

Very often, the stuff I buy is designed to plug a gap in a routine I'm working on, and I get frustrated when I can't do the routine as planned at an upcoming gig because the retailers can't deliver until after the event (or so close to it that I don't have time to prepare thoroughly).

In my case, availability is just as important a factor as price when deciding where I'll spend my money.

Grrrr...

Aha!

I have the same view!

My store shows 3 levels:

Out of stock
Stock Low (3 items or less in stock)
Plenty of stock (more than 3 items in stock)


Stock checking/tracking is important. Everytime an order is shipped, the items are deducted from the database. Everytime an shipment of stock arrives, the amount are entered into the database.

Simple. Quick. Customer care.

The worst one is when they say delivery time 7-10 days when what they really mean is 'we haven't got any at the moment and don't know when we will have some' and 4 weeks later you're still waiting with no idea when your order is going to arrive.

Lady of Mystery wrote:The worst one is when they say delivery time 7-10 days when what they really mean is 'we haven't got any at the moment and don't know when we will have some' and 4 weeks later you're still waiting with no idea when your order is going to arrive.

or worse...they *do* have the order, and you are waiting 4-6 weeks later still wondering when it will arrive

My pet peeve is no communication to the state of the order after you pay.

With some places you get no confirmation of payment or more importantly of despatch and you left phoning or emailing to see where you're at.

I couldnt Agree more - All advertised Items are in stock & 99% of our stock is next working day turn around, any order placed by 4pm is same day (working). But i guess even the best systems can break down.

And us shops get the same from wholesalers / manf / dealers etc.

Still wanting for a US order... 3 months and no contact and site said x amount in stock.

Stock levels are only good if the people behind them keep them up to date!.

Happens to us too!!!

All The Best
Darren @ The Magic Attic

I got some things of a site and they where damaged, costing me £10.90 to return them and still waiting for a replacment....3 weeks later!!! it's the last time i'll use that site.

TC ALL

I got some things of a site and they where damaged, costing me £10.90 to return them and still waiting for a replacment....3 weeks later!!! it's the last time I'll use that site

You have the answer right there. I'm sure we all have suppliers that we go to constantly because you trust them and have recieved good service. It surely makes financial business sense to keep customers happy.
I constantly go back to magicbox for that reason. My other half often buys me books, and always shops there because the guys on the other end of the phone are so helpful, and just nice blokes. She doesn't know what books are goosd and what aren't, and so often describes what kind of things I like, and lets them recommend books. They could have ripped her off, or shifted books that weren't selling onto her. But they have always come up trumps.
So with the bad, there is always those who do it right. And I'm sure I know where my other half will be shopping this Christmas.

I placed an order with the Magic Box last night.

In the order was a couple of decks of blank faced Bicycle cards, which had just gone out of stock.

Rather than do what almost every other shop does (take my money and ignore the stock issue until I have the cheek to complain), they gave me a phone call to explain the issue. Get that - a phone call!

And with that miracle of modern communication technology, I was able to let them know that blue backs weren't an absolute must, and I'd be just as happy with red backed cards, which they did have in stock.

Net result: no problem.

cards4magic always refund half my money because they dont have on of the items in stock,

normally I only puchased the extra items to fill up my cart and its always the one thing I wanted that they dont have.

The best place I have shopped at is NUMS. bar none.

Then Magicshop, Magicbox, magicproshop, worldmagicshop.

I wish NUMS stocked more stuff, though I understand that every single item they do stock is top quality and they dont stock any filler or latest greatest gadget.

I.D wrote:latest greatest gadget.

if they did, you'd buy it mate, then sell it two weeks later

i agree with pretty all thats been said, i especially hate having to pay twice for postage, when all it would take is a phonecall or e-mail saying do you wanna wait? some little items costing me over a fiver cos they cant be bothered asking...

i ordered some pocket sleeves recently, no reply for two weeks, though they had my money, no e-mails, so i sent them one, only to have my money refunded a week later, and an abrupt reply saying "out of stock"..toolbox...

i had a pleasant experience with the magic gadget, they sent me the wrong lennart green dvd, got a response email within 24 hours, a promise to shoot a member of staff on my behalf, and even the credit of the postage of 87pence if i wanted...i didnt bother asking for that back, seemed silly, especially after such prompt and straightforward a response..

doesnt take alot to keep people happy really...have one bad experience, tell 20 people, have one good experience, tell 3...

I've had a very similar experience with Magicbox. I placed an order for half a dozen things, one was out of stock, so I had a voicemail message left by Michael Murray explaining the problem, and that the rest of the items were sent out.

I got the missing DVD about a week later.

Alakzam and World of Magic have both sent me the wrong items by mistake a couple of times and let me keep them (about a tenner's worth each time), then sent the correct items later.

I use the same half dozen shops for almost all my magic. It's partly that I can get almost anything I want from them, but partly the good service, especially the way the mistakes are handled.

Is emagictricks.co.uk okay? I've never ordered from them before but they have something I want for a good price. Any of you used them before?

nameless wrote:Is emagictricks.co.uk okay? I've never ordered from them before but they have something I want for a good price. Any of you used them before?

I've used them a few times - and the fact that I've bought from them more than once should tell you something.

They're occasionally out of stock with items I've ordered, but I get an email on dispatch telling me what I'll receive and what I'll be waiting for. Out of stock items normally follow in just a few days. Not as slick and mindful a service as the Magic Box, but better than some others I could mention.

Pete

www.cards4magic.co.uk were out of stock of a couple of items I ordered once and didn't tell me until I received the goods and it told me on the invoice. It deducted the price of the items, but if I'd have known I would have ordered something else. Still, their loss.

www.magictricks.co.uk do not list the items that are out of stock. If it's out of stock the listing appears and it reappears when they have it again.
Good service.