Digital Planet nailed for unavailable product

wrapped over the knuckles
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Really - hope they used a pretty patterned paper :D

Can the ASA dispense any punitive punishments?
 
Can you imagine if this applied to telecoms?!
Telkom would not be able to advertise a service unless they could provide it immediately to any customer who asks for it.
 
Every single South African retailer does this, and I think it's a really bad reflection on them. American retailers all seem to be able to identify availability of stock, but SA retailers just list every single item from every single distributor they can find, without ever bother to confirm that the items are even in the country. Often an item will be end-of-line and they will continue to advertise it long after it is even possible to obtain it.
 
radicool said:
Every single South African retailer does this, and I think it's a really bad reflection on them. American retailers all seem to be able to identify availability of stock, but SA retailers just list every single item from every single distributor they can find, without ever bother to confirm that the items are even in the country. Often an item will be end-of-line and they will continue to advertise it long after it is even possible to obtain it.
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It happens in the US a lot too. Many DVD stores, especially the budget ones will often list huge catalogs, while some items are readily available,
many may take weeks to arrive.
 
radicool said:
Every single South African retailer does this, and I think it's a really bad reflection on them. American retailers all seem to be able to identify availability of stock, but SA retailers just list every single item from every single distributor they can find, without ever bother to confirm that the items are even in the country. Often an item will be end-of-line and they will continue to advertise it long after it is even possible to obtain it.
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Er, speak for yourself please. Micropro updates pricelists and availability on at least a daily basis. EOL items are removed when they appear on the distributor price list - not after they are all sold out.
 
Bwaaa haaa haaa haaa!

I have bought from many online stores in SA! They ALL have this problem, why? Because the suppliers/distributors are not willing to share their stock information, because their competition then gets to see their stock levels...which complicates things!

In America things are different, they can show stock levels - because if their competition see's that they are running low, delivery is so quick that it doesnt matter if they are running low.

It takes a long time for the SA suppliers to get through customs, shipping etc. Plus keeping too much stock is difficult with the R/$...which is why they rather keep what they need...

Dunno, just my 2c. Would be brilliant though if SA stores could show stock levels!
 
TheREV said:
Er, speak for yourself please. Micropro updates pricelists and availability on at least a daily basis. EOL items are removed when they appear on the distributor price list - not after they are all sold out.
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Ya, but they only have 269 products! The likes of DigitalPlanet, Sybaritic, Kalahari, NGR Computers and PC Mall have THOUSANDS to keep updated. And most of them do...supplier pricelists only come out every 2-4 weeks, so not sure why micropro would waste their time continuously updating the same information? I bet you I can place an order from their site and it wont be in stock....
 
Sybaritic lists stock on hand on their front page...
The experience I've had with DP is that they took a month to tell me that a product was no longer available, yet 3 months later it was still listed on their website. How hard is it for the person doing the ordering to phone someone who updates the website to let them know?
 
big issue here is PAYING for items that isnt in stock or available. Sybaritic confirms your stock before paying , digital planet tells you afterwards when its a big hassle to cancel
 
MrWireless said:
Ya, but they only have 269 products! The likes of DigitalPlanet, Sybaritic, Kalahari, NGR Computers and PC Mall have THOUSANDS to keep updated. And most of them do...supplier pricelists only come out every 2-4 weeks, so not sure why micropro would waste their time continuously updating the same information? I bet you I can place an order from their site and it wont be in stock....
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I take your point about the 269 products, but still...

They update Stock levels.

Oh and I'll take that bet. Put your money where your mouth is.

Oh, and they will not bill your card until they physically have the product ready to ship.
 
Kalahari refunds your credit card and sends you an email a few minutes after purchasing a product that is not in stock:) But it would just save time if their site showed updated stock figures.
 
I must have been very lucky in my dealings with Digital Planet. Having placed at least 6 orders with them I have twice been contacted to report there would be a delay in delivery on certain products. In the first instance I canceled the order and in the second opted to wait. In all instances my credit card was only charged for products when shipped (I actually received my last order two days before the charge to my c/c). Average delivery time was 3 days from order (excluding the one were I elected to wait which took 10 days).

Does anyone know in what circumstances they charge before shipping?
 
My experience with Digital Planet was that they could not supply a certain item, meanwhile after I cancelled I could obtain the product through another online retailer within 3 days. This retailer also had no stock but managed to source it within 1 day from the distributor. Other probloe areas for Digital Planet in my case seem to be Ster Kinekor games.

I somehow got the impression that they may have cashflow problems, owing money to certain distributors and are thus unable to obtain the item they advertise on their web-site.
 
These guys don't carry stock, they purely rely on their suppliers. At least take 2 informs you when more or less you will receive the product...
 
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