SRS's website

Hi

Some background:

I've spent lots of money at SRS (in the shop) before, and I've found it, as have most others, to be an excellent place to go.

I've had decent deals on K-7 and K-5.

However, yesterday, at about 18:40, I 'bought' an M 85mm f2 lens (used) from their website. Today, at 10:11, I was sent what amounts to a "recorded message" email:

"Thank you for your order 17110, unfortunately we have sold out of the item(s) you ordered. Your order has therefore been cancelled.

Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience caused.

SRS Microsystems"

I've made my disappointment clear, because I would expect their website to be reliable. Either it's not up-to-date, in which case it's worse than useless, or the item was sold this morning, in which case I would expect an honest explanation.

Any comments? (Other than SRS are normally wonderful - I know that!)

Richard

Little hiccoughs can happen

At least you were told very promptly and were told the order was cancelled, instead of leaving you wondering when the lens would arrive .

There are far too many on-line retailers who would have eventually got round to informing you of this - I've a friend who ordered cycling parts from a retailer he had used many times . Delivery was normally pretty fast so when his stuff didn't arrive in a week he enquired - and was then told it was out of stock and would be sent once it was back in stock again. That sounded fine - but they admitted they had no idea as to a date for re-stocking !!

It is disappointing when something like that happens, but since they are not purely web-based it is possible it was sold in the shop during the day.
The website is probably updated once a day (if that) and you ordered after the item was sold, but before the update went through.

I am sure they will explain what happened if you ask them.

Whilst I understand your disappointment I can see Chris's problem.

If you are selling second hand stock there will always be instances where your website will be out of date. If the item had just been sold and the shop is busy you can't always ensure the computer is updated immediately.

It may have been placed 'on reserve' and the customer may not have come in until later in the day. It is common with second-hand goods.

I'm sure Chris would reply personally if he could, but one of the reasons SRS is cheap is because they are busy (and they are busy because they are cheap) so they will have to send automated messages at times.

Personally I always phone if I'm buying second hand. I just find I get a better undestanding about what I'm buying then.

But don't let it put you off. Give Chris a call and ask him to keep an eye out. You never know what might turn up.

We've just cancelled an order for our son's birthday present. It was ordered at the beginning of February, and paid for, but still no clue as to when it would be available, so we cancelled and got our money back. We had to do all the chasing up of it though - no mail from them to say it was out of stock and a couple of times no reply to our mails. I phoned them in the end.

I never had an issue with SRS, but I have found items not in stock that were still advertised.
I can understand this in relatively small companies, but just now my friend is waiting on a pack of K-x plus lenses from Jacobs. A good deal which they advertised but now cannot say when they'll be able to supply it. I had the same issue with Warehouse Express and ended cancelling the order.

Its more common than I'd wish, it does get me peeved.

BTW, of course I suggested SRS, but atm, the offers were really not comparable.

Am with the majority here, at least they didn`t hold onto your cash for 3 weeks, waiting to get stock. I ordered a new lens off srs 2 weeks ago, time from placing order to receiving lens was less than 24 hours .
Not many places can beat that.

Davex.

Check the terms and conditions relating to web orders. Most companies state that you haven't entered a contract until they actually dispatch the item.
Not very nice but since Kodak got stung a few years back it seems to be standard practice.