January 03, 2005
Tales of Canadian Retail
Subtitled: Why Foreign Companies Do So Well In Canada.
As I recounted here a month or so ago, after losing my cell phone, I indulged in a new Treo 600 combination PDA/Cell/MP3 Player/Digital Camera. It allowed me to stop carrying two units on my belt (Visor PDA & cell phone), which lowered my nerd-boy quotient and raised my techno-geek ratio. Of course, the unit didn't have all the extra bits and pieces (like a belt carrier and recharging/synchronization cradle), so I had to buy them too. The belt clip and case were in stock, but the cradle had to be ordered in. They promised to have it in for me the following Tuesday.
The same weekend, I took a badminton racquet in to be restrung: I'm not a pure power player, so I only need to get my racquets restrung every few years. I took it in to the only sporting goods store in the Whitby-Oshawa area that handles badminton racquets (lots of places for tennis & squash, but only one for badminton). They, of course, didn't have any string in stock, but they'd order it for me and should have the racquet ready to go the following weekend.
The next Sunday, I head over to Pickering Town Centre to collect my Treo cradle, only to find that they'd "accidentally ordered the wrong item" and it wouldn't be in until the following Tuesday. I then went over to Oshawa to pick up my racquet. Wouldn't you just know that they'd forgotten to order the string and it would be another week before it was ready.
Cycle on a few weeks, with new excuses coming up each time. It has now been six weeks since I foolishly paid for these items, and I still don't have either one in hand. But I've had lots of interesting reasons offered why they couldn't get the job done: "This isn't a popular unit, so they don't stock this item." "It's on backorder from the manufacturer." "This is such a popular unit that they can't keep the accessories in stock." "Oh, someone accidentally sent us the wrong item. We'll reorder for you."
Update, 7 January: I finally got a call from National Sports last night . . . my restrung racquet is ready to be picked up. Bell World, the ball is now firmly in your court.
Update, 8 January: National Sports didn't end up charging me for the raquet restringing, or for the string itself. This might be a typical thing for an American company to do, but it's actually a bit surprising to find a Canadian firm doing it. Unfortunately, the occasional Canadian firm that goes far beyond the call (Lee Valley Tools, for instance) are vastly outnumbered by the surly types who feel that selling you what you want is a huge favour and you should be grateful to them.
Posted by Nicholas at January 3, 2005 09:08 AM
Hmm. It wouldn't happen to be at one of those big box stores. Say Future * or Best * . A friend of mine and I have both had some similar troubles there. Seems the trick is to start to get slightly angery and ask for a manager.
In my case I had a repairs being done to my PDA after the third repair I told them enough I want a replacement. Seemed to me that their policy was changed each time I was there. First time I expected a replacement nope although their policy is if there is a problem in the first thirty days I had puchased a final sale item, it had to go for repair. The second visit (a week after getting it back)it was another repair. In fact it had to go three times for repair before it would be replaced. On the third visit I finally had had enough and asked for the manager. I left with a replacement.
My buddy had a different experience. Two years previous he had purchased one of the most expensive PDA's and with it he purchased the extended warranty. He purchased at the big box store because of the warranty and the fact that it was a 'replacement warranty'. The thing had been acting up for months so took it back to get a replacement. It took more than two hours, seems they swear that they never had such a warranty. They called store mangers and regional managers but none of them could prove that he was wrong, and he wasn't leaving. They finally replaced it with a low end current model roughly equivelent to his model PDA but a different brand; they no longer stocked the brand he had.
So the trick is to be courteous but don't take no for an answer. Next time, if you can, take back everthing that came with your phone and demand a complete refund. After all you haven't recieved what you paid for. Speak to the manager. His store will look pretty bad if he has to refund a, what, $700 phone because they couldn't get a $50 cradle.
No, it wasn't one of the usual suspects. I got the Treo at Bell World (which is probably 801234 Ontario, Ltd. doing business as "Bell World"). The racquet is being held hostage at National Sports.
I'm not yet at the point where I want to start threatening to take my business elsewhere, but that'll come fairly soon.
Try eBay. I ordered a Treo 600 cradle from some guy there for 24 bucks and got a 3-pack of extra styli(?) thrown in. The extra styli did come in handy as I did manage to lose the original (don't ask how).
Also, don't be afraid to go outside the normal vendor sphere. You can try any Rogers Wireless, Wireless Wave, or Telephone Booth store for Treo accessories. Doesn't matter whether it's a CDMA (Bell) or GSM (Rogers) model as far as cradles and chargers are concerned.
If Bell World still can't manage to deliver by this weekend, I'll cancel the order and try the alternatives you've suggested. Thanks Chris!
