Give High Street Retails A Chance And ….

[SIRandyraven]

Me thinks let’s give Waterstones a chance and buy a book.
They have it for £24 inc postage signed by author.
Amazon has it for £20.

Two weeks later no book.
Called Waterstones have to wait 17 minutes for them to answer phone.
Then told it’s stuck in system due to their ongoing IT issues.
Cancel it then …bye

Orders on Amazon where it’s now £16 and arrives Thursday.

Wonder why bookshops are going out of business?
Hummm

Warning Avoid Waterstones they have serious IT isssues at the moment and your orders will be lost it seems or delayed.
That’s why phone lines are swamped at moment.

[SIRandyraven]

Didn’t even have the decency to email customers warning of delays for orders.
P’ Poor Waterstones.

[ToraToraTora]

You tried, the high st is dead. Charity shops and bookies for people who can't use a puter. Then it's be just charity shops. Eventually no one will go there and they'll become flats.

[meaghan72]

We have been into high street shops on many occasions where they have refused a coupon as it was 'on line only' or suggested we buy online because they were out of stock and none due for a week. Dad and I drove 40 miles round trip to see new cookers in Currys only to be told most of the stock was now on line.

[barry1010]

The white goods shops of the 'good old days' were usually just showrooms and didn't carry any stock of larger items. You had to pay for it and wait for delivery from the central warehouse or the manufacturer.
It is still nice to see things in the flesh before ordering. I had a shock when I saw how big some air-fryers are recently, even though I had tried visualising with the aid of tape measure.
For the past 10 years or my wife has been told in shops such as Debenhams to order the clothes she wants online as they didn't carry the full range of sizes in store. Or they would kindly order them for her.
Shops on the high street are dead. I still try to buy locally and support the small retailer, but they may not be local to me if the price is right and delivery good. The last bed I bought was from a small shop 150 miles away. Beat every other shop hands down on price.
It would be impossible for me to buy a pair of shoes or a suit in my local town, there is simply none available.

[MissTerious]

I bought a book from Amazon only two weeks ago from Amazon £16. Free postage and arrived next day. £22. OO in Waterstones. Would have meant a 50 mile round trip and petrol costs ot postage costs Ana long wait. I just don't bother with shops any more. Even Morrisons for us is click and collect. Husband does a bit of shopping in Lidls , tool Station, and the animal supply store. I wouldn't shop in shops now even if I was able bodied!!

[Paigntonian]

How dreadful for you. You might consider counselling.

[Deskdiary]

My wife and I are part of the problem for the demise of the high street, as we were early adopters of buying on-line.

We've been using Tesco's delivery service since it commenced, when the kids were young we'd go to Toys R Us, find out what they wanted, and then order from Amazon at a fraction of the cost, it's been at least 20 years since I bought any clothes in a shop, I've bought cars and motorbikes online....it's just so convenient.

There's been a number of times I've ordered from Amazon and it's arrived the same day, with the record being about 3 hours.

Our high street is now populated by chain restaurants, coffee shops, charity shops and estate agents, and the prime spots, such as those previously occupied by the likes of BHS, remain empty.

[barry1010]

My high street is full of take-aways, pawn shops, charity shops, gambling establishments and barbers/hairdressers. Forgot the pound shops, a B&M and an Iceland.

[Canary42]

Online is OK if you know what you want - but fairly useless for casual browsing if you're looking for ideas, surprises, reminders, etc. Online traders do try with "People who bought this also . . . ." but it's usually unremitting marketing so probably gets ignored (it certainly does by me since it's usually way off).

[SIRandyraven]

@paigntonian - Ha ha ha …
Sounds like your in more need of it than me idiot.

[SIRandyraven]

You try and give a store other than Amazon a chance and get fingers burnt.

Googling it’s seems Waterstones are still suffering from a disastrous IT upgrade.
Lack of testing etc …
Having worked in IT for 38 years prior to retirement , no excuse to be honest.

[pastafreak]

I go into the city centre here about 3 times a week...if only to get out and about. I've not done an online food shop since the beginning of 2021. I get better bargains in person, and I don't always need/want to spend the required £40 minimum in one place. But I still do a lot of online shopping for things I'd never find locally. Too many high street shops seem to just carry rubbish.

[jno]

do you think Amazon always get things right? They don't. Would I boycott them if something didn't turn up? No.

[MissTerious]

I can recall a couple of problems on Amazon, but their customer service is excellent and we never have problems with deliveries. I would hate to be without Amazon now. I will never abandon them unless something serious happens - like an earthquake or volcano!