You can Go Outdoors now

[ncutler]

Back in September I ordered a handlebar mirror to 'click-and-collect' from Go Outdoors in Preston.
Travelled to the shop: presented with the wrong mirror. Assistant somewhat surly, manager very apologetic but totally unable to do anything useful.
Contacted complaints dept on line. Person suggested I order mirror from website to be delivered to my home: they would refund postage.
Ordered mirror. The same wrong mirror arrived. Contacted complaints ...... sort of 'helpful' but nothing resolved properly. I even wrote a letter to 'the manager' with copies to two directors of the parent company: nothing happened.
It's only about £15 so not a big issue, but I'd be very cautious about trying to buy anything of value or requiring any assistance from this company.

[mjr]

Have you asked your bank to refund you the online orders? Sounds like it should be a slam dunk and it sounds like you won't care if the retailer refuses to sell to you in future.

[Psamathe]

I find Go Outdoors a strange store. Tried to buy something in-store nseveral years ago and the check-out tried to charge me somewhat more than the ticket price said. Apparently to get the ticket price you need to have some store card (which means profiling, SPAM, tracking purchased, etc.). So I refused, left the goods and went and purchased elsewhere (they do have competitors).

Since then never used them. Occasionally their web site comes up in a search (eg walking boots or something) and it always seems a mess - limited sizes or colours plus I have no confidence in the store so pretty well ignore them.

Ian

[Psamathe]

Have you asked your bank to refund you the online orders? Sounds like it should be a slam dunk and it sounds like you won't care if the retailer refuses to sell to you in future.

Can you do that for less than £100? Or is failing to deliver different from other "failures" where credit card refunds can be asked for.

Ian

[mjr]

Have you asked your bank to refund you the online orders? Sounds like it should be a slam dunk and it sounds like you won't care if the retailer refuses to sell to you in future.

Can you do that for less than £100? Or is failing to deliver different from other "failures" where credit card refunds can be asked for.

You can ask to "chargeback" any payment taken incorrectly, such as a bait and switch like this, but there's no legal right like the one for £100+ on a credit card.

[PH]

Has the OP not had their money back? Have they tried returning the item? People seem to be jumping to solutions without knowing the details. Stuff bought online from Go Outdoors can be returned to store for a refund.

[sjs]

I find Go Outdoors a strange store. Tried to buy something in-store nseveral years ago and the check-out tried to charge me somewhat more than the ticket price said. Apparently to get the ticket price you need to have some store card (which means profiling, SPAM, tracking purchased, etc.). So I refused, left the goods and went and purchased elsewhere (they do have competitors).

Since then never used them. Occasionally their web site comes up in a search (eg walking boots or something) and it always seems a mess - limited sizes or colours plus I have no confidence in the store so pretty well ignore them.

Ian

Yes, if you don't want to be ripped off you have to have their card. Like Tesco, these days.

[PH]

Tried to buy something in-store nseveral years ago and the check-out tried to charge me somewhat more than the ticket price said.
Ian

If the ticket didn't contain both prices they would be in trouble with Trading Standards for misleading.
I'm not a fan of the growing trend of joining something to get a discount, or more likely paying a premium not to, but sometimes it's worth it and it's getting harder to avoid. With Go Outdoors you pay for a card, a fiver I think, I bought a tent from them a couple of years ago and saved around £40 inc the cost of the card. I haven't used it since, it might have expired, I unsubscribed from their emails after the first and haven't heard anything else. I don't know what else they've done with my data, they're welcome to it.

[TrevA]

The £5 discount card only lasts for a year and has to be renewed annually, or when you next visit after it has expired. I buy gas bottles for my Campervan from Go Outdoors, as it’s cheap and convenient, but I wouldn’t buy anything cycle-related from them. The bikes they have for sale are firmly in the BSO category. I’ve bought the odd bit of hiking gear from them as they are quite price competitive, with the discount card.

[mattheus]

I find Go Outdoors a strange store. Tried to buy something in-store nseveral years ago and the check-out tried to charge me somewhat more than the ticket price said. Apparently to get the ticket price you need to have some store card (which means profiling, SPAM, tracking purchased, etc.). So I refused, left the goods and went and purchased elsewhere (they do have competitors).

If the ticket didn't contain both prices they would be in trouble with Trading Standards for misleading.
I'm not a fan of the growing trend of joining something to get a discount, or more likely paying a premium not to, but sometimes it's worth it and it's getting harder to avoid. With Go Outdoors you pay for a card, a fiver I think, I bought a tent from them a couple of years ago and saved around £40 inc the cost of the card. I haven't used it since, it might have expired, I unsubscribed from their emails after the first and haven't heard anything else. I don't know what else they've done with my data, they're welcome to it.

It seems a perfectly fair and transparent arrangement, and they've been doing it for years. Same with clubs like the YHA - members got a lower rate. And the last time I paid for one of their cards, they got next-to-sod-all data from me. Probably less than all the e-Vendors we almost all use on a weekly basis!

I don't really see any problem

[Eyebrox]

Go Outdoors is part of JD Sports, a company which makes £1 billion in profit every year from 1,300 shops and is the world's biggest earning sports and outdoor retailer. Not bad from a single store family business in England 40 odd years ago. Their success has been due in a big way, paradoxically, to the trading model adopted by their biggest rival Sports Direct. Mike Ashley, SD owner, bought stock at clearance prices, piled them high and sold them cheaply. JD Sports did the opposite. Signed selective stock deals, some of them exclusive, with the mega manufacturers and sold restricted quantities from bright, contemporary stores at premium prices. The two businesses are like chalk and cheese but trading merrily in their own established marketplaces. JD is continuing to grow and have planned to open 200 new stores this year. Ashley's team has introduced a new "we won't be beaten on price" scheme on bicycle items across his chain of stores, including Evans, House of Fraser as well as Sports Direct. Clearly the two companies will fight it out with totally different offerings but it does appear there's room for both.

[Psamathe]

...The two businesses are like chalk and cheese but trading merrily in their own established marketplaces. JD is continuing to grow and have planned to open 200 new stores this year. Ashley's team has introduced a new "we won't be beaten on price" scheme on bicycle items across his chain of stores, including Evans, House of Fraser as well as Sports Direct. Clearly the two companies will fight it out with totally different offerings but it does appear there's room for both.

Bit off-topic (about Sports Direct/Evans) but years ago I used Evans (they opened a branch in Norwich) but for the last few years I've not used them as their are full of "own brands" which I regard as being cheapest they can badge engineer cheap product from Far East or wherever it's cheapest on the day. For more mainstream items their web site seems generally expensive and never in stock in the store anyway. If I'm going to buy at RRP I'd rather support my LBS (which is excellent) rather than a company like Sports Direct.

Ian

[xerxes]

No complaints. I bought a pair of mountain boots from them a few years ago. They felt OK in the store, but I got very sore toes when walking downhill when I first wore them. I took them back to the store, more in hope than expectation, and surprisingly they allowed me to change them for a different pair.

[ncutler]

Update

Quick resume: ordered mirror for click and collect. Travelled to store, presented with wrong mirror. Contacted complaints dept. told to order online for home delivery postage would be refunded. Same wrong mirror arrived. Three letters from me and several online contacts achieved absolutely nothing useful.

A couple of days ago I posted a negative review on TrustPilot. Within hours I was contacted by email asking for details. Today I was 'phoned by what sounded like an Asian call centre. Friendly, conciliatory, helpful. The payment for mirror and postage will be refunded and a £10 voucher is on its way. I can accept this.

So: writing to the company was pointless, but the moment a negative public review appears they jumped on it.

[Psamathe]

Update

Quick resume: ordered mirror for click and collect. Travelled to store, presented with wrong mirror. Contacted complaints dept. told to order online for home delivery postage would be refunded. Same wrong mirror arrived. Three letters from me and several online contacts achieved absolutely nothing useful.

A couple of days ago I posted a negative review on TrustPilot. Within hours I was contacted by email asking for details. Today I was 'phoned by what sounded like an Asian call centre. Friendly, conciliatory, helpful. The payment for mirror and postage will be refunded and a £10 voucher is on its way. I can accept this.

So: writing to the company was pointless, but the moment a negative public review appears they jumped on it.

How they rectify an error says a lot about a company. All companies on occasion get it wrong but the really telling thing is how they then fix their mistake. Often when complaining about something I will explicitly say this to them and maybe include that I am holding back reviewing my purchase as how well the problem is rectified can be much more important than that the problem happened.

My impression from this incident from Go Outdoors is that they failed in a big way. They didn't "rectify" their error but rather moved to try and protect their reputation (which is very different from sorting an error they made). If it were me original review would remain, maybe with an edit about how it was eventually resolved when they felt their reputation was being impacted.

Ian