to not feel sorry for Next's losses

[Doigthebountyeater]

I tried to buy LOADS of stuff from Next online in the six weeks before Christmas and every damn thing was sold out.

I've just received an email from them telling me to check out their summer collection online now. Why? I don't want summer clothes right now but you can guarantee that when I do, it will all be sold out. My sister has said the same so I am guessing that there are loads of people out there who would be more than happy to buy Next products if they actually had anything in season left to sell!

They need to get their act together!

[classydiva]

Placed an order with them online in their sale, they never took the money from my card and never sent the stuff either! Their loss.

Did get some bargains in their shop though at 5am on sale day.

[mrshess]

I know i wanted loads of pyjams and winter things and not even sale stuff but nothing was in stock, hardly any coats either

[Doigthebountyeater]

Exactly. So if you multiply that out over the UK, think how many people must have wanted to buy stuff and were unable too. It said on the news that they were putting their prices up to cover their losses! Why not just sell the actual things that people want to buy! The fools! I should offer to tell them where they are going wrong for a fat consultancy fee.

[Seona1973]

the stuff in the sale was all crap and there was nothing nice in either dd or ds's sizes.

[faverolles]

YANBU. The stuff left to order is the minging stuff that no-one would touch with a barge pole anyway.
Maybe they need to stock more of the popular stuff and sack the designer of the crap.

[TattyDevine]

I would have probably spent another £100 on PJ's, undies, and a few outfits for DD and DS prior to Christmas (I start panicking about stains and things when we stay at the in-laws!!!) but couldn't because everything was "delivered in 3-4 weeks".

So I simply didn't spend the money and couldn't really find anything much anywhere else so didn't bother. My gain, their loss.

You are right, their stock levels will be causing them to lose out. Its all very well having your summer collection out bang in the middle of winter, but it is a bit silly and people may buy one or two bits they dont want to risk going out of stock, but for the rest they will wait, and if its out of stock, they will go elsewhere.

I really dont think the majority of people are focussed on buying summer clothes in January when there is snow on the ground, and its a long pay month with some Christmas extras to clear. Silliness.

[trice]

I refuse to buy anything with a logo on which rules out 98% of their kids clothes.

[NewYearNewPants]

They are always out of children's stuff online (love their PJs, they wash really well). It's ridiculous. Why offer an online service if you don't have sufficient stock?
They deliver quickly when stuff IS in stock, though.

[MrsFruitcake]

I hate that, much like Boden, you can see someone wearing Next clothes a mile off. It's all so...well, Next I suppose.

[Doigthebountyeater]

Fair enough, if you don't like their things, don't buy them. What I am saying is that a lot of people do want to buy their clothes but they do not stock enough and are therefore missing out on a huge amount of potential sales.

[Indith]

Next piss me off. I do buy stuff there for the dcs to fill in the gaps between charity shop finds and presents as there isn't much choice here but it seriously annoys me how they (very cleverly I must say) manage to hype everything up so that their sale is the most exciting thing in the world and you have to get up at 5am, thus ensuring that thye manage to sell pretty much everything and avoid having random odds and sods that don't sell and go to waste. Then they get their "must have" new stock out and everyone absolutely has to buy it now because by summer it will be sold out but of course between now and summer there will be plenty of other "new collections" that are all a tiny bit better than the last and thus people will buy 3 times as manny clothes as they need.

[Doigthebountyeater]

Next deliver really quickly here and i like the way I can buy something now and pay for it next month when I need to. Their adult clothes are not good quality but I really like their children's clothes. The children's pyjamas are great.

Once i bought DS1 a coat and the zip broke. I rang customer services and they said to send it and they'd replace it. I grumpily replied that I'd still have to buy a new coat in the meantime to which Next sent a courier to my door at 9am the next morning with a brand new coat and took the broken one. Great service!

[Niecie]

I used to have a catalogue for children's stuff (adults stuff is boring and not very nice so wouldn't buy it for me) but every time I tried to pay it came up with some problem. Either the website was shut over night (12am to 6am) or the transaction didn't go through and I got letters complaining I hadn't paid my bill charging me interest. I told them where to go and haven't been back since - it has been about 3 or 4 years now.

Having summer stuff out in January is daft.
Making people pay for a catalogue is daft.
Having a website that shuts down overnight is daft (maybe they have moved into the 21st century on that one - not having used it I don't know if still happens)

Can't say I am surprised at the losses. They don't make shopping with them easy.

[NorwegianMoon]

i hate next clothes, they are always bigger than they should be. I also used to work for them and the way they run their staff is bismal. I cant wait for them to go bankrupt and another shop to replace them

[usualsuspect]

I'm sure the people who work at next will be thrilled to lose their jobs if they go bankrupt

[borderslass]

Next is the only place around here I can get DS's trousers/pj's from as he has bloody long legs.

[piprabbit]

I do most of my shopping on-line and I really think that the Next website is the most ill-conceived and unnavigable piece of trash that any of the mainstream retailers have inflicted on their customers.

So I don't shop at Next.

[Doigthebountyeater]

Yes Niecie WTF is the paying for their catalogue all about? Everyone else is practically begging you to take their catalogue and they charge for theirs! Look at Boden, I get one from them every couple of weeks - for free!

I don't feel sorry for Next, they are running their business badly but I will feel sorry for all the poor buggers who lose their jobs because of poor management from the top.

[Doigthebountyeater]

Shall we forward this thread to next management and ask for some cash then?

[maristella]

the quality of their clothes has literally plummetted (sp) in the last few months.

and yes, nothing was available to order throughout december! however, i suspect that was because their prices have gone up so so much in the new catalogue, and they wanted to wait a few weeks and sell products at higher prices

[TheCrackFox]

What I find really annoying about Next is that if you want to order from Next they make you open an account. I just wanted to pay with my debit card. This was a year ago so maybe it has changed but Next need to start to understand that internet shopping is not the same as ordering from a catalogue.

[fedupofnamechanging]

Have recently cancelled my Next Directory. I think it is wrong to charge for a catalogue, so you can have the 'privilege' of shopping with them. Also they have stopped giving out free returns labels in the delivery. You have to request these if you don't want to use the courier service. Tbh it makes catalogue shopping more of a hassle and I'd rather go to a shop, esp as they charge for delivery.

The last thing I ordered was of such poor quality and looked like it had been returned previously by someone else - all stretched out of shape.

If Next want to stay in business, then they need to raise their game. Quality should reflect their prices. Bought a coat for DD, which is lovely, but all the buttons fell of within 3 weeks!

[CointreauVersial]

I have to say I do still buy from Next as I love the super-fast delivery service. I tend to order loads of stuff on spec, then return most of it (mainly drop it off in store). Their work clothes are nice - inexpensive and fairly well-cut styles. I like their Homeware too.

But if you ask me they should drop all the non-core stuff in their catalogues - designer gear, electricals, kitchens, house signs.....who buys that sort of thing from Next? You just know there has to be a mark-up in there somewhere.