To think that Argos is a massive PITA and not worth bothering if you want more than one item?

[GreenTureen]

I have a list of about 8 things I need to get for Xmas...and I have £120.00 of Argos gift vouchers which I won at work. I had a choice of Argos or Tesco and I chose Argos because I thought it would be much easier...you can use them online, collect at store etc.

So I merrily spend 20 minutes finding the items (all quite standard and nothing random- a few board games, a paw patrol scribbler, a chopping board) and putting them in my basket to click and collect at my local store. 2 of the items are only available for home delivery. Grr.

Anyway, I suck it up, go back through my basket and change everything else to home delivery as I just as well. 3 of the items are only available to collect in store, you can't have home delivery. Double grr.

So I go back though again, remove the click and collect and purchase the home delivery only items with my giftcard. Done. Go in again separately and add the 6 items available for collection. 2 of the items will take 4 days to be available...fine, I can pay online in advance with my giftcard, so the immediately available items will be there for 7 days anyway meaning I can get it all at the same time. Nope. The 2 4-day items cannot be paid for in advance with a giftcard, only the immediately available items (took me a while to work this out and a call to customer services - there's a temporary block on this for some reason). Grrrrrrrrrr.

So I have to empty my basket of the 4 days items and buy just the immediate items. Then go back in and reserve the 4-day items seperately, which I need to go into store to pay for with my giftcard.

AIBU to say that Argos is a pile of horseshit? The only reason I persevered (for 2 hours including a couple of incidents where my basket was randomly emptied) was because I had free money to spend...would never have bothered if I had the choice of going elsewhere.

[Pineapplemilkshake]

I agree. The service in our local one is shocking. I recently went with DS to spend his birthday vouchers - he spent £32 and wanted to use his two £15 vouchers so I gave him a tenner to pay the difference. The cashier used all the cash for the transaction and tried to give me back a voucher with £8 on it, and was most aggrieved when I asked for the change in cash. The manager was incredibly rude. I won't be back.

[SnugglySnerd]

I find their search very irritating. E.g. I searched for kitchen scales and got everything with the word kitchen in. So I changed the search to just, "scales" and of course got loads of bathroom scales.

[Izzabellasasperella]

Blimey that does sound like a pita. I wanted to order a laptop from them but every one with the spec I wanted could not be picked up in store or delivered to my store. Also the Argos app is shit, jumpy and won't let me search.
I'm surprised they are still going.

[GreenTureen]

Tesco (in store or online) is also cheaper for a lot of games which i've only just realised. Argos should be making it easy for people to spend their money not so hard.

[ginghamstarfish]

Yes, ridiculous and inconsistent, but so are others such as Ikea - you can order this but not that online, no rhyme or reason to it. They must lose so much business by not having better online shopping.

[mum2Bomg]

Awful - we wanted a freezer yesterday, like ASAP. They didn't have any in stock, fair enough, but when we asked when it would be delivered they said "Normally it's less than a month..." Lol, we went to Currys.

[Cuttingthecheese]

Gingham. Ikea are doing just fine I can assure you, they don't need online shopping. My DH store turns over almost half a million on the average Saturday all year round. Argos however are a crock of shit.

[Maudlinmaud]

Argos where awful to me last year. I buy nothing there anymore. I wanted two chairs which
where home delivery only. Ordered and paid for them at the beginning of oct and was told they would be delivered at the end of nov. No problem thought I. Anyway they didn't turn up on the day of delivery so I rang and waited for ages to speak to a human. Do you know when they turned up? I'll tell you when the end of JANUARY!

[Gileswithachainsaw]

Yanbu

I find our argos appalling.

The touch screens don't work properly making the stock check nigh on impossible.

Amd I don't think I've had a single thing from them in the past few years that either hasn't needed returning, had parts missing, or is blatantly a "return" as the boxes are all taped up . Wtf do they think they are doing charging full price for used items?

[Ifailed]

Argos is now owned by sainsbury's. I wonder if there will be a notable change in their customer service?

[iklboo]

The last time we went to Argos was terrible. One very harassed lady behind the collection desk, huge queues of people, and colleagues kept coming to get her to sort out till problems, queries from customers etc. We were in there an hour waiting for what we'd paid for online.

[WLF46]

Yes, Argos is a piece of shit.

Their online service is hopeless - what's the point of listing items if they are not available for home delivery but not available in the stores either?! This has been the case whenever I've tried to use the service in the last year or so.

Instore the service is terrible. The card payment machines never seem to work in my local store, so you have to queue - a pity they don't have some of the staff that just hang around the shop move to the tills.

No! I won't give you my email address! No! I don't want to pay a ridiculous fee to insure my product! And for goodness sake, if I but a NEW item I expect it to be NEW! Returned products are not NEW.

[JaniceBattersby]

I will never, ever use Argos again after they failed to deliver four of my kids' Christmas presents that I ordered at the beginning of October last year. Excuse after excuse and they eventually said they'd refund me, but that it would take seven bloody days to process the refund. Which took me to after Christmas and I couldn't afford to buy them again. Cheers Argos.

[derxa]

Just had the morning from hell with them. I can't bear to go into the details.
Suffice to say I have no hair left.

[NotMyMonkey]

I've had a nightmare with them today too. Very similar to the OP, some items are collection only, some delivery only, some available immediately, others not for 4 days. It means I pay 3.95 for delivery of two very small items, and have to go down there twice in 4 days to collect the bigger items. Wouldn't be so bad if going there didn't wipe out half a day queuing/waiting!

[The80sweregreat]

Im surprised they are still going tbh.
Our one has lovely staff however.

[Glitterkitten24]

I used to work for argos so really want to stick up for them on this thread- however during the last 342 event I noticed that more and more stock is now home delivery only, and not only obscure stuff. They are trying to have a huge range stock but not doing it very well.

There is no excuse for poor service, but the pressure on the staff (and management) is exceptional- staffing is all done to an absolute shoestring budget so there are never enough staff to help, and the managers are too busy having to operate tills to actually manage people or queues or give the service they (well I) want to. It used to be a great place to work but no longer unfortunately.

I don't have a good word to say about the home delivery service tho, argos direct are piss poor!

[villandry]

I haven't used Argos in years since I bought a mobile that had someone else's contacts in it. When I took it back they tried to say they were my contacts. I pointed out that I wouldn't have mum and gran in there as both had been dead for five and twenty years respectively...

[Eminybob]

I bought a scramble bug as a present for my nephew's fist birthday. I ordered online for collection from store. Got there and they gave me one that the box was completely ripped up, the scooter was dumped in upside down, clearly a returned item. I refused and said can you order me another one? She said oh we have another one I'll just go and get it! So they had 2 and gave me the pile of shit second hand looking one even though I'd specifically ordered it and paid in advance. Cheeky fuckers.

To be fair though I have ordered DS's Christmas present from there because it was LOADS cheaper then anywhere else. Like half the price.

[daisiesinherfootsteps]

Was just moaning about them to DH. We ordered one of the 29.99 tablets and a cover to go with it. Only place we can get it is for collection, a bit out of our way but worth the trip. 5 day wait on the the tablet but fine as it's a Xmas present. However on confirmation we have to collect the cover in next 2 days then go back again for the tablet in 5 days. Can't they hold the items together?

[Bumbumtaloo]

Argos are a pile of shit, I have seen several items recently that have been reduced and thought I would get them and put them up for birthdays/Christmases but no, none in stock anywhere. I tried several locations by me, where friends live, where MIL lives and no stock at all.

Its become a standing joke in our house.

[thecatsarecrazy]

Tried to order a fridge for my dad and they would only deliver on a Wednesday or something. Went in to one on Friday son wants a creeper hoodie for Christmas, I couldn't check stock as the none of the machines work properly. Dh managed , they had one left.

[Gileswithachainsaw]

To be fair though I have ordered DS's Christmas present from there because it was LOADS cheaper then anywhere else. Like half the price

Probably because half the pieces will be missing...

[CoffeeAndOranges]

I wanted a new kettle, didn't have much time, so nipped in and quickly chose a basic morphy Richards one. Guy at the till says 'do you want to see it before paying just in case it's not the same'? I asked what he meant. He said 'well sometimes they don't send out the same one you ordered'. I was a bit and that you could order a product and they just send down something similar thinking 'ah that'll do, close enough'. As it happened it was the same kettle but it looked cheap and crappy in real life so I left it. What a bizarre policy!!

[Optimist1]

Poor old Argos seem to have lost their way! I remember they were the first store to offer a click and collect facility online, which was a welcome change from the rigmarole of ordering instore, so I still rate them for that. I only use them when their price is better than competitors and opt to collect at a branch that's inside a local HomeBase - lots of parking and no queues in the Argos concession. On one occasion I made a mistake and ordered the wrong colour kettle, but their staff were sympathetic and helpful. I've never ordered more than one thing at a time, to the best of my recollection.

Just thought I should pipe up with a positive view in light of previous posters' bad experiences!