Need advice re: Mammas & Pappas order...PLEASE!

[Twiga]

Hi, sorry this is probably going to be a bit long - thanks if you get to the end and reply!

Right, back in April dh and I put in a large order with Mammas & Pappas in Craigleith Edinburgh. Apparently Aberdeen is outwith their free delivery zone so we've paid around £160 for them to deliver and build the order. Delivery was due to be the start of this month - my due date is the end of the month. Decided to order direct as was cheaper than ordering through John Lewis up here, even with the delivery fee.

Unfortunately the store forgot to authorise the order through to build and deliver at that time, who as a result didn't contact us at the start of the month to arrange delivery. Anyway eventually got through to build and deliver last week who apologised but said unfortunately their driver was on holiday until 16th but they would do what they could to sort out a delivery asap. Phoned back monday and said they would deliver essentials like car seat, Moses basket etc today before 1pm and the rest of the furniture this coming Thurs. Waited all morning for the delivery which never arrived - phoned just after 1pm to find that yet again the delivery wasn't activated on their system.

To add to all of this M&P have also now told us that our cot is being disconitnued and would we accept an ex-display model at 20% discount - assured us it was undamaged,so we agreed. They then phoned back later this afternoon to say the cot is actually damaged after all and they will "try" to get one from another store - not looking good to be honest ! Problem is cot matches the rest of the furniture and we don't really want an odd cot, neither are we keen to take cot/bed alternative.

Our order has been fully paid for since april - again coz we're outwith the area they wanted all the money not just a deposit. To my mind they therefore should have had all of our stuff on resevere and there should be no question of any of it not being available. I've just over a fortnight to go before due date - mw has said baby is 4/5ths engaged and bh contractions are becoming more frequent and co-ordinated. Am really worried that baby will arrive before any of the stuff. I now have to wait in on tuesday (for the essentail items) and thursday next week (for furniture) - no set time just 9am-6pm at some point - not at all confident that they will deliver despite reassurances. Apparently it's not company policy to compensate, but there "may" be a "good will gesture" made once we've taken reciept of goods next week .

Tempted to cancel the order but feel like they have us over a barrel as where would we now get the stuff in time? Very cross and tearful, have been so organised and it's all going wrong!

Sorry for the length of this, needed to get it all off my chest

Phoned head office and go nuts.

Seriously. You don't need this!

Tell them what's going on, then ask what they will do to sort it out. Usually this will result in them taking action.

I phoned head office and they put me through to the main call system who started to log the complaint then put me through to build and deliver. Build and deliver have logged the complaint, but apparently until the order goes through in terms of the stuff arriving no further action will take place - ie they'll sort it later. Am going to follow up with a letter but am at a loss really feel ike have no option but to go ahead, not sure what to do if cot is not available after all.

If Glasgow Pram Centre or JL stock it I'd be tempted to cancel the order.

What a hassle. You really don't need this.

I hope you get it sorted as I know you want it all to be perfect (it never is btw, but that's another conversation).

Sending hugs and I'll txt you later.

We had a horrendous time with M & P 3 years ago with my dds stuff, ordered travel system and all matching furniture 6 months in advance and had a terrible time to get it in time for her birth. Stayed in for 2 days without delivery, then part delivery, then something broken, again they had me over a barrel as they let me down at the last minuted. However, eventually everything came just in time. Oh and good will gesture was a babies hooded towel and wooden rattle. Hope you get it sorted in time. Lovely stuff but there customer care is appaling.

Tassis do you know how quickly Glasgow pram centre could deliver if they had the stock? Dh reluctant to cancel order as believes that gives them the easy way out - wants to see them sort things, although I reckon if the deliveries don't go right this week then he may well change his mind.

Jenkel, glad to hear that they are capable of sorting things out eventually. Their "goodwill gesture" seems a bit naff after all that hassle.

Dh sat and wrote to head office last night, we're wanting to keep up the preasure in terms of the complaint - can't believe how rubbish it's been.

In your shoes, I would phone and go mad. They have had your money since APRIL. I would

1. charge them interest for YOUR money that they've had sitting in their account
2. I would insist they get another store to deliver what you ordered NOW
3. I would forward a complaint to trading standards (and let them know you will do this).

It is TOTALLY unacceptable for them to have your money and not follow through on the order.

I would also phone john lewis and see how quickly they could deliver the lot (or you could pick up the essential items). Recently, I have been paying a little over the odds and getting stuff from John Lewis because in every dealing I've had with them, the service has been good.

omg twiga - don't mean to worry you even more but i only know of 2 people who ordered from mamas and papas direct and they both had huge problems with delivery and the answer seems to be to get on the phone to them at every oppurtunity, tell them a non specified time is unacceptable and you need times as you have midwife/hospital appointments etc.
i would continue to complain, but to be honest once your stuff arrives and you have little one there probbaly won't feel like there is enough time in tha day to ring and make further complaints so make sure you do it before baby comes along. i don't think that they are very good with compensation though, tends to be along the lines of £20 gift voucher for mamas and papas!

hope you get ti sorted and i would look into alternatives and if you can confirm that the items are in stock elsewhere, cancel with m&p and get it from somewhere else. (do you not have any independant retailers near you?)

Thanks foxinsocks, think trading standards is next on dh's list if things don't get sorted especially with the cot issue. In many ways I would love to order from else where now but don't see how it will come any quicker than M&Ps can get it to us. Am seriously regretting trying to save money, John Lewis up here have always been fine, it's just we were in Edinburgh for the weekend and figured money saved could be used for other things.

they have an online customer services desk (in case you don't know)

[email protected]

I don't know Twiga, if they've taken this long they may take forever!

Perhaps it's worth ringing JL or pram centre at least to see what they say (although I can see why you want to hold on as they say it's so close to delivery).

vickiyumyum, as of yesterday am now aware of some independent stockists in the surrounding shire area, having spoken to some friends about the situation. We weren't really too sure of what was around outwith the city centre and probably should have researched better. Difficulty is that we would ideally like the stuff we've ordered - been picturing it all for months but resent that fact that M&Ps will still profit from us that way even if not bought direct, but honestly haven't seen anything we like as much.

Foxinsocks, I might just give JL/GPC a ring. Would be interesting to see if they have stuff in stock and how quickly we could get it just in case. am amazed that M&Ps will only offer a "goodwill gesture" after you've taken delivery - kinda garentees their sale still I guess?!

at least if you buy it from somewhere else they won't have made as much profit from you,and another company will have profited from there loss!

if you can get the same thing elsewhere don't worry about making mamas and papas money, just buy what you need to make your room complete, as you have probbaly decorated around what you are buying! get your furniture as quickly as you can and then relax and try and enjoy the rest of your pregnancy, i'm sure that you do not need this added stress at the moment.

Have talked to GPC and they've confirmed that cot is discontinued - they wouldn't be able to acess one for us - they would be able to get other stuff but would take a max of two weeks although their prices are lower and no delivery charge.

You're right vickiyumyum this is the last thing I need!

Foxinsocks, thanks for the online customer service desk - wasn't aware of them but may well be useful - takes ages on the phone.

what's the name of the cot your after? there might be another online stockist that has it?

One way to get some action would be to go to the top, what about writing to the founders David and Luisa Scacchetti
at:
Mamas & Papas, Colne Bridge Road, Huddersfield HD5 0RH

In my limited experience it certainly seems to get results - we managed to get something out of MFI when they mucked us about with delivery times. Worth a shot and in my experience most of Customer Services don't really care (there are always exceptions............).

HTH

Lu

I'm not sure if this will help at all, but John Lewis do a price match on all their products, if you decide to cnx with mp direct as long as they are in stock. John lewis are fab much better than M&P by the sounds of it

You should put your complaint in writing - to everyone at M&P (I know you can do without it) the managing director, the sales director, the customer services director, the store manager, etc... Without anything in writing you have no recourse and customer services are only interested in the call they are handling at that precise minute!

We had dreadful problems with M&P repairing a travel system - it was with them being repaired for the same fault 5 times in the first 9 months of my little one's life! Luckily I brought it via John Lewis who were so sick of me that in the end they gave me a new travel system of my choice. Don't give up pestering them!!

Lulu, will get a copy of the letter we've written sent to them - so far only sent to head office/complaints dept - starting at the top can't hurt.

Stingo, it's the Richmond regatta cot, and everywhere I've tried by phone today has confirmed that it has been discontinued and they are no longer able to order it in, so things really are in M&Ps hands on that front .

Lisanmark, unfortunately the price match thing won't work as we'd need to order from Aberdeen brach of JL and we place the origenal order with M&Ps in Edinburgh - price match needs to be within local area IIRC.

Bev, have followed up telephone complaint with letter to head office/complaints dept - we're determined to keep at them until it's all sorted.

these have it and it seems to be in stock

HTH

Thanks Stingo, will have a closer look if needed once I get an idea of what's happening about the cot tomorrow.

hey twiga. was so sorry to hear that this thread was started by you... i imagined that you had all your stufff by now.

only tip i can give is to send letter to all those people mentioned and make each letter recorded delivery - ime that gets their attention.

on the up side... whats the worst that can happen? you're still having a baby (and ur not relying on M&P to deliver it!

Hey Ja9! Just as well it's me delivering the baby ! Feeling a bit more up beat about things today, M&Ps phoned to say they've found a cot in Solihull which is being sent up overnight to Glasgow ready for delivery Thurs - still a display model but have assured us it is un-damaged. Just need to see how the delivery of stuff pans out tomorrow - here's hoping. Dh has sent a letter up to head office - will be interesting to see if they reply.

Small items just delivered - now baby has moses basket, pram and car seat quite happy for them to arrive any time now! Hopefully thurs delivery will go smoothly too. Off to open my boxes........

good luck