BoatersWorld Shoppers Beware

[Kurt]

I purchased by online order a new Portable head for my boat on July 1st. It stated 7-10 day shipping which I was happy with. I realized this weekend it had been almost 3 weeks and still a no show. I check my email and it reads..."Sorry, we have not forgot about you and will send the item as soon as we recieve it from the manufacturer since the item you purchased is on backorder. I emailed them back and asked why it was not posted on the ad's post as a back order? The responded by saying it was clearly advertised as back ordered. The ad post never stated anything other than it will be shipped from the manufacturer when they recieve it in 7-10 working days.
If I knew the item was backordered.... meaning to me the item will arrive indefinitely I would have never ordered this. Is this a bait and switch type tactic to get you to order items or am I just being stupid.

 

[beerman]

We had the same thing happen last week with a pair of shoes for the admiral. Same message.

 

[chuck1]

I have never had a problem when I've purchased from them.

 

[Weave]

I had the same issue with cabela's
Gave me a 25 buck gift card....Whoopppy Doooo.
Only took 15 CS reps to figure out the problem

 

[fc3]

Did they charge your credit card? Most reputable companies will not charge the card until they ship. If they have not charged you, there's not much to be cranky about. Cancel the order and get something else.

Best regards,
Frank C

 

[beerman]

No charge to the card. Just makes you wonder if they are having problems.

 

[Groucho]

This seems to happen alot lately, I bet it cuts on cost if they don't have to store many items. They just order as they need to.

 

[Kurt]

They have not charged the card yet. I am just a baby and have no patience. The area is in desperate need of a BoatersWorld or a West Marine. I live in the home of the Bass Pro Shops (Southwest Missouri) so they must be intimidated. BTW Bass Pro shop has very limited boating needs unless you have a bass boat.

 

[Rock Hall]

I've had that happen a few times over the years. But Boaters World has always been great.

 

[Dave S]

If I know I will need something quickly, then I usually call the vendor first to make sure it is not back-ordered and then order over the phone. Since Boaters World did not charge your card, then just cancel the order and find another internet source that can ship immediately.

By way of interest did you get an email confirmation after you ordered? Did it say anything about the back order or when it would ship?

 

[jacktm]

A lot of on line retailers do not stock the items they advertise. They have agreements with either the manufacturere or distrubution centers to drop ship your items. If they didn't charge your card, get it somewhere else. This happens all the time not only on line but with catalog sales.

 

[William Miller]

FYI, I found out the hard way that the on-line store and the retail stores are owned by different people.

I tried to exchange a windbreaker that showed up in the wrong color. I had to buy the right one in the store and ship the wrong one back to the catalog company.
The "Captain's Club" certificates you get in the retail stores also don't work for on-line purchases.

This was a few months ago, so maybe something has changed by now?

 

[HavnFunYet?]

I have found that, at least here in Michigan, they are at least 20% more than West marine for the same items and at least 25% more than my local marina...I know THAT is hard to believe! Anyway, I have no use for them for anything I would buy for my boat. Service is non-existent and prices are WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY out of line. They are dead to me.

 

[TimC]

I've had items that I have tried to purchase on websites be advertised before they are even available.

I would go through the process of buying it then would get a notice ( after I was charged of course ) that the item will be available in 6-9 weeks or even more.

You have to read the fine print with these websites.

 

[CSR_Admin]

Just about any ecommerce site, especially the better ones with lots of products are driven by product feeds. They might come from distributors, manufacturers, marketing companies that generate these feeds or whatever. Typically a site will have a "policy" that outlines the typical flow of buying a typical product. This policy will be built around the majority of the transactions that company deals with. For example, most of the things we sell are in stock and will ship out the same day, either from us or a myriad of distributors i work with. If you read our site policy it will state this somewhere. Since some of the stuff on our site is generated by product feeds I really have no idea what is coming on the site or going off the site. It is rare, but every so often somebody will find something that I didn't even know existed on our online store and buy it. Might be a soon to be released product, or a discontinued product or whatever. This will happen at least once a week. While we try to describe the intricacies of every possible transaction on our site sometimes one will be outside of the box, its just a reality of ecommerce. So like some body said before, if you really need it then call the order in and confirm its available. If nobody answers the phone or doesn't call you back then thats a good sign to move along to the next company. The primary role of an ecommerce store is more to act as a service organization than a retailer. The service is helping you obtain something at a great price with a great return policy, safely and securely without leaving your seat. When an order does come through that is outside of the box a good company will communicate the situation well so the customer is advised of the situation and can act accordingly.

 

[Bridog]

Is this how it works with burgees?