Out of Stock Items?

[yankeegirl]

Dani,
Could you talk about the issue of out of stock or unavailable items? I am finding it very frustrating to finally have an order ship, missing an item. It seems like I order these items as soon as the email posts that they are for pre-order, and so I just don't understand why they are deleted from my order. Do you not get them? Were they over-ordered?
I wish you could let us know as soon as you realize that an item is not going to be available or in our orders. I really wanted these items, and each of the three orders you shipped to me today are missing an item that was either a pre-order or was listed in stock when I placed the order. And now I am having a hard time finding the item somewhere else.
Thanks,
Kathy

[Dani]

Sure.
We have mentioned this a few times in the past but it is good to refresh.

When a pre-order goes up we work from list of inventory suppliers send us letting us know what is available. We then make everything available for customers so they can order freely and once our sale is over we place the order from the supplier according to what has been sold. Unfortunately from time to time suppliers dont have their stock updated correctly and we sell an item that they dont have enough of so they cancel from our orders and we in turn have to cancel from our customers. In most cases we dont know there is an issue until an order arrives to our warehouse.

Also, as in your case, asking us to hold orders to be combined with others to avoid shipping charges can cause items that where in stock at the time you ordered to go out of stock as we ship other people's orders. The best is to always let orders ship out as you place them instead of us having to hold product for many weeks until there is enough to ship out.

Finally there is a 3rd reason, which I think is the one that causes most of this problems with inaccurate inventory and it has to do with technology. We have something in the works to get rid of inaccurate inventory problems but more will be announced in the coming days/weeks.

Hope this helps you understand how the process works.

[Deleted]

My solution is to drive Dani crazy with several small orders, which has worked for me (and probably left him with crossed eyes and shaking his head)!

I am so paranoid about items going out of stock that I don't ever leave anything sitting in my cart for any length of time.

SL's customer service is second-to-none, and will probably only get better as Dani works out some of the glitches that actually may be beyond his control.

[AnnaMatrix]

Like you, Diane, I do multiple orders to ensure I get stuff while it's still in stock!!

The other thing to remember is DON'T combine pre-ordered merch with stuff that's already in stock... Then everything waits for the pre-order to come in, and you're left wondering where your goodies are!! I speak from experience, unfortunately!!

if something gets deleted from an order, you can e-mail Dani for an explanation, and an estimate of when it should arrive. I'll often click the "notify me when it's back in stock" button - I LOVE this feature - and I get e-mailed as soon as it's available to re-order.

HTH. I know it's frustrating to be planning on using a certain something and not receive it when you expect to!! Like Diane, I've found Dani to provide great customer service and he responds promptly to e-mails! Gail

[Susan]

I can't offer too much help - as Dani has a lime green walkie talkie clipped to his belt at all times. It's the "AZ Hot Line" and I just ring him up and he tells me what has arrived.

HAHA - I'm KIDDING!!!!!!!

I hope Dani got your question answered Kathy! I know it can be frustrating to think you have something in your cart, or in your box, or on its way...only to find that it slipped away. But Dani is always quick to reply to emails...shoot him an email at any time and he'll give you the four-one-one of a status.

EDITED TO ADD - what Gail said - OH MY GOSH! Way early on I did that, I place a pre-order item into a cart with major essentials! You know - adhesive, Neenah paper, Silhouette vinyl, etc. and darn if a pre-order Spellbinders didn't hold it up! For weeks I was like "Dani is killing me!!!" and come to find out it was my pre-order item's fault!

hope you are able to find your goodies if SL is truly out of stock! Was it Echo Park Christmas paper?? DARN if I didn't miss that already!

[Cat]

When I got into QK / die cutting several years ago I tried several different sites and even tried ordering dies from brick and mortar stores. (I'm still waiting on some of the products I paid for .....well I really don't expect to get them.....the stores have shut down) I can honestly say I have never, ever had the kind of "GREAT"service I get from ScrapyLand.
Like the others, I have slipped up and placed pre-order items in with my regular items----but I look at that as my fault. I have place items in my cart and had them stolen (I think my DD Christy was the guilty person a few times cause we were on the phone when she placed her order and stuff disappeared from my cart "RAT") Like the others I'm sure I drive Dani cross-eyed with my small orders because there are some things I think I can't live without so I place my order---then find a few other items---place the order ----more items----well you get the picture.

I do 99.99% of my scrap-booking shopping at ScrapyLand---and I have started buying some stuff at Scrappy Center all because I believe Dani has the Greatest Customer Service around.


Cat

[yankeegirl]

I'm feeling badly that I have given the impression that I think customer service at Scrapyland is not good. Quite the contrary....I used to order from multiple other sites, but the wide variety of products here has allowed me to order primarily from Scrapyland now....and I love it! I have never had a mistake with an order, and everything arrives in perfect condition, unlike some other sites! And when I order a product twice, and realize it, Dani fixes me up right away!!!

I was just feeling frustrated on Monday when 3 shipping orders each had an item that was cancelled out. Part of the problem, I can see, is my own miscommunication about 'holding' orders....I didn't mean to hold the orders and ship them together....I just wanted them shipped together if they all came in and were packed at the same time, to save on shipping. So these orders were held up because of that. I won't do that again!!!

I WILL get this right!!!! I get the part about not placing pre-orders in with regular stuff.

Thanks for the explanation, Dani....I can understand now that what you think you are getting is not always WHAT you get....and that certainly will affect what comes out in orders!