Arc Euro Trade Ltd. website update

This topic has 26 replies, 12 voices, and was last updated 20 September 2012 at 11:37 by Ketan Swali.

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3 September 2012 at 16:15 #97700
Ketan Swali
Participant
@ketanswali79440
Our 'new look' website is in process of going live this afternoon. There may be 'some issues' during the going live process which could result in some error messages being shown. Should any visitors to our site experience this, please call us on 0116 269 5693, and we will be happy to assist over the phone. It is hoped that all will be up and running properly by close of business today.

Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused.

Ketan at ARC.
Advert

3 September 2012 at 16:15 #22199
Ketan Swali
Participant
@ketanswali79440
Website Update issues
3 September 2012 at 17:36 #97704
Stovepipe
Participant
@stovepipe
Works Ok – but individual items appear to have two Add buttons.

Dennis Franklin
3 September 2012 at 19:14 #97712
ianj
Participant
@ians
Dennis

If you close the except cookies at the bottom left & refresh, one button is." add to basket" & the other "add to wish list"

Ian
4 September 2012 at 13:36 #97750
Ketan Swali
Participant
@ketanswali79440
Most of the website seems to be working OK now. If visitors see the old version of our site on their screen, please press the refresh/reload button which is normally to be found at the top of the browser.

It seems to be working OK on iphone and ipad, even though I am not entirely happy with the way it looks on those platforms. It is fine on apple macbooks and iMACs.

Small bugs are still being looked at.

Ketan at ARC.
4 September 2012 at 17:00 #97757
Gray62
Participant
@gray62
Ketan,

I would like to complement you on your site.

It is so refreshing to see a fresh clean design without undue 'clutter' and one which is so well thought out and logical.

A big thumbs up from me to yourself and your web design team.

regards

Graeme
4 September 2012 at 19:30 #97765
Sub Mandrel
Participant
@submandrel
I like the colour, much less stressful than the old site

I need a couple of bearings soon (when I have decided what size), I must say its refreshing to see the postage on orders under £10 bears a resemblance to the cost of postinga small packet. Downside is no excuse to drive over and have a cup of tea.

Neil
18 September 2012 at 14:37 #98695
pcb1962
Participant
@pcb1962
Here's a bit of a complaint Ketan – why does my basket empty itself whenever if I leave it for a while?

I like to take my time putting together an order, adding things over the course of the day. But each time I come back to the basket it's empty again.

I realise I can use the wishlist to collect stuff then move it all to the basket when complete, but is there really any reason to keep emptying the basket. Unless you're allocating stock in real time I can't see any reason for this.
18 September 2012 at 14:46 #98696
Ketan Swali
Participant
@ketanswali79440
Hi there,

You have hit the nail on the head. We allocate stock in real time. This is one of the reasons we had to close down our website when we sold accessories at model engineering shows.

We dont take orders for items we dont have in stock.

Ketan at ARC.
18 September 2012 at 19:48 #98718
Sub Mandrel
Participant
@submandrel
Hi Pete

Do what i've done – make a wishlist and wait for payday, then add them to you basket.

Neil
18 September 2012 at 20:50 #98723
Ian P
Participant
@ianp
Thought I would balance the comments. so this is not a bit of a complaint but rather a more of a compliment.

I like the new website 'look and feel' and did mean to comment last week, however today I was pleasantly surprised by the postman who brought an Arc order I placed yesterday (Monday morning, less than 24 hours earlier).

Arc's T&Cs state they ship within two days so I really did not expect it until later in the week.

Happy customer here!

Ian

Being an optimist I usually hope companies try to do their best
18 September 2012 at 21:05 #98724
pcb1962
Participant
@pcb1962
Posted by Ian Phillips on 18/09/2012 20:50:16:

Thought I would balance the comments. so this is not a bit of a complaint

Don't get me wrong, I'm a happy customer too, I bought my SX3 from Ketan and quite a bit of stuff since. I just found it a bit frustrating that every time I get a free ten minutes at work to choose some more stuff, my basket is empty again. Fortunately the wish list feature solves the problem. Unfortunately the extent of my wish list vastly exceeds the depth of my wallet.
18 September 2012 at 21:28 #98726
John Coates
Participant
@johncoates48577
I like the look of the site Ketan.

Ian P: my last order from Arc came blummin' quickly as well. As Arc weren't going to Harrogate (well with any stock anyway) I stayed away and put an order in and was here within two days. Top job!

John
19 September 2012 at 08:23 #98743
Weldsol
Participant
@weldsol
I went to buy some bearings on Monday morning and the amount box wouldn't let me go past 2 and I wanted 4

Tried changing this to 4 and updating but it kept reverting to 2 so I rang them, it seemed there was a glitch did the deed over the phone and they were delivered in less than 24hrs I was well impressed.

So if in doubt give them a call

Paul
19 September 2012 at 08:28 #98744
Ketan Swali
Participant
@ketanswali79440
Dont worry Peter, I didnt take it the wrong way. Also, thank you everyone for your kind comments.

We are always trying to make improvements to our website. There are still a few small issues, but it is mostly working fine now.

From later next week, we may be making a few logisitic changes, which may effect the amount of time a parcel is in transit – delay, for small value low weight orders sent by inland – Royal Mail, but we will still aim to dispatch within two days. The courier service will remain the same.

We are currently experiencing transit delays with Royal Mail International Signed For (RMISF) Airmail service to France, Spain and Portugal. Royal Mail in their wisdom have appointed GLS as their sub-contract service provider in Europe, and their service is a little hit and miss, which in turn is damaging our reputation.

We have a similar problem with RMISF to South Africa. For some reason, Royal Mail's x-ray team considers a stub milling arbor to be a product which is 'not permitted to fly'. It is not on any banned list for any country. After having paid £20.45 to send it out and have it back, we re-sent it in better packaging thinking that that might be the real problem. At present it is still sitting somewhere in the U.K.. It was sent out on the 15th of August. The tracking number (for U.K. tracking only) is RU071492793GB. Just google Royal Mail tracking. Enter this number in the tracking system and you will see that it is still in the U.K.!. We refunded the customer, having lost £40.90 in postage alone, by now. Try to recover this money from Royal Mail? You are having a laugh

BTW, be aware that if you ever loose a parcel through RM, you have to wait a minimum of four weeks after dispatch to allow them to deliver, before you can lodge a claim!. Also, don't waste your money on Recorded service – waste of money if your packet gets lost. Better to send it by Special Delivery – Registered post, regardless of what your

Ketan at ARC.
19 September 2012 at 15:49 #98786
Joseph Ramon
Participant
@josephramon28170
There should be an ombudsman that you can complain to about issues like that.

Joey
19 September 2012 at 16:03 #98788
Ketan Swali
Participant
@ketanswali79440
Joey,

Unless you are the government, or Amazon, or someone who spends a million pounds with Royal Mail, the claims processes are lengthy for small commercial operations like ours, and we have to jump through many hoops, after being passed around on telephone calls and emails. They are fully aware of the problems with GLS, but they choose to ignore it. Just google GLS Royal Mail, and read the link on ROYALMAILCHAT, and you will see how serious the problem is.

I have just received another complaint from Portugal today!

Ketan at ARC.
19 September 2012 at 17:27 #98792
DerryUK
Participant
@derryuk
Why not use a different carrier then Ketan?
19 September 2012 at 17:45 #98794
Gray62
Participant
@gray62
Ketan, Not a complaint, merely an observation which you can pass on to your developers;

after adding an item to 'your wish list' why not allow to return to the same place as the most recently added item, in the same way as happens with a 'add to basket' i.e. the 'continue shopping' button ?

Other than than, having 'played' with the new site for a couple of days, I can't find any way to criticise it.

A big WELL DONE to you and your web developers.

I sympathise with you on you experiences with Royal Mail services, I suffered at their hands a few years ago and suffered severe losses.

Kind regards

Graeme

P.S. It is a great shame that you no longer take accessories etc to the shows. I much prefer to buy items that I can see, touch etc than buy by 'tinternet
19 September 2012 at 20:36 #98809
Sub Mandrel
Participant
@submandrel
Hi Coalburner

The 'back' button works fine for that without upsetting the system (I know some websites get upset by this), although I missed the presence of an obvious 'continue shopping'.button.

Personally i like the way some sites do it – they display a balloon with confirmation of the 'added to basket/wishlist' but don't navigate away from the page you are on – good if you are selecting several things from a list.

Neil
20 September 2012 at 08:35 #98854
pcb1962
Participant
@pcb1962
One more suggestion and a bug (I think):

When an item is in the basket (or the wishlist) it would be useful if the item name was a link back to the product page. Many website baskets work like this (for example, dare I say it – Chronos) and it's very useful if you want to double check the item you're ordering before the final checkout.

Secondly, yesterday I tried to place an order for delivery to my work address, but when I got to the Sagepay page it had my work address as my billling address, which obviously wouldn't have passed the credit card company validation, so I aborted. When I got back to the checkout it had my work address as the billing address there too – something a bit mixed up there.
20 September 2012 at 09:10 #98855
Ketan Swali
Participant
@ketanswali79440
Posted by DerryUK on 19/09/2012 17:27:26:

Why not use a different carrier then Ketan?

For small value small weight parcels going overseas, it is economical to use Royal Mail ISF, for both us and the customers. The problem is intermittent and restricted to certain countries. For packets above a certain weight, we use couriers. Upto around April this year, RMISF provided a great service. Now we are experimenting with different options for the problem areas.

Ketan at ARC.
20 September 2012 at 09:20 #98856
Ketan Swali
Participant
@ketanswali79440
Graeme, Neil and Peter,

Thank you for your feedback. I will look into this and see what we can do. Alan, our Ops man is on holiday and due back to work on 8th October. On his return, we will go through these comments and suggestions with our web service provider, as the points you raise are quite important.

Ketan at ARC.
20 September 2012 at 10:05 #98861
Les Jones 1
Participant
@lesjones1
Hi Ketan,
I have been very impressed by the three courier deliveries I have received from you in the last year. For each one I was told they would be delivered within a one hour time window. the first two arrived within the first few minutes of the window, the third about 30 minutes into the window. Many thanks for the excellent service.

Les.
20 September 2012 at 10:20 #98863
pcb1962
Participant
@pcb1962
Posted by Les Jones 1 on 20/09/2012 10:05:41:

I have been very impressed by the three courier deliveries I have received from you in the last year. For each one I was told they would be delivered within a one hour time window.

Agreed, DPD are extremely reliable, in complete contrast to the pathetically inept HDNL / Yodel outfit.
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