Chronos?

[FrankParticipant @frank]

Placed my first order with Chronos on 10th, had delivery of some of it on 19th. One item now out of stock and they have promised a refund (yet to check that it has actually happend), other item 'to follow'. I've asked when it will be delivered but no reply.

Not an overly impressive service….or is this normal for them?

[FrankParticipant @frank]

[_Paul_Participant @_paul_]

Never had a problem with them a very reliable service in my experience.

Regards

Paul

[wheeltapperParticipant @wheeltapper]

I had a bad experience with them, ordered something on special offer, website said it was in stock .

they took the order then a week later e-mailed me and said they were out of stock and when the new stock come in I would be charged full price.

I told them to stuff it and refund my money.

I'll never use them again.

Roy.

[Phil PParticipant @philp]

I once purchased an item from them via ebay, when it arrived it had the address label printed out from the ebay website and it included my ebay user-name and personal e-mail address for all to see on the outside of the parcel.

In this day and age of identity theft I did not think they should have done that to me. So I rang and told them I did not want my details being made public in that fashion, I cannot remember exactly what was said but apparently that is their normal procedure.

I will not be buying from them again.

That is not my choice however, because next time I did actually try and buy an item via ebay, they had listed me as a blocked bidder. So obviously my business is not important to them.

Phil

Edited By Phil P on 20/06/2013 13:13:06

[Mike WainwrightParticipant @mikewainwright87512]

I have never had a problem with them and I use quite alot for tools.

Mike

[PinstripParticipant @pinstrip]

Hi

Never had a problem with Chronos

I am ordering from Norway and always reliable and quick service

One om my favor supplier

[chris jParticipant @chrisj]

Posted by wheeltapper on 20/06/2013 12:35:35:

I had a bad experience with them, ordered something on special offer, website said it was in stock .

they took the order then a week later e-mailed me and said they were out of stock and when the new stock come in I would be charged full price.

I told them to stuff it and refund my money.

I'll never use them again.

Roy.

That is pretty much how I get on with them.

I always check by phone first.

[Ian PParticipant @ianp]

Posted by Frank Gittus on 20/06/2013 11:49:15:

Placed my first order with Chronos on 10th, had delivery of some of it on 19th. One item now out of stock and they have promised a refund (yet to check that it has actually happend), other item 'to follow'. I've asked when it will be delivered but no reply.

Not an overly impressive service….or is this normal for them?

An accurate and true answer to your question, No its not normal.

I have had excellent service from them and from lots of other suppliers, I have also had poor service, even shocking, sometimes from others and I doubt whether any shop or supplier (even Chronos) could ever achieve 100% perfection for every customer.

Actually it is often the customers own fault and some do have unreasonable expectations. The examples I give below are included only because they were already in this thread not because I think they are unreasonable but because there are two sides to every story.

Wheeltapper
If a supermarket has a special promotion its usually for a limited period, once it ends or they sell out its back to normal price. We know from previous discussions on this forum that syncronising physical stock with a website is not an easy task and I suppose errors do occur.

Phil p
Is your email address a secret? I am sure your user name appears on an eBay listing too, that can be seen by people all over the world not just by the postman. I am sure they did not print your password or credit card number.

Its a scientific fact they people that have a bad shopping experience are more likely to publicise it (here for example) than someone who has just bought something at a bargain price.

IanP

[Martin WParticipant @martinw]

Hi

To date I've never had a problem with Chronos. Service has always been good and items delivered quickly. As an alternative I have always found that RDG also offers an excellent service with great backup should it be required. I expect it's like everything sometimes something will go wrong and you can bet your bottom dollar it will be when it's most wanted, sod's law always manages to strike at the opportune moment .

No connection with either establishment.

Just run the scayt and it highlighted 'connection' wanting to spell it with an 'x' in the middle.

All I wanted was good old English (UK) variety. Moan over

Cheers

[RobboParticipant @robbo]

Posted by wheeltapper on 20/06/2013 12:35:35:

I had a bad experience with them, ordered something on special offer, website said it was in stock .

they took the order then a week later e-mailed me and said they were out of stock and when the new stock come in I would be charged full price.

I told them to stuff it and refund my money.

I'll never use them again.

Roy.

In my experience that is the standard commercial practice with regard to "offers".

But I only buy trivia (rust-proofing paper etc)from Chronos.

Phil

[John ShepherdParticipant @johnshepherd38883]

I have never had a problem with Chronos orders but some of their products are not the best quality in my experience.

I made a mistake on my last order, realised just after I sent it and it was corrected prior to delivery via email without any problem.

I used to be able to visit their shop and always found the staff to be helpful and friendly. The downside was I always spent more than I intended!

[Peter G. ShawParticipant @peterg-shaw75338]

Like other people here, I personally have not had any problems with Chronos per se, but I did have an unusual incident once.

A parcel containg a boxed set of taps & dies turned up one day with my address, but a different name. Looked in the 'phone directory and there was a person with that name living further along our road. I rang Chronos, explained what had happened and asked if it was for "different name" at "further along the road". Now at this point I assume Chronos should not have done what they did, but he looked up that address, found that on Chronos' system "different name" was next to mine and that indeed "further along the road" was where the parcel should have gone. A simple case of accidently looking up the wrong address. I then volunteered to deliver the parcel – a total of 20 yds as I was due to walk past "different name's" front door shortly after. When all said and done, it's daft returning a parcel for it to be redelivered when a short walk solves the problem.

I suspect that Chronos were probably in breach of the Data Protection laws by agreeing to my suggestion, but so what, – "Rules are for the guidance of wise men and the obedience of fools."

However, in this day and age when most of us get bombarded with all sorts of junk through every medium there is, then I quite agree with Phil P that id's of any sort should not be printed on the outside of parcels, letters, etc. It is not a case of excessive privacy, but more an attempt to avoid having to deal with the scammers, thieves, etc who attempt to obtain our personal details to use for their own nefarious purposes. It is unfortunate that there are these people about and it is beholden on businesses to help in defeating this menace. Printing personal details on the outside of a parcel does not help at all.

Regards,

Peter G. Shaw

[BazyleParticipant @bazyle]

Peter, that tale reminds me of when I got a wrapped ME for someone else wrapped inside my ME envelope. Cycled round with it as I had the address.

Going back to the original post it may be they can't give a delivery date as they haven't been given one yet.

What I do hate from (other) mail order supplies is splitting an order and charging multiple postages making the parts outside the range I wanted to pay.

On another tack I find Axminser dangerously efficient having to delay my order because I know it will come tomorrow when I'm not at home not 2-3 days like other suppliers.

[Gordon WParticipant @gordonw]

I've used Chronos a few times with no probs, except for the "out of stock" bit. I buy a lot of stuff via the web and have had very few problems, and all of them sorted no worry. I have been woken at 7-30 am for a delivery I ordered previous afternoon. Last few weeks I've got a cyl. head for a chinese tractor, electronic stuff, dog medc. etc. etc. all no bother. Did have a potential security breach tho' some of the packets have my full name and address, and postcode, all on the outside.

[Chris HeapyParticipant @chrisheapy71135]

I find Chronos a little more expensive than others for most items (not all), standard shipping is slower, though customer support is very good. It's odd that all the significant things I've ordered have arrived via 24hr next-day delivery – but they take several (3-4) days to actually get around to sending it. In response on Wednesday evening I paid £4 extra for next day delivery, expecting it Friday, but so far no email to say the item has been shipped.

RDG are very efficient at shipping, almost everything I've ordered from them has been next day delivery – 2 days at most.

[mechman48Participant @mechman48]

Just had a 80 mm 3 jaw chuck for my RT delivered from Chronos, ordered on line, no bother..! used them quite often over the past year & had no issues,same applies to Arc Euro & RDG (usual disclaimer for all). as with all these retailers all the stuff comes fromChina / India so there can be some distinct quality issues..but you gets what you pays for, considering there are no (or very few) UK manufacturers of this sort of stuff there's not much option!

George.

[wheeltapperParticipant @wheeltapper]

Posted by Robbo on 20/06/2013 15:24:44:

Posted by wheeltapper on 20/06/2013 12:35:35:

I had a bad experience with them, ordered something on special offer, website said it was in stock .

they took the order then a week later e-mailed me and said they were out of stock and when the new stock come in I would be charged full price.

I told them to stuff it and refund my money.

I'll never use them again.

Roy.

In my experience that is the standard commercial practice with regard to "offers".

But I only buy trivia (rust-proofing paper etc)from Chronos.

Phil

I wouldn't have minded if they'd let me know straight off that they were out of stock, but to accept my order then wait 7 days and then tell me is a bit off.

I don't see why I should be penalised because they can't keep their site up to date.

Roy.

[jason udallParticipant @jasonudall57142]

Because we have suppliers achieving same day despatch and next morning delivery. .we get a bit spoilt and “expect” that every time. .not even achievable by the best of suppliers every time..I am sure we all remember when “please allow 28 days for delivery” was the norm.. (I have had better than that direct from china!)…many of our niche suppliers do not have warehouses of 500 000 lines or teams of staff to rush off to pick our orders within minutes of our order placement.. let alone the queue at the post office.…this said communication could often be better
.

[Sub MandrelParticipant @submandrel]

Used to use Chronos because I liked the paper catalogue and prices were OK.

Several years ago I ordered a set of BA box spanners from Chronos.

When they came a couple of them were duplicates with other missing. Spoke to them, I sent back the duplicates and they sent me the correct spanners.

No fuss.

Haven't used them so much as I find their website hard to browse or search.

Redently bought a mid-price set of metric drills by 0.5mm from them. Not used them yet, some burrs but look better than the cheap black-brittle-but-bendy crud, even if one or two may need a little attention.

Neil

[FrankParticipant @frank]

Still no contact from them, however they have refunded my out of stock item.

I take the point that with the increase in On-line shopping most Suppliers have upped their game and get deliveries out in 2 – 3 days and that has now become the norm. I know not all Suppliers are up to that and perhaps these are the ones who will fall by the wayside as Customers go to more responsive Suppliers. Chronos were not this slow in taking my money.

As a new customer I'm not overly impressed and will definately be trying other Suppliers.

[FrankParticipant @frank]

Now here's a strange thing.

Based on the comments above, I've just placed an order with RDG Tools. The order reference is exactly the same format as the Chronos one. Only the last few digits are different.

Are the two companies connected?

[Tony Pratt 1Participant @tonypratt1]

I have used both RDG & Chronos and the quality is about the same for both companies which isn't suprising as they will source their products from the same vendors in China, India etc.

Tony

[AndyBParticipant @andyb47186]

Just to say, I regularly buy from Chronos and have never had anything but first rate service from them, both initial and aftersales ( I have only used that once or twice).

No connection with them, or anyone else.

Andy

[Steven VineParticipant @stevenvine79904]

Considering the amount of indidual items they despatch each week it is inevitable things will not go according to plan once in a while. I consider Chronos to be a reputable firm with decent people working for them, and I am sure they always aim to see the customer right. I've had a couple of minor problems over the years, but polite communication has always ended in a resolved situation to satisfaction. (Usual no ties etc)

Steve

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