Chronos?

[FrankParticipant @frank]

Conclusion to my Saga…

After repeated attempts to get Chronos to give me a date for the final item on my order, they have now come back and said that it wasn't going to be this week. I've cancelled the item and asked for a refund.

On the other hand, RDG sent a text giving me a delivery slot of one hour, and the complete order duly arrived within that time.

No axe to grind – this was my experience being a first time shopper with both companies.

[StevoParticipant @stevo]

Hopefully I'm not necro-posting here… !

Went to the Chronos website, ordered some lathe tools and a chuck. All in stock – paid for next day delivery. Email winged its way to me 3hrs later saying we have been calling you with no answer (phone never rang at all).

One item was 7 days delivery and the other over 3 months. Yet all 'in stock' on thier website. I've asked them to cancel the order – as yet no reply, but at least it was via Paypal so there is some recourse.

Then I looked at thier ebay site. All items showing in stock – in fact they indicated over 10 of them. I dropped them an email (different address this time). They responded and said that they have 'just gone out of stock'…!

Looking at thier feedback, which is overall positive, there are several comments about items saying 'in stock' and when they are ordered they are suddenly 'out of stock'. Not to mention a few comments about the rudeness of the seller.

It is not my intention to rubbish this trader, but guys please be careful when ordereing – call them and make sure it is in stock, and pay via PayPal if you can for added protection.

Steve

[Oompa LumpaParticipant @oompalumpa34302]

You don't need "added protection" they are all reliable people. Don't forget, Paypal take a percentage and I will let you work out who gets to pay that percentage. If the purchase is over £100 (including any postage costs) you are covered by your card issuer anyway.

I can tell you from first hand experience that getting correct inventory when you are carrying thousands of items is NOT a trivial task.

Remember this: They are selling from at least three different online "store fronts" so when they sell ten of something on ebay, for instance, it does not automatically take those ten items from their online shop database, so if there is one item in stock, then three different people buy it from three different online outlets and they update the database manually every week, or month or whenever there is an opportunity.

You can see the logistics problem. Nobody can get it right all of the time, especially if it is a popular item.

graham.

[StevoParticipant @stevo]

Yes thanks Graham. I do appreciate the logistics of the situation, especially when there are thousands of items in stock etc. I've worked in IT for many years now and see it from that side too.

If I were them I would add "please call to verify stock levels..." to any of thier sites to cover all bases; perhaps that's something we should all do?

On the flip side I have odrered many hundreds of items from all sorts of ebay sellers who indeed have thier own virtual shop fronts – engineering items, IT products, building supplies etc all without problems….

As I said, I'm not putting a downer on Chronos at all, but offering some advice as to ring first

Haveing just said that – I have just this second received an apology from them plus a refund, so all is well in that department.

[Oompa LumpaParticipant @oompalumpa34302]

I wasn't having a go at you Steve, I just wanted to try to illustrate the issues some of these suppliers face.

I believe that we are becoming far too intolerant nowadays and people need to relax a bit.

graham.

[Harry WilkesParticipant @harrywilkes58467]

I have purchased from both companies without any problem but I must admit (slightly off topic) I have to smile when visiting a RDG ebay page to see the inflated price they put on some item that are out of stock

[StevoParticipant @stevo]

LOL

Relax is my middle name!

Youhave a point in many areas – in this day and age of "I want it now" and next day delivery.. "must have it immediately"… etc … we do get very intolerant of things like this, including the queue at Tescos.

My predicament is that I've a bit of turning to do and no lathe tools… and it's Friday and Saturday AM delivery is astronomical. embarrasing, eh? Hehehe! Off for a lie down. Perhaps also I should spend the weekend with SWMBO… then on the other hand…

[JAParticipant @ja]

I happily use Chronos. Their tools are good and all cutting tools are sold in cases unlike some dealers. However I do not expect same day service from them or from any other "ordinary" dealer. I believe by law they have four weeks to deliver an order. If I want something tomorrow I use RS and pay the premium.

JA

[jason udallParticipant @jasonudall57142]

Knowing nothing of the company/companies involved.

I suspect that companies can and do like to appear bigger than they really are sometimes..distance selling allows such..
Now often a “one man band” , can give a exemplary service and ensure that all personnel have experience and product knowledge. .it also allows much lower overheads.
The downside might be..answering emails / telephone during the day( not having given up the day job ..YET )..order picking and despatch..even inventory. . ( sure that “some ” buy in to despatch)..

My point is if a company wants to trade as the kind of company despatching from stock. .there is a cost..
If its a “boutique” shop then there might be a different cost..
I would wish to be able to place my order based on an informed choice.

[Oompa LumpaParticipant @oompalumpa34302]

Posted by Stevo on 07/03/2014 10:25:56:

LOL

Relax is my middle name!

Youhave a point in many areas – in this day and age of "I want it now" and next day delivery.. "must have it immediately"… etc … we do get very intolerant of things like this, including the queue at Tescos.

My predicament is that I've a bit of turning to do and no lathe tools… and it's Friday and Saturday AM delivery is astronomical. embarrasing, eh? Hehehe! Off for a lie down. Perhaps also I should spend the weekend with SWMBO… then on the other hand…

Snag is, you are too far away from me or you could nip round and borrow something to get you away.

NOT the missus though

[Jeff DaymanParticipant @jeffdayman43397]

"Looking at thier feedback, which is overall positive, there are several comments about items saying 'in stock' and when they are ordered they are suddenly 'out of stock'. Not to mention a few comments about the rudeness of the seller."

Stevo, the above comments exactly describe my last two transactions with Chronos. On enquiry about out of stock goods (advertised as in-stock) I received extremely rude emails.

Never again for me, thanks. I'll make it myself or do without before I accept that treatment as a customer.

JD

[StevoParticipant @stevo]

Sent you a PM, Jeff.

No matter what forum I'm on, I'm always "too far away…" !!!!!!

[Bob LambParticipant @boblamb44747]

Ordered some bits from Blackgates last week. One item was out of stock, which I was told about on the phone at the time. They said they would send it post free and it arrived this morning. They didn't charge me until they had sent it. No complaints at all – wish everything in life was that simple!

Bob

[LambtonParticipant @lambton]

Over the years I have bought quite a lot of stuff from Chronos and mostly I was satisfied with my purchases. I visited them recently in their large and well laid out warehouse where you are free to wander around a bit like a diy store. I did notice that their stocks were very low on certain items ( Myford back plates for example) and luckily I got the last one of the item that I went to get.

I suppose the money tied up in stock is "dead money" until the items are sold so like every other supplier they must watch their sock level very carefully. However they should have a system for flagging up out of stock items quickly and for communicating the position to potential customers via their web site and the persons who take telephone orders.

Eric

[Trevor Drabble 1Participant @trevordrabble1]

Working in such a relatively small niche' market , I have no doubt that suppliers such as Chronos (no connection) are working on tight profit margins , and so maybe do not have the money to throw at a first class stock control system . And , just by way of putting things into perspective , during a recent visit to London in November 2013 , I really pushed the boat out and bought a tube of Harrods own brand biscuits from their store . I later decided I would like some more (!!) and so emailed all the packet information to Harrods requesting details for further supply. The reply I got literally took my breath away. In effect they do not have an effective stock control system , and suggested I should travel ( 350 mile round trip !) to the store to check for myself ! Now , given their situation , if they cant be ……. to install such a system , how can we reasonbly expect the likes of Chronos to do so ? A copy of the email is available to anyone interested.

Trevor.

[Danny M2ZParticipant @dannym2z]

G'day.

Not about Chronos (of which I know nothing) but I just had a email from ARC Eurotrade informing me that the angular contact bearings for my minilathe that I enquired about a few months ago are now in stock.

Now that's the way to do business, keep the customer informed. (The price is alright too btw).

Regards * Danny *

[MICHAEL WILLIAMSParticipant @michaelwilliams41215]

I’ve always had good service myself from each of Chronos , RDG and ARC .

More generally though industrial supplier companies have sometimes changed from being very good to very bad (or vice versa just sometimes) overnight .

Usual reasons are the ‘reorganisation’ , the ‘takeover’ and family firms where dad has retired and handed over running of business to idiot sons .

There were once many small and large engineering businesses in South Wales where I live . To service these engineering businesses there were several tool and consumable supplier businesses .

Normal arrangement was that you ordered the day before and goods arrived early next day in company’s own van .

Some of these suppliers were well known like Buck & Hickman and some were small local dealers . One or two had just a van full of goodies that did the rounds – like delivering the milk . Most of them were very reliable .

Anyway amongst this lot was a trader called John Hall Tools . Ordering anything from them was like entering a lottery – they always brought you something but what it would be was anyones guess . It was so bad at one stage that shop floor used to have running bets on what would turn up !

On a different slant it is astonishing sometimes just how bad customers can be . A long time ago when Reeves (old) were in Mosely road I was shown some of the hand written scrawls they received – rambling descriptive orders where no item was ever actually named and vile texts of complaint about orders that Reeves had never had .

Regards ,

Michael Williams .

Edited By MICHAEL WILLIAMS on 09/03/2014 09:36:15

Edited By MICHAEL WILLIAMS on 09/03/2014 09:48:01

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