The ongoing struggle

15 Responses to “Don’t shop with Laptops Direct unless you enjoy marketing email and a hard sell”

1. Mark Kelly Says:
   August 28th, 2008 at 07:42

   Hi,

   I’m Mark, I work in Marketing for Laptops Direct.

   My apologies if you weren’t totally satisfied with your shopping experience at Laptops Direct, we strive to offer our customers the lowest possible prices coupled with a great service.

   Due to high levels of fraud within our industry we often make call backs to customers to make sure orders are genuine, this is done to protect both our customers and ourselves. Sometimes details provided are incorrect or incomplete although I couldn’t say for certain if that was the case in this particular instance.

   We do offer product recommendations and special offers to customers from time to time. We aim to provide advice about products which may be required with an order. Most people do find this useful but it does depend on the technical knowledge of the user.

   We do operate a number of different websites which we cross market to our customers. If you wish to opt out of the mailings you can follow the unsubscribe information at the bottom of the email, this will remove you from all our email marketing.

   There isn’t an email address on our website as the old addresses used to receive a lot of spam. The new eMessage system also allows us to direct queries to the appropriate department for processing.
   I’m not too sure why the eMessage system didn’t work when you tried it though - I’ve just tested it and it’s working at present. Would it be possible for you to try again and let me know if you’re still getting the error message?

   Once again, my apologies that your shopping experience wasn’t to your satisfaction. We value all feedback and rest assured we will take the details you have posted on board.

   If you have anything further you wish to discuss please don’t hesitate to contact me.

   Mark Kelly

2. Adrian Bridgett Says:
   August 28th, 2008 at 14:15

   Like Andy I’m looking at blacklisting sites which spam me with me _opting in_.

   Particularly ones which don’t have unsubscribe links (at least yours does I suppose)

   Dear Mark - you have to be _joking_!
   “There isn’t an email address on our website as the old addresses used to receive a lot of spam”

   I wonder where a good chunk the spam comes from…

3. Mark Kelly Says:
   August 28th, 2008 at 14:23

   Obviously I blocked all our own email addresses

   I gest of course. Our email addresses got added to lots of unwanted lists, I think most places now use forms etc in place of email addresses, the main benefit is being able to direct messages to the appropriate departments. Although it doesn’t help if the message system isn’t working as in the above case.

   Personally I receive a lot of emails from sites I sign up to but like you I’d be annoyed if there wasn’t the option to unsubscribe, I can’t see the point in having an email address on your list if you don’t want to buy anything. My main gripe - like most people I suppose - is when my email address is randomly spammed by fraudsters, meds, etc. if only they had an unsubscribe link! I actually have one email address which doesn’t receive any spam emails at all - very rare nowadays, I try not to use it too often to keep it pure

4. Andy Says:
   August 28th, 2008 at 15:32

   Dear Mark,

   It is not acceptable when shopping with Laptops Direct that my email address be used to attempt to flog me aircon or other unrelated items. If I want something I am capable of finding it online.

   If your site had any sort of email preferences to allow people to opt in to marketing emails then I would have remained opted out. I suspect that’s why you do not have any. A company that has any respect for its customers would be clear about what it will use their email addresses for and will allow opt outs.

   I find this and your company’s hard sell tactics extremely rude and I will happily spend a little more in future to not have to endure it. I suspect others will too.

5. Mark Kelly Says:
   August 28th, 2008 at 15:43

   Hi Andy,

   Thanks for the feedback.

   We understand that not all customers will want to buy from our other websites but we do want to offer our other products and services. We do cross market between sites with the option to unsubscribe from all our mailings at any time. I will look at the opt out during the order process.

   It’s never our intention to make any customer feel unhappy during their shopping experience with us, we strive to bring customers the best deals available on a wide variety of products and we want to make sure everyone has the opportunity to order before we sell out.

   I will talk to our sales manager about the hard sell tactics you encountered, as mentioned above we do offer items which are on offer or that we feel will be of use to our customers but as a service as opposed to a hard sell.

   Thanks again for the feedback, this is the only way we can look to improve our service so rest assured the points mentioned will be discussed here.

   Feel free to send me your email address and I will make sure you’re removed from our eshot database.

   Mark

6. Alan Pope Says:
   August 28th, 2008 at 15:47

   I too have bought from laptops direct. They didn’t phone me, and did send me the laptop I asked for, when I asked for it. I note though when I registered to buy from Laptops Direct, I got this mail:-

   From noreply@laptopsdirect.co.uk Sat May 10 01:51:39 2008
   From: noreply@laptopsdirect.co.uk
   To: [redacted]@[redacted]
   Date: 1 May 2008 17:14:16 +0100
   Subject: Thanks for registering with Laptops Direct

   Dear Alan

   Many thanks for registering your user details when you visited Laptops Direct on 01/05/2008 17:14:16.

   The username you registered with us was: [redacted]

   The http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk website is operated by Easy Computers Limited, which also runs several other websites. You can use the same details to logon to any of these websites. However your details will not be passed on or used by any other company unless specifically required in order to fulfil your order or granted by our explicit permission. A full copy of our [1]Privacy Policy is available on-line. You can modify or delete your details whenever you place an order.

   Regards,

   Easy Computers Data Controller

   Send us an [2]eMessage

   References

   Visible links
   1. http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/commoncontent/privacy_policy.asp
   2. http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/commoneMessaging/start.aspx?Prefix=LD

   Note: your details will not be passed on or used by any other company unless specifically required in order to fulfil your order or granted by your explicit permission

   Tell me Mark, how does that reconcile with the spam mails you send out from companies other than Laptops Direct which customers did not grant “explicit permission” for.

   As an aside can you please stab the web developer (or the person responsible) for this page in the face for resizing my browser. That kind of thing is so 1994.

7. Mark Kelly Says:
   August 28th, 2008 at 16:05

   Hi Alan,

   We only send emails to our customers from stores operated by Easy Computers. The paragraph about passing on details refers to third party companies, it means we don’t sell or let other companies have access to your email address. The wording is very poor in that particular email, I will get this changed.

   The browser resizing is rather annoying, I’ll get onto the web team about that.

   You can also send me your email address if you wish to be unsubscribed from our email database.

   Cheers

   Mark

8. A simple matter of… » Eclipse - go away Says:
   August 29th, 2008 at 12:18

   [...] all companies out there - if you spam me, I will _not_ like you and will seek services elsewhere. Laptops Direct this means [...]

9. di Says:
   October 10th, 2008 at 18:16

   fantastic - will not be buying from them now.

10. Susan Hubbard Says:
    October 12th, 2008 at 19:59

    Hi Guys
    I bought a Lenovo 3000 N200 from Laptops Direct in July after What PC reviewed it. It arrived the next day and I haven’t had any unwanted emails, spam or marketing. The laptop’s brilliant and I would definitely buy from them again. So sorry you had all those problems.
    Susan

11. Shona Says:
    October 17th, 2008 at 12:40

    Hi All,

    if the spam emails are the greatest of your problems with this company, then you’ve escaped relatively unscathed after a brush with them!

    After numerous issues (e.g. : delivery charge suddenly doubling from price originally quoted; them taking the entire amount of the order (£800) from my credit card TWICE, thus blocking my card; no-show on goods 3 weeks after order), I have spent quite some time on the phone with them and can honestly say that they are my least favourite people to do business with.

    Very rude and unprofessional (they have twice put the phone down on me). They refuse to accept any responsibility for any of their company’s errors. They never call you back or respond to email or telephone messages - meaning that you have to call and wait on their expensive automated line. They are unmoved and uninterested by complaints - they keep repeating their corporate script over and over, hoping that you’ll give up and go away.

    The worst thing is, I now discover that by googling their name + “bad service”, you can find so many bad reviews and complaints - in fact, they are notorious for their poor service. I wish I had done this prior to purchase.

    BEWARE - they may be cheap, but its not worth it!

12. John Says:
    December 7th, 2008 at 16:26

    After 3 attempts and an hour of trying to buy three laptops, I give up.

    All I get is this:
    Please wait for a site operator to respond.

    All operators are currently assisting others. Thanks for your patience. An operator will be with you shortly.

    All operators are currently assisting others. Thanks for your patience. An operator will be with you shortly.

    All operators are currently assisting others. Thanks for your patience. An operator will be with you shortly.

    All operators are currently assisting others. Thanks for your patience. An operator will be with you shortly.

    All operators are currently assisting others. Thanks for your patience. An operator will be with you shortly.

    All operators are currently assisting others. Thanks for your patience. An operator will be with you shortly.

    All operators are currently assisting others. Thanks for your patience. An operator will be with you shortly.

    All operators are currently assisting others. Thanks for your patience. An operator will be with you shortly.

    All operators are currently assisting others. Thanks for your patience. An operator will be with you shortly.

    All operators are currently assisting others. Thanks for your patience. An operator will be with you shortly.

    All operators are currently assisting others. Thanks for your patience. An operator will be with you shortly.

    All operators are currently assisting others. Thanks for your patience. An operator will be with you shortly.

    All operators are currently assisting others. Thanks for your patience. An operator will be with you shortly.

    All operators are currently assisting others. Thanks for your patience. An operator will be with you shortly.

    All operators are currently assisting others. Thanks for your patience. An operator will be with you shortly.

    All operators are currently assisting others. Thanks for your patience. An operator will be with you shortly.

13. Very_Disappointed Says:
    December 20th, 2008 at 11:56

    Laptops direct ruined our christmas!
    - We ordered a PC from them, which turned out not to be in stock after all - although they didnt tell me that until very late in the day. BUT - I had found an alternative supplier, so was going to cancel my order & everything would be OK. However, when i rang to cancel the sales guy convinced me they had an alternative that they could ship out to me next day. Of course, it was a complete lie and they didnt have anything, and nothing was shipped. If i’d have cancelled and gone with someone else we’d have had our laptop for christmas.

    I’m so angry that they spent all this time convincing me to give them another try and then had no intention of actually supplying the order. And when i rang up to check (I had to ring them, they’ll never ring you) - the guy at the end couldn’t have cared less.

    Anyone reading this, there is a reason they are cheap, and its not because of what it says on their website. Lets hope the credit crunch gets them their just desserts!

14. Tomalak Geret'kal Says:
    December 20th, 2008 at 13:45

    Top comment, Very_Disappointed. I hope your Christmas gets a bit better.

15. Tommo Says:
    December 30th, 2008 at 21:31

    This is strange i orderd 2 products from them the other day with next day delivery.
    still not come after 2 days and by chance i phoned my credit card company to check some thing and they told me £850 had been withdrawn from a computer software company my products only come to £300.
    But at the momment the credit card company cant tell me the name till it has been withdrawn.
    Looks suspisious to me.
    I have used them for years and never ever had a problem before.

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