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Looks like someone won't be getting any calls today...

Give it the boot

Well there's not going to be much to this bar a sincere recommendation not to bother with the boots.co.uk online service. I'm not really sure what drove me there, apart from the prospect of saving a few quid on things we need plenty of like e45 and a couple of specifics you can't get at the supermarket but I've been surprised at how badly a high street brand like Boots could perform.

The customer experience on the site is ok, there are some peculiar foibles in the navigation like a terrible search and weird filtering by special offer or brand and these take a bit of getting used to but that's not a big problem. They haven't really got the idea that once someone puts something in the basket they are displaying an intent to purchase - being a busy chap I was several times distracted from my goal and each time the site completely forgot what I was after. This meant I got much more accustomed to the interesting navigation but it meant I didn't manage to complete the transaction until at least the 3rd time of asking and several days after I originally started. I basically ended up doing it at the weekend when I was less likely to be diverted! I doubt many would be so patient.

That being said I did get to the end and thought I'd done well, got a few family staples to save on the burden of weekend shopping. The thought of paying for delivery seemed a little steep considering I'd amassed about 50 quid's worth of stuff but I went ahead with it - I didn't bother paying a premium for next day as it was saturday anyway. So I went about my business, pointing out to the mrs that I had done a family chore; hoping to amass a brownie point or two.

I even got it delivered to the office so we'd be sure not to miss it. I asked on tuesday, wednesday, and even thursday if it had arrived - on friday I just assumed it must have been but the novelty had worn off. 11 days later... Nothing! Now I know this isn't the worst delivery story - I have had much worse myself - but this is a high street service, a relatively high value order, and an office address that is open all day!

To top it off I contacted them at the weekend, by email as the phones were off, and got a reply stating that my enquiry would be dealt within approximately 2 days!? 2 days later and neither a response or a parcel has arrived. Another reminder I guess to remain focused on the two things that boots have failed upon; experience and service. I hope that with our meager resources we can always do better than this!

I have now officially joined the ranks of grumpy old men :(

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