More bad news

That fabulous Gems flexibility seems to be getting chipped away on top of everything else. Two day baskets only folks. I suppose this is a way of making us pay extra by forcing those of us who make several purchases on one order, into the later but more expensive delivery packages. So by my calculations, the more frequent of us buyers will end up paying vast amounts of p&p £9.95 to £14.95 per delivery, whereas no change for the occasional buyer. At the moment, I don't give a lot of thought to p&p as I make multiple purchases, but I'll now be thinking about a tenner on top of the price which is going to make a big difference as to how, and even whether, I shop. Once more a case of why bother with your old and regular customers! It just seems to be a constant dance of one step forward and two back with this company.

How odd that this should happen at a time when the lovely Katherine at Rocks, having heard about my robbery from Mirabelle, has e-mailed me asking what colour I like as she would like to send a little cheer-up gifty. A sharp reminder, yet again, of past Gems when run by the Bennett family.

xxxxxxx

Oh Argey you really are the bearer of bad news aren't you.

As you say this is once again another sad thing for the regular buyer.

However great news from Katherine at Rocks though.

I did see them advertise their P&P options and it seems very complicated to me, another reason why I probably wont buy from them now.

It stinks! I remember the days when you could have things in your basket for a week, so you could add every day, checkout at the weekend and only pay one P+P of £5.95.

Sorry, but I refuse to pay up to an additional £15 for postage, completely negates any good deals you might have got, it also discourages you from buying more IMO.

What great service from Rocks Argey, how lovely to be getting a little gift after your recent horrible experience.

Oh, no - and just as was starting to buy from Gems again! This was one area where Gems consistently had the edge over both TJC and Rocks & Co.

I can understand why they don't want people keeping items in their baskets for 7 days (stopping others from buying them) and then dumping them. But why not let customers combine orders over a week for delievery on a nominated day (not necessarily a Saturday), WITHOUT charging an extortionate amount for the privilege? After all, they presumably still pay a fixed amount per package to DPD! In the good old days, it used to be possible to ask for delivery to be delayed until after a particular date without paying extra for the privilege.

On the plus side, I have noticed that deliveries from Gems do seem to be arriving very fast at the moment (albeit not as fast as Rocks TV). Mind you, they flippin' well should for £6.95...

That is why I stopped buying from Gems in the first place. When my shipping went up to £12.95, then down to £10.95. I do add the amount of p&p on no matter which by mail place I order.

Give it time and it'll be p&p per item. This was the reason why Gems was the only television shopping I did (excluding RocksTV). I've always been banging on to friends and family about the fabulous flexibility of Gems - looks like a retraction is in order. I forgave them the loss off the free 10 day time extension for delivery, simply because the flexibility was still good and I did think it was reasonable to pay a little extra for what is now a three week delivery hold, but this is a step that has probably cracked even me.

There's a reason for the "excellent" speed of delivery, and that's about fast turnover, not customer service.

Web buyers are going to be the second class customers of Gems, none of the privileges but still the exclusions, i.e. £1 games, less than 3 in a "game", etc.

One good thing, on a personal level, I'd far rather give my "fun" money to RocksTV instead of Gems. What I don't watch I won't miss. xxx

at least we've got the choice Argey, which otherwise would make things alot worse lol. am sad you're been driven away from what has been a good channel over the years, but voting with your feet is the only way to make them listen.
must admit i've not shopped with them for a long while and on the occasions I have some pennies available, I have always turned first to the smashing people at Rocks TV.

ok don't every one jump on me now but I can kind of understand why they've done this. Theres many a time that I've put things in my basket with full intention of checking out at the end of the week and then realised that either I can't afford it all or there was one thing I liked more than another. So an item might have been in my basket for 5 days and then I chuck it out, but I have been aware in the back of my mind that I've been holding stock that they might have been able to sell only to chuck it out. And I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one to do this. I've worked for an company that sold stationary over the web and it was always something that bugged the pen pushers that sales could look really rosy and then someone (well lots of people) emptied their basket and things didn't look so good. So I'm guessing in these hard times Gems have had to pull the plug. It's a ****** shame though, because it was a really flexible way of shopping. I think the times they are a changing, and not just at Gems TV.

I'm sure you're right, lucky - I have certainly messed around with my basket quite a bit. On the other hand, this flexibility has meant that I've bought way more from them than I otherwise would have. I wonder if they know for certain that this has been losing them more sales than it's gained? It would be a very difficult thing to analyse statistically.

luckyluciano said:

ok don't every one jump on me now but I can kind of understand why they've done this. Theres many a time that I've put things in my basket with full intention of checking out at the end of the week and then realised that either I can't afford it all or there was one thing I liked more than another. So an item might have been in my basket for 5 days and then I chuck it out, but I have been aware in the back of my mind that I've been holding stock that they might have been able to sell only to chuck it out. And I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one to do this. I've worked for an company that sold stationary over the web and it was always something that bugged the pen pushers that sales could look really rosy and then someone (well lots of people) emptied their basket and things didn't look so good. So I'm guessing in these hard times Gems have had to pull the plug. It's a ****** shame though, because it was a really flexible way of shopping. I think the times they are a changing, and not just at Gems TV.

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Thanks for that Miss Magpie, was a bit worried about sticking up (sort of!) for Gems as been a relativley new poster:blush:
It's a hard one to predict and analyse like you say. But I know from one friend that she was recently asked to not put so much in her basket and then remove it straight away. Bless her she didn't know how to view the product info so shoved everything in her basket and when she decided that she didn't like it chucked it out.:doh: Problem was she did it on every game for about seven hours and Gems noticed. She told me that she got a call from Trish from their customer services who asked if she was having problems and then explained how to view the items without adding to her basket. I kind of liked that in one way but in another I was thinking oh my god, Gems are watching!!!:11:
And before anyone asks, no I am not the friend :grin:

luckyluciano said:

Thanks for that Miss Magpie, was a bit worried about sticking up (sort of!) for Gems as been a relativley new poster:blush:
It's a hard one to predict and analyse like you say. But I know from one friend that she was recently asked to not put so much in her basket and then remove it straight away. Bless her she didn't know how to view the product info so shoved everything in her basket and when she decided that she didn't like it chucked it out.:doh: Problem was she did it on every game for about seven hours and Gems noticed. She told me that she got a call from Trish from their customer services who asked if she was having problems and then explained how to view the items without adding to her basket. I kind of liked that in one way but in another I was thinking oh my god, Gems are watching!!!:11:
And before anyone asks, no I am not the friend :grin:

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Yeah, well, if she did it every game for about seven hours, then I guess Gems did have a point!