I have only a week in London so I tried to get ahead of the game a little and get some shopping done online so it will get to me before I arrive. It’s a habit I have gotten into. Out with the old, in with the new. There just so happens to be a particular style of cargo pants that I have become very accustomed to and these have become regular replacements. They are (or were?) available only at Next in the UK. I go online!
Firstly it seems that the items are longer available online but I persevere because I really like these pants. This is where the real fun begins.
I looked around and found the Contact Us link and went off to find a phone number. This is the number I got: 0844 844 8333 for urgent enquiries or 0844 844 8510 for technical support. If anyone has ever called anywhere in the UK you will know that these are not regular UK numbers. They are a new kind of premium rate number so it seems. It warns that the call will cost 5p per minute. I don’t mind because I really want these pants (correction - I don’t care because I don’t pay the phone bill). It tells me the number is not in use. I try both numbers without any joy.
I get inventive. I find their store locator in the hopes of getting a branch number and I could just call them and have them look it up in the system. These smart bastards have made all their branch numbers the same 0844 number which is obvious to me now is not available from abroad. Now clever clogs me goes to their WORLDWIDE section which includes Southern Ireland and Spain, only! Worldwide? Hmmmm. Anyway it seems that Ireland has a similar premium phone number coding and Spain is not yet online. So far according to Next, the world consists of only the UK and Southern Ireland. Great!
Eventually I found a section that I could just enter a code and it would find the item in the system. I found the product code my current pair and quickly battered the numbers in there after making some errors on the code. It’s not as simple as one might think it should be since you need to add some other numbers based on some catalogue number. I entered the number and then the size and it showed the description perfectly so this confirms the item does still exist. Or does it? This is what I got:
THERE’S THAT BLOODY NUMBER AGAIN!!!
In desperation I got in touch with a mate of mine in the UK and asked him to call to see if there is anything that can be done. He called them. The answer was simple. NO.
I can understand that some companies don’t necessarily wish to ship items internationally however, why rip off your local clientele by not allowing them to purchase online and then charging premium rates to take the order telephonically. This is what gets to me personally though, I am a UK citizen, with a UK bank account, trying to call from a UK mobile phone abroad and get 3 items of clothing ordered and shipped to a UK address for me to collect in the UK. I can’t call, I can’t order online. Maybe I can send them an email?
18 WORKING DAYS??
I have given up!
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