Mail order company problems

Dear all,

I live in Portugal and unfortunately the motorbike market here is completely dominated by the Japanese brands. This means that I frequently make use of mail order companies and buy stuff over the internet.
In the beginning of April (almost two weeks ago) I placed an order with M&P (mandp.co.uk), they were advertising some interesting deals on their website, so although I had never shopped with them before I decided to give it a try.
Well... never heard from them since!!! I got the automated order confirmation on my e-mail inbox but because there was no indication on their website regarding delivery times to continental Europe (but the shipping charges are there though) sent them an e-mail but never got answered! Sent them a few more e-mails since to no avail! Strangely enough during 10 days I had an open authorization on my credit card for the amount of 1GBP (!?, my order was in the order of a few hundred pounds) but yesterday that disappeared! I got the impression that my order was simply ignored (just like my e-mails)!
I had the impression that M&P was a very large and respectable mail order company!?? Does anyone ever had any problems with this mail order company? In particular does anyone living outside the UK ever ordered anything with them? What kind of delivery times can one expect for Portugal and Spain?
Thanks for any hints and helpful comments.

Cheers!

...Things getting better!

...OK! I received today an e-mail from customer service at M&P telling me that one of the items I ordered was out of stock and will arrive in just a few days! ...I was just starting to get worried/surprised for not receiving any feedback to any of my e-mails. ...Guess they have a lot of orders/customers and were too busy...
Nevertheless, its the first time I shop with them so I am going to give them the benefit of the doubt... let's seen when things do arrive! I'll keep a log here :megaphone
Anyway thanks for your comments sergi:thumbup, I guess I will just have to really plan ahead when ordering through M&P as the delay may be big.

With that respect I can only say good things about Bike-Gear(.com), I bought some time ago a pair of mid-spec bike gloves and paid less than what I would have to pay for some far lower-spec gloves at my local dealers. The delivery time to Portugal was around 7 working days but I was previously warned of that.

Thanks, they told me that they were just waiting for the Renthal rear sprocket I ordered. Mentioned the 19th (...that's a Sunday by the way) as the likely date to have it in the store and then would dispatch everything. So I hope to get my stuff before the end of next week. If you need to visit them for you own sake, then just mention the Aprilia guy from Portugal, I'm sure they won't have many orders for these motorcycles from where I live.

Best regards

Update...

Today I could verify that my credit card was charged the total amount of my order. Apparently, M&P made the transaction on Thursday the 16th of April. I received an e-mail from Customer service mentioning an average of two working days for delivery to continental Europe. So I'm expecting to finally get my stuff later this week...lain

Let's see...

...Starting to get worried!

...Still no news about my order or when it will arrive!

...Now I am beginning to get worried! As I mentioned previously I received an e-mail from customer service at M&P mentioning that the order would be dispatched at the same time that my credit card was charged.

...Well my cc was charged on April the 16th, I didn't receive any tracking number from the logistics/courier service taking care of the deliveries!

Does anyone here know if it is usual for M&P to provide such a tracking number or at least send an acknowledgement of dispatch?

...I sincerely hope I am not being the target of a fraud/scam!!! At least I have to agree that this is becoming an abnormally bad "customer service" - after all I first placed my order at mandp.co.uk on April the second !!!

...I sincerely welcome any feasible and realistic ideas/suggestions that may help me sort this problem out!

I am getting worried because I am used to dealing with other mail order
companies, in particular UK based ones, and normally I get a tracking number from the logistics company.
I sincerely hope this is just some delay with the shipping of my parcel.
I mean, when I decided to place an order with M&P (mandp.co.uk) I first made a search on the internet and found some side information about them.
In particular I found discussions about them in several UK motorbike forums, so I trusted that this is a respectable mail order company - and I still do!
I am only getting worried because of the strange sequence of events and feedback I have been getting from them.
I first register my details on their website and then sent them an e-mail to
confirm the price of one of the items I was interested in (a transmission kit,
in particular I wanted to confirm the precise component specs).
I got an e-mail reply the next day. I placed my order that same day and
immediately sent them another e-mail asking for an expected delivery time to my location (as their website only mentions 7-10 working days for the UK).
...I didn't hear from them until April the 15th, and this was after I placed a post at another motorbike forum asking if people knew how much time it normally takes for M&P's overseas orders.
Does anyone from outside the UK ever shopped with M&P? What kind of delivery times did it take?
...Now, when I placed my order I could check that there was an opening
authorization on my credit card for the amount of 1GBP!!?
But that disappeared on the 14th, on that day I placed a post at another forum surprised that I had no feedback from M&P and my order seemed ignored.
As I mentioned, on April the 16th (after I received an e-mail from them - the
previous day - mentioning that they would only charge my cc when the order would be complete and ready for dispatch) my cc was charged for the full order amount. But M and P told me that they use some sort of Euro48 delivery service (maybe from parcelforce.com??) so I should have got my parcel this last week?!?
I mean, I make use of mail order companies quite frequently (never had any
problems!) and was intending to order from M&P regularly, even if it takes some time and I have to plan ahead. But now I am beginning to question myself if this is normal??!?

EXCELLENT NEWS!!! (update)

Today I received an e-mail from customer service at M&P, and they provided a track number from parcelforce.com for my parcel.:doug

So I was able to see that they have dispatched my order on April the 23rd. That's a few days after what they had previously mentioned lain but at least things are going forward!!!

...I'll post it in here as soon as I get my stuff. For the sake of other members potentially interested in buying from M&P (specially ones from outside the UK) and for the sake of giving an accurate image of M&P: one thing is being (quite) slow in processing the orders, a different one is being dishonest!!!

:rant

Cheers everybody!

Closed!!!

...Everything's fine!:thumbup :doug

My goodies arrived today! :devious

...So, I ordered it on April the 2nd, got it on April the 28th... O.K. not the fastest delivery/processing time (more kind of "Distributor" than "Retailer" :angry).
However, in general, the prices are also more on the "Distributor" than the "Retailer" side :inlove (...the special deals/offers mostly, some standard items are not such a big deal... it only compensates if assembling a reasonable order/parcel to fill in the box...).

...so during the crisis, if you can't kick the (Motorcycle need for speed) habit just (reeeeeaally) plan ahead and M&P can give you good value for money. If you need it fast... err...maybe looking elsewhere?:dunno

Cheers everybody for putting up with this (cross-border) shopping experience chronicle (...perhaps it was didactic for other potential non-UK based motorcycle junkies out there? :roll)

Thanks Sergi :thumbup it took some time but finally it worked out for the best.

...I think Mail order companies and shopping through the internet is a great thing:devious!
Of course there are some risks involved, but when dealing with serious vendors it opens the possibility of getting nice deals. In fact I am intending to deal with M&P again in the future. This just teaches the lesson of the need for planning ahead the maintenance, and order the items I need well in advance.:glare

rsvmille said:

glad it all arrived ok for you:thumbup, personally i have had no probs with them. right now tho i am having issues with motohaus, apparently they sent my order to my home address(but got the door number wrong & they apparently sent it back) even tho i gave my work address as the postal address:jack guess they all have probs from time to time.

Click to expand...

...That one is strong! So they just went to the delivery address they fancied the most instead of the one you specified when submitting your order?!?!!! It should be their responsibility to deliver it again, therefore no extra costs!!! :rant