Fastphil Posted May 19, 2015 Posted May 19, 2015 Well once again ring westfield for parts to find there out of stock with no idea when there arriving this is the forth time in 2 weeks I have wanted to order parts which are all different parts that have had this answer. When I said you are showing them on stock on your computer they just say the parts computer is not linked to the main computer what sort of muppets are running westfield they should be ashamed of them selfs this a bum company Quote
Lyonspride Posted May 19, 2015 Posted May 19, 2015 I think you mean the website............. Having been there at open day, I suspect they're working with system that was hashed together by a former employee, who has left and now they're left with this imperfect system and no support for it, I think the parts website came later and was never fully integrated OR somebody thought it'd look bad if the website truthfully said half the stuff was out of stock. It would make sense for the parts and purchasing AND production databases to be interlinked, but instead you ask for a part and the person has to run off to see if the part is actually in stock. Regardless, I think they're just doing the best they can with what they've got. Quote
TAFKARM Posted May 19, 2015 Posted May 19, 2015 Yes they might be doing their best etc etc, but when people are spending 20k on kits its not unreasonable to expect stock availability of key parts and minimal lead time on the rest. Quote
dombanks Posted May 19, 2015 Posted May 19, 2015 Maybe it's time to get something in to replace it then? It's not exactly rocket science is it and it doesn't cost that much. Quote
Dave Eastwood (Gadgetman) - Club Chairman Posted May 19, 2015 Posted May 19, 2015 Based on observations over the years and guesses! Westfield came up with a new shop website after the company changed hands. All new artwork, descriptions, photos etc it was produced by a local-ish specialist company. The web company "hosted it". Several years ago, that web company went bump overnight, the entire shop disappeared in an instant. Worse still, the web company had all the photos etc, so Westfield had nothing but a limited selection of some very old artwork from previous old, old web store work. Westfield managed to get a new store on line and working in about two weeks. I'm guessing they had to hurriedly buy an off the shelf package, a member of staff, heroically in my opinion, managed to get a significant percentage of the store back on line, some new photos went in straightaway, some old ones recycled. Over the following weeks and months, descriptions were improved, photos added and or changed for better ones and more and more product added back. Over time other staff members have helped out improving things. I believe the package chosen can do some of the more advanced things, like stock updates, though not necessarily in absolute real time. But it's all a question of time and priorities. Recently, last year, the priority has been parts department staffing and communications, the emphasis has shifted to parts supply this year. I know the web store is on the list of things to sort out. Quote
TableLeg Posted May 19, 2015 Posted May 19, 2015 Is the online stock control not as simple as synchronising the website with the actual data held at WF? I appreciate it may not be as simple as I make it sound but I would have thought the website could just update itself periodically via Sync from a database or similar that WF themselves would use to monitor stock levels. That way when WF sell a part and adjust the stock sheet the website is updated on the next sync. A good point was raised though in that it wouldn't necessarily look good for a web shop to be showing limited stock levels. Quote
Lyonspride Posted May 19, 2015 Posted May 19, 2015 ^^ The website will be hosted on a different machine, the issue will come with getting live data from the stores database into the server for it to use. There are MANY ways to do this if you know your stuff, but if not then somebody is going to want a lot of money to set it up. At the moment I would suspect it's supposed to be done manually at the end of each day, which is great until someone has a day off or simply forgets it. Quote
TableLeg Posted May 19, 2015 Posted May 19, 2015 At the moment I would suspect it's supposed to be done manually at the end of each day, which is great until someone has a day off or simply forgets it. As you rightly say even manually is better than nothing. And not a difficult thing to do either. Quote
Rory's Dad Posted May 19, 2015 Posted May 19, 2015 Fastphil - what are you after?? We might know of alternative supplier 1 Quote
tolf Posted May 19, 2015 Posted May 19, 2015 Use the complaints email address - this is what Julian has asked us to do. Quote
Fastphil Posted May 20, 2015 Author Posted May 20, 2015 I appreciate that they may have problems but it would realy help if the guy in parts was a bit more professional when dealing with customers . The conversation was this . Hi I would like to buy a set. Of side screen hinges please ' you are showing them in stock . Il just check comes back to phone no we haven't got any . I think we are waiting for them to come . Ok when will that be. I don't know was the reply . Have you any indication . No bye . End of call . Could have been slightly more concerned with a sorry I can't be more helpfull . Or. Sorry where just experiencing a busy time or something that shows they care . Rant over does any one know where else I can get the hinges from ? Quote
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