LG Flatron W2600HP 26

I must admit I'm getting a little concerned at the lack of communication. It's not as if Slackworth isn't in, he's been posting in the other sections.

So, has there been any more movement on this? It's been about 6 weeks, i'm sure it doesn't take this long for them to make a decision. Last contact from SW was on 28/09 - thats quite a while with no update...
 
not good enough tbh. don't know if oc buy direct from lg or from a disti. Either way it shouldn't take this long to sort - even if it's a return of 100% of our money with a guaranteed monitor in x weeks and re billing then.

lets face it - when these come in if anyone doesn't want theirs i'm sure oc will have no problem shifting it...
 
not good enough tbh. don't know if oc buy direct from lg or from a disti. Either way it shouldn't take this long to sort - even if it's a return of 100% of our money with a guaranteed monitor in x weeks and re billing then.

lets face it - when these come in if anyone doesn't want theirs i'm sure oc will have no problem shifting it...

My thoughts exactly. This is a joke. Not because the monitors were wrongly advertised, not because it has been 6 weeks so far, not because someone ***ked up, but because our moneys are being held and communication is shockingly bad. OCUK, you should be sending out well informed emails to all those who have pre-ordered with not only details about the current situation but also about what you are doing about it. If you expect to hold our money then the LEAST you can do is communicate regularly and pursue LG to get it sorted quickly. "Not heard anything more" one liners on this forum every couple of weeks is not acceptable.

The excuse of "its the way our system works" for holding our money is a bunch of BS. Whats wrong with using one of those pens (remember those?) and a piece of paper to write down who the pre-order people are, refunding our money in full and then informing us when the monitors eventually arrive in stock. As matey said above, if any of us have changed our minds by then (unlikely) then it won't be hard to sell the monitors on will it?

I'm tempted to cancel my order as this is now beyond a joke. However, I'm beginning to think that that is exactly what both LG and OCUK want as the problem then conveniently disappears. If I do cancel, or the situation continues as is then it is very unlikely that I will ever buy anything from OCUK again (this is my first experience, not great is it?) meaning you would have lost out on about a £1000 worth of orders in the next couple months. If we get a lot more transparency in what's going on and a resolution reasonably quickly then I will be convinced you are willing to make the effort for your customers and will consider OCUK for future purchases. Don't underestimate how damaging to your reputation and sales a situation like this can be.
 
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Why don't they just give a coupon of 10£ + free shipping on those people who want order something else on their money or coupon of 20£ for those who want refund.

That way they will get their money back more or less when people order something and most importantly most customers will be happy and do business in the future too.

Atm their current behaviour only **** people off which will lead to a loss of current and future customers and that will cost a whole lot more than resolving this issue smartly.

I have never understood companies who act like idiots in these kind of situations and just wait the "bad" thing go away. Maybe some basic training on B2C would be in place.
 
My thoughts exactly. This is a joke. Not because the monitors were wrongly advertised, not because it has been 6 weeks so far, not because someone ***ked up, but because our moneys are being held and communication is shockingly bad. OCUK, you should be sending out well informed emails to all those who have pre-ordered with not only details about the current situation but also about what you are doing about it. If you expect to hold our money then the LEAST you can do is communicate regularly and pursue LG to get it sorted quickly. "Not heard anything more" one liners on this forum every couple of weeks is not acceptable.

The excuse of "its the way our system works" for holding our money is a bunch of BS. Whats wrong with using one of those pens (remember those?) and a piece of paper to write down who the pre-order people are, refunding our money in full and then informing us when the monitors eventually arrive in stock. As matey said above, if any of us have changed our minds by then (unlikely) then it won't be hard to sell the monitors on will it?

I'm tempted to cancel my order as this is now beyond a joke. However, I'm beginning to think that that is exactly what both LG and OCUK want as the problem then conveniently disappears. If I do cancel, or the situation continues as is then it is very unlikely that I will never buy anything from OCUK again (this is my first experience, not great is it?) meaning you would have lost out on about a £1000 worth of orders in the next couple months. If we get a lot more transparency in what's going on and a resolution reasonably quickly then I will be convinced you are willing to make the effort for your customers and will consider OCUK for future purchases. Don't underestimate how damaging to your reputation and sales a situation like this can be.

This is about the size of it.

E-tailing is a very competitive market, when I have a bad experience I move on and don't go back.

Good customer service costs nothing, poor service costs thousands.
 
first sorry for all you guys who feel that you are being messed about.stinks a bit to me.
i would like to buy the sips version of this monitor but they seem to be few and far apart.does anybody know when they will be available to buy at the regular non messed up price.
 
The excuse of "its the way our system works" for holding our money is a bunch of BS. Whats wrong with using one of those pens (remember those?) and a piece of paper to write down who the pre-order people are, refunding our money in full and then informing us when the monitors eventually arrive in stock.

sounds good to me

I'm tempted to cancel my order as this is now beyond a joke. However, I'm beginning to think that that is exactly what both LG and OCUK want as the problem then conveniently disappears.

not just me then

If I do cancel, or the situation continues as is then it is very unlikely that I will ever buy anything from OCUK again (this is my first experience, not great is it?) meaning you would have lost out on about a £1000 worth of orders in the next couple months. If we get a lot more transparency in what's going on and a resolution reasonably quickly then I will be convinced you are willing to make the effort for your customers and will consider OCUK for future purchases. Don't underestimate how damaging to your reputation and sales a situation like this can be.

OCUK must turnover a fair amount of cash every month, there retail model means that margins for a lot of things are probably quite tight. Our £1000 orders won't mean a lot of profit to them - but your right about the goodwill. Even etailers need it. Lots of people google suppliers names when there lookingto buy from a new retailer. As I've posted before the measure of a company is not just how many % of orders they ship on time but what they do when things go wrong. Particulary when they get it wrong.

Let not forget Sackworth in his absence -

It's been confirmed that that the pricing was wrong for the IPS panel. Both OcUK and our supplier checked with LG multiple times to confirm it was correct and they agreed that it was definitely the S-IPS for that price.

Sounds a rock solid argument to me to nail LG / distributer to supplying at the agreed price.

LG obviously aren't going to be instant with this as a) it's going to cost them a good chunk of money and b) they're short on stock of the S-IPS panels (our original dates were based on the TN).

My aim is to sort this out so we're not leaving customers with no monitor and I'll be in constant talks with LG to resolve the matter as soon as I can but everyone must realise this isn't going to be the quickest problem to solve.

Unless LG sold 1000's of units ( I doubt it based on number of preorders from forum members here and at the other place I inferred and was named by someone else and then edited) then the cost will be negligable.

Lets take a simplistic overview - If we took the £500 price charged by others (who claim to have stock / access to ongoing stocks and are not box shifters so to speak so charge higher margins) then the cost price to the retailer will be around £362. Thats on only a 20% mark up. Whilst many lines won't attract this kind of % monitors aren't as volitile as say gfx cards and 20% is likely to be a little under what they actually make. On that basis were looking at OCUK in our case 'losing' £62 per unit. Not a big loss for your mistake to honour your obligations. I would like to think that OCUK pay less anyway than the firm I'm quoting who retail at £500 - OCUK must shift much higher volumes, therefore attracting a bigger retro discount or the like.

If we go further back the supply line LG distribution probably 'make' a much smaller mark up per unit. That said like all big businesses internal sales attract margin, so whilst LG UK distribution make 10% LG as a whole entity make much more. AFAIK they have there own panel production facilities etc and so have a lot of control over the costs. It's largely all in house. Even at the 10% figure we have a cost per unit price leaving LG warehouse at £330. So on that basis to supply us at £300 as agreed LG 'lose' £30. Other than guestimating a cost price i've deliberately ignored vat to make the numbers easier and shorten a lengthy post. Needless to say the vat impact isn't an issue.

What i'm trying to say is that to honour there obligations, be it lg / disti to ocuk (in which case OCUK will make profit if sol to them at the agreed price) or lg/disti staying out of it as not there fault (can't be as contrary to slackworth's statement) then the actual monies 'lost' is relatively minimal. Way that up against the goodwill OCUK will lose from those of have preordered and the 100's of other people who have followed this thread and stayed out of it...........lets get thi sorted.
 
As this thread has become a little more active again I decided to wait until next week to cancel (hoping posts = response).

I don't personally want anything that could be considered unreasonable (although £1M would certainly make me feel better!).

I accept OC were expecting the spec. that was stated and didn't receive it. I accept It was a genuine mistake and I am appreciative of the effort to get LG to honour the order.

1. I want to cancel so my money is safe and secure in my account.

2. If LG do relent and agree to supply some monitors at the agreed price I would like to be offered one (that I will pay for, obviously) as good-will for sitting waiting for so long.

I don't think that is in the slightest bit unreasonable.

A response would be appreciated Slackworth...
 
Using Capriboys numbers: (you put VAT in ther first bit [362] so I'm finishing off...)
Monitor sells for £500. Taking off VAT gives a sale value of £434.78. now if we take off the 20% markup we get a price of £362.32 that they would have paid for it.
Now, to sell it at £300, the sale value would be £260.87 (take off VAT).
OC would lose out on just over £100 if they had to foot the bill.
If LG supplied it at cost (362 - 10%) they would be charging OC £329.38.
OC would lose out on £70.
If LG supplies it at £260.87, we're all happy and LG loses £70
 
Apologies for the lack of reply, the 5800 Series launch has kept us rather busy lately. LG have still not come back to us which I am amazed at considering we weren't the only e-tailer to offer the product out at this price.

This has dragged on for a long time now so I would be happy to refund the money back to your accounts and should LG decide to offer the correct monitors at the right price then we will call/e-mail you for payment again. If you would like to change your orders to any other product on the catalog then I would also be happy to provide a discount along with free UK shipping (if you want to order at a later date instead then just "FAO Slackworth" in the pre-sales section of the customer support forum of what you're after and we'll sort you out :)).

As for the fact we made 20% on this monitor, I can assure you we really didn't. The e-tail market is EXTREMELY competitive and margins can go as low as 3-4% on certain products. LG on the other hand will be making reasonable money.
 
i don't think i was stating a fact, merely an informed guess and whilst some products/manufacturers undoubtedly do only attract such a low margin the majority can't. Monitors are a very different proposition to a products like gfx cards that have a shorter and hence more volitile product life or even microsoft software. Obbviously there will be times when you choose to retail at a low margin, but deals like the nec 24 prove that there is good margin in such lines. The company who claim to have stock will be making near the 20% if not over it. There not at the sharp end like you guys. I was using there retail price and likely margin to extrapolate a cost price. I din't suggest you were making 20% on these but i'd hope you enjoy a better cost pricee than them anyway. I wanted to show that the amount of 'loss' that would bw entailed was marginal in the grand scheme of things. Either way no offence was intended and i apologise if any was inferred. Your right of course that lg will be making good money on there products but i still find it hard to accept that after this amount of time that lg haven't resolved this matter they created. If they quoted a price, had this price checked and then took an order for these then it should't be difficult for them to honour this.

i'm pleased that you have made the above offer, it goes a long way to mitigating some of the problems if not the crux of the matter. I'll drop you a mail monday to discuss some opptions if that's ok.
 
i don't think i was stating a fact, merely an informed guess and whilst some products/manufacturers undoubtedly do only attract such a low margin the majority can't. Monitors are a very different proposition to a products like gfx cards that have a shorter and hence more volitile product life or even microsoft software. Obbviously there will be times when you choose to retail at a low margin, but deals like the nec 24 prove that there is good margin in such lines. The company who claim to have stock will be making near the 20% if not over it. There not at the sharp end like you guys. I was using there retail price and likely margin to extrapolate a cost price. I din't suggest you were making 20% on these but i'd hope you enjoy a better cost pricee than them anyway. I wanted to show that the amount of 'loss' that would bw entailed was marginal in the grand scheme of things. Either way no offence was intended and i apologise if any was inferred. Your right of course that lg will be making good money on there products but i still find it hard to accept that after this amount of time that lg haven't resolved this matter they created. If they quoted a price, had this price checked and then took an order for these then it should't be difficult for them to honour this.

i'm pleased that you have made the above offer, it goes a long way to mitigating some of the problems if not the crux of the matter. I'll drop you a mail monday to discuss some opptions if that's ok.

No problems - sorry if my post came across as having a go but as I say, you'd be amazed how little money some companies make on products. I've even seen instances where they'll even make a loss just to price match and then expect the manufacturer to make it up at the end. Sometimes it works, others not.

You're best posting in the customer support section as I have not passed this offer to the guys in sales/customer service yet due to it being sunday.
 
Hi SW.

Thanks for all the info, much appreciated. I just have one question though...

When you say "correct monitor at the right price" does that mean price we've pre-ordered at or the actual list price which seems to be around the £500 mark?

Just want clarification really before i decide what i want to do.

Thanks!
 
I suppose thats part of the pitfall with a price match promise, no matter how streamlined and efficient and cheap you are someone will at some point be cheaper and then you take a hit. I never guaranteed to price match, usually it was enough to engage with the customer, talk to the manufacturer and then use the slight rebate with a slight reduction in margin to meet the customer somewhere inbetween. Whiuslt I didn't do it (never big enough tbh) I get the price match model - it's reassuring for customers, you charge most things as you always would and keep the advertised stuff competetive. You make reasonable money and when the time comes to honour your policy you man up and take the hit.

I don't get at all the model of selling at a loss hoping to hit some magical turnover figure were the retro disc you get means all that gear you've sold for less than you have to pay for it at the end of the month suddenly becomes profitable. It works for a while but it's like jenga, it'll go eventually and depending how long it lasts quite spectaculary. We've all seen the likes of Trade Apliances / Empire-Direct come and go in our time. The pile it high sell it cheap brigade usually fare better and if they last through the first recession they'll usually go the distance. Working on such tiny margins means your jenga tower has a little mortar between the bricks... one or two hiccups and it'll still go.

Anyways enough is enough for tonight, for me I'm glad I left retail having seen off the mail order bandits and fought the good fight with the etailer only brigade. Much happier now. A few things still to clear up and clarify withihn the thread but dialogue has helped a little. Monday mornings are alwatys a good time to give lg sales manager an freindly ear bashing. Then month is still fresh enough for him not to worry about losing a few virtual quid to honour his sales team's incompetence and keep the retsilers customers happy.

nighty night.
 
Slackworth, thank you.

I'll take the refund for now but am still keen to be notified as soon as the monitors come in. Not sure how to go about getting the refund so have sent a webnote FAO Slackworth.
 
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