I've just had a nightmare trying to get a box of screws and cups. We need them for a job tomorrow so I went online to check stock at our local store. I found that the cups were in stock but the screws could be ordered for next day collection. Sounds good so far doesn't it? The only problem is that as I go through the checkout process and enter my company card details, it then tells me that when the order is collected tomorrow I will need to present my card for chip and pin authorisation. As I'm out of the office tomorrow I was planning to get our joiner to collect them and as much as I trust him, I'm not about to hand over my card and PIN. I was left with 2 options, either order and pay online for delivery to the factory (which I've done many times over the years!) and, as it's a small order, pay delivery costs, or go to the local branch and pay for them, then go back tomorrow to collect them. Thankfully the branch is not too far from our factory, however my car is in for service today so it's not a "quick pop out", nonetheless it makes no sense to have to make two trips and I pity those who are located at any distance from the store who have to do this. Here are some alternative suggestions to (hopefully!) make life easier. Take payment from the card and get it verified/authorised when items are reserved, removing the need for chip and PIN at the point of collection (after all, when I place a larger order and have it delivered to the factory, I simply pay online and never have to present my card for chip & PIN verification - I've spent thousands of pounds on my card over the years without ever once entering my PIN). If it's your merchant services provider insisting on chip & PIN for collected items, make it possible to reserve items using a card, but then pay by all means (i.e. cash or card with chip & PIN) on collection (pretty much the same as most hotel rooms). Make it possible for existing customers to reserve items without even needing a card and then pay by any means on collection (Argos springs to mind). I'm sure customers that have a purchase history with you are not about to order random things and then not collect them - if the (very) odd one or two did, you could easily suspend or close their customer account. Any of these would make my life easier and make it easier for us to do more business with the local branch. As Managing Director of our company I really don't want to be dashing out to trade counters to collect or pay for goods personally, a much better use of our resources is for me to be able to delegate that task to the direct labour in the field. Here's hoping the use of my time writing this will save us more time in the long run!
Have you thought about opening a trade uk account ? You can have multiple cards on the account so employees can have one and sign for goods themselves that you've ordered online. I understand your problem with the current system if paying by debit card but at the same time I'm sure alternatives would annoy others , personally I use trade uk cards and it works really well for me , I can order , and be in and out of the store in seconds most of the time as it's just a case of grabbing the bits and signing a bit of paper , certainly quicker than the chip and pin verification and obviously quicker than reserving without paying and doing so in store .
I've had the same problem, I frequently work for a company 30 miles away that I have to pass a trade store to get to but they can't pay on their company credit card for me to pick up stock.
I think Trade Credit would be happy to provide additional cards (billed to the same account) if this would help?
I found trade card most unhelpful when i got one, I used it for a month/6 weeks and when the bill came i paid it straight away and when i next went into screwfix it declined payment, so i phoned and asked why, they said its on stop for 10 days till the payment goes through, so it got ripped up and throuwn in the bin and i wrote to trade card saying a mickey mouse card is no good to my, they never even answered the letter,
I've had no problems with trade uk, been using them for around a year or so, I did have same issue as you Tom whereby they blocked the account despite an ontime payment but the call centre sorted it there and then. I mainly prefer that I don't need to have the receipts direct from screwfix just get sent the monthly statements which stops the van getting full of them.
Thanks for your replies (pity nobody from Screwfix management or customer services bothered to reply though). @ Handy. No, that was what I wanted to do, either order & pay online or reserve but pay with cash on collection. The only options available are reserve with a credit/debit card online and pay with the same card in store using chip & PIN, or go into the store and pay in advance however you like, then they will reserve it and you have to go back again to collect, making 2 trips. Bizarre. I really didn't want to set up a credit account as I use my company credit card or cash for most ad hoc purchases. Normally my Screwfix order is large enough for free delivery so I order online, pay with my credit card (no chip & PIN required!!) and it's delivered. Opening up yet another account just seemed like a needless paper exercise. From the 2 comments above I'm glad I didn't bother! I had hoped to support the local branch by using them rather than having our purchases delivered. If I had been able to order online for collection at the local branch without needing to present my credit card when collecting, I would have done so. Sadly, when I went into the local branch on Wednesday to order the screws, the attitude of the counter staff completely obliterated any feeling of benevolent community support I had towards them. I told the "yoof" serving me that I thought that it was poor policy to make it so difficult to order stock and that management ought to review this and was asked in a very abrupt manner "Well do you want them or not?". I pointed out that of course I bl**dy well wanted them otherwise I wouldn't have just walked round there to order them. Needless to say I'll be sticking to online ordering and direct delivery for most purchases in future and any small emergency purchases will be made at B&Q tradepoint or the local ironmongers - I'd sooner pay more and let them have our business!
Absolutely ridiculous system. Before I would simply pay online and go and collect and provide a passport if requested. Now ive purchased some items with a Visa card I use only for online purchases. I have no idea what the pin is as it was supplied about 15 years ago and ive never used it. Ive used the card without problem for 15 years as I do know the 3 digit code card number etc. So how do I collect my order now.
well, here's a system that works for me: i put an order in online for click and collect. when i am told its ready i know i can pop in to get it (or the other half can) i usually walk in to the store: don't bother with credit card or order number or my name: the staff just recognise me and get my order. seamless, super efficient and friendly. Sadly this is not a screwfix branch but somewhere else...
So they can eventually post a link to a client's web-site - they are mostly SEO consultants trying to get theur customers sites up the google rankings by creating links to their site from trusted sources (like this site). And they charge handsomely for doing so.
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