Dear Homebase...

Dear Homebase,

Back on the 17th December 2012 we placed an order with you for a wardrobe. A wardrobe that was going to take until the 18th January 2013 for you to deliver it, despite this long wait we decided to proceed with the order and booked the time off work to be in for the delivery.

The day before delivery was supposed to take place, I received a text telling me to expect my order between 12:30 and 2pm the following day as arranged. The 18th January brought with it a dusting of snow, and I wondered whether or not the delivery would still take place. I had to guess that it would as I heard nothing from you to say otherwise, and knowing that you had my number I liked to think that you would contact me and let me know if this was not the case. 

So I waited in all day, denying my little boy his first proper experience of the snow as I was worried that I wouldn't hear the front door knock while we were outside! However I shouldn't have worried as you didn't show. You didn't bother to let me know and it was I who had to call you to re-arrange delivery! You wouldn't have got in touch at all.

We re-arranged delivery for the 2nd February 2013, 2 weeks and 3 days since the first failed delivery. 6 weeks and 3 days since our order was first placed with you. 

Of course I cannot argue with the weather, and I don't expect you to be able to predict it, but I sure as hell would appreciate the communication to let me know. But I brushed this under the carpet and told my partner it was ok, that delivery had been re-arranged.

So you can imagine my surprise yesterday while I am waiting in the house expecting a delivery between the hours of 7am - 12pm and nothing arrives. We didn't even receive a text with an expected delivery slot this time. Nothing. Zilch. Especially nothing to say there was a problem and you wouldn't be delivering.

So I called you back up and gave you our order number, only to be told that no delivery had been booked in for the 2nd February and that we were not going to have our wardrobe again, but you could book it back in for delivery on Friday 15th February. 

Friday 15th February is 8 weeks and 1 day since we first placed our order and in my opinion completely unacceptable. I have lost all faith in you as a company and your delivery service. You are wasting my time having me sit in waiting for a parcel that most likely will not turn up.

Your explanation for being out of stock for the wardrobe we ordered back in December, a wardrobe that should have been delivered weeks ago is not cutting it. 

Why would you arrange a delivery for an item that you don't currently have in stock?

Why did you not contact me on any occasion to let me know what was going on?

So Homebase your service to me has highlighted that you have no sense of urgency or honoring a pre-arranged delivery date. You obviously don't know how to pick up a phone and provide the customer service that is needed. However you are very organised when it comes to debiting the money and not providing the goods.

I am so close to saying forget the order and go elsewhere, but after waiting this long I do want my wardrobe and for this whole pa-lava to be over. One thing is for sure though, I will never order through you again as it has been a awful experience and not something I wish to repeat.

Yours,

Dissatisfied Customer 

A Big Disappointment

Over the last year I have become very confident in catching the train with Leo, and we have gone on many adventures together using the train as our preferred method of transport. You see although I drive, I don’t feel confident to drive on the motorway or to un-familiar surroundings, so catching the train solves these insecurities.

Yesterday I got a train from Worcestershire all the way to Moses Gate (Bolton) with Leo in his pushchair.

My train journey yesterday consisted of 5 changes to get to Moses Gate and then another 5 on the homebound journey. This is the most ambitious trip I have embarked on to date with Leo and one that took a turn for the worse on the way back.

I got into Birmingham New Street with time to spare, and had a look on the information screen to find out which platform my next connecting train was leaving from. I sourced the platform number and took the lift to get there. Getting down to the platform I could see it was already full of passengers who were to be getting on the same train as me. Leo and I still had about 10 minutes to wait for the 16:19 train to Worcester Shrub Hill so we kept an eye on the information screen and waited.

Suddenly at about 16:18 I heard an announcement, and that announcement is what turned our train experience into a spiralling mess.

With a minute left before the train was expected in to the station they had suddenly changed the platform for my train. Just like that. Meaning that I was now stood on the completely wrong platform with Leo and my pushchair with no way of quickly getting to the correct platform.

So now everyone was running to the new platform to catch the train that I knew there was no hope in hell of Leo and I getting to in time. I was still stood waiting for the lift doors to open at 16:22, 3 minutes after the train was due to have left.

Having a baby in a pushchair restricts me in how quickly I can get from one platform to another. I need the correct information on the screen so I can get there in plenty of time, as does anyone who needs to use the lift instead of the stairs.

When I finally got the lift back up I still had to check what platform I was supposed to get to, and the lady who worked at the station told me that I should now go to platform 12. Giving me false hope that the train had been waiting to give the passengers chance to get there.

She then advised me that there was no lift to platform 12, so I asked how I should get up to that level and she told me in no un-certain terms that I was going to have to find someone to assist me in carrying the pushchair up, not offering any help or assistance herself.

I found this so un-helpful, I was so over whelmed and by now feeling incredibly frustrated and angry.

I was now faced with the fact that I still had another train to catch at Worcester Shrub Hill in order to get home, and I was now going to miss that one too. Leo was getting tired, hungry and not to mention that he had consumed the remainder of his juice about an hour before, so we really were needing to get home so I could get him sorted.

The train station staff did not help me at all even though I asked reputedly for it. I felt that there was a complete lack of communication. The train station would have surely known about this platform change further in advance than the minute’s notice that I and everyone else received.

The only reason I got through this situation was because the kindest member of the public took me under his wing and helped me up to platform 12. We got up there only to find that the train had already gone, so there was no reason for me to have been directed up there anyway.

The man who had assisted me up then helped me back down again, he found out what time the next train was and then assisted me to it. He helped me with Leo on an escalator and joked about how much experience he has of juggling a child and travelling, as he had 2 in close age proximity. This lovely man then made sure I was at the correct platform for my train and just made the whole situation bearable for me.

I cannot thank this man enough for his assistance and all that he did for me yesterday. It is just a shame that a member of the public had to help me and that the lady I asked for help completely turned her back on me.

I caught the 16:59 out of Birmingham New Street and as expected missed my connecting train at Worcester Shrub Hill. My phone had died so I had no way of contacting my family to tell them that I would not be the arranged pick up point at 17:36 and that I was safe.

The next train from Worcester would not get me back home until gone 7pm and I needed to get Leo fed, so I got off at Worcester to get Leo some more juice and something to eat. I then used a pay phone to call the one and only number I know off by heart, my home number. I arranged for Luke to come and pick me up from there so I didn’t have to faff about on yet another train.

I feel completely let down by the station for yesterday’s occurrences and feel that there was a complete lack of communication, assistance and general customer care.

How on earth is a mother with a pushchair or a disabled person meant to adhere to such a short turn around between platforms?

How can staff idly not lift a finger to help someone who is clearly feeling distressed, struggling and in need of assistance?