Noel Leeming Group warned for making delivery representations without reasonable grounds during COVID-19 lockdown

Forums › Off topic › Noel Leeming Group warned for making delivery representations without reasonable grounds during COVID-19 lockdown

freitasm

BDFL - Memuneh
79288 posts

Uber Geek

Administrator

ID Verified

Trusted

Geekzone

Lifetime subscriber

#280458 16-Dec-2020 10:20

Just received:

Noel Leeming Group has been warned by the Commerce Commission for making delivery representations about two products which, in the Commission’s view, it did not have reasonable grounds for at the time the representations were made.

The warning follows a Commission investigation after receiving over 100 enquiries about Noel Leeming Group (NLG). The enquiries were from consumers including those who had not received products within the delivery timeframes NLG had represented, were experiencing difficulties contacting NLG to discuss the delivery delays and were not receiving a refund for delayed deliveries when requested.

In the Commission’s view, NLG is likely to have breached the Fair Trading Act by accepting payment for 37 Amazon Kindle 4GB 2019 products on 5 and 6 April when it had no remaining stock to fulfil these orders. NLG removed this product from sale on 6 April, then informed its customers of the situation and offered a refund on 16 April.

The Commission also considers that NLG is likely to have breached the Fair Trading Act on 26 June and 2 July by advertising a DJI Ronin-SC Control Cable with a 1–2 week time frame for expected delivery despite having an overdue existing order and not taking any steps to establish with its supplier the reasons for the delay, availability of the product or expected delivery time frames.

Commission Chair Anna Rawlings said, “Noel Leeming Group faced unprecedented consumer demand and delivery services were significantly impacted at this time. However, it should have taken a more cautious approach to representations it made about product availability and delivery time frames”.

During the changing COVID-19 Alert Levels consumers had reduced ability to shop around for available or alternative products. “Consumers were, therefore, heavily reliant on representations about availability and delivery times,” said Ms Rawlings.

NLG has fully co-operated with the Commission’s investigation. It has advised the Commission that it has since amended its approach to delivery representations.

alasta

6706 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Subscriber

#2622532 16-Dec-2020 10:52

This sort of thing seems to be a recurring theme with Noel Leeming, compounded by The Warehouse Group's other dodgy practices. Consumers need to think hard about the risks involved in dealing with these retailers.

If you ever want a bit of light entertainment, take a look at the customer feedback on the Noel Leeming Facebook page.

landcruiserguy

765 posts

Ultimate Geek

#2622541 16-Dec-2020 11:09

My theory is that they provide crap after sales service to make their extended warranty worth buying.

quickymart

13958 posts

Uber Geek

ID Verified

#2623008 16-Dec-2020 19:53

I can't see a place for visitor posts on their page, unless I'm missing something.

Geektastic

17943 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Lifetime subscriber

#2623062 16-Dec-2020 22:28

alasta:

This sort of thing seems to be a recurring theme with Noel Leeming, compounded by The Warehouse Group's other dodgy practices. Consumers need to think hard about the risks involved in dealing with these retailers.

If you ever want a bit of light entertainment, take a look at the customer feedback on the Noel Leeming Facebook page.

Yet, purely from personal experience of the Masterton store, I have no complaints. I spent about $10,000 in there when we moved house and every product was delivered as ordered, on time, to the correct address when we arranged for it. The staff were polite, respectful of our property when working here and left the house tidy.

Our TV was installed (65" Samsung Frame on the wall) neatly and with care, exactly where we asked for it.

Our washing machine was delivered and installed, tested and levelled.

I think that the biggest issue that many of these stores have - not just NL - is inadequate and inconsistent training of both floor staff and management and poor company culture. They allow too much variation store to store when in fact it should be a well-oiled machine that works like McDonalds - what you see is what you get, every time, everywhere.

It is not a high-end experience so expecting Smith & Caughey service, for example, is not going to be an expectation that is met. Good, solid and reliable basic service however should be delivered.

spaceknight

39 posts

Geek

#2623070 16-Dec-2020 23:18

Having had a bad experience with NL when something I ordered was supposedly in stock but they kept extending the delivery date by weeks several times, I never buy anything from them that they don't have in stock at my local branch.

mattwnz

20163 posts

Uber Geek

#2623073 17-Dec-2020 02:18

Something similar appears to have just happened to me. We ordered a large expensive item at the beginning of the black friday sales from Noel Leemings via the market site, and it was advertised in stock. But it didn't show up after 2 weeks, and it didn't show that it had shipped. It just said 'awaiting shipping' on the admin page. But it was advertised to be sent to me in 2-4 business days at the time I ordered it. So chased them up after 2 weeks, and they told that it had been on backorder and that it had only just come in, and that they would now arrange delivery of it . So I only got it this last Monday. Pretty annoying. If it isn't in stock, then don't say it is instock, I can buy it from a retailer that has it in stock and avoid weeks of delays.

alasta

6706 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Subscriber

#2623103 17-Dec-2020 08:39

quickymart:

I can't see a place for visitor posts on their page, unless I'm missing something.

You need to select 'community'. Facebook is an absolute dog, so you may need to look at it on a laptop/desktop as I find that the community section doesn't work on my phone.

Quic Broadband

Move to New Zealand's best fibre broadband service (affiliate link). Free setup code: R587125ERQ6VE. Note that to use Quic Broadband you must be comfortable with configuring your own router.

alasta

6706 posts

Uber Geek

Trusted

Subscriber

#2623106 17-Dec-2020 08:43

Geektastic:

Yet, purely from personal experience of the Masterton store, I have no complaints. I spent about $10,000 in there when we moved house and every product was delivered as ordered, on time, to the correct address when we arranged for it. The staff were polite, respectful of our property when working here and left the house tidy.

Our TV was installed (65" Samsung Frame on the wall) neatly and with care, exactly where we asked for it.

Our washing machine was delivered and installed, tested and levelled.

I think that the biggest issue that many of these stores have - not just NL - is inadequate and inconsistent training of both floor staff and management and poor company culture. They allow too much variation store to store when in fact it should be a well-oiled machine that works like McDonalds - what you see is what you get, every time, everywhere.

This is exactly it. These places seem to have a lack of robust systems and processes, so whether you get good service or not depends entirely on the attitude and diligence of the particular staff that you happen to be dealing with.

It was like that many years ago when I worked in retail and I had my own micro processes to ensure that my customers got what they expected, but of course problems arose if I dealt with a customer initially and was unavailable for subsequent dealings with that customer.

scuwp

3885 posts

Uber Geek

#2623134 17-Dec-2020 10:12

Newsflash! "Big box retailers put profit and cash-flow ahead of customers".

Never would have guessed...

Lazy is such an ugly word, I prefer to call it selective participation