Snowinn........ aaaarrrrgggggh!

A snowHead

So I read the other threads on this company and seemed a mixed bag of people having no issues and others getting the run around.

Their prices were just so low compared to everyone else that I thought I'd give them a go and ordered some bindings, given I had 5 weeks to go to my ski trip I thought even with potential delays I'd
be OK.

WRONG Sad

Same issue as others, every week another crappy email, "due to an issue in the logistics platform of our providers... Blah blah blah your order is now due another week later".

So now they are saying they will arrive 3 days before I go, which even if I believed them would not give me enough time to get the bindings mounted.

So now the tedious process of attempting to get a refund and looking for a UK shop who doesn't lie about their stock status.

Grrrrr, should have heeded the warnings in the other threads.

I will be avoiding them at all costs in the future.

A snowHead

www.facewest.co.uk.

No affiliation,but I have bought plenty of touring gear over the last few seasons from these guys - very good customer service - they seem to give good advice over the phone and everything I have ordered has arrived without fuss very quickly

cheers,Bob

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@ish303, what d'ya need?

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Yeah, bought quite a few bits from facewest before, they are very good.

@spyderjon dynafit radical ft 110mm brake.

In fact they are quoting on their site for them "order now delivery between 10th and 13th March" which is clearly cowd00 as they emailed me saying they can't deliver before the 12th at the earliest! And that's the fourth time they have moved that date as well.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@ish303, I can sort you out. I've PM'd you.

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Stuff turns up eventually from them but their delivery estimates are just random guesses!

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

Their service is not unlike playing the lottery.

Last autumn I ordered a scuba diving suit from them. After stringing me along for about 5-6 weeks, they finally told me they couldn't get the item from the manufacturer, as it was sold out.
I knew there was a fair chance of this happening; I only ordered the suit from them because I wasn't in a hurry in the first place and the price was fantastic. So I wasn't feeling wounded about it.

Three weeks ago I spotted some Falke SK4s on sale on their website (from £25 down to £15) and decided to try my luck again (since yet again, I wasn't in any hurry to get them).
Imagine my surprise when they turned up last Friday! Shocked

Result!

So the lesson seems to be: only order something from them if you're not going to need it in a hurry, and even then don't really expect to get it.
But if you're lucky enough to get it eventually, it'll be worth the wait, since their prices are crazy low on a lot of lines.

After all it is free

I ordered some pants for the wife and was hoping and praying they would turn up in time, so paid the extortionate £11 postage for next day and hey presto they arrived.

Relieved on one hand but felt slightly mugged off on the other had for postage, knowing full well they are making at least a fiver on that!!

Wont be rushing back to buy from them again.

Snowinn operate from Spain so I'm not sure they're making much money from £11 for next day delivery.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Really, well maybe 11 quid was ok.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

Well order cancelled, they sent me an email after complaining saying they were pretty much ready to ship.

Called them and they said they were still on their way from the supplier.

So just feel they are stringing me along.
They have since increased the price on their website so maybe they never intended on ever doing them, who knows!

You get what you pay for I guess rolling eyes

snow reports

@ish303, did you get my PM. I've got bindings sitting here at the right price!

I've bought stuff from them in the past. My experience is similar. Slow delivery and rubbish communication. But really low prices and no problem with the gear when it arrives. So not a place to order from if you have a tight schedule. But if you can order a long time in advance you can get a bargain.

Whatever you do, don't try to modify an order with them. I did that once and it took ages to straighten everything out. It did sort itself out eventually.....

You know it makes sense.

Ordered one size of ski, not in stock when stated it was, wait, wait and wait a bit more. The. The wrong size appears. Now on the invoice the wrong size is in fact stated, however I have my order with the correct size stated. Contacted 'customer service' (no honestly don't laugh they do have a department called that) and after trying to explain the issue and stating I could see how the mistake could be made as I added to the order and it needed re keying by their staff(!) I was told that couldn't be the case and constantly talked over, being told to take a photo! I used a bit of assertiveness and restated what I wanted to resolve the situation and was told I was being rude, this is when I couldn't speak without the operator repeating the take a photo line! I persisted and eventually spoke to a manger who said it couldn't be their fault and put the phone down. Safe in the knowledge that I had the order trail and then waited for another half hour to get through to another agent who did look at the notes on he screen and could see the change in ski size and couldn't explain how it was changed through the ordering process (this was the chap funnily enough that had re keyed the item originally). Anyway I have now had to order another ski, paid for it at a higher price in the 'hope' that the manager refunds the higher charge BRCAUSE IT WAS THEIR MISTAKE order will be cancelled tomorrow if the manager doesn't pull her finger out of her self and get back to me tomorrow morning! Long story short, unless you have a really good deal, plenty of time and an optimistic outlook I wouldn't bother, in fact I wouldn't bother if you did have all three of those luxuries. AVOID THIS SHOP, ITS SH*TE
I will update tmorrow if they contact me.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

trouble is, so many people are so price driven that the service level goes out the window, sometimes you get lucky, other times like in the cases above you get stitched up or are waiting for months for a delivery..... meanwhile small independent shops are going out of business in countries all over Europe, their business model is not sustainable in the long term, but by the time they have died off they will have killed off half the * (*insert appropriate sport) industry in the process

A snowHead

Have used them in the past and they were excellent, 2 pairs of Salewa walking boots.....i'll be wary in future based on the above.

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

I ordered some ski boots** from Snowinn last night. I'm aware of their sketchy good/bad/ugly reputation but for the almost-too-good-to-be-true saving it is worth the gamble and I'm in no particular hurry. I have been given a delivery date of next Thursday/Friday via Yodel (who are easily THE worst courier company since Dick Turpin was around) and I will report back. I also enjoy trips to Las Vegas and spread betting.

** I know, I know, but I'm a big boy, performed a shell check elsewhere and with the help of my fan oven, an assortment of DIY tools, my trusty old footbeds and YouTube I'll be just fine.

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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@Pruman, Yodel!! Just hope the boots don't end up on your roof.

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@RUGBY PETER, Sports Direct and other cheapskates use them too. I've had a few 'lost' parcels lately. My expectations are very low but that makes the eventual delivery that much more exciting.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

An update. My "promised" delivery window of 15/16 Dec has been and gone. The tracking says Yodel have had the parcel in UK since 16th but their system can't help me any further other than to say it's "out for delivery" (code for "nicked and in someone else's Christmas stocking"). I have sent SnowInn a friendly yet assertive message along the lines of "where the **** is my package ***holes?" Ideally I'd like it before I go on boxing day (although das wetter is looking more like perfect biking conditions in the Tirol, and probably what I'll be doing). I will keep you appraised of progress.

After all it is free

A further update. Several web chats with Yodel after the above post and I glean that the parcel hasn't reached them yet, but the paperwork has. So several more messages to/from SnowInn and I now get this:-

Final update (I'm overwhelmed by the interest by the way) - They arrived. This despite technically still being in Spain for another few days Puzzled

Product exactly as it should be. A week later than described but half the price. You pays yer money etc.

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

Everything comes to he who waits........

I suspect that most of us have had the frustration of banging our heads against "Computer says no" logistics.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

We placed an order at the end of Nov, stuff arrived on Saturday - left at a neighbours as we are now in Austria! This is despite them saying that it was sent over a week earlier. They'd already said that the skis for the OH wouldn't be coming or the Dakine ski bag (both due to stock issues). Thankfully all the other stuff in the order was race kit for Jnr so he wasn't needing it for this trip.

We're not likely to bother with them again.

snow reports

@Pruman, I do think it's a bit harsh having a go at the company, it's obviously the courier that has created the delay, my OH regularly sells items from mainland europe to uk and it is very frustrating when you send your items within agreed timescales only to be let down by a white van man in the uk! We're not nearly as big as Snowinn therefore don't offer our customers the variety of delivery options that they do, I only assume you didn't select the expensive (for a reason) fast delivery with your order. At least they have arrived though.

You know it makes sense.

@Pumba, trouble is that Snowinn claim that the parcels have been dispatched when Yodel don't actually have them. Ours showed up on Yodel's tracking system as being in the UK on Friday, it was delivered on Saturday. It was collected from Snowinn on the Wednesday - yet Snowinn claimed it had dispatched about a week earlier.

As @Pruman, we could have gone with the DHL option, but for our order they were quoting £240! Would've double the cost of our order.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@Pruman, @hammerite, Yes you could have both gone with the more expensive delivery option, but if you want the cheapest delivery option then you have to expect the inconvenience this brings. The courier service we use is fine within France but shocking when it gets to the uk side, courier firms sub contract the work out so I'm guessing that 'yodel' only handle the uk side of the dispatch so it will probably only appear on their site when they receive it. It just irks me when people can spend so much time researching for the bargain of the century, but don't bother checking out the courier, especially when presented with various options at the checkout stage! The price of an online bargain will always be the list price plus postage, if you want instant delivery go to a shop and pay for the convenience.

A snowHead

I ordered an avalanche transceiver from Snowinn on 1st December. Still waiting for it.
11st December get this message:

Due to a problem encountered in the logistic platform, we inform you of a change in the availability of the following(s) product(s):
• (2182494) Mammut Arva Element Barryvox Package Europe Green One Size
Estimated delivery date at your home between Mon. 21 Dec. and Tue. 22 Dec. (tracked delivery).

Order tracking now says it left Spain on the 18th (Spain FFS?). Was in Belgium yesterday, and has reached the UK today. Maybe it'll arrive tomorrow.....?

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

You need to Login to know who's really who.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

Yes Sportspursuit is one where you never order if in a hurry. We had no rush with the Snowinn order. The OHs skis not arriving were an inconvenience, but they weren't much cheaper other places, we just ordered these at the same time as we ordered a load of other stuff.

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If your in a hurry I've always found Eko Sport, Gliss Shop and The German sites like Sport Conrad to be nearly as a cheap and actually deliver on time and not with Yodel either... Its usually worth the extra £20 knowing the stuff will turn up within a week.

Part of the reason Yodel can take so long is their drivers wont do the drops until they have filled up their vans, other services like DPD and UPS will do the drop regardless of van loadings.

Help!!

Snowinn........ aaaarrrrgggggh!

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