Savastore Review

Overall Rating

Cheap prices
Listed on Froogle

Contacting Customer Support is impossible by email

On Monday I placed an order with them for an Acer 5633WLMI Notebook at £492 excluding VAT + £4.65 + £13.99 delivery. Then I decided to cancel as I saw a model with the Geforce Go 7300 for £557 excluding VAT.

So I phoned them, and after 20 minutes or so, I got through to a lady who said my order had already been cancelled as the address was not authorised (then I remembered I hadn't changed my credit card address to reflect my new address).

So I then reordered with my old address, as the delivery address (which is my mothers place) and ordered the model I wanted. Then I saw a model with an integrated webcam and 20Gb bigger hard drive for £7.50 more, so I cancelled the second order and ordered a third time.

Now the first order was cancelled. The second order said held awaiting cancellation, so I emailed Savastore to make sure they cancelled it, and I also wanted to make sure they deducted the VAT from the new order, as I'm located in the Channel Islands. I got no response to emails, so I tried to phone (this was the seco2nd phone call), and after 20 minutes or so I gave up. Then I received an email saying my second order had been cancelled - great.

Then I sent more emails requesting that the VAT be deducted from my latest order, but I received no reply - but I received an invoice and dispatch note via email (the invoice included the VAT). Unsure whether it had been deducted, I phone them a third time today, and after 20 minutes, I got through to a guy who said it hadn't been deducted, and he would deduct the VAT and refund my account.

I've since found out they Savastore use a 10p per minute line, so I reckon I've racked up about £8 in phone call charges.

I have also found out that I could have ordered it from acernotebooks.co.uk, and it would have worked out about £5 cheaper, and I might not have had the problems getting the VAT refunded. But, you live and learn I guess. If Savastore do indeed deduct the VAT as they said they would, and I receive the item within the next few days, it only works out at about £13 more expensive than acernotebooks.co.uk, and that's including the 1 hour phone calls to Savastore customer services.

Still cheaper then Dabs.com by about £15 - £20, so I would say Savastore aren't bad, but they don't reply to their emails. And seeing as the guy on the phone said the VAT hadn't been deducted, it seems as though they don't read the emails, and checking Google, it seems that's a common complaint. Also, their customer service line is 10p per minute.

So you can quickly rack up a sizable bill on your phone trying to contact them. I suppose it's alright if you don't need to contact them. And their prices are good, but for me, getting the VAT deducted was a little tricky because of the poor communication. Still, if it arrives soon and the VAT has been refunded I will be pleased.

*Update*

Well I checked my credit card balance, and it was still saying £684.84, which is the order including the VAT. The order was processed on Wednesday and didn't show on my balance until today - so if the refund was processed yesterday, it wouldn't show on my balance until tomorrow, so I was expecting it to show tomorrow. Despite this, I searched Google and found 3 email addresses for staff at Watford. I emailed all three and got a reply within 2 hours, saying that a refund of £101.94 had been applied to my debit/credit card. So it seems you can get through to Savastore if you know who to contact. The cs@watford.co.uk is useless.

Now I await delivery of my order, and as long as it is the right item I shall be pleased, and I would place another order with them, but I shall keep those email addresses in my address book for next time.

Members' Comments onnlel's Review

• pannywagon1 on 15th Jan 2007

  I used to work for an online retailer when I first left university, and the moral of this story is to make sure you know what you want before you order. It is also standard practice to ship goods to the cardholder's registered address, and terms and conditions almost always make this clear.

• nlel on 16th Jan 2007

  Sometimes though it is necessary to contact the retailer. The fact that its nigh on impossible to have any sort of communication with Savastore via email makes it that little bit more frustrating and time consuming, as you have to wait for a reply which never comes, which is annoying. Email is the first thing you try in this day and age when trying to contact an online retailer, but I have found the best way to contact Savastore is by phone. You can't be ignored, but you have to hold for 20 - 30 minutes @ 10p per minute. The only way of contacting them by email is to get the direct email address of one of their more senior staff. That seems to result in a response.