Littlewoods Ireland Removed 100s of Laptop Brands

MrLucidLJ

Just had a quick question if anyone knew this but for the past month or so it seems that Littlewoods Ireland have removed 100s of various brands of laptops of their site like Toshiba, Acer, Lenovo, Asus, HP etc I tried to call on the phone last week the calls are all sent to the Cardiff call centre and the guy didn't know. I even tried the customer online chat earlier and kept giving excuses of that it is up to the Merchandisers and Seller of the laptops with their agreement to sell and distribute laptops through Littlewoods Ireland. It seems very odd to see it go from selling 100s to less then 30 on their site if anyone knows any information would be greatly appreciated.

Cabaal

To be fair the reason sounds likely, something has likely changed with suppliers and vendors in a big way.

Another factor might be if they are shipping most the stock from the UK and they've changed the way they dispatch items. The likes of laptops etc are considered hazmat items so they have to be shipped via specific delivery company's and conditions,

If Littlewoods were shipping most of the brands from the UK or another location outside of Ireland and this changed then its possible this is why they can't be bought through Littlewoods Ireland.

MrLucidLJ

Cabaal wrote: »

To be fair the reason sounds likely, something has likely changed with suppliers and vendors in a big way.

Another factor might be if they are shipping most the stock from the UK and they've changed the way they dispatch items. The likes of laptops etc are considered hazmat items so they have to be shipped via specific delivery company's and conditions,

If Littlewoods were shipping most of the brands from the UK or another location outside of Ireland and this changed then its possible this is why they can't be bought through Littlewoods Ireland.

Thanks for the reply it appears to be something like I thought buy didn't know the reasoning behind it fully. Why are they considered Hazmat Items though and what do you mean they need to be shipped a certain way as well? What I found odd is though it was like a mass exodus of laptops. I forgot to mention in the post the ones they did keep were all the more expensive range ie Macbooks & Alienware range.

ssmith6287

Possibly gearing up for cyber monday / black friday. putting stock under constraint. If I was being more cynical the laptop that was 600 will now be 700 with 20% off

MrLucidLJ

ssmith6287 wrote: »

Possibly gearing up for cyber monday / black friday. putting stock under constraint. If I was being more cynical the laptop that was 600 will now be 700 with 20% off

And good point thats in less then 2 weeks so that could be what they are doing makes sense to change everything up if there is not much change in a week then I'm not sure thats the case it could be what another lad eluded to the shipping method and the fact of hazmat issues perhaps.

sconhome

Probably to do with batteries.

MrLucidLJ

AKW wrote: »

Probably to do with batteries.

Thing is though why do they still have the most expensive laptops on their site? I thought it was more an issue that people were getting laptops but not paying the repayments back so they left the most expensive on their knowing that a lot of people don't have credit limits of €1000.

L1011

MrLucidLJ wrote: »

Thing is though why do they still have the most expensive laptops on their site? I thought it was more an issue that people were getting laptops but not paying the repayments back so they left the most expensive on their knowing that a lot of people don't have credit limits of €1000.

UK would be no better than here (if not far worse) for defaulting so it would have nothing to do with it if they're still sold to UK clients

Region agreements with wholesalers matter a lot in electrical items of all descriptions

Grab All Association

They got rid of these months ago. They are only selling Mac and Microsoft Surface products now. I last checked it in July/August

I've only ever bought Dell XPS/Precision and Alienware laptops but I do visit Argos and Littlewoods a lot just to see what they have in stock. They never have anything above core i5 so have never purchased there.

fire and ice

It is to do with them having lithium batteries, I had one ordered and and after it hadn't arrived I contacted littlewoods several times but they kept saying it was on the way.
Finally managed to get tracking number from one of the more competent advisors and checked with royal mail who had destroyed the package due to its contents (lithium battery).
Contacted littlewoods once again who still didn't have a clue and refused to check tracking saying they would pass it on to their fraud team!!
Took weeks to finally get sorted.

MrLucidLJ

L1011 wrote: »

UK would be no better than here (if not far worse) for defaulting so it would have nothing to do with it if they're still sold to UK clients

Region agreements with wholesalers matter a lot in electrical items of all descriptions

Well yes would be a lot more to supply in Uk compared to here just seemed very strange that all of a sudden that they would remove 100s without letting customers know the reasons behind it. I can imagine on the lead up to christmas it could have left out a few 100 people maybe into the 1000s who wanted to get a laptop for crimbo for themselves a present etc. So your saying that the agreements could be the issue or is one of many issues?

MrLucidLJ

Grab All Association wrote: »

They got rid of these months ago. They are only selling Mac and Microsoft Surface products now. I last checked it in July/August

I've only ever bought Dell XPS/Precision and Alienware laptops but I do visit Argos and Littlewoods a lot just to see what they have in stock. They never have anything above core i5 so have never purchased there.

Thanks for giving me an idea on the timeline of when it happened. And you don't know yourself the reasoning behind why they removed the laptops?

MrLucidLJ

fire and ice wrote: »

It is to do with them having lithium batteries, I had one ordered and and after it hadn't arrived I contacted littlewoods several times but they kept saying it was on the way.
Finally managed to get tracking number from one of the more competent advisors and checked with royal mail who had destroyed the package due to its contents (lithium battery).
Contacted littlewoods once again who still didn't have a clue and refused to check tracking saying they would pass it on to their fraud team!!
Took weeks to finally get sorted.

Wow that is actually crazy then you were screwed around. When did you order your laptop from them and how long did it take to fully sort the issue out? Do you know why there is such a big deal about the batteries. I actually can't believe they destroyed your package before you even got it and it seemed that Littlewoods was clueless to what was going on.
I called on the phone last week they had no idea. During this week I was on customer support with some lad who was rude saying he doesn't need to find the reason out why this happened and was even insisting on me trying to go to other websites such as Amazon to do my shopping which I found hilarious. Some people just read of a script and can't communicate as customer support.

fire and ice

Sorry only seeing this now. It was in August that I originally ordered it and about four weeks later when they took the laptops off website.
It took loads of phone calls before I finally got someone with some sense who gave me tracking number as the rest kept saying just wait it's on the way.
Even after I contacted royal maiI littlewoods customer service could/would not understand how I knew this and they didn't.
They would not even check and passed it onto fraud team until one day I nearly lost the plot with them on the phone and eventually admitted that yes it had been destroyed.
It's still showing as despatched on my account!!!

Grab All Association

But it's not marked as delivered so you shouldn't worry about it. It will probably drop off account soon.

MrLucidLJ

fire and ice wrote: »

Sorry only seeing this now. It was in August that I originally ordered it and about four weeks later when they took the laptops off website.
It took loads of phone calls before I finally got someone with some sense who gave me tracking number as the rest kept saying just wait it's on the way.
Even after I contacted royal maiI littlewoods customer service could/would not understand how I knew this and they didn't.
They would not even check and passed it onto fraud team until one day I nearly lost the plot with them on the phone and eventually admitted that yes it had been destroyed.
It's still showing as despatched on my account!!!

I actually can't believe that this happened. I wonder why lithium batteries became so dangerous or why they felt that anything with these batteries had to be destroyed before they got to people. Its amazing how they did not have the tracking number sooner where they could provide it and tell you what exactly happened and the reasoning behind it.
They were less in the dark about things then you were? I mean i can't understand why they even put you onto the fraud team when no fraud occurred? Yes I can imagine you were beyond peed off at that stage. How long from ordering your laptop to find out it was destroyed did it take to resolve, was there any compensation as well from Littlewoods at all? And its dreadful business it was showing it was dispatched on your account a really big ordeal. Have you dealt with Littlewoods since or has this make you avoid them at any costs?

L1011

MrLucidLJ wrote: »

I actually can't believe that this happened. I wonder why lithium batteries became so dangerous or why they felt that anything with these batteries had to be destroyed before they got to people. Its amazing how they did not have the tracking number sooner where they could provide it and tell you what exactly happened and the reasoning behind it.
They were less in the dark about things then you were? I mean i can't understand why they even put you onto the fraud team when no fraud occurred? Yes I can imagine you were beyond peed off at that stage. How long from ordering your laptop to find out it was destroyed did it take to resolve, was there any compensation as well from Littlewoods at all? And its dreadful business it was showing it was dispatched on your account a really big ordeal. Have you dealt with Littlewoods since or has this make you avoid them at any costs?

A cargo plane came down killing people

MrLucidLJ

L1011 wrote: »

A cargo plane came down killing people

Are you being serious? Could you provide a news article.

L1011

MrLucidLJ wrote: »

Are you being serious? Could you provide a news article.

Yes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UPS_Airlines_Flight_6

There's theories about MH370 also but this one ^ actually very much did happen

MrLucidLJ

L1011 wrote: »

Yes

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UPS_Airlines_Flight_6

There's theories about MH370 also but this one ^ actually very much did happen

Thanks for the link the FAA are they in charge of only US flights inward and outward or is that an International organization which covers all countries in the world? There are a few questions I have that maybe you know. Are they saying the flight came down because of the lithium batteries and this happened in 2010 so why did it take 5 years for a company like Littlewoods to decide not to ship Lithium batteries on their site to a foreign destination?

slimjimmc

I doubt anybody here can say for certain why Littlewoods dropped the selection of laptops from their website. What happened to Fire and ice's order does not necessarily mean it influenced Littlewoods' decision to not ship to Ireland since a) air-freight/Royal Mail are not the only means of shipping to Ireland and b) lithium batteries are not banned outright but are subject to restrictions and some airlines will not accept bulk cargoes of batteries. Littlewoods would unlikely to be shipping bulk quantities to Ireland.

I suspect Littlewoods' decision was more to do with commercial factors and I find the one given to you by Littlewoods to be more plausible than any regulation or airline policy.

MrLucidLJ wrote: »

that it is up to the Merchandisers and Seller of the laptops with their agreement to sell and distribute laptops through Littlewoods Ireland.

L1011

MrLucidLJ wrote: »

Thanks for the link the FAA are they in charge of only US flights inward and outward or is that an International organization which covers all countries in the world? There are a few questions I have that maybe you know. Are they saying the flight came down because of the lithium batteries and this happened in 2010 so why did it take 5 years for a company like Littlewoods to decide not to ship Lithium batteries on their site to a foreign destination?

There's the ICAO for international standaerds; but what has happened, slowly, since UPS6 is that various carriers have become more and more wary

The flight went on fire for reasons unknown but the intensity of the lithium fire meant the fire containment systems couldn't cope.

There have been other, contained, fires that have made carriers even more wary - the JAL 787 incidents where it was the actual planes own battery for instance. Nearly all plane operators now only allow lithium batteries singularly and often with a person; not packed in bulk.

fire and ice

MrLucidLJ wrote: »

I actually can't believe that this happened. I wonder why lithium batteries became so dangerous or why they felt that anything with these batteries had to be destroyed before they got to people. Its amazing how they did not have the tracking number sooner where they could provide it and tell you what exactly happened and the reasoning behind it.
They were less in the dark about things then you were? I mean i can't understand why they even put you onto the fraud team when no fraud occurred? Yes I can imagine you were beyond peed off at that stage. How long from ordering your laptop to find out it was destroyed did it take to resolve, was there any compensation as well from Littlewoods at all? And its dreadful business it was showing it was dispatched on your account a really big ordeal. Have you dealt with Littlewoods since or has this make you avoid them at any costs?

Took about 4 weeks to admit that I wasn't going to receive it then another week or two to get them to remove charge from my account.
Don't think anyone knew what was going on which is why it went to fraud. I was being passed from pillar to post. It was they themselves who then said that's why they removed the laptop's from site.
No compensation just a generic apology that sorry I didn't receive item.
It has most definitely put me off using them but should have know better as most of the time their customer service is awful.
Think I'll stick to simple orders like clothes in the future.

MrLucidLJ

slimjimmc wrote: »

I doubt anybody here can say for certain why Littlewoods dropped the selection of laptops from their website. What happened to Fire and ice's order does not necessarily mean it influenced Littlewoods' decision to not ship to Ireland since a) air-freight/Royal Mail are not the only means of shipping to Ireland and b) lithium batteries are not banned outright but are subject to restrictions and some airlines will not accept bulk cargoes of batteries. Littlewoods would unlikely to be shipping bulk quantities to Ireland.

I suspect Littlewoods' decision was more to do with commercial factors and I find the one given to you by Littlewoods to be more plausible than any regulation or airline policy.

From what one of the users said he said it was down to a plane setting on fire and has made all the other companies finally wake up and stop delivering large quantities of Lithium batteries. And do you think that they can ship Lithium batteries through boats would that be safer in the case of a fire then? It could have influenced there decision but your right unless you get a statement directly from the company from saying why this happened we will never know.
Your saying its unlikely they would be shipping in bulk how do you know that, and what would you consider bulk 1000 plus just wondering? I thought that it might be down to payments not being made and they thought they get enough hassle with the UK side of things that they wouldn't want to bother with Ireland as well but who knows could be multiple factors tbh.

MrLucidLJ

L1011 wrote: »

There's the ICAO for international standaerds; but what has happened, slowly, since UPS6 is that various carriers have become more and more wary

The flight went on fire for reasons unknown but the intensity of the lithium fire meant the fire containment systems couldn't cope.

There have been other, contained, fires that have made carriers even more wary - the JAL 787 incidents where it was the actual planes own battery for instance. Nearly all plane operators now only allow lithium batteries singularly and often with a person; not packed in bulk.

Its interesting that this happened but some companies too years to change their policies on shipping. Could Littlewoods ship by boat instead, and is boat a safe option in case of a fire breaking out? And what do you consider a bulk shipment to be over 100 over or more just curious thanks for the interesting info.

MrLucidLJ

fire and ice wrote: »

Took about 4 weeks to admit that I wasn't going to receive it then another week or two to get them to remove charge from my account.
Don't think anyone knew what was going on which is why it went to fraud. I was being passed from pillar to post. It was they themselves who then said that's why they removed the laptop's from site.
No compensation just a generic apology that sorry I didn't receive item.
It has most definitely put me off using them but should have know better as most of the time their customer service is awful.
Think I'll stick to simple orders like clothes in the future.

So around a 6-8 week process that you went through its complete madness like. I can't believe Littlewoods didn't even compensate you with a free gift or extra allowance on your account. I hate that with companies that they send you from one department to another until you lose your mind lol. And I will say I have found them very good to date but with this experience it has defo made me a lot wary of them after your incident.

blackbird 49

Can't give any opinion on this, but I did notice less laptops on their site, bought 2 acer laptops in June, had to return one back in September, didn't hear back from them rang to enquire about laptop they said they had sent a email and we're putting the credit back on to my account, they hadn't sent a email, they had no more of the laptops I had originally ordered,

MrLucidLJ

blackbird 49 wrote: »

Can't give any opinion on this, but I did notice less laptops on their site, bought 2 acer laptops in June, had to return one back in September, didn't hear back from them rang to enquire about laptop they said they had sent a email and we're putting the credit back on to my account, they hadn't sent a email, they had no more of the laptops I had originally ordered,

And I was lucky to get a laptop back in May just before all this stuff went down. I feel like I am lucky in hindsight then getting one. I think Littlewoods as a company should have sent out a statement or let customers know that this was going to happen or it has happened. It should compensate people who had this problem like your self and the other guy whos was destroyed without him even knowing. It makes the company look very bad for not letting customers know at least this change was going to happen.

L1011

MrLucidLJ wrote: »

Its interesting that this happened but some companies too years to change their policies on shipping. Could Littlewoods ship by boat instead, and is boat a safe option in case of a fire breaking out? And what do you consider a bulk shipment to be over 100 over or more just curious thanks for the interesting info.

Shipping by boat can be impractical or even impossible to arrange particularly if you use a third party shipper. I doubt their laptop sales here were enough to justify the effort across every brand, every shipping source, etc.

Grab All Association

Littlewoods never shipped these computers. It was always the manufacturers who shipped you the item (Lenovo, HP, Zoostorm etc) you just paid for or financed the items from them.

MrLucidLJ

L1011 wrote: »

Shipping by boat can be impractical or even impossible to arrange particularly if you use a third party shipper. I doubt their laptop sales here were enough to justify the effort across every brand, every shipping source, etc.

Well I don't know much about shipping set ups through boat services if you had 500-1000 products to go over on a boat would that not justify the costs and would it be safer or easier contain with a fire rather then if it was up high in the air with the variance of pressure? I would imagine Littlewoods Ireland is a decent size nothing like UK set up but they must have though there is enough of a market to set it up.

MrLucidLJ

Grab All Association wrote: »

Littlewoods never shipped these computers. It was always the manufacturers who shipped you the item (Lenovo, HP, Zoostorm etc) you just paid for or financed the items from them.

Do you know this already or is it something you have looked into found out or read up on? But why would they stop shipping them is it because of the Lithium batteries or some other reasons?

Grab All Association

MrLucidLJ wrote: »

Do you know this already or is it something you have looked into found out or read up on? But why would they stop shipping them is it because of the Lithium batteries or some other reasons?

I have bought bulky items off them in the past (furniture and appliances)and they always came from the manufacturer.

I've never bought a computer off them but a friend of mine did before twice and she confirmed it was Zoostorm who sent her the first laptop in 2009. Then Sony in 2012. These were shipped from the companies own warehouses not Littlewoods.

USB stick in August

Latest tracking information

28 August, 2015 10:00:32 Parcel delivered
28 August, 2015 06:23:44 Loaded onto van
28 August, 2015 05:24:31 Received at FASTWAY SOUTH EAST
27 August, 2015 15:02:00 Received at FASTWAY HUB
26 August, 2015 20:10:00 Sorted at HATFIELD
25 August, 2015 23:31:02 Sorted at HATFIELD - Route HAT7840 Small sorter
25 August, 2015 22:11:57 Sorted at HATFIELD - Route HAT7840 Small sorter
25 August, 2015 16:27:25 Despatched from SUPPLIER
24 August, 2015 20:51:05 Order being processed at supplier


I don't think it's anything to do with lithium batteries. More to do with the decline of sales/profits in the PC market and the number of faulty cheap Asus, Acer, Lenovo Celeron/Pentiums that were returned all the time. 14 day no quible returns etc

The Mac's and Surfaces would be well built niche items with less chance of someone returning them.

MrLucidLJ

Grab All Association wrote: »

I have bought bulky items off them in the past (furniture and appliances)and they always came from the manufacturer.

I've never bought a computer off them but a friend of mine did before twice and she confirmed it was Zoostorm who sent her the first laptop in 2009. Then Sony in 2012. These were shipped from the companies own warehouses not Littlewoods.

USB stick in August

Latest tracking information

28 August, 2015 10:00:32 Parcel delivered
28 August, 2015 06:23:44 Loaded onto van
28 August, 2015 05:24:31 Received at FASTWAY SOUTH EAST
27 August, 2015 15:02:00 Received at FASTWAY HUB
26 August, 2015 20:10:00 Sorted at HATFIELD
25 August, 2015 23:31:02 Sorted at HATFIELD - Route HAT7840 Small sorter
25 August, 2015 22:11:57 Sorted at HATFIELD - Route HAT7840 Small sorter
25 August, 2015 16:27:25 Despatched from SUPPLIER
24 August, 2015 20:51:05 Order being processed at supplier


I don't think it's anything to do with lithium batteries. More to do with the decline of sales/profits in the PC market and the number of faulty cheap Asus, Acer, Lenovo Celeron/Pentiums that were returned all the time. 14 day no quible returns etc

The Mac's and Surfaces would be well built niche items with less chance of someone returning them.

I see this is a USB device is this something you bought recently and it is sent from the manufacturer itself? Thats good you know that because of your friend that when there was tracking it was coming directly from the manufacturer. So your putting it down to the poor sales and poor items being shipped from the various companies then? Do you think as a result of this all the license agreements Littlewoods Ireland had with these companies and all the hassle and problems then had they decided to discontinue and only keep the ones you mentioned?
I bought a Toshiba off them, I don't know if you know about if there was lots of those sent back or if they had many problems? Do you also know why the manufacturers were sending out below standard laptops that had to be returned as well?

MrLucidLJ

For all the people who thought I was mad to get stuff from Littlewoods I took your advice and set up a Credit Union, from looking at potential loans in the future 9% APR is pretty decent. So I thank you for the advice. I just thought at the time Littlewoods was a handy option to have.

GarrettZ

Hi,

I ordered a Samsung tablet from Littlewoods.ie, Littlewoods.ie says it was directly shipped by the manufacturer...so does this mean Samsung packed & shipped the tablet? Thanks!

Jim_Hodge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118229041#Comment_118229041

That's what shipped by the manufacturer usually implies.

Doodah7

SIX YEAR OLD THREAD FOR A DUMB QUESTION??

GarrettZ

It may be a six year old question to you, but I only found your discussion yesterday. Yes, 'directly from the manufacturer" means what it says, I just hope it was packed and shipped by Samsung and not Littlewoods, I think Samsung's shipping and packing standards would be better than Littlewoods. Hopefully the tablet was shipped in a box and not some plastic bag. Has anyone ordered a electronic device from Littlewoods.ie and what was the packaging like? Thanks!

GarrettZ

And don't forget people come to boards.ie to find answers to questions from the mounds of old messages here...thanks!

GarrettZ

Hi

Don't forget people come to boards.ie to find information and answers to questions from the mounds of old messages here...it may be a six year old question to you, but I only found your discussion yesterday. Yes, 'directly from the manufacturer" means what it says, I just hope it was packed and shipped by Samsung and not Littlewoods, I think Samsung's shipping and packing standards would be better than Littlewoods. Hopefully the tablet was shipped in a box and not some plastic bag. Has anyone ordered a electronic device from Littlewoods.ie and what was the packaging like? Thanks!

Jim_Hodge

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118231037#Comment_118231037

Isn't it a bit late asking after placing the order? Not being smart, but it does seem odd to ask after buying from them.

GarrettZ

It's nerve too late, I took a chance...and when my order was processed by Littlewoods.ie I was gald to discover Samsung are gonna pack & ship the tablet after all. So I hope Samsung did a good job. I did ask Littlewoods.ie before I ordered the tablet what kind of packaging do they use to ship sensitive electronic items and they told me not to worry, the tablet will be packed really well. I just asked has anyone ordered a tablet from Littlewoods.ie and what type of packaging did they use, was it in a box or aplastic bag. Thanks!

GarrettZ

It seem late to you but I took a chance!