When I complained to them about the service I received back in November, they told me the store hours changing were so they could better deal with online orders. Back in November, I placed my order pretty early in the morning, between 9 and 10, but apparently that was too late in the day to make the cut off! Look at AE who use the same courier, cut off is end of the day. They told me that everything was in stock and it would be dispatched the following day, that they had put all my plants aside and it was ready to go. The following day I received no dispatch e-mail, so I gave them a call to find out why it had not been sent. Do you know what I was told? They said that they only have 2 people picking and 1 person packing, so it was not their fault that they had not had time to pick and pack and send my order that day. Really? Is that an acceptable excuse, that they have so much business and some of the highest prices out there, but don't pay enough staff or have effective processes to handle their orders? They finally dispatched it on day 3, but this meant that it didn't make it to Aberdeen until Saturday. I then had to go get it from the DPD depot on the Saturday otherwise it would have sat there all weekend. What did I pay for the pleasure of this speedy express service, £13.95!
I suspect that they do indeed have issues with their business, highest prices around, then they must spend a FORTUNE on these fancy display tanks. How much business do you really think they do through the shop compare to online? Considering they now only open Monday to Friday during standard working hours when most people are not able to visit and they are closed at weekends to give them more time to handle online orders suggests that their real money is made online and they now need to pick up their game to compete with companies like AE that sell plants which are just as good if not better for a lower price combined with service where they don't act like they are always right and the customer is wrong. They can't just trade on their old reputation for ever, they need to compete on price and service and at the moment they are lacking in both.