Public Holidays & Deliveries

Just called the Australian Embassy to ask my new case officer if i needed to send in a NI police check since i hadn't lived there for 10 years.

I got his voice mail, he is an American guy, living in the UK and having an Australian public holiday today... the world just needs a reality check i think!

My wife, last week ordered some tops from Miss Selfridges, and asked for them to be delivered, for a charge of £5, she thought it was worth it as they didn't have those tops in the Edinburgh store when she looked.

So a few days later she gets a 'we called and you where not at home card' which by the way was on the ground in our communal stairway near the entrance, the courier hadn't even bothered coming up to our flat on the top floor. So she calls the number provided to organise a time to redeliver and the very unhelpful call centre lady states,
I'm sorry we don't deliver on a Saturday!...
Issue No. 1, why if we are paying a premium for delivery can they not deliver on a Sat?? who would be a typical buyer online... someone with not enough time to go to the store, someone who most likely works, someone who most likelyworks every day and so needs it delivered on a Sat. My wife paid £5 for delivery, i'm sure she would have been happy to pay £10 if it was a premium service to have the delivery on a Sat or before or after 9am-5pm.
Then she says
I'm sorry but we cant deliver to a work address it has to be residential
Issue No. 2, again the client of a web site will most likely be working and so cant just wait around their flat, between 7am and 7pm (the supposed times of delivery), so need to be able to have it delivered to a work address.
Then she says
I'm sorry but we can deliver to the shop for you to pick up, but we can leave it in the depot for you to come and Pick up... we then find out the depot is on the outskirts of Edinburgh (a £40 taxi ride, out and back).
Issue No. 3, Why cant it be sent to the shop, why do you have to pay £5 to then spend £40 going out to get the goods from the depot.
When will companies trying to sell to the online market realise that they have to change their fulfillment options as well to meet the needs of an internet purchaser. 80% of your market at least will be working and need a delivery to either their office, to the shop for pick up or on a Saturday, or at the very worst, a time set when it will be delivered, i.e. between 7-9am or 5 and 7pm so people can organise to leave work early or come in late to pick up the package.
Then, and the epic goes on, Rebecca asked for the package to be cancelled as she had no way to receive the goods, so the call centre woman said ok and 2 weeks on there has been no refund, so Rebecca is now forced to chase a customer care line which just rings out, with no one answering... seriously she has tried several times in a day and no responses.

So my advice... dont buy Miss selfridges online, and avoid sites that don't allow you to choose delivery dates or pay for a weekend delivery, the businesses will learn to meet demand eventually.