Tweaks and Treats

SoreStore's new look

In case you hadn’t spotted it, we’ve tweaked the look of the SoreStore website to make it fresher and smarter, and easier to navigate.

All the sections for the products are on the left, as are other “information” type pages, such as how to Contact us.

On the right, you’ll find the shopping basket, and some highlighted new and best-selling products.

By way of a little treat, we’ve made shipping FREE for all orders up to a value of £50. You can of course choose a premium paid for service if you prefer, or if you need your Neo G physio support very quickly.

Feedback, as always, is welcome.

Code Red

From time to time we post discount codes for SoreStore on our Twitter feed. Follow @sorestore to make sure you don’t miss out.

Physician heal thyself

Since the earliest days of Snorestore (sister company, blogs passim), we’ve made a point of trying out the products we plan to stock, to make sure they pass our high quality threshhold.

It’s no different with SoreStore’s products, although it’s a bit more tricky to assess if a particular sports support is working if you haven’t actually got an injury which needs help. Whereas with earplugs, you can tell straightaway how effective they are at reducing noise.

Fortunately, one of our directors is a keen (if rather rubbish) tennis player here and is forever picking up associated injuries (presumably because She. Does. Not. Learn. Or. Warm. Up. Properly). This gives her the perfect excuse to use the SoreStore range of Neo G VCS supports.

So far she has tried:

Calf muscle support

Open Knee Support

Tennis Elbow Support

She swears by Neo G’s products and is still playing tennis so something’s working. Personally I think she has just has a thing about velcro…

All power to …

You see? No sooner did we post that there was a glimmer of hope in the postal strikes than the union calls off tomorrow and Monday’s action. The power, the power …

Fingers crossed – again

A glimmer of hope maybe?

There’s talk – amidst the talks – that a possible deal to end the Royal Mail post strikes is on the table. But this is almost certainly the latest in a depressing series of false dawns, so we’re not getting excited just yet.

In the meantime, with another strike due tomorrow, Friday, and a second next Monday 9th November, keep an eye on our Shipping page for updates on how we are going to get your order out to you.

Postal Strike Latest

Since the latest round of industrial (in)action has come to an end, we are reverting to near-normal Shipping arrangements at SoreStore. This will continue until the next lot of strikes starts. Our Shipping page is updated frequently so always check there for the latest information, or follow us on Twitter.

FisioCrem joins the SoreStore stable

Fisiocrem cream is a fast working anti-inflammatory, suitable for use during the treatment of strained muscles, bruising, sprains, tendonitis, dislocations and other injuries. Use it for massaging the affected area before or after your workout.

Best of all, you can now buy FisioCrem quickly and easily from SoreStore.

Going off on one

In case you thought we were plain old meanies and hate all our customers, we don’t. We really don’t. But we don’t like being abused for stuff we haven’t done, or stuff we have no control over. Here’s another example of a customer who thinks she knows best:

= = =

Name: xxxxx
Email Address:xxx at talktalk.net
Message:

I am disappointed not to have received the above order. Normally when I place an order with you it is processed very quickly and delivered within a couple of days. As I placed the order on Sunday 18th Oct and the postal strike was not due to start until the following Thurs I didn’t feel that paying the courier charge of £4.95 was justified.

I do not understand why my order wasn’t processed in your usual efficient way and delivered by Tues/Wed as normal. Surely I am not going to have to wait ‘weeks’ for delivery, as you suggest, just because I didn’t pay the ridiculous courier charge of £4.95?

If this is the case then I will have no alternative but to cancel my order and look elsewhere for my earplugs. This will be a great pity because up until now the service you have provided has been second to none.

I now look forward to your reply and prompt delivery of my order.

Thank you.

= = =

The only problem is, this customer hadn’t actually ordered anything.  She had failed to pay for her goods, so surprise surprise, we didn’t send them. Here’s our reply:

= = =

Dear xxxxx

The reason you have not received your order is because you did not pay for it. See the attached image.

The courier charge of £4.95 is exactly what you would pay if you went to the Post Office and sent an item by Special Delivery. We actually make a loss on that service. So, in our opinion, this is not a ridiculous charge.

As far as us pointing out that customers might have to wait a long time for orders to arrive is concerned, we only do this because with 30 million items already in a backlog BEFORE last week’s strikes, it makes sense not to promise a service that Royal Mail cannot deliver.

We are sure you made a genuine mistake. However, please consider how upsetting the tone of your email is to the recipients. We know we do a good job. It’s really tough to be slammed when we haven’t actually done anything wrong.

Yours sincerely etc etc

= = =

Have we had a response from this customer yet? Er, no. Just a resounding, deafening silence.

As promised

Here’s an example of the sort of stuff we receive from people who don’t know the meaning of the word reasonable.

 

Consumers taking it out on no-one but themselves?

Pretty much the whole of the UK now knows about the postal strikes. The latest is into its third day, after all. What many of them don’t know though, is that some parts of the country have suffered postal strikes since July. Even before the latest round of industrial action, there were around 30 million items in the pile still waiting to be sorted from months ago. How big that figure has climbed to now is anyone’s guess.

As a mail order business, we have to try to respond to this by making alternative shipping arrangements, keeping our customers informed and hoping against hope that some heads get knocked together very soon. Currently we don’t charge anything for shipping for the smallest orders – doesn’t seem fair to make customers pay for a service which Royal Mail can’t deliver. Higher value orders are charged at below-cost courier rate.

So it really doesn’t help when a handful of individuals write us full length essays disguised as “feedback”, containing allegations and threats. Come on guys, we’re reasonable people, why aren’t you?

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