News
Waterstone's suspends customer prepayments
21.06.09 | Victoria Gallagher
Waterstone's has stopped taking prepayments for customer orders in stores supplied by its new distribution facility, the "hub". Staff were told to stop taking any payments from 11th June because delivery dates on the books could not be guaranteed. Waterstone's said the decision had been made to help provide "the best in customer service".
An email, seen by The Bookseller, sent on 10th June to managers of those branches supplied by the hub stated: "As you will be aware, the ongoing issues at the hub are adversely affecting the delivery time of customer orders. Therefore, as a result of your feedback, we have decided to stop taking prepayments for all customer orders from Thursday 11th June until these issues are resolved."
The email continued: "When taking an order, please inform the customer that due to the extended delivery time a prepayment is not required. Please assure them that we are doing everything we can to resolve the issues and we have made this decision to prevent further customer dissatisfaction."
A Waterstone's spokesperson said: "To ensure that we provide the best in customer service, Waterstone's has temporarily stopped taking prepayments for customer orders." The retailer declined to comment further.
Originally mooted for launch in the first quarter of 2008, the implementation of the hub has been subject to a series of delays, with Waterstone's m.d. Gerry Johnson saying that he wanted to "de-risk" the move. In April, Johnson admitted that there had been problems with the hub, but added that these had been "successfully identified and fixed". In May, the retailer said that the new hub, a 150,000 sq ft site based at Burton upon Trent, would be fully operational in June. It has been increasing the number of stores supplied by the hub in recent weeks.
Waterstone's has been stung before when it has tried to change its supply chain. In the past, it had a fraught spell using W H Smith's Swindon warehouse and a partnership with Bertrams to scale out Christmas stock ended badly. Publishers' reactions to the hub's implementation have generally been favourable, with the proviso that it needs to work properly. Three hundred full-time staff will ultimately be hired by Unipart, the company contracted by Waterstone's to run the hub.
Comments on this article
By JULIAN RIVERS
Quite honestly I would keep working on getting things right at the Hub , BUT maintain customer order service through this period by passing all business to the Wholesalers to fulfil. Customer orders are the service that people are very sensitive about- and if the reputation slips then other sales will also fall away . I know I've been there @Dillons. .19 Jun 09 09:24
By MisterBojangles
Here it comes ... just as I said it would! This calls for a beer. My fellow staff members (ex, I'm redundant) - save your wonderful selves before the Hub implodes and Gerry is found in a nappy at his mansion, dribbling and crying ... get out now!19 Jun 09 10:33
By Thumper
Paid off today. I find it very hard to believe that the company is being so ridiculous as to pursue this line of action when surely it would be better to bite the bullet of poor discount from Gardeners for what usually amounts to one book at a time in order to retain what has generally been a very good reputation about customer orders. Or could it be that they're already having to swallow so much due to having to get account orders that they simply dare not stretch it further. The Hub, potentially a brilliant idea, will surely go down in bookselling history as the Terminal 5 of the book trade. Let's hope, for the sake of my friends and colleagues who remain working for the Big W that 'Terminal' doesn't end up being the term for the company.19 Jun 09 12:23
By Helen
That's the best idea...ordered a book from them earlier this year with the estimate of a week or two, and 2 months later still hadn't got it...got it off the internet instead and it came in 3 days.19 Jun 09 14:29
By Colonel Sanders
'De-risk'? I like that one - Gerry has a way with words. When I was a Waterstone's manager I got very mixed messages. On the one hand I was told to 'Get Selling' (which I'd been doing quite happily anyway). On the other, I was being chastised for using wholesalers to obtain customer orders, even though it was clearly a more efficient service. Part of 'Selling' is giving good customer service and making people want to return. Margin's all very well, but 42% of £10,000 is better than 55% of £5,000 isn't it? Thank God I left Waterstone's. I'm so much happier now.19 Jun 09 14:35
By Kommando Astrid Proll
Clearly a slack news day then. I must say I am disappointed not to see a headline saying 'Waterstone's fails to capitalise on Father's Day Fritzl opportunity'19 Jun 09 15:09
By Trevor
Quite a big story actually. Everyone in the company knows how bad the hub is actually working. Hope Gerry hasn't ruined it for everyone else because he is bound to be fine when he walks away.19 Jun 09 15:20
By The W W
Doesn't get much bigger than telling customers to put their money away - for a retailer anyway. I'm no fan of the Booksellerm (too many pictures of publishers drinking wine celebrating books that don't sell) but at least someone is trying to get behind what's actually happening at the moment. Of course the big G would rather we weren't on this website, so I'd better go . . .19 Jun 09 15:33
By Big Dave
"Publishers' reactions to the hub's implementation have generally been favourable, " I'm sure they are. They save a a lot of money in trnasportation. Waterstone's stumps up that cash as well as leaking money away buying books from Gardners for less discount to service their account customers. More money will be lost with this customer order fiasco. If a book is late arriving a customer will think - "i'll just get it off the internet. It's not like I've paid a deposit." Johnson has got the company in a bit of a mess, he's going to need his booksellers doing their best to lessen the impact on the front lines with damage limitation rather than "get selling". i'm sure most of them will, despite recent events. I just hope things get sorted quickly.19 Jun 09 19:07
By Colonel Sanders
Exactly Big Dave - Waterstone's are competing with the internet, but whenever I tried to point out that customers might not want to wait for 10 days for their book to arrive, I was made to feel like some fluffy airhead who didn't understand grown-up things like net profit. Another one of Gerry's favourite phrases was to talk about 'our offer'. Sadly, this offer seemed to consist of expecting people to buy books at higher prices with a longer waiting time. Waterstone's are running out of time and they're throwing away the staff and customer loyalty that could help them survive. Madness.19 Jun 09 21:47
By abitofanoptimist
I ordered 2 copies of a book on Monday this week, from a 'hub' branch, & 1 came in on Wednesday & the other today. That's not too bad.19 Jun 09 22:47
By SPY
Oh what a mess......... Gerry please let go of your ego now.... Why not just use the hub for the internet orders only and let the shops use the old system.......20 Jun 09 05:41
By SPY
Oh what a mess......... Gerry please let go of your ego now.... Why not just use the hub for the internet orders only and let the shops use the old system.......20 Jun 09 05:42
By HIS LORDSHIP
The decision not to take payment from the customer at the time they place an order is a tacit admission by Waterstones that the hub is a disaster. No amount of management speak and weasel words can hide that fact. They are not taking money, because to put it bluntly they have no idea when the book will arrive. If they were really concerned about customer service they would forego a bit of margin and get the book quickly from a wholesaler, thereby maintaining customer goodwill. I understand that even more stores are going to be put on the hub in the coming weeks. This despite the fact the the hub is hopeless in supplying exisitng stores - why compound the problem by corrupting more stores with the hub. When you are in a hole stop digging and have the courage to admit your mistake! I'm wondering if Gerry will the the Fred Goodwin of bookselling - drive a business into the ground and walk away with a big payoff.20 Jun 09 09:00
By jonny
TO abitofanoptimist. get to ur local indie m8, mainstrem books over 200,00 available, 48 hours USUALLY NEXT DAY!!!!!!!!!!20 Jun 09 11:46
By Retailer
Shouldn't be taking deposits anyway - that's just poor customer service.20 Jun 09 12:29
By ex 'Stoner
The delay with customer orders and stock in general could be due to the 2000 odd "full" totes that are sat in the hub with nowhere to go. Yes, that's 2000 boxes, full of books with apparently no one knowing where they're for. No wonder further store roll-outs are being delayed once again, at least the pre-payment issue is a sensible move!20 Jun 09 12:58
By Big Dave
Retailer - Waterstone's started taking prepayments quite a few years ago due to the large number of uncollected customer orders. I assume their were a few grumbles when it was first implemented from regular customers, but i can't remember any one I've dealt with regarding prepaying for their order as "poor customer service". I didn't get all haughty with Comet when I had to pay for my new washing machine before it was delivered. However prepaying for a book that hasn't arrived 4 weeks later is a bit on the poor side. I assume that's why the company is no longer asking customers to do so. I guess there is nothing to stop indivdual branches ordering their customer orders from a wholesaler. Except one. The function to put a dummy or phoned order on the computer system has been removed. Any records of customer orders would have to be kept on paper. I assume this was done to stop people ordering from wholesalers. Oh dear.20 Jun 09 14:12
By SPY
So Waterstones has spent years buying other book retailers.... those it carn't or dont want to buy it puts out or is trying to put out of business..... then Waterstones gets to big for its boots..... falls apart by getting rid of staff.... puts loads of money into a system that dont work.... carn't supply shop stock... customer orders.etc.... has loads of disgruntald staff and customers.... shops that are nowhere near the standard they need to be..... rubbish offers.... selling books for more than the RRP..... undercutting its own shops with its internet prices.... computer system that don,t work properly.... and top Management that don't or wont take any notice of the staff complaints............................ Nice one Gerry.......... so I know now that when I die that I will be going to heaven because I'v done my time in Hell........20 Jun 09 14:57
By David R N Livesley - Woodstock Vermont
In years to come folks who are now young will look back fondly at the 'management' of Waterstones in the early 21st century fondly, like I look back on W H Smug in the 1990's and smile...for as Julian has eluded....Dillons had been there...yadda yadda yadda.. One hope's Gerry and his management chums know good head hunters cos' sure as eggs is eggs they'll pop up in another retail environment, maybe in South Africa or Basildon...and continue to create a ' personal learning curve' as they leave lives of employees, and shareholders investments in tatters. However I cannot believe Gerry alone should be held liable for the 'Hub', but his 'highly motivated and effective (mis)management' team should all be swept onwards....thus allowing them to use creative management speak to a new audience who will 'ooh and err' when prodded. Sadly this fiasco will run a little longer before a 'new approach' is introduced...and rest assured the publishing 'sales gods' will all support it...of course the usual 'no names' drill will apply. And some folks wonder why I am cynical? Are you there Simon Fox at HMV? For heavens sake man....get your board to act before you go down with the ship as well!20 Jun 09 23:24
By Another "Scurrilous?" Thought
Could another reason for not taking deposits be something to do with the financial stability of a retailer?21 Jun 09 15:03
By Retired Publisher
When I was a young rep in the mid 70's my sales manager told me that only 4% of the population of the UK ever went into a bookshop. Now I accept this figure may be somewhat innacurate, but do we know now what percentage of the population go into a bookshop ? Preferably with a few reference points over the last 30 years. Surely industry bodies such as the BA and/or the PA should be able to tell us. What with The Hub, potty generic book marketing campaigns and other diversions both booksellers and publishers seem to be light on key marketing figures upon which sales, marketing and distribution strategies are built.22 Jun 09 07:02
By Dr Spaceman
How very amusing. As HIS LORDSHIP says, this is pretty much an admission that The Hub is unreliable and provides poor service. I can't see how it can be spun any other way.22 Jun 09 08:48
By Michael Inns
As someone who spent 8 years working for Waterstones, it has been shocking to see the decline in this once great shop. This Hub fiasco is symptomatic of a malaise that has set in at Waterstones. There are still great people in the chain but they are becoming fewer and fewer. People who have passion and drive are being turned away and labeled as troublemakers. Managers were sacked for no other reason than they were expensive, assistant managers forced to run shops on the same wage and no promotion. Grade 5 booksellers had there roll removed and were refused a replacement position and were it seemed actively discouraged to work for Waterstones. Managers also found that they were now in charge of 2 stores, the other being 10 miles away and given no extra staff so they could adequately staff both. Staff leaving were not replaced and below skeleton staff levels were left to run stores with no help or support and when area managers were asked for help you were told to quit whinging. As you can see i left on unhappy terms and that in itself is upsetting as i loved working for this once great chain. The hub is yet another ill conceived idea based on the misconception that all their stores are the same and serve the same people. And again they roll something out that is not ready, not working and is damaging their reputation. Mr Waterstones, please come back, you at least understood brand and service.22 Jun 09 09:41
By Richard Stenlake
In the 1970s I worked in a record shop where we took customer orders for all sorts of obscure but theoretically available records (there was a big directory of these published each year which the shop had a copy of and you looked the record up in that) and if it was supposedly available we took the order (no deposit) and the customer was asked to come back in a week say to see if the record had arrived. This had two effects - firstly customers who turned up a week later, then weekly thereafter for many weeks and although ordered the record never arrived. So they got pissed off. Then there were the ones who forgot about their order or were otherwise distracted and failed to come in to collect their record which was now sitting in the shop for them. Once this had gone a couple of weeks without seeing the customer generally it had the effect of ensuring the customer never came back as they were too embarassed that they would be fingered for not having to get their order sooner. Many, indeed most, record buyers didn't have phones at that time so we couldn't remind them, but if we had taken a deposit it might have worked better. Despite this fiasco and its twin achievement of driving customers away we did try and mitigate the disastrous policy by keeping regulars happy with other means, giving them promotional items that were lying around or some sort of other break. Some years on I had a collectors shop in Glasgow and I made the same mistake in there with people who wanted things put aside until "next week" because they didn't have the money for them. It was amazing how many regular customers we lost who we never saw again when they failed to collect the item they had put away because it was a must-have. In the end we had to refuse to do this and offered to take post-dated cheques. Of course since then everybody has a credit card and so the layaway problem has been solved by everybody in the Western World plunging themselves into unprecedented levels of personal debt so that was a happy ending! Moral of the story - if you must take customer orders you have to take a deposit!22 Jun 09 10:11
By David Jacobs
What a ridiculous directive from on-high. Tell customers you won't take prepayment because the book will probably take ages to arrive rather than simply ordering the book from a wholesaler and getting it within a day or so. Madness. It is throwing sales away. Amazon and The Book Depository must be delighted.22 Jun 09 11:47
By Pete Shankott
RETAILER - They certainly should take deposits as customers completely take the p***. In the two years I worked at Ws back in the late 90s we didn't take deposits and I reckon 60-70% of customer orders remained unclaimed. Piles of unsold stock that you can't send back for ages in case the customer does turn up. Worse still is the firm sale books with RRPs of £50+ that you get in and then the customer looks at them and decides they don't want them. My mates tell me this all changed when they starting making people pre-pay.22 Jun 09 11:53
By Neutral comment
Surely they have to keep on ordering through their distribution centre so they know what the problems are and how to fix them? Just a thought.22 Jun 09 13:51
By Ray Hollingsworth
We can't let Waterstones die. They sell my erotic books! We must have a fund raiser immediately.22 Jun 09 14:05
By Ray Hollingsworth
ello...the real me here...a random quote from a funeral I attended....'The only thing that is certain at the beginning of life is that it will end in death'...The ageing Waterstone's seems to be in poor health - gone is the spirit of youth, and will it respond to the heavy medication? The 'Hub' was a gamble. Anyone for poker dice?22 Jun 09 14:25
By Retired Publisher
When Waterstones passes on where shall we buy our books ?22 Jun 09 16:27
By Ross
Retired Publisher: err..... some other bookshop, peut-etre? Best I can come up with at short notice.22 Jun 09 16:44
By Retired Publisher
Ross er..... I think my comment was tongue in cheek.....23 Jun 09 05:48
By Mark Rokesmith
It's still too soon to call the Hub a disaster, but the extent to which we've de-prioritized this important part of customer interaction is awful. On the whole it's better to take prepayment, but once you have the money you are responsible for keeping the customer apprised as to where her book is. Before the Hub we would spot the overdues and make a call to TBS or Penguin or Bertrams or whoever and get a sensible answer to pass to the customer, preferably before they complained. We can't do that with the Hub. I assume they don't have the manpower or the inclination to pursue what is perceived to be a low value part of the business, so we chase by email and get a response which may take a further couple of weeks. For the decision to stop taking prepayments to have been made there must have been so many, many excruciating conversations over the counter along the lines of, "Where is my book?" "I don't know, but it'll probably be here soon..." etc. - the conversation which every professional bookseller hates. For this reason the branches are still using the wholesalers for big account sales. It's best not to upset a school...23 Jun 09 20:37
By Barney Ross
Knowing some people who work for Waterstone's (lowly booksellers, not management) I've heard that several stores still aren't using the infamous Hub because it isn't working correctly. The powers-that-be have said they want to make sure it is workign before rolling it out to these remaining stores. Shouldn't they have checked this FIRST?! After redundancies, job losses and a general demand that costs be reduced throughout the stores (I know one store was questioned on their use of toilet paper!) it's good to know Gerry et al will be getting lovely bonus' for implementing a system that barley works. Gardners should be supply customer orders. Easy, effiecient and reliable.25 Jun 09 09:14
By Chuck's Love Child
Of course, if the books just went from the supplier straight to the store instead of to the hub and THEN to the stores, it'd all be much quicker. Or am I just being silly?25 Jun 09 09:23
By ex 'Stoner
They way things aren't working with the hub then they may HAVE to revert back to the supplier-to-store delivery system to the branches that are suffering. How the low-staffed stores are coping at the moment i don't know but with the new academic year on the way and, dare i say it, Christmas looming, things are going to be tougher than ever for the frontline booksellers.25 Jun 09 10:01
By Buff Orpington
Chuck's Love Child - the idea behind the Hub is sound enough. Publishers frequently send out boxes that are half empty to shops, resulting in a waste of cardboard and unnecessary carbon emissions. Instead of Harpercollins sending 300 vans containing thousands of boxes to stores, bung a few pallets in a lorry and send them to the Hub, where they'll be placed in reusable totes that are more space-efficient. The totes will be packed by subject, making the stock easier to process and shelve. Sounds great doesn't it. But like a lot of good ideas, the reality appears to be very different and Waterstone's have handled the staffing issues with their usual compassion and dipomacy.25 Jun 09 19:05
By book monkey
Ex-stoner; they can't go back to the supplier to store deliveries any more 'cos all the goodsin staff have been made redundant...oops.25 Jun 09 21:26
By SPY
In this day and age bricks and mortar retail shops need to get there stock to the customer as quick as possible..... The basic fact is this, certain online retailers will get your order to you quickly very quickly.... Now retailers need to come close to that but Waterstones has decided to do the exact oppersite now we will in our branch only get deliverys on 3 days a week when the hub comes on stream with us, At the moment we get stock arrive 6 days aweek and special customer orders next day so we are able to give internet sites a good run for there money..... But the higher Management carn't see this..... If you make your supply chain longer its more likely to break....26 Jun 09 05:43
By ex 'Stoner
Hi Book Monkey, I was a goods in person and one of the first wave to be made redundant across the company. The staff where the branches are already live on the hub are struggling to cope without having the extra people in that "dedicated" role due to the alternating rota system and low staffing levels. Therefore if the problems aren't rectified (how long is this going to take to fix?) it will be extremely difficult for the booksellers to provide the usual excellent service, come the busy trading months ahead, as this rota system would still have to be in place. This is all due to the complete lack of foresight by Waterstone's as they have had no "Plan B" to cope with the problems that are clearly not being addressed. They will not only be left with fewer staff but fewer customers as well which can only spell disaster in the long-term. I can only sympathise with the staff who are awaiting their redundancy, which is a terrible feeling, as many of us can already testify, but you'll be glad when it's over.26 Jun 09 08:45
By Big Dave
The policy has changed again - Take prepayments for hub titles, don't for "deep range" I can picture the scene in at a till. Customer - "Why do I have to pay for my order? That guy didn;t." Bookseller - "Ah yes, that's becuase he ordered a deep range title. But don't worry, you will get your book 3 weeks before him."26 Jun 09 18:10
By The hub's the rub
It's quite clear that the hub is a disaster both in concept and execution. The fact that it's outsourced to another company says all you need to know, really - such ventures always end in tears, but usually not until the management team responsible for the disaster have collected bonuses based on the (very short term) cost savings, and then skipped off to pastures new before the true costs come to light. Anyone who's worked in the financial services industry, particularly insurance, will spot the pattern! In all the articles and comments on the hub, the single thing in its favour is that it offers fewer deliveries, and in re-usable totes, compared to multiple deliveries (by individual publishers) using cardboard boxes. Just a thought, but couldn't Waterstones have asked the publishers to switch to re-usable totes? And secondly, surely the major publishers, particularly RH and Hachette, could devise a more efficient system of shared deliveries to the larger retailers, given that both already own distribution companies?26 Jun 09 19:02
By Buff Orpington
The other villian here is the Phoenix EPOS system, which is the most counter-intuitive software I've ever come across. If you haven't worked for Waterstone's, think MS-DOS circa 1989. Being Devil's advocate for a moment, I think most of what Gerry has done has made sense. Waterstone's are in terminal decline and his strategy of reducing the costs of the business, 'growing' the internet site and increasing footfall via the loyalty card scheme is perfectly sound. What else could Johnson do? His options are pretty limited. However, he has placed too much value on systems and controls and too little on the individual initiative and intelligence of the staff, resulting in an inefficient business with poor morale. The systems should serve the people, but at Waterstone's the reverse is true. The one time Johnson did devolve some control to the stores (new title buying), the result was a success. If Waterstone's is to thrive, it needs to be a people-centred business that doesn't regard its staff as a potential threat.26 Jun 09 20:01
By Peter Panda
If I have to wait three weeks + for an order from Waterstone's, I will be going elsewhere. Simple as that. If they used to supply books within five days (which, 90% of the time they did whenever I have placed an order before) why suddenly treat their customers so badly in this way? Gerry, some tips: Step 1.... stop paying yourself and your cronies such HUGE wages. You don't deserve them, and you all know it. Step 2... stop printing so much display material for your shops!! Everytime I go into a Waterstone's there are new posters, shelf strips, display material and so on all over the place. The cost of this over 300+ shops must be ENORMOUS! Step 3... reduce the staff at head office. Do you REALLY need seperate buying teams and managers for every bloody section? Step 4... realise that the single most important element of your company are your booksellers. If they aren't happy, they won't be driving sales. They will do their jobs, but won't go that 'extra' mile Step 5... WORK IN A SHOP ONCE IN A WHILE AND REALISE HOW BLOODY DIFFICULT IT IS!27 Jun 09 08:10
By jeb
i'm putting together an article headlined 'Gerry steps down as Waterstones MD' in preperation for the imminent total collapse of the hub. The Bookseller can have it in advance if they like. I'm also doing one entitled 'Gerry in Seppuku shocker', just in case.29 Jun 09 07:01
By COMMENTATOR
Jeb , can you do one " BORDERS SOLD FOR UNDISCLOSED KNOCK DOWN PRICE" . as well please . ?29 Jun 09 09:41
By Hub victim
I was under the impression that the hub was going to give booksellers (the ones left after the massacre) a lot more time on the shopfloor, more time in sections to do more interesting things that we couldn't do before. Well that's what we were told. Since 'going live' on the hub and losing staff we've less time on the shopfloor, hardly any books, booksellers moving totes around and not being able to cover the shopfloor so leaving 1 person, customers cancelling orders and telling us they are ordering online, frustrated customers because our range of books is poor. There are many things. Customer orders are my particular frustration at the moment with there being nobody to talk to about delayed orders. Is this going to get any better? We can't go back to the pre hub days as it will cost too much, surely? Gerry is a fool.29 Jun 09 10:12
By AB
..well, as a little break from trying to find a new job thanks to Gerry's Grand Plan, which made me redundant after 11 years of loyal service, I thought I'd have a little look at the Bookseller site to see what was going on at the moment...I'm finding it a little hard to contain my joy that the Hub seems to be going from bad to worse, and the fact that now customers are only too aware of this fact makes the situation even more agreeable! Obviously my sympathies go to the poor staff and ex colleagues who are having to bear the brunt of Gerry and his team's lies and arrogance, but I think the fact that he made NO mention of the forthcoming redundancies in his weekly briefing in the week running up to 29th May (the date of the first mass cull of staff) shows what little regard and complete indifference he has for all the hard working staff who take the money to pay for his over inflated bonus. I really do hope that someone is informing him of the comments on here, so he realises what an unpopular, arrogant little man most of his employees (both current and recently past) seem to think he is. Happy Trading, indeed.....29 Jun 09 13:29
By Hub victim
You shoud've seen the new dvd with Gerry starting the ball rolling by saying how it was a difficult time. Bit of an understatement, eh Gezza?29 Jun 09 20:17
By Rubadubhub
The hub is an absolute shambles and as always the staff are the last ones to find out any information. I cannot believe that a company as big as Unipart were unaware of how big an operation bookselling is. They continue to employ more staff to cope with 'stock movement' and don't have a back up system in place for when the 'sorter' breaks down, as it tends to do quite frequently. We are not even in our busiest time of the year and only two thirds of stores are on the hub so far and even we can't get our books in a timely fashion. We are still expected to hit our targets and our working patterns have been changed to make up for the lack of staff in the shops...Independent bookshops get ready to cash in this Christmas!29 Jun 09 20:46
