Why can't orders be cancelled hours after ordering them?

Effie54 · ‎09-08-2010

Back in the day - your order could be cancelled even a day after ordering? Now, after a few short hours, the order is in "process" and can't be cancelled! Yes, it takes days and days to have the item even shipped. Does that make sense?

dex · ‎03-09-2010

@Effie54 wrote:
Back in the day - your order could be cancelled even a day after ordering? Now, after a few short hours, the order is in "process" and can't be cancelled! Yes, it takes days and days to have the item even shipped. Does that make sense?

I think they don't want us to impulse shop.I used to order an item and then read reviews and see if I still wanted to purchase it..don't do that anymore.

Effie54 · ‎09-08-2010

@dex wrote:
@Effie54 wrote:
Back in the day - your order could be cancelled even a day after ordering? Now, after a few short hours, the order is in "process" and can't be cancelled! Yes, it takes days and days to have the item even shipped. Does that make sense?
I think they don't want us to impulse shop.I used to order an item and then read reviews and see if I still wanted to purchase it..don't do that anymore.

Yup, I think you're right! They don't want customers to cancel after they come to their senses.

phoenixbrd · ‎03-27-2010

When the "easy pay" as a default payment was initiated (I never use easy pay and I had to be very careful to change the default pay choice), I noticed differences. 1 - you could not longer cancel a purchase even within a few hours 2 - previously if an item was on waitlist and I purchased with my credit card, usually it was accepted immediately. Now, it continues on waitlist so I usually cancel within a couple of days as I don't want a returned item.

Catch71 · ‎03-09-2010

Most other online retailers do not let you cancel; QVC allowed it years ago, but I wouldn't count on it now. They got smart; you better be sure before you hit submit or be okay with returning for a fee.

ScrapHappy · ‎03-28-2010

@Effie54 wrote:
Back in the day - your order could be cancelled even a day after ordering? Now, after a few short hours, the order is in "process" and can't be cancelled! Yes, it takes days and days to have the item even shipped. Does that make sense?

I've talked to my husband about this after I had the same problem(s) as you. My husband has been in IT for 35 plus years and has extensive experience and knowledge in this. He said you certainly can cancel an order right after ordering or several or days after ordering (as long as it hasn't shipped) as long as their system (code) is set up to do it. It's all how they want their software to work. Now, whether or not they want you to be able to cancel like that, that's a different story. He sees no reason why you can't cancel an order whether on line yourself or by calling customer service. It's the software and how you make that software work (and the people writing the code and in IT).

Carmie · ‎10-25-2010

@Effie54 Yes, it makes sense. When a product is purchased the request goes into a queue on a computer in the order it was received. From there the request is sent to the " pickers."

The "pickers" in the warehouse walk around with a handheld device. The device tells them what to pull from the shelves and where to find the product. X25 might show up on their device. That tells them to pull the product in isle X from bin 25. They scan the items with the hand held device they have picked and put them into a cart on wheels.

They keep picking products as instructed on their device and until their cart is full. The the cart with all the scanned products is taken to an area where the items are boxed or bagged, and shipping labels are made. Then boxes and bags are sent to another area to be sorted and placed on trucks to ship them out.

When you can't cancel because the item is in process, that means the order has been sent to the warehouse for processing. It could be anywhere in the processing system. Someone could have already put the item in their cart and scanned it and it could be sitting someplace waiting to be boxed or bagged.

There are thousands of items that are picked everyday. It might take a while to get them to the point of shipping them out and the truck will not move until it is loaded front to back and piled to the ceiling. Trucking companies charge by the truck, so they are packed tight. No one will pay full price to move a half empty truck.

They might have 10 or more trucks at the docks and the packages are sorted and placed into the correct truck by hand depending on where it's going. Packages are loaded by hand so that the weight is distributed properly. There would be an accident if the load shifted while the truck was moving.

Your package might be delivered to another area hub and loaded on another truck more than once before it gets to your local P.O. or UPS.

All of this takes time. It is quite a process.

Carmie · ‎10-25-2010

@ScrapHappy wrote:
@Effie54 wrote:
Back in the day - your order could be cancelled even a day after ordering? Now, after a few short hours, the order is in "process" and can't be cancelled! Yes, it takes days and days to have the item even shipped. Does that make sense?
I've talked to my husband about this after I had the same problem(s) as you. My husband has been in IT for 35 plus years and has extensive experience and knowledge in this. He said you certainly can cancel an order right after ordering or several or days after ordering (as long as it hasn't shipped) as long as their system (code) is set up to do it. It's all how they want their software to work. Now, whether or not they want you to be able to cancel like that, that's a different story. He sees no reason why you can't cancel an order whether on line yourself or by calling customer service. It's the software and how you make that software work (and the people writing the code and in IT).

The computer can always cancel an item before it has actually shipped, but it is not prudent to pay employees to dig through carts, packing areas, loading docks, etc. looking for a item that the costumer changed their mind about.

Who would want to sort through thousands of those QVC plastic bags and boxes looking for something, then be responsible for putting it back into the correct aisle and bin? This type of service would cause prices to go up.

World Traveler · ‎02-02-2015

@Carmie WOW! I learned a lot from your post.

First of all, I thought it was mechanical...the items slide down a conveyor belt all thru an algorithm that lets the computer indicate which item to "let go," kind of like the way it is when you go to a vending machine in a gas station and want a candy bar or drink. Also, I saw it done that way on a review of some company.....Amazon?

Anyway, thanks for taking the time to spell it all out like you did.

I think a positive way to look at it is that they are getting the orders started sooner/faster than in the past in order to get it to us as quickly as possible. But the hangup could be when it gets to the truck. In my case, the slow down comes once it gets 30 miles from me. But my home is in a small town, so the item has to go thru our small post office, and I definitely see a drag in time from 30 miles away in a large-sized city to my home town.

I just plan on two weeks for anything to get to me, and if it comes sooner, I am pleasantly surprised.

Carmie · ‎10-25-2010

@World Traveler The boxed and bagged items and properly addressed items do slide down a converter belt to the sorting area and then on to the loading docks. It is the fastest way to move heavy items in bulk.