Waitrose has been forced into a grovelling apology to its online customers after a barrage of complaints over its new website, www.waitrose.com, which cost £10m and two years to build.
The site has experienced serious speed and navigational problems, rejecting long names as usernames and, once they are logged on, finding loyalty codes fail when users edit their baskets.
Even on the day of launch it was experiencing problems, displaying the sign “we are working hard to complete the finishing touches…please try later”.
The site was part of a revamp of the company’s online operation, intended to make ordering easier, offer new services and boost sales. At the time of launch Waitrose managing director Mark Price said the site would “dramatically enhance the customer experience”.
But the company has now been forced to apologise for the problems on the site. A statement reads: “Please accept our sincerest apologies for the problems you have experienced with the new website and thank you all for your feedback. As a matter of urgency we are still addressing the overall speed of the website and have engaged our technology partners from around the world to help find a speedy solution. We will continue to gather your feedback from our Forum, our Branches and our Customer Sales and Support Centre.”
One user wrote: “After two hours, I don’t know what I have ordered and what I haven’t. I pasted my list into Tesco’s shopping list and completed the order in less than 15 mins and 10% cheaper than Waitrose including their delivery charge. So it’s goodbye from me!”
The chain has made a number of changes this week to try to address the issues, including changing login procedures, online basket filling systems and loyalty code recognition.
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