Why Can Giltman be so slow?
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In all fairness, the best word to describe Giltman is inconsistent. Not slow. Here’s an example.
Back in February I decided to splurge and I ordered a new watch from Giltman. It was half off compared to the price on Amazon, under $200, and a style (larger chronograph) that I had been eyeing up for awhile. So I pulled the trigger on February 26th and waited.
And waited… And waited some more.
To Giltman’s credit they said there was an extended delivery time for this watch. The “Estimated Delivery” was between Monday March 29th, and Wednesday April 7th. Best case scenario was that I’d get it a full month after I made the order. It’s a watch, not a secret decoder Pin from Little Orphan Annie. But whatever, it was a terrific deal.
Finally, on April 14th with still no sign of the watch of communication from Giltman, I sent an email. Just kindly wondering if my order got lost. The next day, I had an email in my inbox that told me my Giltman Order had been shipped. (Success! Squeaky wheel gets grease) and then the day after that Giltman customer service sent along another email:
The next day it was on my door step. Two day shipping. Not bad. But why the month long wait for that item? I’ve ordered things before off Giltman and had them the same week. Who knows. If you have any insight leave it in the comments section below, because I’m clueless.
One thing I do know… is that the wait was worth the savings. Easily.
I think that sometimes they hold sales without actually having the items in stock. Once Gilt knows how many items their customers want, they go ahead and place an order with the manufacturer for that specific amount. It then takes extra time for the products to get to Gilt, and then finally to you. Kind of a roundabout way of doing things, but it makes sense. The wait is definitely worth the savings.
That was the only thing that I could come up with… but what happens if the items don’t show up? What if a retailer makes a mistake, doesn’t have the items, and they’ve been sold but there’s nothing to send? Does Gilt just send out: “Whoops… our bad… we don’t have it” emails? Seems odd to me. BUT… totally worth it!
Looks like Greg was right. Just noticed this post on Gilt’s blog, http://www.giltman.com/blog/2009/05/14/813-shipping-timelines. It’s actually from last year.