PROVANTAGE.com: A professional advantage?
Written: Feb 05 '04 (Updated Feb 12 '04)
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It has been a year since the last time I tried to order from this company. Back then I cancelled the order since the backorder on this -- admitedly rare -- item was more than my impatience could handle. So here I am again ...
In a nutshell
I placed an order for 3 items (software) that were all listed in stock. The next day the order has been processed and shipped. All products arrived 5 days later in the expected quality and quantity (including a weekend). I chose Standard shipping. Prices were good and despite the shipping charge slightly lower than the next best 'free shipping' offer.
The 'whole' shopping experience
Almost exactly one year after my almost shopping experience, I came back for another try. This time all items were in stock and it seemed worth a shot after research on pricegrabber.com revealed no better offer. I ordered CorelDraw! v12 and though just released, the site listed about 1400 units in stock. (vs. none on many other sites)
I placed the order late night (10:00PM), and it has not been processed until 11:00AM the next day mostly due to the necessary review by an account representative (9:00AM - 5:00PM, Mo-Fr). Apparently all items were indeed in stock and a note stated that the order has been forwarded to the warehouse and apparently immediatey shipped. The tracking numbers have been provided online at 6:00PM this very same day - with an arrival estimate provided by both used carriers FedEx and UPS, though the latter took a little longer to recognize the tracking number as valid.
The first e-mail notification was sent right after ordering to confirm that an order has been received. The second mail showed up in my mailbox right after the order has been confirmed the next day, this time with a product and pricing summary. There was no third mail with tracking numbers, but that may be forgiven since it's sensitive information that's accessible when checking my provantage.com account online.
One hick-up was caused by Fed-Ex rather than Provantage.com. On the supposed delivery date the tracking pretty much gave it away that the package was out for delivery. To my surprise the status updated to "Customer not available or business closed" despite my presence at the time in question and the absence of any delivery notice on my door. In other words, the delivery guy took it for an extra spin and didn't bother to make the claimed delivery attempt. Bad boy! ;-)
Excellent e-commerce!
Appearance: The site looks and feels professional. No outrageous design, but straight to business. Not the prettiest site I have ever seen but efficient.
Navigation: This didn't affect me too much since I arrived here via a direct product link from pricegrabber.com. However, I was just shopping around and specific items are hard to find if one does not know the exact category it falls under. This turns the sitewide Search into the most helpful feature.
Selection: This shop holds a decent selection for all your IT needs and most components I checked for are available. However, special items may not be carried by this store.
Inventory: Great example of a real time warehouse driven online shop. Before ordering one will know exactly how many units are available or if not track an item for it's estimated arrival. This is one of the best executions of an online store I have come across so far.
Product Prices: As with all stores, some items are cheaper and others more expensive than the average. The items I ordered were slightly cheaper than the competition, but the difference was not enough to make this the only argument. Having said that, the honest pricing (no difference between published and available prices) may be a good argument in favor of this store.
Order Status: Excellent real time updates of every state of the ordering process, basically divided in credit card approval, order review, release to warehouse and shipping. Provantage.com claims real-time updates and it feels every bit like it. (This happens to be the one thing I was missing most on Funagain.com.)
Shipping: There is no free shipping from this vendor. (Prices are still mostly competitive). Shipping options read as UPS Ground, 2nd Day, Next Day PM and Next Day AM. The difference in charges conform with carriers like UPS and FedEx and suggests honest charges. The company apparently runs several warehouses and it's to Provantage.com's discretion to ship as one or several packages -- the latter fortunately at no extra charge. (My shipping charges for Ground were $14 for 2 packages @ 2lbs and 3lbs respectively.) On the positive side, all extra charges like tax and shipping are listed before submitting any personal data. (I hate it to sign up to an account just to find out that outrageous shipping charges will be added.)
Payment: Provantage.com accepts all major credit cards VISA, MasterCard, Discover, and AmEx. It also allows for bank transfers -- most likely a tribute to professional customers. Available to pre-approved users only are Net 30 days terms.
Customer Service: Not needed or used. (I wish Epinions.com had a N/A rating for those cases.)
Credibility: Reviewing the score on Bizrate.com and Epinions.com shows a stark contrast to another shopping experience I had not too long ago. (You guessed it, follow this link ... ;-) 4/5 'stars' (Epinions.com), 94% positive out of 2000 reviews (BizRate.com) Another phenomena is noticeable: The seeming absence of fake glowing reviews without information to back it up. (Look thru these reviews for an idea what I might mean ...)
Recommended:
Yes
What product did you purchase or try to purchase? CorelDraw! v12 UPG, etc.
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