Scan - Anyone else had problems?

[Guest]

I’m after a UAD Octo, Scan have a good price for this and in stock.

The last two times I have tried to order something in stock from Scan for next day delivery, one day after the delivery was meant to occur I got an email saying something along the lines of “warehouse problems, we will try to deliver when available”. Then the hassle of cancelling.

Have I just been unlucky or should I just pay the extra 120 quid and get it from someone I trust?

[Drew Stephenson]

I've not used them a lot, but I've not had any delivery problems with the 3 or 4 occasions I have used them. Not used them in the last 6 months though.

[James Perrett]

I notice that they now have a disclaimer in red about stock being allocated on a first come first serve basis on all their pages and that it may take a few days for orders to be fulfilled. I'm not sure how that ties in with the stock levels shown for each item.

They've always been reliable whenever I've ordered from them but I haven't ordered anything from them for a while. My last couple of gear orders went to Studiocare in Liverpool who delivered when they said they would.

[Guest]

Thanks guys.

I think I might go for spending a bit more and getting it elsewhere.

[fatbenelton]

Always been fine on the couple of occasions I’ve used them. Is there an option to telephone and check/reserve the item before ordering?

[The Red Bladder]

Have I just been unlucky or should I just pay the extra 120 quid and get it from someone I trust?

Everyone is having delivery and supply problems. If you go somewhere else, you may find yourself having even more problems. I have dealt with Scan a few times and their service has always been exemplary.

[shufflebeat]

Scan good, just don't try to phone them.

I think it's a common problem for anyone who doesn't have a hundred acres of storage space.

It seems to be a combination of the effects of Covid 19 and Brexit.

[Drew Stephenson]

It seems to be a combination of the effects of Covid 19 and Brexit.

Plus the chip shortage.

[shufflebeat]

There weren't any chips served with my order which took a fair amount of time but valid point.

I've been mic and gadget shopping more than usual recently and it does seem to be pretty universal.

[Music Wolf]

Plus the chip shortage.

That's bad news for the citizens of St Helens - they may starve

[Martin Walker]

It seems to be a combination of the effects of Covid 19 and Brexit.

Plus the chip shortage.

Agreed, although it seems to be a general shortage of electronic components across the (circuit) board.

I've read of preamp/compressor manufacturers being rationed for input/output transformers, as there simply aren't enough in their manufacturer's inventory to fulfill all the outstanding orders. Some customers seem to be waiting several months for delivery of certain items, with units only being shipped out by the manufacturer once the latest out of stock component rations have been received.

It's getting mad out there!

Martin

[ManFromGlass]

It took 6 months to get a mic pre repaired here due to parts not available. A second pre is in and I expect a similar time frame.

[Nazard]

Agreed, very much so. In the last few months, I have been ordering components from Farnell and RS. I now have them all, but they have arrived via multiple packages from their UK and EU warehouses.

The last to arrive, after a month, from RS, were Alps push-button switches, Spun194700: very happy, as they are now are backorder until the end of January 2022.

Being an electronics manufacturer of any size, now, must be a nightmare.

[Forum Admin]

Agreed, very much so. In the last few months, I have been ordering components from Farnell and RS. I now have them all, but they have arrived via multiple packages from their UK and EU warehouses.

The last to arrive, after a month, from RS, were Alps push-button switches, Spun194700: very happy, as they are now are backorder until the end of January 2022.

Being an electronics manufacturer of any size, now, must be a nightmare.

Author William Stokes wrote a good article "Chip Crisis" in the September 2021 SOS:

https://www.soundonsound.com/music-business/chip-crisis

-- very enlightening and explains lots of shortages in our industry.

[Nazard]

Author William Stokes wrote a good article "Chip Crisis" in the September 2021 SOS

Yes, I read it and thought it absolutely excellent. So much so that I read it twice!

[jaminem]

I've had terrible issues with them and no longer use them, which is a shame because they used to be really good.

Nothing to do with the chip crisis, all items in stock when purchased, just really really late when promised next day, can never provide a delivery date...then I purchased a pre built Mobo/CPU/Memory/cooler bundle which turned up with the 'stock' cooler, when I called to complain, they took a week to investigate, then a further week to refund (I decided I buy the cooler elsewhere).

The guys are either totally over worked, have a poor logistics system or simply dont care anymore.

Like I said - a great shame since previously I have had excellent service from them, but 3 lots of poor experience and I wouldn't buy from them again.

[Tombot]

Hi

I'm Tom, from Scan's Pro Audio department, and whilst i can't comment on individual issues (with over 350 staff, there are dedicated teams for customer service, returns etc), as I look after the studio tech side, I can give you a bit of background on the warehouse operation.

Last year was tough for logistics and orders did take longer to go out than usual, the demand from the first covid peak, through AMD / NVIDIA launch season through to Black Friday and Christmas meant we were shipping considerably more parcels (often more than double) a day, with the warehouse running 24 hours a day at the end of the year to get the service levels back to normal, with our warehouse still opening much longer hours than pre-lockdown.

Most days now, you can order late into the evening for next day delivery, though the cutoff time should be shown on the product page before you order.

The only thing with a significant waiting time at the minute is for computer build, though this is improving all the time. There are currently no 3XS systems available on next day delivery, but you can save money by buying fixed specification machine, compared to the custom configurator.There is a big red notice on the top of the page on the computer systems affected by this.

Any guitar orders can also take slightly longer to despatch, but this is because of our policy that every guitar has a free full setup from our dedicated guitar technicians before getting sent out, to ensure it plays perfectly when it arrives.

Of course there are some minimal issues from time to time, we use people in the warehouse, not robots, but this is a tiny fraction of the thousands of parcels a day that get sent out.

If an item is pre-order, the estimate for delivery is based on the last information received from the supplier, as with everything at the minute, do feel free to check up with us beforehand and we can check if there is an updated ETA.

If anyone wants to contact our team directly please email us at scanproaudio@scan.co.uk with any questions and we can try and help.

I notice that they now have a disclaimer in red about stock being allocated on a first come first serve basis on all their pages and that it may take a few days for orders to be fulfilled. I'm not sure how that ties in with the stock levels shown for each item.

Think you might be confusing the page about overall operational status and text about GPU (graphics card) order allocation with the rest of the site. We do not take pre-orders for GPU's now (and have not done for over 6 months) Operational status has been pretty much green (standard delivery times) since last year's Black Friday / Christmas peak, but you can see this status displayed on the front page before you place an order.

It took 6 months to get a mic pre repaired here due to parts not available. A second pre is in and I expect a similar time frame.

As a retailer, we do not fix equipment (with the exception of being the UK service centre for Audeze Headphones) so time taken for repairs are up to the processing of the products by the UK distributors and then the manufacturers or appropriate service centre.
One certain distributor in particular shut their service department for a considerable period of time last year which really didn't help matters, but right now there should be no issues, apart from part availability, especially with anything using AKM converters as supply is still to re-start following the fire at the plant last year.

[Hugh Robjohns]

Thanks for taking the time to explain the situation, Tom. I'm sure we all appreciate that.

[James Perrett]

I notice that they now have a disclaimer in red about stock being allocated on a first come first serve basis on all their pages and that it may take a few days for orders to be fulfilled. I'm not sure how that ties in with the stock levels shown for each item.

Think you might be confusing the page about overall operational status and text about GPU (graphics card) order allocation with the rest of the site. We do not take pre-orders for GPU's now (and have not done for over 6 months) Operational status has been pretty much green (standard delivery times) since last year's Black Friday / Christmas peak, but you can see this status displayed on the front page before you place an order.

I was actually looking at complete systems when I noticed this but your explanation in the preceding paragraphs explains it.

Thanks for coming on here and explaining what is happening.

[Aled Hughes]

Thanks for that Tom,

I’m looking to buy an audio PC system from Scan in the coming weeks/months. Maybe I’d best get my order in then!