Yesterday afternoon my sister rang me to say that the down jacket we were jointly getting my mum for Christmas wasn't available in the right size in her local Cotswolds, so I rang the Llantrisant store down here. They didn't have the right size either, and after checking on the computer they found the Cardiff store was also out. So they took an order over the phone, and a smidgeon over 24 hours later, the jacket has just turned up in South Wales, sent from the Ambleside store, sent by normal courier service, not express.
Their stock control does seem to work pretty well. When we bought our car camping tent the model we were after was end of line but calling Cotswold Towers Central they quickly verified where there was still stock and had that store send us one PDQ.
And their website seems to actually work these days too, rather than being the tediously slow Flash-powered horror show it used to be.
Last year we wanted to buy a Rab Generator, which was in the sale, for our daughter. We went to our local branch and it turned out that they didn't have her size in that branch. A quick phone call by one of the staff located a Rab in her size in a different store and it arrived next day via courier. We didn't even have to pay for the delivery.
I have always been impressed by their service and are my 1st choice supplier - maybe this has something to do with the discount I get from them which brings their prices down below their competitors.
I was in their new Edinburgh branch this morning. Sadly the opening day mince pies and mulled wine was no longer available. Neither was the Osprey rucksack I wanted since they didn't sell it. However one quick call to Osprey and it will be available for me to pick up early next week ( at the discount price).
