Argos shuts website in run-up to Xmas

From ho, ho, ho to no, no, no

By Tim Richardson • Get more from this author

Posted in Business, 10th December 1999 13:35 GMT

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Argos has shut its website because it is snowed under with a backlog of orders. The leading catalogue-based British retailer pulled its site on Wednesday afternoon and won't open up again until Monday. Unfortunately, that only leaves three shopping days before the cut-off for guaranteed delivery in time for Christmas.

A spokeswoman for Argos would not say how or why the retailer got into such a mess, except to say that it was an "order processing problem". Nor would she comment on how much money it will cost the retailer in lost orders. But she did admit that the timing of the temporary closure could have been better.

A statement issued by the company reads: "Due to the increasing success of the Argos site, we have temporarily taken the site offline, to allow all existing orders to be processed as swiftly as possible. "We would like to apologise to those customers whose orders have been delayed at such an important time of the year, and would like to reassure them that the situation is being resolved."

This isn't the first time Argos's ecommerce site has given the organisation a headache. In September it advertised a Sony TV for just £3.00. It then altered the price to £3299.99. ®