Ebuyer
Ebuyer is an electronic commerce retailer based in Howden, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It is the largest independent online retailer of computer and electrical goods in the United Kingdom.
 | |
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Computers Computer Hardware Software Electronics Consumer Goods Gadgets Kitchens (Sister Company Wren Kitchens) |
| Founded | 1999 |
| Founders | Paul Cusack |
| Headquarters | Howden, East Riding of Yorkshire , England |
| Products | Computer hardware, software, peripherals, gaming, electronics, accessories, DVDs and more |
| Revenue | GB£220 Million (2005) |
| Owner | West Retail Group (Malcolm Healey) |
Number of employees | 250+(2012) |
| Website | http://www.ebuyer.com/ |
The Ebuyer website is the 210th most visited site in the United Kingdom [Alexa.com ranking] and has 4 million registered customers.[1]
History
Ebuyer was founded in November 1999 in Sheffield by Paul Cusack, Mike Naylor, Steve Kay, Neeraj Patel, and Adam Ashmore – with startup capital of £250,000 from Paul Cusack, its annual turnover was in excess of £220 million by September 2005.[2] Stuart Carlisle was its Managing Director (CEO) from 2014 until resigning in 2015.[3]
As of 2020, Ebuyer was owned by Malcolm Healey's West Retail Group.[4]
Security
In July 2008, Gavin Brent, from Holywell in Flintshire, North Wales admitted stealing goods worth £20,000 from the firm before returning the goods, and demanding full refunds.[5] Brent, whose suspicious transactions were spotted by Ebuyer's security team, went on to conduct an online campaign against the company and the investigation. This included menacing Ebuyer staff and a police officer from Brent's now-defunct blog.[6]
Controversy
During 2005 Ebuyer had significant customer service problems. Sheffield Trading Standards received 282 complaints about the company, and the customer service phone number had been removed from its website. After this, the firm promised to improve its service, and restored the customer service number to its site. Average daily telephone wait times are published. [7]
On 28 November 2011, eBuyer ran a £1 promotion via email, offering new deals on the hour until midnight. eBuyer angered customers when their website was unable to handle the extra traffic, causing it to crash.[8] When the website did work, many customers were emailed after successfully ordering and paying for items, only to be told they were out of stock. Many customers vented their anger at the company on their Facebook page, however eBuyer ran a campaign on their customer forums in an attempt to counter the bad publicity.
In December 2013, eBuyer posted pictures to Facebook of its staff wearing Christmas themed jumpers. However, a Facebook user named Phil spotted that one of the images contained a leaderboard in the background that suggested that eBuyer staff were rated on the number of returns that they reject. eBuyer responded to these accusations by stating that these were return merchandise authorizations (RMAs) avoided by providing technical advice.[9]
References
- "Information about Ebuyer and its services | Ebuyer.com". www.ebuyer.com. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
- "Etailers eat away at Dixons". The Guardian. 22 September 2005. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
- "Ebuyer MD Carlisle exits following board level bust up". The Register. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
- Young, Angus (20 February 2020). "East Yorkshire's richest man made eye-watering donation to the Tories". HullLive. Reach. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
- "Hacker admits online shop thefts". BBC. 25 July 2008. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
- "Blogger fined for 'menacing' rant". BBC. 29 April 2008. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
- "Ebuyer promises to be better". Channel Register. 21 July 2005. Retrieved 8 October 2019.
- Kunert, Paul (30 November 2011). "eBuyer £1 sale fail: Customers vent fury... on Facebook". The Channel. The Register. Retrieved 15 October 2012.
- "Ho, ho, HOLY CR*P, ebuyer! Etailer rates staff on returns REJECTED". The Channel. The Register. 24 December 2013. Retrieved 8 October 2019.