Store cancels all its online orders
HOUSE of Fraser has cancelled all orders placed online.
The retailer has wiped all orders not already sent to customers, who will receive a full refund.
Sports Direct mogul Mike Ashley recently paid £90m to buy the ailing department chain, which has stores in Cardiff and Cwmbran.
The move comes after the House of Fraser website was taken offline amid complaints from customers about delayed deliveries since the company was bought by Sports Direct.
The issue reportedly came from a dispute involving employees at a key warehouse.
On Thursday the chain said it has seen “significant delays” with delivering orders placed online.
A statement said: “We have taken the decision to cancel and refund all orders that have not already been sent to customers,” the department store said on Facebook. “We didn’t take this decision lightly, but since we cannot give our customers clear assurances of when their orders will be delivered, we believe cancellation is the best option.
“All customers affected will receive an email about the cancellation and refund in the next couple of days.
“Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused and thank you from everyone at House of Fraser for your patience at this time.”
In a stock market announcement, Sports Direct said it has acquired all 59 House of Fraser stores, the brand and all of the retailer’s stock.
Some 17,000 staff have been informed that they will be transferred over from House of Fraser to Sports Direct.
Both Cardiff and Cwmbran have been earmarked for closure and it is unclear how the deal will affect them.
On Saturday it was revealed that women’s concession Jigsaw has already left the Cardiff store where gift cards are no longer being accepted. The Times reported employees at a key warehouse supplying products to House of Fraser stores and online shoppers had downed tools in a dispute over delivery payment terms with Sports Direct.
The paper said it understood that workers at the chain’s distribution centre in Wellingborough had been told by XPO Logistics, which operates the site, to stop accepting goods and processing deliveries, leading to product shortages in some House of Fraser outlets.
When Sports Direct bought House of Fraser for £90m last week Mike Ashley announced he wanted to transfer the ailing retail chain into “the Harrods of the high street” and said “we will do our best to keep as many stores open as possible”.
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