Exit Page Survey - 28.02.09-19.06.09 (newest questions from number 41)

Q4: Do you have any feed back for us on our website? Answers indented and in Blue

1. Baby and older children patterns could be better segregated and it would be useful to be able to get a bigger view of patterns only available on pre-order as small pics don't always do justice to the garment

   • There are a lot of Kids patterns and they are already separated into 0-24 months, 2-7 years and 8-14 years and then into yarn plys. Any further segregation will not help as many patterns are for a large selection of ages and already in 2 or more sections.

   • Many of the pictures are taken from the manufacturers website (with permission) and any larger would be very poor quality. As soon as we get them in stock we try and get a bigger picture on. If there is one which you want to see then let us know and we will put it to the top of the pile to be done.
      

2. Clear, easy to navigate website. No facility to order multiple single balls of yarn - had to order each ball individually and return from payment page to yarn page. Not a big deal, just a bit irritating.

   • To change the pages to multiple items added to the cart at once would be a big change. We did look at which way to do it when we started 9 years ago and found that a single Add to Basket button per page would cause confusion so a Add button for each colour was decided on. You can just hit the back button of your browser to get back.
      

3. Could not see where I could return to shop so used the internet return button. Usually there is a 'return to shop' possibility

   • There is. Scroll down in the shopping basket and click the "Continue Shopping" Button. We have asked for it to be put further up the page but been told it is not possible.
      

4. disappointed with the toing and froing to get back to a certain point and was a bit unnerved about having to change the security setting to buy thee produts!

   • Not sure why there was "toing and froing" so if this was your comment can we have more details please.

   • Security settings on some browsers are set higher than they need to be by certain ISP's. They are not actually to do with Security but more to do with how certain situations are handled by your browser. Most of them are to make navigating and using the site easier, many have been requested by customers. There are pages about this on the Info Pages.
      

5. excellent and speedy ordering system. would like to order some brands of wool apart from packs loosely .....

   • I think this is about the yarns that are only available in Pre-order packs. We would love to do every single yarn in every single colour 'by the ball' but we just don't have room to stock them all. So packs are the only way we can supply as much as we do. If there is a certain colour or yarn that you would like then let us know and we will put it on our request list.
      

6. Excellent service. Scope for further reduction on discontinued yarns, perhaps, as other sites selling Boa for example for less than £1 a ball. No complaints, though, and I always look forward to your next email. Best wishes.

   • Many yarns have been sold off by manufacturers at cheap prices when they were discontinued. We did get some but many went to some of the bigger companies at lower prices than we could buy at. We can't afford to sell at a loss, especially with the high cost of postage, so we can only discount to what we can afford. Many of the other discount sites charge postage by the weight so be careful. A bargain is only a bargain when you see the final total.
      

7. excellent...would like tiny tots by the ball though!

   • This has been put on our request list but there are so many colours in this yarn it is not likely to be near the top :-(
      

8. Excellent; keeps me happy for hours. Just one criticism is that your large manilla envelopes are sometimes not strong enough if contain several pattern leaflets. They often arrive with edges or corners worn or even torn off.

   • The postman has a duty of care to deliver your parcels in the same state they left us in. They have bags to keep them from getting wet. However we have recently started using Board Backed Envelopes so that should solve this problem. Please let us know.
      

9.  feel that because of the quanity of children's patterns, they could have been divided into variuos types of garments, like the adults

   • To segregate into items like the adults would be difficult as most patterns have a selection of items (i.e. Cardies and sweaters on same pattern) so would just double the number of thumbnail pages to look through. Hats etc are already segregated onto their own thumbnail pages.
      

10. good site. One improvement suggestion - when looking at pre-order patterns it would be very useful to see how much yarn to order to make up the garment. As I could not do this I could not order the yarn for that pattern so will incur extra postage costs to order separately once the pattern has been received.

    • Patterns on the pre-order page are waiting for their details to be put online. We have a big pile and they do take a while and need to be fitted in when there is time. If there is one you need more info on then let us know and it will be put to the top of the pile
       

11. Good web site except for the drop down menu for finding yarn. i.e select ply then type of yarn especially if more than one yarn is required.

    • There are lots of ways of getting to the yarns and this is just one of them - especially good if you know the ply and the name. If you are looking for a particular ply but don't know which one then one of the Site Maps would be better for you.
       

12. I have had to reorder another set of Kontiki yarns because the yarn is considerably shorter in length than usual yarns, my fault for not noticing!

    • We do put the length of the yarn on the website when we know it. If it is not on the ball band or in the manufacturers catalogue, then we don't put it on. However if someone asks we will always try to find out.
       

13. I like the site and find it easy to navigate, although I would like to see a good quality larger pop up picture of wools to better gauge wool colour.

    • Not sure which yarns you mean, if the yarn is a textured yarn we do try to put extra pictures on to show what a strand looks like and occasionally (when it will help) put a bigger picture or picture of the ball.
       

14. I like your website - and the newsletters. would like more wool by the ball rather than by the pack

    • The majority of our website is 'by the ball' and only a small percent of yarns are only available by the pack. See also answer 5 Above
       

15. I love it. I especially like the way there are pattern leaflets links on the yarn pages, and yarn links on the pattern pages. That is such time saver when shopping on your site. I know this is out of your control, but maybe you can pass it on: I wish that Sirdar would bring back the Snowflake Magic Chunky yarn in the bright rainbow color. I've made several baby blankets as gifts from that yarn. They were big hits because the yarn is so unique.

    • This colours was put back online before this question was posted - it is on the Sirdar Snuggly Snowflake Chunky page and called Rainbow Spray
       

16. I love your website - easy to navigate, although it does 'hang up sometimes if I use the back button on my browser and I have to start again using the menu on the left. The link from the yarns tab on the left to the Elle Escapade page is not working and I had to go via the patterns link. Hope this makes sense, please contact me if not! Postage rates are very reasonable compared to others, prices are excellent and I have always been happy with my purchases.

    • The elle bug above was fixed as soon as I saw this comment. If there are any other bugs then please let me know.

    • The hanging issue is probably more to do with your browser or internet connection rather than the site
       

17. I really liked that you list the wools needed for the Alan Dart patterns in Simply Knitting and which of them you stock - this made it easier to order the bulk from you. Was not so keen that after adding each wool you then had to search again for the wool to add the next colour - would be easier to go 'back' to your last page.

    • Alan has been kind enough to let us know in advance what is coming in the next issue so we could make sure we had some in stock.

    • Not sure what is meant by the next bit of the comment - there is a Continue Shopping Button in the Shopping Basket (see Answer 3 above) or you can use your Back Button on your browser.
       

18. i would like to see siccrous for sale. your web sit is really good i enjoy looking at the new things.i am housebond and love knitting and your web site is a god send. thank you for all your work.

    • Sorry we are not sure what siccrious is. If this is your comment please let us know. If it is a Sirdar, Stylecraft or James C.Brett yarn then we can get it. If it is by someone else it is less likely.
       

19. It's a brilliant website the only thing that I personally think that could be improved is the payment system for overseas. It does a few days to get a quote and I think it could be improved by creating a system that calculates the price for overseas automatically therefore processing the order at a quicker speed. Otherwise everything else is perfect, thank you.

    • Unfortunately that is just not possible as we don't use a database. Each Non-UK order is got up and weighed individually. This takes time.
       

20. It's clear but a little dated.

    • Yep its dated 2000 and I spend all my time keeping it up to date - don't have time to read up on all the latest styles :-)
       

21. lengthy process if ordering more than one colour and one type of wool

    • Need a bit more info on what problems you had but you probably need to use one of the Site Maps instead
       

22. not really, selecting yarns to view can be frustrating in having to click on another type before you can view a yarn of same type as before .but only if in a hurry

    • You could try one of the Site Maps instead.
       

23. very good site but it would be useful to have a search box for specific items. a box where you type in a keyword

    • See Answer 24 Below
       

24. maybe having a search option would be good

    • As you can see this was requested a few times and we have been looking into it for years. It is almost impossible when you don't use a database to drive your site. All our pages are hand coded and we would have to put into each page (thousands) a list of search words. This would be very time consuming and would not give very accurate results - there are just too many keywords you could search for. We do have a few different Site Maps which gives various different ways of listing yarns and other items.
       

25. Not really as service is generally good. I have had one lost parcel, but I think that that was down to the post office

    • Yes lost parcels are down to Royal Mail as we do not deliver them ourselves. However they do only lose a few each year which is not too bad considering the thousands we sent. But then one lost parcel is too many as far as we are concerned as they cause us a lot of work and the customers a lot of heartache. Thanks for being understanding - some customers are not and think it is our fault :-(
       

26. Not the prettiest web site, and the searches could be a bit easier. But good prices and range of colours is better than other sites I looked at. Would be good to e-mail this survey after order should have been delivered in case there are any packing/delivery issues.

    • First two comments covered above. Take your point about the survey but then this was more about where you found us and comments about the website. We will perhaps do a service survey at a later date - and you can always put your comments on the Forum. Good or bad - feedback is always welcome.

    • Since this question was answered we have put online the Guestbook where you can give us feedback about service and delivery
       

27. not very professinal layout, giving old fashioned feel

    • I think this was covered above but would just like to say that if we paid to have the website done by a 'professional' then we would have to charge much more for our yarns.
       

28. Re: monthly updates option when you order, there are only two options which are yes please or no thank you - should be one for already on your mailing list. I put 'no' because I don't want to receive 2 every month

    • The subscribing is done by a very clever programme. If your email is already on the list and you say 'yes' then it will ignore the email address. If you are on the list and you say no it will ignore the request. If you say yes and you are not on the list it sends you an email. If you say no and you are not on the list it ignores the email address. A third option would not do much.
       

29. When you go back to the select yarn type page you have to select a different type, then reselect the type you want before the second box shows the full dropdown menu. Otherwise it just shows 'select yarn type'. Bit annoying!

    • See Answer 30 below
       

30. Really good website, just have a problem when selecting yarn type and different brands you need to go back to manufacturer ie stylecraft and reselect again but otherwise excellant.

    • This has been mentioned a couple of times. Each of the yarn pages has the drop down boxes at the bottom of the page so you don't need to go back to the main page first. Does it need to be further up the page? Where would you like me to put it?
       

31. When ordering items it would be nice to have a facilty to go straight back to the type of wool you have just added

    • See Answer 32 below
       

32. Selecting multiple colours of the same type of wool is very slow as have to select option from menu, then select type of wool and range of wool again for each ball I want to add to the basket. Would be nice if there was a link on the basket that took me back to the page I was on.

    • This was answered in Question 3 above but it looks like lots of people are missing the Continue Shopping Button in the Shopping Basket so will look at putting a note at the top of the shopping basket directing you to it.
       

33. Some of the yarns have only got a shade number, with no picture or colour states (ie the new shades of magi-knit)

    • James C.Brett do not give their colours names, only shade numbers. Where we have put a name it is one that is generally accepted or other customers have suggested. If the colours are not clear we usually put a description or a link to a pattern showing the colours better.
       

34. Sometimes easier to look at all DK or Aran in one go.

    • Not sure if you want a list here or to see a picture of the yarns. If it is the first then there are Site Maps with lists with all the DK etc together.
       

35. website excellent. Please can you sell all the sublime yarns as single balls. I don't want to buy a whole pack of one colour.

    • We wish we could, we just don't have room and the ones we do have by the ball don't sell as well as some of the other yarn manufacturers. Have you thought of going halves with a friend?
       

36. Website is good and navigation is quite easy. It would be very helpful when using textured yarns that require a matching plain yarn to sew together the garment the website offers the correct match of yarn.

    • This would be pretty difficult to do and many people just use something that is in their stash anyway. If you need this sort of help please email us and we will take a look for you.
       

37. would be great if you could improve the images / colour shown on the website

    • If there is an image that you would like improving please let us know, some of them may have been done a while ago.
       

38. Would like to see options for shipping since I need this yarn right away. I would gladly pay for express or 2 day shipping. This yarn is hard to find here.

    • I assume you are not in the UK - all UK orders are sent by Royal Mail First Class which should get there next day. We only have the option of Airmail which is a 5 day service. We have looked at other services but they are mega expensive and I don't think anyone would pay that however urgent the yarn is. Plus we can only send out parcels 3 days a week, so if you order on a day we don't sent out you would be waiting a day longer anyway making it pointless. Plus non-uk orders have to be got up and weighed before we can send a shipping quote and that takes time.
       

39. You are the only one that had the selection I was looking for. Pity the colours are not accurate

    • The monitor used when the colours are scanned is calibrated to be correct but other monitors may not be and therefore may look different - this is noted on all yarn pages.
       

40. Your website is a little confusing, and you don't list the other pattern I would have liked. Otherwise I have found what I want. Your postage rates are very good.

    • This is the only comment saying it was confusing so please let me know what confused you.

    • We have over two thousand patterns listed in our 3 Pattern Lists (Main, Pre-order, Discontinued) which is probably the most on the Internet. But if there is a particular one you want please let us know and we will see if it is a current Sirdar, Stylecraft or James C.Brett pattern and get it for you.
       

41. Rather old-fashioned in appearance, but it works well.

    • Covered in answer 27 above
       

42. No 'search' facility

    • Covered in answer 24 above
       

43. Looks a bit 'basic' I guess, but it does the job. Would be nice to be able to search for all yarns by type, rather having to into each brand and then each type and then each name of yarn..... before you can see what it is, how much it is, etc.

    • Covered in answer 27 above.

    • Covered in answer 24 above - Basically, there are a couple of Site Maps you could use instead.
       

44. Great to find site and see available products - need to sort out wool make and type though before searching for wool.

    • Again perhaps take a look at some of the Site Maps
       

45. Please add Paypal to your list of payment options.

    • Unfortunately this will not be something we will be doing. We process payments manually via our Streamline Terminal so do not need a payment processor like Paypal. The charges that Paypal make are much higher than we pay via Streamline. Plus we have more control over when we can charge your card by doing it manually - so if something is out of stock we don't charge your card until we send it rather than when you order.
       

46. I liked it except I had some trouble with the payment section.

    • There can be problems if your cookies are not set right or your browser will not allow transfer to our secure server. There is an information page about this online with a link from the shopping basket.
       

47. It would be quite useful to search on all yarns by type rather than to search each maker individually, and perhaps by yarn content too. Otherwise, I find your website easy to use and the colours are refreshingly accurate.

    • Again perhaps take a look at some of the Site Maps
       

48. It is a bit annoying when you use the back button if you are choosing yarn, as you have to select another type of yarn (e.g. from DK to 4 Ply) then go back to your original choice (e.g. DK) before the second drop down (the one on the right) is populated with choices. However, because you have a lot more choice than my local John Lewis and because your delivery service is so great I still shop with you!

    • Covered in answer 30 above
       

49. Very easy to follow. The colours all look good except for the Stylecraft Special Double knit 100g I ordered from. The colour says bottle but it looks grey. I hope it is bottle green as that is what I want! If bottle is grey please email me and advise, as I want dark green.

    • Yes it is a bottle green. We have change the colour text so it says green. Also check out answer 39 above.
       

50. I like your website it is easy to use. I think it would be helpful on the pre-order page for patterns if we could actually see a bigger picture of the garment and the quantities of yarn needed.

    • Covered in answer 10 above
       

51. Relatively easy to navigate, except for when I'm looking at yarns - the pull down tabs don't reset once you've looked at them, so if I wanted to look at DK and then option 2, I can't go back and check out others.

    • Covered in answer 30 above
       

52. Great website - really easy to navigate. Lots of links to other pages and always a way straight back - a very good feature!I also like your newsletters. Only 1 negative comment - you've (recently) lost the link from the 'Yarns by Type' page to Sirdar Country Style by the 100g ball. Not a terrible problem.

    • This link was put back on as soon as we saw this comment. If you find a link broken or missing please let us know. With such a big site to manage it can be difficult to notice all the problems so feedback from customers is always welcome.
       

53. Difficulty with entering credit card but managed it eventually

    • Not sure what the problem was but possibly answered in answer 46 above
       

54. Would be great to be able to do a search for wool by colour if this is possible. Love the range of patterns and wool would like to view pre order patterns easier though

    • This would be really, REALLY difficult. Different manufacturers call different colours by different names and some yarns have 30 or 40 different ones - many of which are similar.
       

55. I find the wool very difficult to browse through. I had to click back and forward a lot to see what you had, because I'm not very familiar with brands. I spent ages trying to find snowflake wool before giving up. A search button would have made shopping much easier. I am very pleased by your reasonable prices, and I will definitely shop here again

    • Again I think this would be solved by checking out the Site Maps. There are 3 for yarns on the main Site Maps page and if you know the manufacturer there is a list of all their yarns there too.