Schoolbooks.ie apologise for backlog
One of the country's largest online school book retailers is apologising to its customers - after thousands of parents have been left waiting weeks for their orders, with just over a week to go before the school term starts.
Schoolbooks.ie says it's currently dealing with a delivery backlog which it hopes will be cleared in the coming days.
Parents say they've had difficulty contacting the company - and the Consumers' Association says it's been inundated with calls and emails from concerned mums and dads.
"Schoolbooks.ie would like to apologise to any customers currently experiencing a delay in receiving their school books," read a statement from managing director John Cunningham.
"This delay has been caused by a technical issue at our warehouse, which resulted in a significant backlog of orders, which we are working to clear.
"In addition to our regular 50-strong team, we have brought in 30 extra staff and are now working 24 hours a day, seven days a week to clear the backlog. No families will be left without schoolbooks for the start of the school term.
"We have processed and delivered 50,000 school book orders to customers to date and we currently have a backlog of 5,000 orders. Half of these will be dispatched by Tuesday and we will have the remaining orders issued to customers by the end of the week. Again, we will ensure that no-one is left without their school book order.
"I am aware that our communication with customers over the past numbers of weeks has been far from satisfactory, but our focus has been on clearing the backlog. Over the past 48 hours all affected customers have been emailed to advise them when their order will be dispatched over the coming week.
"We will have this backlog cleared by Friday. Again can I apologise for any unnecessary stress and the inconvenience this issue has caused."
