We have tried to make our
Simple Order System as simple to use as possible. We do realize that
questions will arise and as a proactive measure have created this Frequently
Asked Questions portion. If for any reason you do not find the answer to
your question, please Contact Us.
S.O.S.
Setup
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General
Information
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Account
Administration
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Problems
with S.O.S.
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I already have an
Elliott/Russell or Hester's account. How do I get a User ID so
I can order on-line?
Give your Account Representative
a call to discuss the set-up of your account or simply click the
"Request
User ID and Password" link on our S.O.S. Logon Page, filling in and
submitting the form that is displayed.
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How do I set up an account
with Elliott/Russell or Hester's so I can order?
Contact a Customer Service
Representative for the respective company. Elliott/Russell (806) 273-2236 or
Hester's, Lubbock (806) 766-8888 or Hester's, Midland (432) 617-0095.
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Can I use S.O.S. if I do
not have Internet access?
No, S.O.S.
requires Internet access.
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Is ordering
through
S.O.S. secure?
The
S.O.S. site is a "Secure Site" with all critical information being
transmitted in an encrypted HTTPS format to a secure server. The bottom left
corner of the site contains the VeriSign secure logo. If you wish to ready
about security, please click this logo for additional information. As an
additional precaution, every account is assigned a unique User ID and
Password. Also you can limit the amount that can be ordered by each user.
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The system disconnected
me. Why?
It
may be because the system is set to automatically disconnect users after 20
minutes of inactivity. If this happened to you and you had an open order
that was not on Hold or already Submitted, you will need to call us. Many
times, we can retrieve your order for you so that it will appear on your
computer. If we are unable to retrieve the order for you, we can continue or
end the order for you.
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Am
I "live" with your inventory?
Yes.
As soon as you order an item in S.O.S. we immediately reserve the product in
our inventory for your order. This happens regardless of whether you have
finished the order or put it on Hold.
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Is the pricing I
see the actual price I will be charged?
Yes.
The pricing you see is your actual pricing.
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I placed an
order on "HOLD", how do I retrieve
the order?
In the
upper right hand corner of the screen in the box titled My Orders, click on
Held Orders. Any orders on hold will appear. Click the order you wish to
open and continue the order.
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How long can I
leave orders on Hold?
S.O.S.
will keep orders on Hold for 1 month. If you need to leave an order on Hold
for a longer period, please Contact Us.
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Will the S.O.S. system
recommend a lower priced alternative?
Absolutely,
if a comparable item is available for the product that you have selected.
when you request an item in our system, the program will automatically
display information on the item you requested. It will also show the
information on any available comparative item which may offer you
significant savings. Your pricing for each item will appear on the screen.
You make the final choice as to whether purchase the original item or the
alternative.
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What do I do if I can't
find an item through the Search functions?
If
you know the item number, please try entering it using "View Cart". The other search functions only provide access to the 25,000
items in our catalog whereas "View Cart" provides access to not
only the catalog items, but all other items in our inventory database. If
you believe you have ordered the item before, you can use the "Order
History" option to review old orders and re-order directly form them.
We also encourage you to pick up the phone and call to reach one of our
highly qualified and helpful Customer Service Representative.
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How do I fill in the
Payment section of the "Check Out" screen?
Please
skip this section unless you have requested that you decide between an Open
Account charge or Using a Credit Card. If you have not requested the use of
Credit Cards, the system will automatically default to an Open Account. If
you have requested that Credit Cards are required, the system will default
to Credit Card. You may submit your Credit Card information to us to
be kept on file and not have to enter any of the Credit Card data for each
order. If we do not have the Credit Card information on file, you will have
to enter the card type, number, expiration date and the name on the card each time you submit an
order.
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Is there on-site
training available for S.O.S.?
Yes.
Please contact your Account Representative for assistance.
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If I have questions
about how to use S.O.S., who do I call?
Please
call our IS Department at (800) 642-6120. Feel free to e-mail any
question to us from the "Contact Us"
option in the S.O.S. site. You may also choose to print out the
"User's
Manual" or these FAQ's.
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I have forgotten my User
ID or Password. What do I need to do?
If
you have forgotten your User ID then you will need to call (800) 642-6120 or
e-mail us asking for this information.
If
you have forgotten your Password, you can request that it be e-mailed to you
through the S.O.S. "Forgotten Your Password"
option.
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Can I change my
Password?
Yes.
You can change and modify your password from our
"Modify
your Account" page or once in S.O.S., click on Edit My Profile in
My Customer Center at the top of the page.
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Can I change the
individual name and e-mail address that is attached to a User ID?
Yes.
You can change and modify them from the
"Modify
your Account"
page at any time or once in S.O.S., click on Edit My Profile in My Customer
Center at the top of the page.. You can only change your first and last name, e-mail
address and your password. Your User ID can not be changed. Should you need
to change the e-mail address for the person to whom your orders are
forwarded for approval, please give us a call. We will be happy to change
any information for you.
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Can a dollar limit be
set for individual orders?
Yes.
We can set up your account to prevent users from Submitting orders that
exceed a specific dollar amount.
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Can we set-up
authorization levels so that orders can be reviewed prior to being
released?
Yes.
S.O.S. can be configured to provide your company with up to 9 different
levels of authorization. If you are interested in this feature, contact your
Account Representative or Contact Us.
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Can we limit employees
to only being able to order for their department within our company?
Yes.
If your account is set up by department, we can limit any user you specify
to only being able to order for a specific department. We can additionally
set up individuals with in the department.
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Can we require that an
entry be made in the Purchase Order Number field for all orders
being released?
Yes.
Please let us know if you will require a Purchase Order for all Internet
orders.
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I placed an order and have
not received it. Why?
It is possible that the order
was put on "Hold" versus "Submit" to us for processing.
If this is the case, your should be able to see any orders on Hold by
clicking Held Orders in the My Orders box. Also, it is possible that your
account has been set up to have your orders automatically forwarded to
another person in your company for approval. In this case, if the order has
been forwarded and not yet approved and submitted to us, these orders should
appear in the "Order History" window with an indication the order
is "On Hold".
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Why can't I get past the
"Change Department" page to place an order?
If
your account is departmentalized and you have access to more than one
department, the system will not let you do anything until you select a
department. Click the down arrow on the Change Department box to display the
departments. Highlight the correct department and click "Change
Department". You should be able to change to any other screen after
selecting a department.
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I entered a change in the
quantity of an item but the system did not seem to register it. Why?
If
you are changing the quantity of an item that is already in your
"Shopping Cart", you will need to click the "Update"
button for that line to register the change.
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I entered a Comment
for an
item but the system did not seem to register it. Why?
If
you are adding or changing a Comment for an item already in your
"Shopping Cart", you will need to click the "Update"
button to register the change.
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I
want to order several items from my "Personal Favorites" list.
How do I do this?
When
ordering from your "Personal Favorites" list you will need to
click the select square on each item that you want to order. Make sure that
you change the quantity if you want to order more that the default quantity.
Once you have made your selection, at the top of the form or at the bottom
of the form is a drop down menu that allows you to "Add items to
Cart", "Remove Items from Favorites" or "Buy Now".
Select the proper action and then click the "Go" button. Your
selections will be made.
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What do I do if I can't
find an item through the Search functions?
If
you know the item number, please try entering it using "View Cart". The other search functions only provide access to the 25,000
items in our catalog whereas "View Cart" provides access to not
only the catalog items, but all other items in our inventory database. If
you believe you have ordered the item before, you can use the "Order
History" option to review old orders and re-order directly form them.
We also encourage you to pick up the phone and call to reach one of our
highly qualified and helpful Customer Service Representative.
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I entered an item number
in "View Cart" right from the catalog and received the
following message: "We are sorry that item was not found, or an
error was returned from the host system.". Why did this happen?
It
is probably because you used punctuation, as in hyphens, periods or slashes,
when entering the number. Please try to enter the number without any
punctuation. Also, try to enter the item number with out the Manufacturers
prefix. Sometimes the manufacturer's name may have changed since the
printing of our catalog causing this problem. Try entering only the item
number. If this does not work, give
our Customer Service Representatives a call and we will assist you in
figuring out the problem.
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I input an item number
into the "Search by Stock Number" field and seemed get
matches that do not seem to correspond with the search request. Why?
The
"Search by Stock Number" program is designed to bring back any
item number that has the requested characters anywhere in the item number,
regardless of whether the characters are at the beginning, in the middle or
at the end of the item number. This allows you to more easily search by
partial item numbers. If you look at the seemingly un-matching items you
should find that the characters you requested do exist somewhere if the
returned matches.
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I logged out without
either putting my order on Hold or Submitting it. Now I can not find
the order to continue it. What happened and what can I do?
Orders
need to be either placed on "Hold" or "Submitted" to be
properly processed. If you log out with taking either of these steps, then
the order is not properly ended. Try clicking on Orders on Hold in the
Customer Center in the upper right portion of your screen. Your order should appear here, click the
order number and return to the order. If the order does not appear,
contact
us we will assist you in retrieving your order.
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I was
"disconnected" when placing an order and can't seem to bring
it up when I signed back into the system. What can I do?
Occasionally
an Internet connection may be lost. Orders need to be either placed
on "Hold" or "Submitted" to be properly processed. If
you are disconnected or log out with taking either of these steps, then the order is not
properly ended. In this case, contact us or call
our technical support personnel at 800-642-6120. Most of the time we can
retrieve your order and update it so you can view it on-line and properly
process the order.
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