DVD Planet customer service recently going down hill? (1 Viewer)

[Paul Hillenbrand]

Is anyone else having DVD Planet problems lately?

Here is a copy of a fax I sent them today.

This fax is for the Owners & Business managers:

For the past three weeks, I have Called your 1-800-624-3078 number, and continually, your customer service representative extension lines have been busy for a total of 40 calls - placed at different times and on different days. Couldn't even get in line for a call to HOLD! The recording that answers about an unusual amount of calls should definitely now be changed to the "USUAL" volume of calls.

The rare times I have gotten through to tell your polite customer service representatives about early billings and discs not yet released, or discs that you show you have "IN STOCK" but have not shipped in a timely manner (or at all?), and now just NOT being able to CONTACT DVD PLANET - makes even notifying the people in charge impossible.

My E-MAIL has been unconfirmed (tried this the last 2 days), and your fax # 1-714-892-8369 has also been BUSY (last week).

I'M TALKING THREE WEEKS PEOPLE!

I've been a customer of DVD Planet since Ken Crane expanded his business, and I have spent thousands of dollars on orders from you. Currently I have 65 pre-orders pending, and recently, because of your lack of business communications, your forcing me to look elsewhere to place orders.

This has been a long time venture with you, and sadly unless resolved, I may have to also face the arduous task of reordering my existing pre-orders elsewhere.

Work with me people - Please communicate.

Sincerely,
Paul Hillenbrand

Paul

 

[John Sparks]

I'll be at DVDPlanet tonite to get Ray Harryhausen's autograph and I will mention it to the manager...who knows, he might know something.

 

[Matt Naglieri]

I had recieved this email about a week ago. Hope it helps.

Dear Valued Customer,

DVDPLANET recently implemented a new computer system to better serve you. During this conversion we found that some orders were not initially imported from the old to the new system. We have resolved the issue and soon expect to have all outstanding orders imported and sent to the warehouse for shipment. Our warehouse team is working overtime to process these orders as quickly as possible. We assure you that no order or customer information was lost during this time period.

We have also been experiencing a higher than usual email and call volume. Maximum staff is on hand to assist you as quickly as possible. If you are unable to wait on hold, please email us at [email protected] and we will promptly respond to your inquiry.

DVDPLANET appreciates your patience and understanding during our system enhancement upgrades. We assure you that delays are only temporary, as we are working diligently to resolve any outstanding issues. We expect to be conducting business at our regular pace very soon.

 

[Carlo_M]

Here's another possible explanation: I actually drive to DVD Planet about once every two months (formerly Ken Cranes) and I recently found out that they moved stores (just a mile down Beach Blvd, but it's still a move). Having helped a business do a move, I can tell you all sorts of things can go wrong during this process. If they were changing computer systems concurrently, that could be double the nightmare.

Just a thought...

 

[Rex Bachmann]

Ha! "Downhill" from where?

It's never been very good in my experience. Even back in the old laserdisc days, the people you talked to on the 800-line didn't seem to ever know what the hell was going on. I shun their outfit unless there's a heavy, heavy sale of something I really want that I can't get somewhere else nearly as cheaply. (Rarely.)

 

[Steve Phillips]

I recently got an email from them telling me 9 titles had shipped to me. All of the titles street three months from now!

I've always had great luck with them, but they have gone to hell in the last month for sure.

 

[Deepak Shenoy]

I never had a problem with them in the last 3-4 years that I have been ordering from them except in the last couple of months. All my preorders have been arriving late. Titles that were supposed to be "In Stock" when I ordered them ended up being backordered. I got overcharged for a few titles.

I had almost sworn that I would never order from them again after my bad experience from a few weeks back, but I got suckered in again thanks to that mail that indicated that they were going to get their act together soon. Apparently they didn't.

I like DVDEmpire, but being in PA I have to pay sales tax. DVDPlanet usually saves me a few bucks per order, but looks that the savings are not worth the aggravation (I really like getting my preorders delivered on or before the release date).

-D

 

[george kaplan]

I too am a long time customer going back to laser disc days. I always place my order by phone, and always make sure it's entirely in stock before placing it.

My last order was 2 dvds, I was assured both were in stock so I ordered. Two weeks passed (far beyond what it usually takes to show up), so I tried calling. Like others, I tried for 5 days before I could get through. I was told one of my dvds was in the queue, and the other was out of stock. I was pissed and tried to cancel, but was told it was too late to cancel the one in the queue, which was now going to cost more because of shipping cost on two orders instead of one. She told me she's waive shipping on the other dvd when it came in, so I reluctantly kept that order. So far, another couple of weeks have passed and nothing. Today I checked, and they say it's in stock. I'll wait til the end of the week and if I don't get it, I will call and cancel the order, and will be unlikely to use them in the future.

 

[TomF]

I gave up on DVD Planet a long time ago because of terrible experiences with customer service. There are too many other good options out there to have to mess with that. When I was having my problems (several years ago) I wrote them a very professional letter letting them know of my experiences. They completely ignored it. Sounds like things haven't changed much. They're certainly not short on excuses.

 

[Jim Douglas]

None of my pre-orders from last week have shipped yet. All show in stock but can't get an answer back about them. I usually only order a few things from them and will almost always go with DVD Empire instead. This weeks orders from Empire have already shipped yet I can't get an answer from Planet on last weeks stuff. Reminds me of the old DVD Express days.....
Later
Jim

 

[Douglas Bailey]

Count me in as another frustrated customer. I can't get any answers about my missing pre-orders, and I can't even cancel those orders off DVD Planet's web site!

For now, I'm falling back to DVD Empire (with whom I do a lot of business anyway): their prices on these particular titles are higher, but I'd rather pay an extra dollar and actually receive the damn discs than remain in economy limbo.

I think Jim's comment about the sad final days of DVD Express is right on the money: I'm getting more or less the same feeling from DVD Planet that I got from Express.com (as they then were).

 

[Deepak Shenoy]

They sent me another apologetic mail on Friday and my DVDs (this week's Criterion releases) finally showed up today. They were shipped from the new warehouse in IL. Some of next Tuesday's releases showed up today as well (included 'Tenant'). DVDPlanet definitely isn't going out of business like DVDExpress was and so I am hoping that things will get back to normal soon.

-D

 

[george kaplan]

I too finally, after weeks of waiting, got my other dvd yesterday. And I also don't think this has anything to do with going out of business. But it sure is taking them a long time to get their new system in place. And it's hard to understand what improvement this new system will have. I may try to purchase from them in the future, but given the inability to get through on the phone, I probably won't be able to order anyway :frowning:

 

[Jim Douglas]

I didn't mean for anybody to think I was saying they were going out of business. I just meant their CS had gone down to the point it was like trying to deal with the old DVD Express. I've been buying from them since the old LD days and have never had these kind of problems. Hopefully they will get on the ball soon but I'll be sending my orders to DVD Empire till they get things fixed.
Later
Jim

 

[Joe Fisher]

Just before I left for Baltimore this weekend I sent DVD Planet an e-mail canceling my per-order for "Lord of the Rings:The Two Towers Extended Edition". I got home earlier and found a reply stating:

"I am sorry to say that your order has already shipped. We are unable to perform the cancellation. You are welcome to refuse shipment, and it should be sent back to us. You will be refunded for the title when the title is returned. Thank you for the email and have a great day! If there is anything else we can do for you feel free to call the numbers below, or send an email."

Hello!!! Is anybody paying attention at DVD Planet! How can they say it shipped when it's not due out till the 18th of November. I would call, but it's near impossible to get through. Sorry but they have lost a customer here until they get their shit together.

 

[Douglas Bailey]

Follow-up to my earlier post: I received my pre-orders for 24 June in the post today. They still do not appear as "shipped" on my account's "Order Status" page.

My pre-order of by Brakhage -- which came out 6/10/2003 and is listed as "in stock" on the web site -- is still nowhere to be seen, and I've still received no answer from DVD Planet Customer Service about this title. So I'm only partly mollified: I'm actually grumpier about the lack of communication than I am about the lateness of the orders.

If things don't shape up, DVD Planet is going to lose my pre-order business: right now, I feel the savings aren't worth the hassle of dealing with them.

 

[Douglas Bailey]

Ask and ye shall receive. I got a reply from a Customer Service rep today:

Thank you for your e-mail. We apologize for the delay in answering your e-mail....Your order is at the warehouse and it is just a matter of time before it is shipped. We understand your frustration at the lateness of this order, but rest assured that we are working diligently to get back to the level of service that you have come to count on from our company. We thank you for your patience in hanging in there with us this long. We know you have a choice and we thank you for choosing DVDPlanet.com!

Okay, that's a bit more like it. Now I'm mollified. Since they're willing acknowledge that things have been less than ideal, I'm willing to cut them a bit more slack and see if they can't get their system back into working order. I shan't place any more pre-orders with them until I make that decision, but neither will I cancel my current pre-orders.

 

[Jim Douglas]

I finally received my order today. I did not know they are now being shipped from a different location. No wonder it took so long to get here. I order 90% of everything from DVD Empire and will continue to do so even if it means paying a little more for that title. I pre-ordered a couple of things from Deep Discount DVD yesterday so I'll see how they do.
Later
Jim

 

[Lars Vermundsberget]

For almost a year now I've been ordering a considerable number of Criterions from dvdplanet.com (at 35% off). Most orders have shipped within a day or two and reached me (in Norway) in about ten days. I've been very pleased, up until the past couple of weeks. About seven orders placed a couple of weeks ago have yet to be processed - all the items have been available (according to the site) - either now or when I ordered. If the problems aren't solved soon, I expect that could be bad for business - there are other online stores, even though I do like their prices.

 

[WillardK]

Last month I combined a pre-order with an in-stock request. The in-stock items showed up eventually, but the pre-orders never shipped well after street date according to the site. I called yesterday and was told the the pre-orders were inadvertently cancelled during the move. I was told to re-order (and make a special request for the free shipping I was due with the initial order). I re-ordered elsewhere. So... I get my credit card bill today and it says I've been billed for the cancelled discs!!!! Customer service has been unreachable (second time I've been cut off after holding over 15 min.) This was only my first or second order from DVDPlanet... it was also my last.