DeepDiscount going Downhill with me! (1 Viewer)

I've placed over 100 orders with them without any major problems that weren't resolved. However, lately i've noticed a big problem.
I wanted to order Cube Zero when they had it for 13.29.
I wanted to order Infernal Affairs yesterday when I saw they had it for 9.36
I wanted to order Badder Santa yesterday when they had it for sale for 13.80.
Why didn't I? Because for the 1st two they only have the fullscreen version and for the 3rd they don't list the aspect ratio.
I emailed them about this and this is what they replied:

We apologize for any inconvenience. Unfortunately we can not control the
versions the dvds come in.
Again, thank you for writing DeepDiscountDVD.com. We appreciate your
business.

Regards,

Customer Service Department

Of course they can. All they have to do is order the widescreen versions

I emailed them back letting them know that other sites, such as dvdempire, show the same titles as being widescreen to let them know that both versions are available. Their reply:

Thank you for contacting DeepDiscountDVD.com!


We understood your request, however certain dvds only come in one version.
Unfortunately we can not control this situation. We apologize for any
inconvenience.
Again, thank you for writing DeepDiscountDVD.com. We appreciate your
business.

Regards,

Customer Service Department


It's as if they don't even read the emails or their reading comprehension sucks.

Hey, at least they are being consistent with the answers they give you!

DDD has been known to report incorrect aspect ratios.

I'm pretty sure CUBE ZERO and INFERNAL AFFAIRS are only in widescreen.

DVD Planet says their copy is "fullframe" but if you look at their front cover graphic, it says "Widescreen" at the top. However, DDD's front cover graphic does not say "Widescreen" so it leads you to believe that it's not. But I'm pretty sure it's only available in widescreen.

But if DDD can't tell you the aspect ratio of the ones in their stock by looking at the back cover (is their warehouse in a different location than their customer service department?), then it's a tough decision.

I've also had similar customer service issues. They and their responses are not "personal" to the customer. They give stock answers or generalities. Sure, it might alude to your question but they do not research the question and get back to you.

What you might want to do first is to contact Lion's Gate and Buena Vista directly to ask them what aspect ratios are available. I'm not sure about LG's response but if you go to BV's DVD Support page, they are pretty good about responding to your message. OR ... check out BV's DVD page (www.video.com) for specs on IA. If they list both aspect ratios, then don't buy from DDD. If they only list WS, then you might consider taking a chance with DDD.

I did the work for you. Check out IA spec page at BV:
http://video.movies.go.com/products/3868503.html

It only says 2.35:1 widescreen.

Here is the Lion's Gate Contact Page:
http://www.lionsgatefilms.com/investors/index.php

The e-mail link can be found under "Contact Info."

Good luck!

I've had excellent service from DDD including a customer service issue just today that I'm posting in a separate thread.

While it would be optimal for all the information in all vendor online catalogues to be totally accurate and detailed, that's probably not possible considering the thousands of DVD releases that are available.

The only way to resolve doubt is to get the item's stock number and compare that to the manufacturer's information. Yes, it requires a little effort but it occasionally is necessary when you're buying online, sight unseen.

I would guess that it's a virtual certainty that the DDD warehouse is nowhere near the customer support phone bank. Nor do the CS reps have the time or authorization to take 15 minutes to wander around the warehouse and check an individual query about a specific item outside of the information that they have in their database.

So, do what you'd do if you walked into a store and they don't have -- with certainty -- what you want: Just buy elsewhere.

I just got through with an exchange with a DDCD customer service rep and it just reinforces my opinion that the "Deep Discount" company has reps (the ones I communicate with anyway) that need to understand the basic language called ENGLISH.

I don't want to go into details here (once with the rep is enough) but it was a simple question about returns and shipping and they told me to do something, I did it, then come to find out that what I did affects me for something else NOT in my favor. Sigh. And I asked the question very clearly the first time!
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Well I broke down and ordered Cube Zero during their 20% off sale. When I rec'd the disc the back indicates it contains both the full screen and widescreen versions.
If only someone in customer service had looked they could have told me this instead of giving me the stupid answer they did. But thanks to their lazyness, I got it cheaper then I would have.

Not that I'm championing DDD's lowly customer service, but most likely their CSRs are nowhere near their warehouse/fulfillment center... especially if they are offloading the calls to India.

DDD are going downhill with me to.

From here in the UK, in June 2003 I ordered 'The Lonesome Dove Collection' from DDD, it shipped June 23...and then disappeared.

After a few weeks of toing and froing, as is their custom, DDD processed a refund rather than ship a replacement and I ordered again in August; by October, still no shipment, I got another refund.

Never say die; in November, despite many reports in various internet fora that shipments from them to European destinations were going AWOL I tried again. It shipped Dec 5, 2003 and I got it just in time for Christmas. Third time's a charm.

I didn't consider using DDD again until last month; understandably I was very wary, their CS didn't seem particularly good, but what the hell, let bygones be bygones. For the life of me I couldn't remember my account details, so I set up a new one, same name, same address and I ordered 12 DVDs from their Columbia sale.

They arrived within 10 days of shipping; excellent. So I ordered eight more, in two shipments of four each. They were cancelled without explanation. I tired again. Cancelled again. I emailed them, and my emails bounced back to me.

Eventually I called them; had a conversation with one of their reps, asked what was going on and was given no explanation - must be a glitch online she said, so took my order over the 'phone. Nothing happened.

I rang again. To my amazement I was told that I was blacklisted, that because the copies of 'The Lonesome Dove Collection' had gone missing they could no longer deliver to my address. I was flabbergasted. I had received no warning prior, no email (except a couple of apologies), they said that bouncing emails from people so marked on their system was normal practice.

I was damned angry; they were tantamount accusing me of theft, when - considering the number of people who had shipments go missing - the problem obviously lay along their shipping lines. They said they were willing to give me 'another chance', but any further problems and I would outcast forever. They had no explanation as to why they allowed the shipment of Dec. 2003 to go through, and said that my setting up of a new account was the reason my shipment of a month ago was accepted. I slipped through the net, but I was given the impression that I'd somehow been 'caught out'.

I was so amazed that I couldn't get the words 'you can cram it' out of my mouth, or maybe mother Hodson brought me up better than that.

All this has left a very nasty taste in my mouth; I haven't made any more orders with DDD, and it will take a while for my temper to cool before I consider them again.

Re my post above, I also made a similar post over at the DVD Talk forum and was surprised to get first an email from Deep Discount saying they would look into the matter for me, then this reply:


You can't really ask for more than that.

Really, I've never had a problem with DDD. In fact, I ordered the 2 disc of Munich on May 5...it arrived on my doorstep (regular mail) on May 10. I was quite surprised.

John, just out of curiosity, are you going to try them again?

DDD probably buys the info from a service, they don't enter the info themselves. They probably scan the barcodes as shipments come in, and that pulls up the info. You should be complaining to whatever service does the data entry. It must not be the same service that Amazon buys it's data from or it would have been identical.

I don't understand why they don't do more about orders that go missing. I have had at least three vanish into thin air -- and then I figured it out about a week ago when someone else's order arrived at my place out of the blue.

I assume when most people get these navigationally challenged orders, they just keep 'em. You'd think DDD would have a pretty good incentive to make sure the right stickers go on the right packages.

I placed my very first order with DDD a few weeks ago (a pre-order for an upcoming release).

The other day, I tried to log-in to my account (to update my credit card info), and did not succeed.

I thought maybe, by some fluke, I'd somehow gotten my password wrong, so I tried a few variations (caps, no caps, etc.). Still nothing.

I've used the "Forgotten your password?" option multiple times to try to confirm that I was entering the wrong password (or something), and STILL have not received an e-mail with my password and log-in info.

And I've now sent two e-mails asking for help to DDD's customer service address, and STILL have gotten no reply.

Any suggestions?

Greg, call them. I've had more success talking to them on the phone as opposed to e-mail.