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DVDSoon.com warning (1 Viewer)

Tino D'Voe

Agent
Joined
Aug 14, 2001
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40
I'd like to make this post since I've ordered some dvd's after reading about a "hot" deal on a webforum.

They had the lord of the rings box sets advertised for several days for a fraction of the regular price. I placed an order and after charging for 3 dvd's and making me wait a month and a half, the company decided to not honor their word and instead cancel my order and issue a credit on their website.

Here are copies of their emails I recieved, the last one stating that the DVD's were "defective"

I just wanted to give a heads up that their this company is a scam before anyone else falls victim to their malpractice.

One month after my order:
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Sir.

Our apologies for the delay in receiving your order. Unfortunately we
have not yet received the product from the manufacturer. As this item
should have arrived by now I will place an inquiry with the movies
department regarding this product. They will do everything in their
power to have this item delivered. If there are any problems I will
contact you once again. If you need anything else please do contact me
once again.


------------------------------
Eric Saindon
Customer Service Center
Centre De Service à la Clientèle
DVDSoon.com


------------------------------------------------------------------------

Today, 6 weeks after the order:

Dear Sir.

My apologies for the matter, but unfortunately we will not be shipping
the items for that order.

Since the batch recieved were damaged and could not be sent.

We have placed though in your account the credits for that order plus a
certain amount of non refundable credits that are for the inconvenience.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------


I paid almost $134, now I have some sort of $80 BS credit on their website. I've been scammed, just passing the info.
 

Michael Reuben

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It sounds like they refunded the entire amount of your purchase to your credit card and gave you a store credit. Is that what they did? If so, how have you lost anything?

M.
 

Michael.M.C

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Dec 28, 2003
Messages
112
Sounds like a lawyer but it looks like DVDSoon more than made it right.

No fraud that I can see.

The title of this thread really should be changed.
 

Michael Reuben

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You haven't answered the questions asked above, either here or in the linked thread. Since it is not apparent from the facts as you've provided them that any fraud was committed, I am changing the thread title.

M.
 

TonyD

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tino, doesnt every canadian etailer charge at time of purchase?
i thought they all did.

anyway why didnt you just call them. it took me 3 seconds to find their contact info right on dvdsoon.com.
 

Mark_TS

Screenwriter
Joined
Mar 23, 2000
Messages
1,704
With DVDSoon, you must PROACTIVELY ask for a CC refund-(and this fact isnt very obvious at all-at least when I had to) they will not do it automatically-and they wait 3 weeks to refund your money.

And that, after waiting a month for an item to come in (RED DWARF)

Since they charge you the minute you order something-you are, in effect, FLOATING THEM A LOAN-and in appreciation for this loan-they make you wait, and wait, and wait, with no interest-and in fact-if you finally cancel-they can make a killing on the Dollars dropping value-(and the interest THEY make when your $$$ is in their bank acct) So, if you bought an item for
$50 USD, waited a month and finally got sick of the wait and cancelled-you may well wait for 3 more weeks and get something like $47 USD refunded.
Do the math-5,000 disgruntled foreign orders getting cancelled in anger per year-

I will not deal with them again.
 

Tino D'Voe

Agent
Joined
Aug 14, 2001
Messages
40


I'm not sure why I have to prove that they're scamming people here like i'm on trial in court! I'm merely posting this as a warning to others looking for hot deals that these people are posting over-the-top sale prices and then not honoring the price, making you wait 2 months promising them to arrive then cancelling and making up BS excuses. On top of all that, there's no effort on their part to refund your credit card, you have to figure it out yourself, then wait another 3 weeks before it gets refunded.

I'm not a friggin lawyer, I'm just trying to share what I know and posting a link to where others have been burned as well by the same method. I still think its fraud, take my advice with a grain of salt if you want to, but if you don't want to waste your time, avoid this company.
 

Michael Reuben

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And all the information you've provided has been left for others to read and draw their own conclusions.

M.
 

Juan C

Second Unit
Joined
Jan 23, 2003
Messages
450
The CC refund option is now gone. I've sent them an email to try to clarify the situation, but honestly it doesn't look good. I have five outstanding orders with dvdsoon and it looks I'll have to seek a CC chargeback.
 

Ruz-El

Fake Shemp
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I missed seeing this before I started a thread asking if anyone was recieving ANYTHING from DVDSOON. Up until Mid July, they were decent with getting product out, I haven't recieved anything from them since mid July. I haven never been able to talk to anyone on their phone, despite holding for over 30mins, and I only got one response from my email inquiry (after sending it 7 times, one a day for a week!) where they said that the suppliers were slow in getting product due to the summer time, whihc is a horse shit excuse, as all the titles I orders are readilly available in B&M stores.

In the past, DVDSOON's prices fluctuated regularly, giving you a chance to get stuff at a really good price, since mid July, their prices haven't changed. Call me paranoid, but I'm wondering if they are PURPOSELY holding my orders so I don't get the cheap prices I have pre-ordered?
 

Bob Turnbull

Supporting Actor
Joined
Dec 2, 2001
Messages
840
I was previously a pretty content DVDSoon customer. Even signed up for the iFidelity points early this year and got some good deals on Criterions, etc. There was the occasional slow delivery, but they usually followed through and overall had good prices with a decent selection. I've spent a good deal of money with them this year.

But something must've changed recently...I had 10 Criterions on order from the end of May spread over 2 orders. One of the 10 shipped to me, but the others have been sitting there "On Order". Last night I received notice that both my orders were cancelled due to their inability to fill the order. No warning or request if I still wanted them - just cancelled. They suggest that I can put in new orders for them if I still want the discs. But the prices have risen dramatically, so why would I want the higher price?

If the discs are that difficult to get, why are they still listed as being available on their site? 2 of the ones I ordered were released in the last 9 months, so they shouldn't be that difficult to get I would think. I've emaled them about my complaint, but may try calling later this week.

On top of that, I have a few other orders sitting in pending state. One of them is for the Film Noir 2 box set and also Point Blank. Both were pre-ordered at end of June for their early July release. No movement whatsoever...I fully expect that they will automatically be cancelled in the next month.

My friend had the exact same thing happen to him last week and he is getting nowhere via email. There have been several instances where he's been told that his previous emails were not received and could he resend them...

If they are having trouble getting discs from the States, then mention that up front on the site and allow more time for the orders to be fulfilled. Explain to your customers that they can simply wait or they can cancel.

My cynical guess is that they (new management perhaps?) do not want to honour the lower prices and are letting these orders "expire". If the customer still wants them they would have to re-order at a higher price. I know it's not fair to make such a guess in a public forum, but this used to be a quality site (which I believe won the Canadian Home Entertainment industry's "Best Canadian Web DVD Retailer" award back in April). They've had issues - inconsistent notification process; charging at time of order (which they just announced a few days ago they will stop doing); etc. - but I had successfully made a number of purchases at good prices. Perhaps the low prices have caught up with them?

So yeah, Russell, you're not alone...Very disappointing.
 

Ruz-El

Fake Shemp
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Bob,

Guess what? 2 of the pre-orders I'm waiting for are Film Noir 2 and Point Blank! Now, I could maybe understand difficulty in getting these as they are under the radar, and Warner has been know to be short of the boxsets, but "Constantine"? They had this as the feature item of the week for pete sakes!
 

Marko Berg

Supporting Actor
Joined
Mar 22, 2002
Messages
856
Link to the Supplier Feedback section at DVD Swaps forums. There are many threads about DVD Soon here, unfortunately the site isn't that well moderated as much of the information could have been consolidated into one or two threads but it's worth reading nonetheless.

Quick version for those in a hurry: DVD Soon has serious problems obtaining stock and fulfilling orders.

I personally have placed over a hundred orders with them in the past year, and have sometimes had to wait long for orders to be fulfilled, but the current situation is just terrible and unprecedented. The idea with DVD Soon is that they minimize costs by not keeping large stock, therefore you wait but get your stuff at a good price.

In the past month or two:
- Almost no orders have shipped according to many customers in the forum I link to above -- and I can personally attest to this.
- Free shipping is no longer.
- The company has adopted a policy of cancelling all orders not fulfilled within 60 days, forcing you to place new orders at a price that is worse than the one you thought you were going to pay.
- Should you get fed up and request your money back, you can't. They no longer have the option of obtaining a refund on your credit card, you have to accept store credit. That is of no use since almost no orders are shipping out.
- People have reported serious problems with their website, such as store credit disappearing and/or the amount of store credit changing to your disadvantage.
- Some customers still receive replies to their emails, but instead of addressing the customers' problems directly, DVD Soon makes excuses and their replies are vague. The credit card refund option was promised to be returned some time ago, but I'm still waiting.

I am not going to place any more orders with this company until the situation is under control. I realize it's just rumours, but there is a lot of talk on the Internet about DVD Soon folding, and it is certainly starting to look pretty bad at this time.
 

CraigF

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Might as well add my gripes.

Something changed at DVDSoon last year, something drastic. IMO they skirt the edges of the law, doing exactly what they know they can get away with *in Canada*. Our consumer protection laws are not like in the U.S., very minimal and toothless...see below.

No, DVDSoon is the only e-tailer I've ever encountered who charges at time of order, not at time of shipping. I'm sure others do it, but none I've seen. For anything, not just discs I mean. And does not automatically credit your CC for refunds. Basically, they get to operate on no capital.

I have had discs on order for up to 4 months before they were shipped. Recently I've had pre-orders ship 2 months after release date, lots of them. The problem did not start in July, I just got some pre-orders from late April in July. And they were common discs I regularly saw in the stores.

Re those very recent e-mails about orders being cancelled after not being filled after 60 days. I wonder if this happened after, in Canada, we decided to enact some of those consumer protection laws like in the U.S. The one I'm specifically thinking of is if an order can't be shipped after 30 days (??, I forget the period, but around that), any $$ must be refunded. It seems more than a coincidence.

These things are just a bit annoying. But the worst DVDSoon practice is they take absolutely no responsibility for their own errors, and in fact make you check a box when submitting your order that says you understand that. READ THAT STUFF!! Does not inspire confidence.

Do you know if you receive a defective disc, or miss a disc, you have to sign an affidavit etc. Bit of a procedure, odd, but it seems to work. [Company owned by lawyers now? I wouldn't be surprised based on what I've said above, they're sure on top of it...]

Anyway, I've always got my discs except one (the new 60-day cancellation thing). Even when their customer service has said they won't accept back discs that THEY listed erroneously (they actually told me it's my fault, and didn't correct their web listings for months), they always have!

So, the company runs on some definitely non-typical procedures and attitudes, but other than being SLOW, they get the job done. I'll still use them, I'm never desperate to get a disc. Sometimes they're so slow the price has dropped already, so you can cancel the order...

As usual, I could go on and on and...
 

Ruz-El

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Craig, good point.

I think I'm going to cancel the upcoming preorders from Aug on, as the pricing isn't significantly different from other sites, and wait out the july orders. I've never waited this long, and I have taken advantage of the price flucuations you talk of. The problem is, no one has had naything shipped to them from mid july on, no one is getting any type of reassurance from DVDSoon themselfs, and IMO, their website isn't updated like it previously was. Those price changes haven't happened since they stopped shipping order in mid july, as far as I can tell.

I'm going to cancel the upcoming pre-orders I had and try to get my money back either through them or my credit card, and hopefully get the items from July. I have a phone call and 2 other emails into them, if I don't get a response by the end of the week, I'll probably cancel the rest and fight the bastards for my money back. I'm torn between my cheapness and not wanting to miss the insane deals I got in July, and feeling completly screwed over and wanting to take my money elsewhere!
 

TonyD

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all this sounds exactly like when dvdwave. com went belly up.
 

CraigF

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^^ I started thinking that way too, after my April pre-orders were getting into July. But no, they came through. Now, my last pre-order was for a collection of 6 released in early June, which came more than a month later (I remember, because I was getting pissed off because the local store price was similar and tired of waiting for no benefit). I haven't ordered anything since, because of the relatively horrible pricing...seems to me their prices are pretty lousy for the last month or so. Many prices are much lower in local stores.

Have you noticed when they temporarily restore "free shipping", the prices of everything has been bumped up 2-3 bucks? Kinda screws those who joined their fidelity thing, when the main benefit of fidelity membership is the free shipping you'd have got anyway, but now you're paying extra for it in the disc prices.

It's kinda annoying the way they change policies from week to week it seems. You never know what's up there. Prices are all over the place, sometimes during the same day. I've noticed when something gets popular they jack the price up. I bet they are or were making $$ hand over fist. Assuming too many people aren't scared off. Their policies are relatively beneficial to people in Europe, bet they have some decent business there...Canadian prices are relatively good in comparison.

Even when their stock level says "in stock" (the only time they mention stock), I have waited more than a month for something. So their stock levels are still bogus IMO.

That disc I waited 4 months for was $40, they jacked the price up to $70, but I hung in there...they probably thought I'd cancel! Nowadays they'd just auto-blow me off after 60 days, after having my capital for that long to do their real business...nice scheme. I notice they're still "selling" that disc they cancelled after 60 days because it was "unavailable"...at a higher price.

I can't believe it's 2 months since I last ordered from them, usually I do at least an order a week...maybe I'm more annoyed than I thought...
 

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