TexasGuy

I just checked my preorder status on Spartacus CC, and it shows it as "backordered". However, when you look up Spartacus CC in their site, it shows as "usually ships in 24 hours". It continues to show the 24-hour shipping when you add it to your cart. It's been this way for several days.

I guess there are 3 possible explanations:

1. TWEC is screwing the people who preorder, assuming they already have the sale, in order to get more business from impulse buyers on a hot title.

2. TWEC is screwing the people who buy now, believing their title will ship in 24 hours when it is actually on backorder.

3. TWEC has an honest database error that hasn't been corrected in a week.

Anyone care to comment? I haven't ordered from TWEC enough to make a judgement on their customer service/honesty.

CrashMan

I've posted about this a couple times before, so I'll try to be brief...

I placed a large order at the beginning of March. Included in that order was Dream Theater: Metropolis. There was some confusion about the release date and I got a cancellation notice e-mail saying they didn't have the disc to sell. A week later I got a shipping confirmation and then the disc.

Two weeks ago, The Adjusters (definitely not the hottest if titles) became available and my order status became backordered. I sent them an e-mail about it, and I really can't remember their response. It was something like "we're working on it." Eventually, I did get the disc, about a week to ten days after the street date.

The same story with Spartacus. Immediate backorder status. Their excuse this time was that the shipment was routed to the wrong warehouse. They're supposedly working on it.

They didn't answer my question of whether or not the rest of my pre-orders will suffer the same fate.

darkside

Still waiting on spartacus as well. Considering I used the 25% off coupon I am not complaining. They have shipped everything else in my order with no problems.

ernestrp

I ordered Spartacus about a week before it came out and received it on Monday from Twec.com for like 31.45, shipping included.

Laser Movies

I preordered Spartacus on 3/7 using the 20% off and free shipping coupon and mine is also on backorder. I preordered 5 other titles which have already arrived. I called customer service about my order but they seemed to be evasive about answering the question of the availability of the DVD. The customer service rep promised to e-mail me an answer, but they never did. It was my first experience with Twec's customer service, and I must say they didn't impress me very much. It looks like some people have been getting the DVD from Twec, even some who recently ordered the title.

matchpenalty

My order was on 3/8 with the 20% off and free shipping. Still showing backordered and the card I used (one time card) expires 4/30.. This is gonna be a nightmare.

bdots48

I called TWEC (l-800-226-3568) and asked for online customer service. Rebecca (I think was her name) told me my Spartacus was not available at the warehouse the order was sent to. She cancelled the order and reinstated it through another warehouse which does have it in stock. (She assured me the 25% coupon would be there) If you just wait for it, I'm afraid you will eventually just have your order cancelled (this happened to me with Element of Crime at TWEC). Call them.

pagemaster7

I've preordered more thna a few titles from twec, and so far Spartacus is the first one delayed.

Laser Movies

Looks like my problems with Twec is spreading to another order. I ordered three DVDs last week with their 15% off and free shipping coupon, and just checked on it this morning to find it cancelled. Maybe they are cracking down on orders that are not using a Discover card with this coupon.



items qty ship via ship date tracking status
Dvd-Rio Bravo
Rio Bravo-Dvd
Media: DVD
Item: 085391105022
0
Standard


Canceled
ADMINISTRATIVE AUTHORIZATION

Dvd-Rocky Films
Rocky-Special Editio
Media: DVD
Item: 027616860361
0
Standard


Canceled
ADMINISTRATIVE AUTHORIZATION

Dvd-Working Girl
Working Girl-Dvd
Media: DVD
Item: 024543013655
0
Standard


Canceled
ADMINISTRATIVE AUTHORIZATION

TexasGuy

This makes me wonder why people on this board rave about TWEC's customer service. Why should we have to take time to call? If they made a mistake, they could easily find all the Spartacus pre-orders and fix their own problem.

KPlummer

Ordered mine Monday the 16th, arrived yesterday. My first order with TWEC but they did ok by me.

bdots48

Follow up to my post above - i got shipping notification today for my spartacus. If yours is backordered,I repeat - call them or you probably will have your order cancelled.

gcribbs

I only tried to order once from them. I used a coupon and the order was canceled after 30 days. I never tried to use them again.

dvdirv

I usually do not have a problem with twec, but I just had one!

On two separate orders, I needed KING OF HEARTS & NORMA RAE but they were marked "backordered" even though they were new releases.. After waiting 2-3 weeks, I emailed them and asked where they were.

They e-mailed me back telling me that one of their warehouses could not come up with either title (of course, they didn't tell me this), so they were going to have another warehouse try and find them. After a few days, they notified me they were shipped.

Of course, I wondered how long this would have taken if I had not sent the e-mail and just waited until they showed up.

criterion

I have also the same issue with 5 different criterion preorders. They said the same crap about the wrong warehouse. I had already one a problem with a cancelled order that they kept sending me dvd's that I had to return.
I thing they are understafft and big time unorganized.

PeteH

I ordered Spartacus CC from them on 3/6 and I e-mailed them about it yesterday, then when I checked today, it was cancelled. I wouldn't normally get upset over something like this, but they did the same thing with Eisenstein: The Sound Years a couple of weeks ago on the same order.
This was my first order with Twec, but if this is the kind of customer service I can expect from them, it will be my last!

nemein

PeteH I ran into the same problem. I called the 800# above and they cleared it right up... Atleast I think so, it occured to me I left the new order # at work so I can't double check that the order exists right now

Laser Movies

I thought Twec would clear up my order problems after calling today, but it appears to have only gotten worse. I just checked again on my order status for Spartacus and it's now cancelled. I talked to a CSR named Karen who said their shipment had been sent to the wrong warehouse and they were going to switch the orders. She told me to expect shipment today or tomorrow.

I was also told my other DVD order they cancelled was because of a technical problem with my credit card. The CSR told me they had the same problem with my two previous orders, but they shipped and charged me for 15 DVDs without any problems. She said they would reinstate that order but noticed I used a coupon intended for Discover card users, and it sounded like she was going to change her mind unless I had a Discover card, which I don't. After talking to the CSR for a while longer she decided they would reinstate the order with the coupon. But they would have to create a new order, and e-mail it to me. So far I have not received anything for the new order. I think if this is not straightened out soon this is last time Twec will get my business.

[Edited by LASERMOVIES on 04-30-01 at 11:38 PM]

ellone

Be careful with orders that twec says are cancelled, they may ship them. I ordered a PS2 game on 3/11. A couple days later they sent me an e-mail that they were discontinuing selling games and if my order wasn't filled within a month it would be cancelled. I keep checking the order status. On 4/25 it says it was cancelled, so I order it from another store. Well, in the mail on 4/28 I get a package from twec with the game. So now I have 2 copies...grrr....

Laser Movies

Called customer service again and I think my orders are fixed. They gave me 2 new order numbers and it looks like they are now in process, and should ship soon. Just hope they get the billing correct, and the DVDs arrive undamaged. Between Twec and Amazon the last week has been a nightmare for me.

DVDealer

They look to be adding a lot of new titles into their database in the last week. I just reran a script I'd written before and it looks like 700-800 DVD titles during that time, and I think they're fixing some of their older database entries that are missing DVD's or missing altogether. Haven't checked on shipping dates on these much, but I think they've been fixing those too.

If you note that when you look at your order status, in the past, it's been very inconsistent about being "Advance" or "In Process" for preorders. It's the "In Process" ones you have to watch out for them cancelling, as those don't appear to be on "record" as preorders and will likely get axed in 30 days.

I do seem to notice that they look to be cracking down on the 15% coupon being used multiple times. It's a shame, since I'll probably not order from them again if this is the case (I also don't have a Discover card).

Anyone else who wants to order, might find the following link handy, as it shows links pretty much in order as they are entered into the database along with prices and links to twec.com for DVD titles. It isn't updated that frequently (so prices might be different in some cases than what the link says). Most of the newer titles added this last week have been between around 2000080950 to 2000081714 if you want to focus your energies there.

TWEC Index

Perhaps this updating of their DB is a good sign of their operations getting cleaned up, but we need a new coupon soon for me to be interested in buying from them again. Otherwise, I'll use this page/scripts to determine some of the newer titles I should look for to get with CDNow's coupon. I'm sure they'll like that!