Anyone ordered from sensasian.com before? I've seen it mentioned a few times on this forum but no one admitted ordering from them before. Their prices do seem competitive with DDDHouse and Hivizone. I placed an order with them and their site says that my order has been shipped. It's been 3 weeks now and still no package. Did I make a bad choice?

...Did I make a bad choice?

...you're worried, aren't you?!...

. . . . . .

I'm always worried whenever I order from a new place for the first time. Especially since it's been over 3 weeks since I placed the order and still no package.

decent company. two weeks+ shipping time, lousy packaging!!!

They do take awhile to ship - and their packaging is not the best - but I've been happy so far. They haven't stiffed me if that's what you're asking. They are a legit business - so don't worry too much. If you want - you can try to email them about your order and ask why it's taking so long. I've ordered from them 3 times - all small orders - and have gotten most of my items... I haven't gotten Once Upon a Time in China 4 and 5 yet - still waiting. I don't think I've been charged for those yet though.

Trigger,

I've had a really bad experience with Sensasian.

[Unsubstantiated accusation/suggestion snipped]

There are no China Star logos on the front or back and there were missing subtitles throughout the whole movie. Needless to say, that was my last time purchasing from them.

Well - there are versions of OUATIC 4 that don't have subtitles. I had to visit asiandvdguide and a few other sources to find the right one... I know the Blade VCD you're talking about and the one I have is legit and it's by Mei Ah - I bought it from DDDHouse back when they still had it - I can't recall if it's fullscreen, but the quality is certainly not great - looks like a vhs to me too. I purchased Shaolin Soccer VCD from Sensasian as well as Love on a Diet - both were legit and while the quality of the Shaolin Soccer VCD was poor, the Love on a Diet VCD was outstanding - and I didn't even bother to buy the DVD. I don't think they sell bootlegs, but I suppose it's possible. I haven't had that experience, so I couldn't tell you. Try matching your DVDs you got from them (guess you have to pull them from the trash ) with the Asiandvdguide database and see if they exist. The database isn't totally complete, but it's more complete than not. It doesn't list VCDs, but to be honest - most VCDs are crappy and look like VHS or sub-VHS. That's why they're so cheap. Also Compact Discs are simply not the best medium for movies.

That being said - some things are only available on VCD. If Sensasian has any bootlegs - it's not because they made them or anything... I think they are a legit business (or try at least) so if they do have a bootleg, they must not know that's what it is. So I guess the moral here is caveat emptor (sp?) on Sensasian since some people have had bad experiences and others have had good or decent experiences with them. The thing I like about them is that they'll have stock on certain things that aren't available anymore at other places. Another reason I don't think they are bootlegs is because bootlegs are easy to come by around there and they are out of stock on a few items on my last order (they did ship the rest of it though) and if they were getting bootlegs, these items wouldn't be out of stock for so long. Also - I know that I pre-ordered Shaolin Soccer VCD and they didn't ship it until the actual release date, and there were already bootlegs that had hit the market before then. Just my 2 cents.

I sometimes notice that they would have 2 distributors for a VCD. One would ship from HK and one from Malaysia. I would pick the HK option.

Here are some emails to and from Sensasian that might or might not clear some of this up.

_____________________________________________________
----- Original Message -----
From: service
To: Trigger
Sent: Monday, September 17, 2001 8:15 PM
Subject: Order No. ######-####



Dear [Trigger],

Thank you for shopping at sensasian.com. We hope that you have enjoyed the shopping experience
with us.

Unfortunately the 2 items remaining in your order, Once Upon A Time In China V (VCD) and Once Upon A Time In China IV (DVD) are currently out of stock.

We apologise for this mishap, and have not charged for any items not sent.

Sincerely
Kelly
Customer Service
sensasian.com

E-mail : [email protected]
ICQ: 93228914


URL: http://www.sensasian.com - the store that offers Pure Asian Entertainment

______________________________________________________
----- Original Message -----
From: Trigger
To: service
Sent: Monday, October 22, 2001 11:24 AM
Subject: Re: Order No. ######-####


Hello - are these items going to ship when they come in stock again? Or should I look elsewhere? Also - I've heard that the versions of these Discs that you carry don't have subtitles. I need english subtitles to understand what's being said. I don't want Malasyian versions - I'm told they are bootlegs. Otherwise, I've been happy with your service. Please let me know what to expect with the Once Upon a Time in China discs I'm waiting for. Thanks

[Trigger]
[[email protected]]

_____________________________________________________
Dear [Trigger]

Thanks for your message.

The titles that you are interested in are temporarily unavailable pending a rights changeover. We are insure as to when they will be available again. If you like, we can keep you informed when they become available again.

Most of our titles have English subtitles and we rely on the suppliers for this sort of information which can be erratic sometimes.

Contrary to what you may have been told, Malaysian versions are NOT bootlegs, at least not the ones we sell. They are original Malaysian versions issued by the rights holders. If they were bootlegs, there would be no issue with them being out of stock at all. They sometimes differ from the HK versions only in the packaging and may have scenes with ovetly explicit violence and sexual content edited from them due to censorship regulations. In any case, we also carry HK versions, which you would have noticed if you have been browsing through our store lately, as we currently also operate a shipping centre in HK. Unfortunately however, HK versions of these titles are also temporarily unavailable.

We hope that you will continue to enjoy the shopping experience at Sensasian.com, your online store that offers Pure Asian Entertainment.

Sincerely

Kelly
Customer Service
sensasian.com

E-mail : [email protected]
ICQ: 93228914

Tel: +(603)2070-5557
Fax:+(603)2072-1919

http://www.sensasian.com - Pure Asian Entertainment

Up until a few months ago, I was a very loyal customers of theirs. I've ordered over 20 times from them and their (Hong Kong) music CDs are definitely legit.

[Various accusations deleted. As the content of this message was significantly at odds with the experience of others and conflicts also with other information provided, I am inclined to call a halt to this "bashing" unless and until there is thirdparty verification from a member in good standing. I should add that I won't be holding my breath and I am proposing emails in the first instance as opposed to a series of onscreen rebuttals etc.]
Benedict, Moderator.

I also bought a vcd from this company of Shaolin Soccer, and am 100% sure the version I got was a bootleg. I will not shop from them again.

To Tek Ticker

You seem to have a personal vendetta against Sensasian, for reasons known I guess only to yourself.

By the way are you affiliated to this other online vendor called tektickerdvd ?

Anyways here's my 2 cents worth. I've ordered from Sensasian for over a year now, CDs, VCDs and DVDs and this particualr customer service rep Kelly that Trigger mentioned has been nice and helpful to me, rather unlike a lot of customer service reps at many other stores. Their products have always been fine to me with the occasional pixellated VCD that I suppose is something over which they have no control and as Trigger says if you want the best in resolution get DVDs. They have been shipping Hong Kong products as Khieng mentioned for about 3 months now at prices competitve with other vendors and so far I have been satisfied with their service. Hell, Kelly has given me shipping upgrades to courier and even free full size movie and artiste posters, which other sites charge about $15 for when I pay for shipping - so as Trigger has observed your mileage varies.

I firmly disagree that their VCDs are bootlegs. The ones shipping from HK are the Mei Ah, Universe, etc. As for the ones from Malaysia, they are from the likes of Speedy and Golden Satellite which as far as I know are the official rightsholders of the HK titles. Trigger's reproductions of Kelly's email are similar to what I have received from her in my early days of shopping there, in response to enquiries. Something else that Kelly tells me too is that often people misunderstand the fact that Malaysia actually releases titles faster than HK due to anti-piracy laws which apparently make videos of movies unreleased after a month or so of their movie release free-for-all. So I guess that explains their fast releases. They have titles like "La Brassiere" which I bought which have not been released in HK yet and they screen the official trailer and making ofs for this and most of their releases. If they weren't legit, I doubt that they would get access to this stuff. If you don't like Malaysian versions, you can always wait for the HK versions to come out. For me, they aren't expensive and I get them first as a preview to decide whther to buy the DVD or not when it comes out. Trigger is right - they do have stuff that others don't carry. I've bought the gory VCD of Milky Way's "Intruder" there and it is the only fully uncut version available plus they have the only version of "Made In Hong Kong" on DVD.

Well I've said all I can about a store that I like and I for one am a happy returning customer, like the content which they bother to develop and the fact that they serve me well. I guess it's as Sly Stone says diff'rent strokes for diff'rent folks.

I've been looking into a query that I have received concerning the accuracy of several posts in this thread and was obliged to lock it for a day or two.

If anyone has any issues with the action taken would they please email me directly with a copy to Geoff if so wished: any reply I send will be copied to Geoff in any event.

Here is some background information relating to the treatment of DVDs sent to SE Asia:

The authorities in South East Asian countries like Malaysia and Singapore are extremely strict about uncensored material entering the country. Hence all video material is screened by a censorship board with a per item charge for every screening. All conspicuous quantities of discs entering the country are subjected to this and returned items are no exception, regardless of whether they were shipped from Malaysia in the first place - customs' contention is the discs could have been substituted.

Geoff has already posted elsewhere concerning gratuitous bashing of certain companies. Fair criticism is not at question here but where there appear to be deeper "issues" at play then administrative action may be required.

Thanks to all in advance for their understanding in this matter.


Benedict
[email protected]
Moderator, International DVD & Movie Forum