I am never ordering from Johnny at DDDhouse again. I ordered over 100 movies from him in 2 bulk orders. Of the many movies I ordered, GOD of the Gambler, First Time is the Last Time, Casino Tycoon 1 and 2.

When I got my shipment like 3 months ago, I looked at each disk for scratches and such that might have made the disc defective. I did not see any that would have caused alarm, but while i was looking at the movies I noticed that the movie "Casino Tycoon" part 1 and 2 were only in Cantonese, I then went to the dddhouse site and checked, which it did clearly state that the audio was in cantonese only. I was upset at myself that I didn't look for the audio for this tittle, but I still knew it was my fault and had to eat the cost of this. A Few days later, I put alot of the movies I ordered on DVDTALK, and asked for reviews. I then found out that the Movie "First Time is the Last Time" can not play on my dvd player. I was upset again that I did not really look at this disc too well on the website.
But a few weeks ago I finally decided to watch God of the Gambler, when I put the disc in I was not able to change the audio to madarin, it only played cantonese, i then looked at the box and it also stated that it had madarin. I then checked DDDhouse website and they too said that the disc was madarin, i knew this because i remember i did look at this disc to see if it had mandarin on it( this is one of my wifes favorite movies ) that is why i ordered it, and made sure it had madarin...

I then emailed Johnny, asking him about this and he informed me that there is an error on the distributor side, and to send it back for a refund, and he would send out another disc with the Mandarin audio on it, but i then look on asiandvdguide, and then found out that the disc was only in Cantonese audio. I then emailed Johnny again and stated to him that i was told the disc was made recorded only in Cantonese, I then asked just to be refunded my money and shipping cost. Due to his website misleading me into buying the disc. Emails went back and fourth for a couple weeks, He seemed to not budge on his stance that it was the distributors fault and that I am trying to rip him off, by watching the movie and wanting to get my money back!!!

Fist of all I did not watch this movie I ate the cost of three other movies, that were due to my own carelessness, second of all I ordered over 100 movies from him and would like to return the movie due to misleading information on HIS WEBSITE.

In the end, Johnny emailed my back after i stated to him that the information on his website is FALSE and misleading, and that he is at fault on this movie even if the distributor did not put madarin audio on the disc. Since it was his Website i purchased the dvd from he as a Business man would have to correct his error, and get his compensation from the distributor. But he informed me that He does not care for my business , and told me i can give him negative reviews all i want, but he will decide if he will refund me my disc cost for the movie and will only pay 3 dollars for shipping of the movie ( insurance to other countries with the post office cost twice that much ) He also informed me that I am no longer welcome to purchase movies from him and am now blacklisted on his website. WHich is fine with me, I will take my business else where.

I know alot of people on here have had excellent experiences with Johnny at dddhouse, but I am just letting out vent and information for those who have not yet or are thinking about purchasing movies from Johnny. Which in my opinion is not a very wise business man, Just my opionion

I feel for you, but his website does state that refunds are due only for defective discs. In fact, it sounds like he was more than willing to accomodate you even though your disc was not defective. He did sound a bit mean there at the end though...

Johnny does not watch every movie that comes into his website. As such, he does have to rely on what is on the spec sheet or the cover. I think this is pretty reasonable for all companies to initially do this. This is why one should always consult the Asian DVD Guide and/or other sites such as Poker first before buying, especially if you're looking for not-necessarily standard things such as Mandarin audio or English subtitles.

.... sounds like a learning experience for both parties although, of course, we've only heard the one side.

For future reference would people note that if you are going to slam a company then this should be confined to the body-text and backed up with as much information as possible. I'm not going to say that such threads will always stay open but I can say that in almost all cases I will edit titles that appear to be taking a gratuitious potshot....

Thanks to all, in advance, for their co-operation and understanding.

Benedict
Moderator, International DVD & Movie Forum

Hindsight is 20/20. I always check asiandvdguide and DVD-Basen.dk before any purchases.

So by making sure it was Mandarin you acknowledge that it said Mandarin on the webpage? Or did you go to Asiandvdguide first and check the specs on the Mei Ah version of God of Gamblers? If you noticed a difference in the two sites' information, you could have e-mailed Johnny and asked for clarification.

It's nearly unanimous in the HK DVD collector community that DDDHouse is a class act. God of Gamblers is showing up on his site as having Cantonese audio. One question though - were you happy with the other 98 discs you purchased. You said you were upset again by "First Time is the Last Time," but that seems like mostly an error on your part.

My point is: I have had some poor experiences with many online and B&M dealers. In many cases, I was a victim - an innocent consumer caught in a very dark dragnet. Any regular customer at Best Buy is bound to get screwed by them - usually by their crappy return policies. Almost any major retailer I can think of would refuse the return you tried to send back to DDDHouse. I've had problems taking things back to Target, but I'm not going to shun Target and any deals I might be able to find there in the future. As far as misleading website, typos are bound to happen any time text is put into any system. I'm just curious as to what is stated on the packaging of the disc, maybe the manufacturer is to blame. But this one disc out of 100 seems like it could have been avoided if you checked Asiandvdguide first. DDDHouse is still the best place to get most Hong Kong DVDs and you shouldn't deprive yourself of these deals because of this one occurence. Look at the alternatives: paying twice as much at Poker Industries - I would think if you shopped elsewhere you wouldn't be so lucky as to have all 100 discs arrive in operating condition.

sorry i mainly wanted to vent, but its the principle behind this to me. I enjoyed Johnnys fast emails about my questions, and purchases. But I just do not agree that he should not be accusing me of trying to rip him off by watching one of the movies and trying to get back like 14 bucks, and telling me he doesn't care about my business.

I mean I was going off his website info, which he now has changed to Cantonese audio only, Which shows that he acknowledges the error on his website.

Yes i should have checked asiandvdguide, but mandarin is included in alot of the dvds on his website, majority of them. I usually only check asiandvdguide to check how the dvd quality is.
So again i ate the disc cost for First Time is the Last Time, Casino Tycoon 1,2 due to it being my fault, where it was clearly stated on dddhouse website at the time i purchased it. But my my opionion now of Johnny is not too highly, in the response to the way he wants to treat "one" of his customers, and the way he ended his email with me basically telling me I can take my business and shove it up my a#!....

So again, this is just one persons opion on a site that has credible reference from fellow dvdtalk members ( which is why i ordered from him ) but now i see him just as a business man who does not care for my business because he got upset with me trying to prove my point, from his website error, thinking that one of his potential loyal customers was out to cheat him in one out of over 100 movies....

I'm sorry, but I don't agree with you at all about your "vent". I think DDDHouse is spot-on the best place to buy HK DVDs from. Prices are right and the site is easy enough to navigate. If you didn't research it enough, that's your fault. It sounds like Johnny agreed to go the extra mile to try to make you happy, but you weren't ever going to be happy. Your approach might have worked with a place like Amazon, but you insult and accuse a person in such a way and they're going to take it personally. I would've told you to do the same quite honestly... that's the beauty of being self-employed. I have the God of Gamblers DVD (if it's the same one I'm thinking of) and it's a terrible DVD - bad picture and looks terrible in most players, but it cost like 3 or 4 bucks. I don't see why you would get on Johnny's case over such a small amount anyway. Plus - if you ordered over 100 DVDs in 2 shipments, that means you probably got them at a discount for a bulk order meaning he probably made next to nothing off your order. I've ordered hundreds of DVDs from him and if I've ever had any problems, they're either my error (in judgement usually) or a mastering defect. Johnny is always glad to try to make his customers happy within reason. Hell - I've gotten a defective disc or two and just ended up throwing them away - it's like less than 1% of the DVDs I've ordered and both of them were cheapies. You should probably stick to ordering from large corporations that pay people to talk on the phone to angry customers and act like they care. I mean - I'm not trying to get into a fight with you or an argument or anything, and I'm sure that from your perspective this experience of yours has been upsetting... it's just that - well, you're ordering DVDs from a guy who runs this modest business in another country without doing your own research and expecting him to be responsible for your error. Then you tied him up in emails for a couple of weeks with threats to write bad reviews of his site and all this other nonsense - and this is the guy who owns and operates the business - all over a few bucks worth of a DVD and just because it doesn't have Mandarin. Well, then listen to it in the original language and read subtitles like everybody else. With a company like Amazon, threats like that can sometimes work - but with a person like Johnny, you just gotta be cool with him and he's the nicest guy in the world. I don't know - he's got alot of patience - he allowed these emails to go on for a couple of weeks... I would've given up after a few days trying to make you happy and just said "sorry".

im sorry but im not here to have anyone agree with me or disagree with me, I'm just venting out my frustration with my situation, if this is the wrong forum to do so I apologize. If this thread has made some hesistant on ordering form dddhouse and to be careful and look up every information on another site, then by all means it has a point for others , but I just wanted to let members know that I am not happy with dddhouse, if you don't care for my opionion please feel free not to read my post...
I did not badger Johnny on threatening to give negative reviews, i never did until my last email where i informed him that I was not happy that he was not honoring his mistake.. And i had to keep sending him emails because he seems to play dumb and not know english of what im saying, and just repeats his email over and over, so i had to keep trying to explain myself.

I can read english fine, but my mother in law can't and she can't understand cantonese well, i was mainly getting this disc for her, the others i didn't really care what language they were in becuase i dont speak neither and didnt look at the info on the other discs (first time is the last time, casino tycoon 1,2) but i paid particular attention to God of gambler becuase my mother in law likes this movie and it said mandarin, so if i have to look up info on all of the +100 dvds i ordered then johnny might have as well not put any info on the disc and tell people to look up the info somewhere else. IF you cant rely on a merchants information of what he's selling why buy it.

sorry to ramble but I am a person who likes to make my point. disc was not much, 15 bucks about, but sending it back cost 3 dollars, buying insurance to make sure Johnnhy receives it cost ike 9 dollars. So what is the point of sending it back if he's not going to pay for my postage. Johnny is now outside my circle of trust as Robert Dinero would say. and i would not order from him again. I would now rather order somewhere alittle more pricey then to deal with anymore hassle.

You posted this in on an internet message board, people are going to respond, take it for what it is.

What it sounds like to me is that you ordered 100 DVD's and 1 was misrepresented. You contacted the merchant about it, they tried to make good by offering a swap, and you declined for financial reasons.

So in the end, it was you who didn't like the return policy.

i was well aware that i might get slammed for putting down the renowned DDDHOUSE, it was acutally 2 copies of god of gambler = about 30 bucks, and yes i am not happy i would have to pay for returning an item that was not my fault.... so if you are happy with dddhouse by all means continue, does anyone wanna buy 2 copies of god of the gambler, only viewed for 2 minutes?

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My own feelings with DDDHouse is mixed. I have had many orders with them, none recently. I too had problems with misrepresentation on the website. The responses I got back seemed rude; but I gave him the benefit of the doubt because of cultural differences. In the end, ten e-mail messages and two mailings back, we were both satisfied. Aside from that, the problem truly wasn't with DDDHouse but the distributors for selling 'dead' discs (Universe) and mislabeled discs (Winson). Only thing lost was a couple bucks on postage.

Out of one hundred discs, I would expect five floaters and three duds.

Heck, you probably saved hundred upon hundreds of dollars on your order alone... $0.02

Can't your MIL read Chinese? Anyway - that DVD is terrible, but Johnny didn't make it. There's no site that I could find online that lists that as being a terrible DVD (except review sites) and they can't be held accountable for the fact that you don't like the quality of the DVD. I understand that that's not what you're complaining about. Johnny's site listed the DVD specs as they were given to him by his distributor. It's not really his fault I don't think. If you're ever questioning whether or not a DVD contains Mandarin you can either ask on here or consult the asian dvd guide. Johnny also further absolves himself from guilt with his websites statement:

All online merchants have similar statements. Since he doesn't have the time to do all his own research or watch all these DVDs, he relies on the distributor's information. He's well within his rights to refuse taking a financial loss on a non-defective DVD because you didn't do your own research on it. In my opinion, he seems to have overextended himself to you to try to make you a happy customer and when he finally realized that this would never happen, he gave up (which he was well within his rights to do). Had the DVD been defective (which I personally think most early Mei Ah DVDs are basically ) he would've gladly replaced it for you. What you did would be like me buying a video game from Best Buy because one of the 16 year old employees said the game had zombies in it and then when I open the game and install it and play it and find out that it doesn't zombies and then trying to return an opened game because there's no zombies in it when it clearly states on the box that I didn't read in the first place "NO ZOMBIES" - Best Buy would tell me to take a hike.

I think you may have learned the wrong lessons from this... you should've learned a little bit about doing more research before ordering something from a foreign country and perhaps to read a websites disclaimers and statements so that you know what to expect should you have a problem. That's fine if you want to write your experience on this forum - I won't try to stop you, but I think if you're going to write such remarks like this you should at least expect that some people are going to disagree with you. If you aren't looking for anyone to agree or disagree, then writing something like this in a discussion forum is probably the wrong place and you would be better to make a website about it or just write comments to a place that isn't set up for people to write replies.

time to get the vcd version

Any one has tried this *******? From what I see, their prices are rather high (and VERY high on VCDs).

Never had heard of them until one of their employees was on the forums spamming the boards about how great they are and how they give you 'funny surprise' or some such with each order.

That user was suspended, and now a day later here's this guy...

.... anyone tempted to circumvent the software censor and mention [ahem] that site <small>(now starred out in the above two posts)</small> please note that Geoff'll probably be dishing out suspensions/bannings. And quite rightly so, IMO!

Benedict
Moderator, International DVD & Movie Forum

I think what it boils down to is that Johnny can sometimes come off as being pretty discourteous. I don't know if it's a language/cultural thing, or if he just gets in a bad mood sometimes, but I've never had a problem with him and people who have met him say he's a nice guy. Personally, I'm willing to risk getting a rude email in the future if I can get otherwise great service at excellent prices.

My personal experience has been that, Johnny is not so much rude, but rather overly definite in his tone (and sort of strict), and a little abrupt.

I suppose it's difficult not to be abrupt when you are running a store by yourself. Perhaps we are all spoiled by the new wave of polite sales reps from big online stores.

My experiences with DDDHouse, like most people, has been quite good.

Last December I placed an order with DDDHouse for a number of DVDs which I never received and which seemed to take forever to be resolved (that is, my credit card recredited after they had supposedly received confirmation that the parcel had not been processed by Australia Post) - the order was placed on 12th December 2001 and was finally settled on 21st February this year when my credit card was refunded the full amount.

Now, four months later, I receive an email from Johnny claiming that Australia Post informed him that the parcel was delivered and that my credit card will once again be charged!!

I have emailed Johnny to let him know that if he tries to deduct this amount without providing me with concrete evidence, that he is committing no less a crime than common theft.

As there is a requirement for the addressee to sign for receipt of registered mail, Johnny should be able to show me evidence of such a signature - which should be interesting as to this day I have not received the parcel and certainly never signed for it. I ended up ordering the DVDs from DVDShelf and have told him that I am more than willing to provide him with the concrete evidence of that order.

(*the above was edited as I have now been informed that registered mail must be signed for)

I suppose I am using this forum to vent, but I am also posting here as a warning to anyone else thinking of dealing with DDDHouse - so that you are aware that there is a murky flip-side to the shiny coin that everyone always talks about in here. I am NOT at all happy with this situation!!

regards, Tim...

I just received my third order from them yesterday, for a total of approx. 35 DVDs ordered and received without a problem.

Tough break about your situation, but alot of us have been happy with both the product and service from dddhouse. I'd heartily recommend them to those looking to get HK DVDs.

While I am sympathetic to your situation, I have to wonder if your frustration isn't misdirected...

Look at it from Johhny's view as a businessman. If indeed Australia Post tells him the parcel is delivered-- Then what would you have him do? Disbelieve the Post Service and absorb the cost of your unreceived parcel out of his own pocket?
Doing that would not be an intelligent business practice IMHO.

Perhaps your Postal Service is at fault for telling Johnny the parcel was delivered when in fact it was not? (clerical mistake, lost parcel, somebody saw your parcel labeled 'dvds' and forged your name... these things can and do happen unfortunately)

If possible, I would try to get a tracking number from Johnny and then go to your Au. Post and have them try to track down the records from there... (sounds like you're already doing this though)

I suppose that before continuing my thoughts I should wait until the complete story comes in.

I do wish you the best with this unfortunate transaction.

Cheers,
Gabe

**I've ordered from DDDhouse 6 or 7 times now totaling more than 100 discs, most recent order was only a few days ago.

Lucky you. I bought a lot of dvds from them, and 'till now I was really satisfied, because I received the orders without problems in a few days (7-10 days, I live in Europe). But my last order, shipped on 29th of April, never arrived, and even if I wrote to them a lot of times claiming for a refund or a second shipment, as Amazon for example ALWAYS does, I only received useless mails which don't answer in any way to my questions. As I think that customer care is the really one thing which makes the difference, I think I'll buy never more from them.


Federica

I've ordered hundreds of DVDs from DDDHouse and I'm a content and satisfied customer. Now - I've had the occasional floater and Johnny's return policy is for me to send him the damaged disc back and he'll replace it. I have yet to do that because I don't want to pay the shipping back to him. I'd rather just eat 5 bucks and order it again. The situations where a package doesn't arrive are truly unfortunate, but Johnny isn't to blame here. The postal services which don't deliver the packages are to blame. Johnny is not Amazon - DDDHouse is a small business that can't afford to do a refund or a second shipment for everyone that claims they never got it. That's why he confirms with the postal services whether it was delivered or not and that's why the process takes a long time. There are other places to order from that might have more employees that can answer questions or that may have policies more like Amazon's, but this is Hong Kong we're talking about and these places don't have a whole lot of money and they can't lose money like Amazon can and still be able to feed themselves. I think that when you order from DDDHouse or a similar place, you have to realize that this is a small operation and if the post office loses your package and claims they delivered it to you, then there's not much these companies can do for you without hurting their business.

My sister once sent my father a DVD through Amazon, but she sent it to his old address. Amazon claimed it was delivered, I went by the place and it turns out the people who had just moved in kept it and I didn't feel like asking for it back. Amazon tried to get the package back with no luck. My sister told Amazon that we can't get the package back so they sent my dad another copy to his correct address. My sister's error and my being too lazy to go get the package back meant that Amazon had to pay for a second DVD and shipping to my dad's correct address. Amazon has to deal with stuff like this every day. I don't think DDDHouse or any place like that can afford to eat postal service errors like a place like Amazon can. I understand this when I place my order. If my order is larger, it comes next day by way of UPS and is insured and I am given a tracking number.

It's risky in general ordering anything from Hong Kong, but DDDHouse is a trustworthy place that has amazing prices and good service (for the most part). If you want to be safer, then order from a local vendor. HKFlix and Pokerindustries are US based retailers. Their prices are higher, but at least you're getting something shipped by one parcel service instead of having to travel overseas from one carrier to the next and passing customs and inspections and then finally being delivered to you.

I'll stick up for DDDHouse and say that after several orders and hundreds of DVDs, I'm still a happy and satisfied customer. If you prefer dealing with places like Amazon, DDDHouse might be a little too risky for you. DDDHouse is a little more sophisticated than this, but it's a little like fea market shopping. Buyer beware. It may even be a bit of a gamble ordering from an overseas merchant in Hong Kong, but I think there's far more happy and satisfied customers than miserable and unlucky ones with DDDHouse. I hope your situations work out in the end - I suggest putting more pressure on your postal carrier. Also - note that from Johnny's perspective, he sent the items to the address you gave him a long time ago and while he is trying to protect his interest here, he'll still do anything he can to try to help you find the lost shipment. Also remember that if you get hostile with Johnny, he can - as the small business owner - tell you to go stick it. He's a good guy though so just keep it civil.

For what it's worth, I've also had a lousy customer service experience with DDDHouse and would not order from them again. Basically, they continually lied about the availability of a title I wanted, and once it did finally come in stock they shipped out first to people who ordered AFTER I did, depleting the stock again and forcing me to wait for yet another shipment.

There's no excuse for that kind of treatment. I'd just as soon give my money to HiViZone or 3D-Express.

Lucky you too.

Here in Italy there are a lot of small on line shops such as dddhouse. When packages get lost they provide immediately a second shipment.
Then, there are some on line shops in hong kong similar to amazon, such as yesasia or dvdshelf. Not so cheap as dddhouse, I agree, but as I told customer care is for me the first thing to consider when buying on line.

Well, If I risk to loose a retailer, he risks to loose a customer, better, for now, he has lost a customer.

Bye, Federica