Seashellz

Just rechecked my "Dispatch Pending" order of BLEAK HOUSE, which is one month old today, and noticed that it is no longer listed as available for sale on either their UK or US site. ie: a search reveals "no such item"

I wonder if the "Telephone Service Down" is a ruse.

It has to be-too convenient.

The only glimmer of hope-
while DVDSOONs demise was due to bad business decisions,
CDWOW are likely to appeal this ruling and possibly win-which could take months.

But I wont hold my breath-I just asked for a refund

John Hodson

The DVD Forums has just suspended it's affiliation scheme with CDWow, I think because of this:

http://www.thedvdforums.com/forums/s...d.php?t=481766

wildeny

In the past, when the item is not available, CD WOW would remove it from the site. You can email or call them (if possible) to see whether they can ship out your order. If not, you can cancel it.

wildeny

I don't believe they would do that.

John Hodson

And the affiliate scheme looks to have been reinstated; looks like a wild rumour...

toddly6666

So what's the worst case scenario with CD-WOW for people awaiting orders?

Can the company eventually go bankrupt, and legally not give money back to people whom are awaiting orders? Is it legal or illegal?

SkullOrchard

They finally responded with an apology and said they'd issue me a complete refund. They also said that they hoped I'd continue giving them my business. The sad fact of the matter is that I'm afraid to order anything else from them...and there's a lot of stuff I want to order.

Nebiroth

Yes. If they go into liquidation, then the company's assets including buildings etc etc will be used to pay off people who are owed money. But there's a strict order of priority in which these "creditors" are paid.

Customers who have paid for goods but not received them fall fairly low on that list, they are known as "unsecured creditors".

It's why it's a good idea to pay by credit card, this is because if things go nasty you can usually get your money back from the credit card company via what is known as a "chargeback".

AFAIK, that's because the initial contract of sale is between the store and the credit card company, not the credit card holder - so the dispute is between the store and the CC company. Who will have to try to recover their money from the liquidated assets. But they are much better equipped to do so than any lowly internet shopper is.

logboy

i've had a reply. order cancelled and refund apparently in process.... thank god.

dddhouse for me, from now on. 'retribution' and 'eye in the sky' next week, so that will make a nice order.

Dr. Forrester

Well, I've sent a few messages to Customer Service and their Help email address, but still no response. At this point, I'll be grateful just to get my money back and wash my hands of the whole affair.

Truly a shame to see such a good company turn bad so quickly.

toddly6666

Why can't CDWOW go out respectfully and honestly as NICHEFLIX did so gracefully? Is it because CDWOW is so big, it's now a corporation that's out of control and with no one really running it?

cine

I got email responses from them but it took 3-4 days -- not within 24 hours (sometimes within the hour) the way it used to be. They must be overwhelmed with the sheer volume of emails from people inquiring when their orders are going to be shipped.

murphy_wmm

Why do the big fat cats always win?? What kind of world do we live in anyway, CDWOW did absolutely nothing wrong. With people like these fat cats, there is no economic freedom.... they have all the laws in the world to prevent competition like CDWOW that would lower their high prices a little bit.

Dr. Forrester

Thankfully I heard back from them today - order canceled and refunded. They also said they'd also send a "voucher" for a future purchase, but I haven't received that yet. If and when it arrives, I'll use it, but after that I'll be hard pressed to order from them again. Maybe in a few months and if their rep has cleaned up.

Brent L

A day or two ago I emailed one of the two people I usually email with any questions I have. I asked about their problems, what's going on, told them I know people online having a bunch of problems, and they just replied back with the following:

Seashellz

well, I asked for my $22 refund and 3 days later it is back in my checking account.
They act like all is well, and hope that I will trade with them again, soon...

Warehouse fire, phone system on the blink, computer not connectiing with WORLDPAY-I had to prove I ordered the above via an WP email invoice and an entry from my checking account-
But, I was refunded.
Cant understand why some folks have trouble
My emails were generally always answered within 3 days

cine

Received my refund today -- within the "5-7 business days" interval CDWow had quoted.

Re: CDWow's email to Brent L: if their order fulfillment problem is entirely due to logistic issues resulted from the warehouse fire as the email seems to imply, they could and should have just said so in their shipping-delay notification emails sent out to customers, in which case I, for one, would be very willing to wait it out. But every email I got re: my outstanding order every couple of weeks over the course of the past two months says "... Unfortunately, we have experienced a delay in receiving this product from our suppliers. At this stage we have been advised that we will have this item available to ship on xx/xx/xx". During this same period I did get an order shipped within just a few days -- their normal shipping interval. Hence their problem seems to be a "supplier problem" as their emails stated.

I do hope that they will get back to normal operations in which case I will again shop with them. Their customer care, even during this most difficult time, is not much worse than that of some major DVD etailers in normal operations.

Reservoir

Didn't they have a fire in their Hong Kong office a few weeks back too?

They are either very unlucky or need to employ a professional arsonist.

toddly6666

It's called "lying." Why would a company tell customers about their honest problems? They use lies all the time to deceive their customers and string them along.

gmerreighnjr

well,despite all the problems i'm happy to say that my "Hot Fuzz" dvd arrived today

question: is the only thing the UK version is missing is the "Fuzzball Rally" extra? i'm trying to decide if it's worth the double dip to pick up the U.S. version on Tuesday?

*EDIT* http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread....66#post8031466

cine

Picked up this on TheDVDForums:

http://www.borrelliwalsh.com/documents/News20070614.pdf

A new chapter for CDWow?

PopcornTreeCt

I have nothing but good experiences with cd-wow. I asked them to cancel Lost Highway as it didn't look like I would ever receive it. They promptly gave me a refund for it within 3 days. Everything else I ordered shipped out.

It would be sad to see them to go. I've been ordering from them on and off for a few years.

pilot

Looks like the opposite to me.

Their main page said "For Sale : CD-WOW.COM Online Trading - CDs and DVDs - 14th June 07"

and the company, Borrelli & Walsh, is a specialist restructuring, insolvency and forensic accounting firm.

Insolvency - "When a company can no longer meet its debt obligations with another firm or institution." ..Might be going bankrupt.

That's bad news.

BuddhaWake

so its probably true that they had issues with their suppliers, the issue that their suppliers more than likely would not give them credit. cash only at time of delivery. just like tower records right before it went under. if you haven't gotten your money back by now. there is no better time. I'm going to email them to get a refund for an order from 7 weeks ago.

ChrisHicks

I sent in my cancellation/refund request yesterday.