silage88

With their incress in prices (I ordered MI2 at 40% off way back then) I was wondering who still shops there and where are some good stores left on-line?

DVDer

95% of my pre-orders still go to Amazon. The rest go to Buy.com, the one store (surprisingly) that I've never had any problems with.

Moving to Stores forum.

--Heather
DVD Talk moderator

BoBoish

Well, I'm done preordering with Amazon. I'll preorder from other stores until they lower their discounts to match Amazon. At that point, I'll just buy the DVDs at a B&M on release day.

Bo.

Randy810

I will not use Buy.com andymore. I use Amazon and 800.com I also use DDD for several orders. I Never had a problem with either in any respect that a phone call to thie CSR didn't clear up quickly. Maybe I have been lucky but I really have not problems with these 2, I always had massove delays, cancellations and aggrevation from Buy.com.

rexinnih

I shop there because I live in Japan and they're pretty good about shipping internationally. But I shop there mainly because I still have some Jaboom GC's left. Once those run out I'm not sure. They do tend to have a problem with not reading calenders correctly and sending my stuff out two or three days after the street date.

Laser Movies

I will still use Amazon if I can get coupons or GCs to offset their prices. But I will also use other stores more now since they raised prices. I have used Twec since they have been offering some coupons, and so far have been happy with them. They have shipped orders when they are available at no extra charge, and received most of them either early or on time. Another store I have used is Lasersedge which has most in stock titles cheaper than Amazon's, and charges a flat charge of $3.50 for shipping. They ship preorders early or on time, and I think their customer service is better than Amazon's. But I think I will also start looking to Columbia House more since that seems to be about the best way to get DVD's cheap. Only problem is it takes a long time to receive an order, and you have to wait for newer releases to become available enrollment.

Maliboo

The only thing that keeps me going back to Amazon is the $5 refer-a-friend.

Daniel Schenk

I still order all my DVD`s and Books from Amazon. Sure the prices are a bit more expensive now but for Europe it is still very good and the Customer Service is excellent!

cineman

I happily use Amazon. They get my business because of fast shipping and excellent customer service. I've only had one problem with them and they fixed it immediately.

chsidwel

I still use amazon, but I've also been using more and more of twec.com. Once in a while, amazon will get new releases to me by street date, but mostly after. Twec.com has always gotten them to me no later than street date. Their prices are about the same, but if the only difference is getting the DVD sooner, that works for me.

Odie

After this Fugitive SE fiasco I'll think twice about pre-ordering from Amazon unless I have a GC there.

renaldow

I like Amazon, but then I also buy more than just DVD's from them. It will be a sad day if they ever go the way of Kozmo.

CrashMan

Rant ahead...

I find it odd that one person can continue to have good experiences with a particular online store, while another person can continue to have bad experiences with the same store. I stopped pre-ordering DVD's from Amazon because they screwed up every order, and I couldn't get a pre-order shipped until 3-4 after the street date. Throw in their higher prices, trying to increase sale prices after you’ve ordered an item, crappy customer service (for me at least), and lousy shipping and it's just not worth the hassle.

So I switched to Twec or DDD. Twec offers coupons, and DDD has decent prices and free standard shipping. Lately, both have fallen off. I have Criterion pre-orders with each of them (as part of larger orders) that were released yesterday and neither has been shipped. Twec lists my Spartacus disc as backordered but their website says the disc is available to ship within 24 hours. You can’t check the status of your order on the DDD website, so I sent them an e-mail. They wrote back saying they hadn’t received the disc yet. I know some people have received the same discs from the same stores.

Also, the way Twec packages and ships DVD’s is horrible. Single discs are put in a Priority Mail box with a piece of paper wadded up and stuffed in the box. The last three I’ve received have been crushed and practically opened. I tried to return one because I could tell the disc inside was damaged. I didn’t open it, wrote “return to sender” on the box and put it in the mail. Two days later I got it back again in a plastic bag from the post office with a hand written note saying I’d opened it and now I had to pay for return postage! It's really frustrating.

Is it so damn hard to count the number of discs that have been pre-ordered and make sure you have that many on hand the day of release? Is it so hard to get them shipped on time? Is it that difficult to know the real status of the inventory? Is it so hard to pack something decently?

As for Buy.com or 800.com well, I gave up on them a while ago.

Sometimes it amazes me these places stay in business as long as they do.

Back to the B&M’s I go.

Master J

I can't believe you are calling it a fiasco that they will not send you a DVD for free. DO you feel entitled to get free titles?

Out of the numerous orders I have had at Amazon only a few have encountered problems. A quick call to their CS usually remedies any problems one may have. Their prices are not that good anymore, but coupled with coupons you can find some OK deals. All things being equal, Amazon would get my business first. I don't know any other e-tailer who sends out copies of Braveheart for free, regular coupons, and even coffee mugs to their customers. Amazon is one of the class acts in the world of e-commerce.

J

37 In A Row

I USED to love Amazon. They were the only on-line store I used. I would defend it and recommend it to my friends. But the "Fugitive" deal and their flucuating prices have finally made me give up on them. I was not hoping to get "Fugitive: SE" free (I didn't even attempt it or any of the others for that matter), but I expected to get it for the price I pre-ordred, $17.49. They are usually great with their customer service but on this one they REALLY dropped the ball. I cancelled my pre-order as well as a couple others. I am debating cancelling my 2 other pre-orders. The only way to voice your opinon is to vote with your wallet. I'm personally reverting back to B&Ms as well. Got to love the instant gratification!

greeny

I have never had one problem with Amazon, and I buy A LOT from them. At the current moment, I have 9 pre-orders for the next 2 months, not to mention I have bought nearly 15 dvds from them in past 2 and a half weeks. Since I have a lot of gcs that I haven't used, I am using them now. I can't even begin to add up how much I have spent at Amazon, and the prices for dvds there are fine with me, because most of the movies that I buy, I can't find them at any B&M store. If I was more interested in 'mainstream' films, I probably wouldn't buy them online at Amazon, but rather at a B&M store.

el cheapo

I was about to place three rather large orders especially now that the pre-order prices were back at 30%... but now they are down to 25% discount. Damn! I mean wtf are they playing around with yield management so late in the day for? It aggravates me off no end that their management can't decide on a pricing strategy and stick to it.

I ran some quick checks on the DVD price engines and noticed that Amazon was matching 800.com's pricing on most pre-orders, now that Reel, Buy and Express are but ciphers of their past life. I suspect their main competitors are now the B&M chains and the weekly loss leaders.

dave955

el cheapo, I agree with you that Amazon's tinkering with the MSRP discount is extremely annoying. If they want to have a temporary sale, LET US KNOW IT IS A SALE. These kinds of random price changes absolutely reek of variable pricing, just over time instead of over customers.

Troy Stiffler

What the hell is wrong with people. Whaaaaaaaaa. They are mad because it took a minute to order a movie that was obviously NOT mispriced. PRICE INFORMATION NOT YET AVAILABLE. There's a note of this! Are people blind??? They even say that you'll have to confirm the price at a later time. And on top of that, it's not like they're charging your card automatically. Don't want to take the time to approve or cancel your order? **** it! Don't! The order will just stay there. So what???

I've probably ordered a little over 100 of my DVDs from them. The first DVD I bought from them was Office Space, and that was in August of 99, so I consider myself a long time, loyal customer. I'm actually glad that so many stores are biting the dust, because Amazon is such a wonderful place and deserves more attention than it receives.

As for the pre-ordering waiting time. Boo hoo. I don't know about anyone else, but I work during the week. I usually don't have any time till the weekend to watch anything, and I always have a DVD in my hands by the end of the week with Amazon.

I don't understand why people either have great or terrible expeirence with them. But I know that their customer service is phenomenal. They alway get back to me within a business day, and have very polite CSRs. One time, I complained about my Repo Man LE Tin having a dent, what did they do? They sent me a replacement for free and a shipping tag to send it back at no cost to me! That's customer service for ya! And it's not just one time, but three times, so I'm positive they're consistantly a great company.

My only complaint is that the prices have been rising. But hey, as long as they're no more expensive than Best Buy, I'm going to buy from them. With their bland, but useful cupons, I'm glad to buy from them. I love giving them business. I AM an Amazon B^tch

37 In A Row

Troy you don't have all the information on the "Fugitive: Special Edition" incident. Amazon had all the information on the MSRP for it but insisted I pay the higher price because there was an error in their system that temporarily had the price at $0.00. This would set a disturbing precendent. When you pre-order you SHOULD be "locking in" a price. They could potentially raise the price at anytime.

Their customer service is excellent. I ordered T2: Ultimate Edition and was only sent one disc of the 2 disc set (yes it was the 2 disc set version not the DVD-18). They sent me a new one the next day and paid for me shipping it back to them. Their new pricing methods are bs.

I'm tired of gettin' pimp slapped by Amazon. I decided to trick myself out. Best Buy and Costco prices are cheaper and I'm not getting Amazon GCs from Jaboom or Echo. I personally cancelled my pre-orders from them and will not be using them again. I'm happy you're happy. I myself am not.

DFC-2

I have 54 preorders pending with Amazon through July and have been ordering from them since January 1997. There are many stores I could go to for mainstream releases, but for offbeat titles (e.g. Midnight by Walter Salles and Urbania) few other stores offer Amazon's general breadth and high quality customer service. I have been able to group my orders by month so that they ship one bulk order at a minimal shipping charge (usually about $1.10 a disk). Each to their own. I have yet to find another company as generally responsive to complaints or with as large a selection as Amazon.

Tastycake

Amazon.com is a site that just seems to be slipping. Nothing against them but I gotta say that in the days of late, DDD has been a favorite of mine. It's just not a big hassel and the prices are pretty cheap. It just seems to work all around!

exm

I think there are two issues with The Fugitive SE:
- $0.00 orders
- $17.49 orders

In my case I pre-ordere The Fugitive SE at $17.49 (30% off), so nothing special. Amazon also sent me the price increase e-mail and I tried to e-mail multiple times, stating that I'm a good customers (with over $1,000 on orders and coming orders) but no cooperation yet. It's not that 1 case will ruin my impression of Amazon but who guarentees that it won't happen AGAIN? Until Amazon comes up with a reasonable explanation or at least an apology, I won't order there any more and I cancelled all my pre-orders.

Avid Fan

i've never had a problem with amazon and use them for dvd's and books.

dave955

An update on the price change situation, if people are interested.

I wrote Jeff Bezos at Amazon to complain about the fact the DVD pre-order price increases were unannounced and, principally, rescinded and then later reimplemented. The price fluctuations over the last week or two bothered me quite a bit.

Within 12 hours I had heard back from Jason Kilar at Amazon who is responsible for their DVD store and pricing. While Videotropic told a nice story ("The 30% discount appears to be back, with the brush with 25% due to the application of yield-management techniques to guage [sic] the shape of the net profit curve."), it does not match Mr. Kilar's account. According to him, it was never Amazon's intent to go back to 30% for pre-orders. This reversion was an internal computer error relating to some changes they made in the browse classifications, and the minute they spotted in online, they began to track the error's source down and return the prices to 25% off.

Mr. Kilar said he shared my frustration with this episode and apologized for the glitch. So that's the "official" story behind the change from 25% to 30%. He didn't feel a need to say what was behind the changes from 30% to 25%