I decided to try out moviesource.com on a few pre-orders so I placed two orders: one for City Slickers/Sunshine and the other for the X-Files set. City Slickers & Sunshine shipped out early, I got a shipping confirmation and received the product in a timely basis. I was waiting for the X-Files, but I just figured they hadn't got that product in early and I'd have to wait until street date.

Come May 8th, no sign of a shipping notice. I check their online order status which says it hasn't shipped yet. I email them about it. The rep tells me it looks like it shipped out on May 2nd (same day as my OTHER order) but for some reason the site didn't reflect this. Ok.

So I wait patiently a few more days while he "looks into" this. I finally hear back from him today and he tells that the item shipped on May 2nd, it was supposedly delivered on May 4th and there was "nothing else he could do."
No offer to replace it, nothing. He tells me to take it up with the post office, even though only a SHIPPER can claim a lost package. A recipient has nothing to do with it.

To add insult to injury this guy kept swearing up & down that I had received the package since he traced it and that's what the post office said. (As if I'm lying). And then he makes some remark about me not "picking up my mail." Excuse me, I work from home and I happen to get my mail about 2 seconds after I hear the mailperson step on my porch.

And to really put the cap on it, he had the nerve to email me the USPS tracking number. A number that I entered at the USPS site and was told does not even exist!

So no shipping notice, no online order status, no valid tracking number, yet somehow I got the feeling he was accusing me of trying to scam THEM.

I have been ordering online for over 4 years and I have never been burned like this. I have only had 1 or 2 packages ever go missing and every time the retailer quickly made amends and sent out a replacement.

I have already disputed the charge with my credit card company who thankfully is very easy to work with.
(It's also odd that the charge for this shipment that was supposedly shipped on May 2nd wasn't posted to my account until the 11th).

I just wanted to leave a warning for fellow DVD Talkers. God forbid a package from the MovieSource ever doesn't show up: you'll be told that you're SOL and it's not their problem.

I won't ever be dealing with this shady operation ever again. I hope treating a new customer like crap was worth it for them. I buy so many DVDs online every month. I'll be happy to spend my money at a REPUTABLE etailer.


[Edited by Jadzia on 05-16-01 at 06:00 AM]

We are neither shady nor are we disreputible and are certainly not a 'scam site'...but something has gone terribly wrong here. Please eMail me directly at [email protected] and I'll check into this for you. I'll need your order number if you have it, or at least the eMail address that you used for the order. Yes, we have been scammed in increasing numbers lately by customers stating they did not receive product, despite USPS claiming otherwise. I apologize that some frustration was directed at you. The lack of shipping notice makes me think something else has gone on here. Please send the eMail so we can clear this up as soon as possible.

man that's f*cked up. i don't care what that guy says, i ain't never ordering from their asses.

and he says "they've been scammed". i don't care what he or the USPS says. I ordered something recently from X10.com. It was shipped USPS. Well guess what, it never came. I got the tracking number, went to USPS.com, plugged it in, it says delivered. And I was home all that day and got the mail. Nonsense. X10 took care of me, but this happens all the time from etailers.

I once got 4 or 5 of the same item free from good ole CDUniverse who sent out replacements every time I complained about never receiving it but getting charged for it. They pulled this crap all the time with customers. Ask anyone about CDUniverse and they'll give you a horror story.

There are other questionable or rotten etailers too. DV-Depot just sent me (and apparently everyone else) an opened DVD with the disc wrapped in a common paper towel. I e-mailed them to ask if they'd lost their mind, and they claimed people just loved their one-of-kind disc-unwrapping service. Rediculous nonsense.

Ordered a Sony laptop for my office from Outpost.com last year. It came fast and shipping was free. The laptop was also USED/DAMAGED. I called them and said I wanted a new one, they said they couldn't do anything about it, that I'd have to call Sony (that is Outpost's official policy). Called Sony and of course they said I'd have to deal with Outpost.com...of course after wasting hours on the phone, we never got anywhere and had to keep the computer. Guess what, I never placed an order there again, and never will. Ever. I buy tons of stuff for my workplace. Could have been perhaps $10,000 or more out the window for them that I now give to Buy.com or someone else.

And then there is Cyberrebate, who i've never fallen prey too.

they treated you like sh*t. there's no excuse. even if this guy makes it right, you've had to waste all kinds of time on this nonsense. don't order from them again.

i think you meant to say a "recipient" has nothing to do with it?

Wow! That's pretty bold of you to post here (read: in the midst of your potential customers) that your company is the one getting scammed by your customers. Kind of funny that they are all saying the same thing and in this case it's true. Could it be that your shipping department is the real problem? How did USPS claim that <b>Jadzia</b> received his package yet didn't? Seems that maybe the person in charge of checking with USPS could also be the problem? I've never ordered from you and after this I probably never will. Guess you've never heard of "the customer is always right"??

moviesource.com have done right by me so far. the other day, i received a gladiator dvd which was badly scratched and i sent it right back to the mckelvie guy. the credited me back the shipping charges and the item arrived in a month. i think they're a good company but the international shipping charges are a bit high.

I'm not sticking up for either side here, I'm just answering this question.

The USPS tracker is generally wrong. I have Amazon orders that show they were never delivered, but were. I've had the tracker show they were delivered 3 days before they ever were. The USPS tried to do a good service with their tracking software and service, but it doesn't work. No one, customer or business, should use their tracker to prove or disprove anything. At best it's a magic 8 ball solution.

I'd agree with that. USPS tracking is pretty worthless. Even if it's accurate which i've haven't experienced yet, it doesn't give names, dates, times, where it was delivered, who it was delivered to, etc.

UPS and FedEx have very good tracking systems though. They can track every single time it has been scanned from point to point to point and they can give you the person's signature (automatically over the phone, etc.) who signed for it when you can't find the damn thing so you know how to yell at.

The USPS is still behind...

Well, I'll chime in with this:
I placed an order, received a timely shipping confirmation,
and received the order in reasonably quick fashion.
However, it was the VHS version of DVD I ordered.
Instead of shipping out a replacement immediately, they required that they receive the incorrect order first, and that I pay for the shipping. Well after the usps said they received it, I had to talk to 3 reps to get my ordered shipped. It just shipped today so hopefully I'll receive it some time this week. I won't order from them again either, because it was just too big of a hassle.

If you wanna talk about a REAL SCAM SITE though, you have to mention Itchee.com. I ordered from almost two months ago,
they charged my card, and I didn't receive ANYTHING. Not a order confirmation, shipping confirmation, an order, NOTHING! This despite several emails to them.

MovieSource made you pay for return shipping when they had sent you the wrong item?

I'll never order from them!

Sounds like their first rule is "Don't Trust the Customer."

No we did not! We credit back the shipping cost if we ship the wrong item or if it's defective.

well i guess he told you...

Jadzia , sorry to hear about this unfortunate experience with this etailer. I have yet to order from this store and am now hesitant. I have seen the list of movies that you have had on order from previous posts and I am sure that this etailer will miss your business.

Why is everybody jumping on mdmckelvie?

I seriously believe that moviesource made a mistake and is trying to fix that mistake. The fact that the USPS tracking number was an invalid number is strange, as is the absense of a shipping notice.

While I have never ordered from moviesource, but I will certainly consider them for my purchases.

Another representative (from a different site) awhile back made a reference to the sheer number of people who try to say that they never received their product in order to fraudulently receive a second shipment. Mdmckelvie, you make a reference to this in your post. In the average day or week, how many people try to say that they never received their DVDs when they actually did? What other scams are you up against all of the time?

Ok, here's an update.

Michael (mdmckelvie) contacted me and offered to look into the matter for me. I just got an email that said he is shipping out a replacement copy.

Hopefully I will receive it soon. I will post here when it arrives.

I very much appreciate him intervening to take of this matter. I feel a lot better about this whole debacle now. At least they tried to take care of it after I ranted about it here publicly.

I just wish I didn't have to jump through so many hoops in order to get the product I ordered.

But there's hope at least.

I would estimate that almost 5% of orders have some element of 'doubt' to them. It's a combination of problems with credit cards, especially wrong addressess (huge problem with international orders), but the number 1 problem is complaints about not receiving product, when USPS claims it's been delivered. When it's the post office, it's frustrating. When it's a customer, it's kind of the online equivilant to shoplifting.

The X-Files DVD that started this entire thread is a classic example. Our search on USPS tracking said "Your item was delivered at 12:00 pm on May 5 in (city) (state) (zip)". The comment from thier rep was "Don't even think about putting in a claim - it was delivered." So, as a retailer, what do you do? It's a difficult situation, leaving the etailer stuck in the middle. Such erosion of profit is one of the reasons that some .com's have gone dark.

Any yes, when you become cautious, attempting to protect your business, you can make the mistake of starting to be suspicious of all customers with issues, which is something that we are addressing internally now as that's not how we want to do business.

Are we scammers? no. Do things screw up sometimes? I'm afraid so.

Thanks for asking.

Well, my account has not been credited yet, and according to the usps, they received it on May 9. So to me, I've been charged for shipping.

I agree. My point is that exactly that! They are trying to use the fact that USPS said it was delivered to turn things around on the customer when it can be shown that USPS delivery confirmation is unreliable.

Just to be fair, I will say that I have used it a couple of times and it worked fine.

<b>Heat</b>,

You sound like you work for them. Any company that comes in here accusing its customers of scamming them would never get my business. I hope that you don't have any problems if/when you decide to place an order because I doubt that you would get any sympathy here.

Dabluguy, I applaud your faith in mankind and human nature in general, but if I were a customer service representative at an internet company and a customer said that they never received an item even though I had a delivery confirmation receipt showing they did receive it (and if the company's computers show that it was shipped and the inventory is correct), I wouldn’t believe the customer. Any internet company that says that none of its customers has tried to scam them is either lying or selling something to a very niche market.

Let’s say you sold a new DVD on ebay, shipped it via Priority Mail and included delivery confirmation on that DVD. You get an email a week later saying “where is the DVD?” when the USPS shows (through the delivery confirmation) that it was received by that person three days after you mailed it. What are you going to do?

For some reason some people would not think twice about trying pulling a scam on an internet company because the laws protect the brick and mortar stores. For example, if you pick up a DVD, put it under your coat and walk out the door you are shoplifting, even if you say “oh, I didn’t realize that it was there”. If you say that you never received a DVD from an internet company and ask the company to send you a second DVD, and for whatever reason the postman had videotaped his leaving the first DVD in your mailbox and your picking it up, you can always say “oh, I thought that box was from a different company”, nothing would happen to you.

As for Jadzia, he was caught in an unfortunate situation and I am glad that things worked out. My only question was if the tracking receipt really did exist or if the customer service representative was looking at the wrong receipt (or a non-existent receipt). That is, from moviesource's end of things, what happened?

http://www.usps.gov/cttgate/welcome.htm

In my opinion, USPS tracking sucks (for now), UPS & FedEx tracking rocks. And I'm a somewhat objective observer (i never ordered from this moviesource company before). Sorry Moviesource guy, I ain't convinced that USPS tracking confirmation means sh*t.

Let's do an experiment. I just placed 2 more orders with X10.com. Neither have yet arrived. When I get home tonight, I'll e-mail X10.com, ask them for the confirmation #s, i'll plug them in and we'll see what happens...

Didn't the USPS team up with FedEx recently for something?

I received my X-FIles set today!!!!! Whoo-hoo!

I am so happy this is resolved. I am very appreciative of Michael for stepping into this thread and straightening this out for me.

So you don't necessarily need to avoid Moviesource...but if you have a problem with them definitely come here for help.

Thanks for all who echoed their concern about this. It's noce to know that a retailer won't leave the customer hanging on an undelivered product.

I had disputed the charge with my credit card company, but I just called them up and told them to remocve the sidpute since the issue had been resolved by the merchant.

I'm glad this worked out.

I would agree, but I wouldn't go to a place where my customers gather and try and use that "fact" as an excuse for the actions of a "no-customer service" rep. That's just bad business.





That depends. If I am a business I may want to re-ship, if it were just me, I may be willing to tell them too bad. But they are totally different situations. My point was from a business stand-point. You don't want to alienate your customers. If you go to them and accuse them of ripping you off, how many are going to buy from you?





I would like to know what happened as well. Needless to say that there are problems over there and it might not be in your best interest to order from them.

[Edited by dablueguy on 05-18-01 at 12:50 AM]

FYI, 1 of my X10 orders arrived yesterday. The USPS tracking confirmation was...was...was...

anyone?...

well it was actually......correct...

hmmmmm......

Maybe it was an attempt to justify the increase in postage?

Delivery confirmation which the post office utilizes is a complete joke....maybe this newer signature confirmation where I assume the individual has to sign for the package will solve these problems. Of course, this could result in higher shipping costs also. :)

That's really a shame. I had an outstanding experience w/ MovieSource and I'll definitely be ordering from there again (despite the stories I've heard). They have really great prices and they seem willing to help.

If you have been on this site for a week, you have seen countless items about how somebody scammed some store into sending a replacement DVD when it wasn't needed or receiving multiple copies and not returning them. So how in the hell can you be angry at moviesource.com for trying to protect themsleves and keep their prices low.

And the old "customer is always right" saying has turned into pure crap due to all of the dishonest consumers who steal from internet companies and B&M stores alike. There are a select few who are screwing it up for the rest of us. That is, those of us who are honest. We need to police ourselves and condemn the people who post here about ripping off the etailers. Why do you think prices are suddemly on the rise. Higher overhead due to loss, theft, certainly has something to do with it.

PS: This is not aimed at Jadzia, because you my friend appear to be one of the honest ones.

ya right...

and shoplifters are the reason department stores charge so much... [they have insurance]

and insurance fraud is the reason insurance premiums are so high... [insurance companies, banks, and oil companies run the damn world]

or is it the other way around?

it all depends on whether you're a have or a have-not my friend. you sound like you wanna kiss the master's behind to me. aren't you tired of being on hold for hours because someone sold you something that didn't work, or it never came, or whatever? and then to have someone say they didn't believe you... i'm still waiting for my Lexmark Z11 printer rebate check that never came that i got from some loser .com store who i finally got to admit that they screwed up but they still won't do anything for me...

The old "customer is always right" must be every company's policy (unless you're a monopoly). They reap the rewards, so they have to take the risks.

you get me vote for hall monitor of the week.

And you are calling me a hall monitor? Now isn't that the pot calling the kettle black.

Also, from your anger in your post, you must obviously be one of the scammers. Because if you were not, then a. my post did not apply to you, and B. it would not have offended you.

Actually, yes shoplifting does cause prices to go up, and insurance fraud does get passed on to us. If you haven't figured this out, I am assuming that you are maybe 19. You may feel I am kissing the masters behind, but you my friend can KISS mine!

PS: The ole "customer is always right" saying is already changing before our eyes. If you have not noticed I am sorry. It is not a right, it is a privilege that has been abused and we are about to lose it.

[Edited by apowers on 05-20-01 at 11:51 AM]

well i guess he told me didn't he.

how about king of hall monitors then... :editking:

usps delivery confirmation is indeed unreliable
 

I do a lot of buying online, and can confirm that usps delivery confirmation is unreliable. Late last year, I was waiting for a package from 800.com that I felt was overdue. I checked the tracking number (it was on a priority mail package) at the usps website, and it showed that it had been delivered a day earlier. I called 800.com, and they were nice about offering to send a replacement, maybe because I had a long order history with them. At that time, I figured that maybe the postal carrier in our office building had put the package in someone else's mailbox in the lobby, and that person had just decided to keep the "gift". Hey, when confronted with an unsolved mystery, the mind immediately tries to explain it and come up with some rational solution. Then, 2 days later, the package arrived, 3 days after it was stated as delivered according to the usps "tracking system". I asked the mail carrier, and she said that they are only scanned for confirmation at the delivery location. And, it wasn't a "re-delivery" from having been delivered to the wrong person because I confirmed from the mail carrier that it had just arrived that day. She had no idea how it could have happened.

Now, with all that said, and from seeing the other posts in this thread, it just confirms one thing to me. USPS delivery confirmation is probably MOSTLY accurate (and I've confirmed that), but there are some bugs in the system confirmed by my own experience and that of others. Knowing this, for an online retailer to use the "delivery confirmation" from USPS as the arbiter in a dispute is not right.

Seems to be a recurring issue:

10 days after my shipping notice: "We'll check with USPS"

14 days after paying/shipped: "We'll check with USPS (again)"

17 days after my shipping notice: "We still haven't heard back from them. We're in Canada and they seem to be ignoring us"

20 days : "Passed off your order to our manager due to lack of results"

25 days : "Nothing new. In the mean time we'll ship you another" (cool)!

30 days : Wrong box set arrives. My address w/ someone else's name. Best I can figure, that means there is a lady named Mary who is pissed at you also.

31 days : Told them about their mistake. No scam here. I just want my d@mn DVDs already, they were supposed to be a gift from me. Moviesource wants me to ship it back on my dime (while they've had my 70 bucks for a month now)and they'll credit me the shipping. Hmmmmm. More money out of pocket, line at the post office, inconvenience, etc. All I'm getting out of this deal is what I should have received a month ago, plus laying out twice for shipping to/from Canada. I was given a manager's #, but he's off today.

34 days : Nothing much from this guy. "Your order must have been lost." There's a newsflash! No info on what the USPS told them about the original order. "I guess the postal service lost the first order and the second was human error. I'll ship you your order myself." They are trying (to complete their end of the deal and nothing more), but at this point I'd feel better if they placed an order for my boxset at Amazon and had THEM ship it to me.

They have an office 5 minutes from my house (in America) but claim I can't drop their missent DVDs off there because they never send mail to each other and some other BS. I got the address from the contact us page on their own site.

Their site has a cool, live customer service feature. Too bad "I don't where it is" and "They haven't gotten back to us" is all I hear from it.

My 5 weeks since-the-shipping-notice anniversary is coming up. If they don't accept their mistake at their office in America and deal with it on their own and get me my purchased product, I will my put memberships at Hometheaterforum, digitaltheaterforum, A/V science forum, hometheatertalk forum, and every other forum I can think of to good use. Despite the name of the tread, I don't think they are trying to scam anyone, it's just that the shipping portion of their e-commerce business (and that's a big d@mn portion) is very weak. How tough is it to walk into the warehouse pick up a box and overnight it (especially after screwing up someone's order not once but twice). I would never question their honesty or intentions, but I would also never put with this cr@p again.

I had bought the X-Files season 1 from Moviesource. I had good communication from them and the package arrived within 2 weeks. My only complaint about the transaction was no invoice with the package.

If you want my opinion about a very slow, hard to track, might deliver my package sometime before the next century company, my advice would be don't order from Total Action Universe. Prices may be cheap but i've been waiting for over 3 weeks now for my package, that's three weeks from the date they said it shipped!!!!

I recently started purchasing some stuff from moviesource. I won the $1.99 Cast away thing. got my dvd very quickly with no problems. As for all tracking systems. They are all horrible really.

Capt

Wise move. It's good advice to avoid ordering from anyone's body parts but that one especially.

I have ordered from MOVIESOURCE several times and I also won the $1.99 DVD twice. I must have been lucky , because my DVDs always arrived on time, and I have never had a problem with the company. I am upset that members had this very bad experience since all the etailers are dying out, we need to know that there are still some reputable companies out there. I really do not understand why customers would lie and say they have not received their packages. I also cannot understand any company not backing up the product or their services. I am not naive, but it seems to be a lot of work and aggrevation for a very small return. I guess I still believe most people are honest...no I do not want to buy the Brooklyn Bridge.

:D

They shipped out a package for me on April 21st that just arrived two weeks ago. Was I bothered by the lateness of my dvds? Well, yeah. But, what I found unacceptable was that they didn't respond to any of my inquiries. I even went as far as to starting the process of disputing the charge with my credit card company.

They have some excellent deals, but I don't know if I'll use them in the future .

don't

This isn't going to be popular. What do both of the above companies have in common? They are headquarted in Canada with some sort of shipping facility in America.

Does this make them less reputable than an American competitor? No.

Does it make the USPS a better excuse? Yes, especially when those "held accountable" are a country away. I have received "your postal service won't get back to us" as an excuse.

Shipping for e-businesses should be one their primary concerns, quality-wise. We are lured to Canadian DVD companies by lower prices. At some point the delays nullify the savings.

Ordering out of state, gets rid of tax and usually saves you some $. Otherwise you'd go down the street and pick the DVD up yourself and avoid all the BS accompanying mail order.

Ordering out of country saves you everything above plus a little more $. But to one-up the American competition, you have to do everything AS good and then be a bit cheaper, either that or have unwaivering reliability. "The mail service screwed it up" isn't a good excuse anymore when used excessively. Many DVD customers have been ordering on the internet for years now. If you don't have your glitches smoothed out, I bet the consumer can find someone that does. That fact that this thread has been viewed almost ~1200 times has to carry some weight.

My next purchase won't be from someone who can refer to the USPS as "your" postal service.