moocher

I have no love left for this company. Much as I have tried to be patient, you will not hear another kind word about them from me. I have not had Startide's experience of invoiced, "shipping" orders being canceled...YET.

However, now I am told from CSR (good 'ol Cynthia again) that though they get "most" items on or before the release date, there is a chance that they might not get an item for several weeks. This was in reference to MUMMY RETURNS - one of the most popular movies of the year and the one where most B&M stores have a separate display with hundreds of copies. Apparently even though there are boatloads of these around, OB cannot get their hands on any . She said they will be ordering copies for shipment "by the end of the week".

Anyway, she said that there is no way of knowing ahead of time which ones will be arriving on time and which might not ship for weeks later...but I could always "cancel". I explained that canceling would be a pain and most other online stores go up on the price after the release date. This apparently means nothing to OB. It is going to be a crapshoot on whether you will get timely service on pre-orders (maybe today...maybe 2002 ). I did at least mention that is no way to run a business and would frustrate most of their customers.

Those who are considering OB as a good way to save money...don't put yourself through the torture. Either pay a few bucks more or wait a few weeks and buy the PVD at BB. BB might end up being a FASTER option!!!

Startide

Hmmm. $6.95 + $2.95 + $0.88 per title means that if I stayed with 0rderBox for just one more month, I would have to buy $193 worth of DVD using 0rderBox from DDD in order to break even (assuming that each DVD had an average cost of $18.00 USD and OB gave an average 10% savings) with the membership costs and additional postage/disc costs. So, it would be more economical to just buy directly from DDD unless I was buying more than $193 in the next month or if I was buying an average of $70 per month minimum.

mrglass

I finally got sick of them and cancelled my membership. What's the point of sticking with them when they never accept bids and bids that were previously accepted are listed as being "In Process" for weeks even though these dvds are readily available everywhere? I *did* save a ton of money, but the manner in which they are operating now leads me to believe that they won't be around much longer. Oh well...back to DDD for me.

mrglass

Check your credit card statement if you recently cancelled your membership. I got charged for "The Godfather" even though it was listed as being "In Process" when I cancelled. I was under the impression that once you cancelled, all preorders and anything listed as being "In Process" would be cancelled, as well. I just shot them an email requesting a refund...

moocher

Well, Mummy Returns finally moves from "preorder/backorder" to "in process" only a week and 2 days after the street date. Of course this actually shipped 2 weeks before street but it ended up being Mummy UE . I might even get MR before Cape Fear (released 3 weeks ago) .

Better news is the Star Wars I also moved to "in process" making it likely that it might arrive by street...

MrN

Yep, Basic Instinct SE is finally 'in process'. I won't be holding my breath for it to actually ship...

junior

Strangely, my Mummy Returns showed up yesterday from these thieves. Once again they prove there is no rhyme or reason to anything they do or say. I can't wait to call and say "I told you so" when they go belly up. Their new business model can't possibly succeed.

moocher

Well, this angers me as I have been after them since the street date to get mine shipped, especially since I already went through the hassle of returning Mummy UE shipped in error. They claimed they could not get any copies until today (10/12).

I would have canceled but noticed that Blockbuster is not carrying the widescreen version for rent ( ) so no PVDs will be available for purchase and I can't get it for under $19.99 anywhere else.

Hopefully this time "in process" means shipped. I never know since there are some listed as IP that I have had for a while, some that will not be released for months, and some that were listed that way since the time the bid was accepted.

These guys are modern Keystone Cops. It seems that there is nothing I won't endure for a "deal".

mrglass

Ok, I got a response from CS yesterday. Apparently, items listed as "In Process" have been sent to the "warehouse" and cannot be cancelled even if you have cancelled your membership. So, now, I have two Godfather collections (the other one is from dvdlair) that should be arriving very soon. The response stated that I could return it for a full refund...don't think so. I returned a defective dvd to them last month using priority mail and delivery confirmation. It took 2 days for the dvd to get to them. After two weeks and no sign of a credit to my Visa, I had to contact them and they finally issued my credit a couple of days later. I guess I'll be ebaying one of those Godfathers...

Anyway, am I the only person who thinks that this is an idiotic policy? I had 3 other items (all at 25% off) listed as "In Process", so I guess I'm going to get those, too. But, they are screwing themselves since they can't collect a monthly fee from me anymore. I'm surprised they've lasted this long...

moocher

Yes, especially since some of my offers that are "in process" won't be released until December.

The bumbling continues. Today I received my long awaited Marilyn Monroe set...VHS !!!!!! This pretty well seals my cancelation. I will continue to take deliveries until my free period expires, then ADIOS!!

cubanx

******** will be on FC pretty soon. I still have bids processing from about 30 day's ago... what arses and still no supposed "Pricing Ugrade" that was suppose to happen earlier this week. What a bunch of bafoons.

At least in the old days' these internet companies would provide awesome deals and service for 6 months at least before pissing off customers... these day's the turn around is about 6 days

Startide

HEH, i just wish they'd shifted the orders from the BID page into "in processing" for my book orders. A number of the books are pre-order items at various dates in the future, so the $0.89 S/H that 0rderBox charges me is FAR less than the S/H from Amazon (or any other bookseller) for each separate shipment.

Is it possible for someone else in the same household to get their own 0rderBox account? Or is the trial membership once per household? This point was not covered in their Membership Agreement.

Startide

Anyways, whilst going through my closing paper notes (since I cancelled), I noticed that variable pricing models had been implemented for yet another bookseller.

We all remember that Amazon was "experimenting" with implementing variable pricing and stated that it would incorporate variable pricing. Well, another bookseller, BOOKSAMILLION.COM (aka bamm.com) has already implemented variable pricing. Even if you are a member of their Million Club (annual fee), the pricing that appears on the screen will vary based upon certain factors. I've been able to cause discounts such as 10%, 19%, and 28% to appear for the same books. The discounts were not flukes as I chose different books. As a control, I used the same PC and ate cookies (not just choco chips mind you).

So, the variable pricing models are perhaps another reason why 0rderBox might not be approving your bids right away but are approving other people's bids for the same items. It might be that variable pricing has caused that item to be "too low" for OB to immediately approve, so the item will languish "in processing" status for awhile. This is only my hypothesis and may very well be wrong. But I have been able to force various aspects of variable pricing and noted that OB recognized and discounted each of the different prices for the same item.

moocher

Did anyone else notice that they have removed their announcements about the upcoming "new and improved" software that would supposedly correct the multitude of problems they are having? The 2 most recent notices talking about the new system have been deleted. You would think that if it was simply delayed longer than expected that they would either edit the existing note or post a new one. This smells mighty fishy. Are they not going to implement it after all?

cubanx may be right about them landing on FC very soon. I'll have to keep checking that site. I may be really under the gun to get my refund for MM Diamond Collection before they go belly up.

D.Pham5GLTE (>60GB)

Well, I finally received Idle hands, only 3 weeks after I ordered it

I guess I'm lucky in that I actually got my DVD, but sufficient to say, these guys keep changing their policy. I'm bailing out before this ship sinks.

Startide

Do you guys ever check your invoices (that are enclosed with the product) shipped to you? I do, and am sometimes amused.

The latest invoice for the product I received was addressed to someone else (and not to me in Seattle). I'm glad that the product was what I had originally ordered, but it was strange to get someone else's invoice. Oh well, at least I got to see what they had ordered ("the BenLadeen how-to kit of strategic investing in companies before terrorism announcements").

Their database program has been having some errors too. I've had some bids accepted but the invoice price was set to $13 instead of $68. I felt bad and called it in.

hawksong

Has anyone had their Fawlty Towers or Phantom Menace either go to In Process or Shipped yet from these morons? I'm about to make a nasty call to some unsuspecting half-wit of a CSR. I tried 3 times last week to politely contact them via "Live Help" and they didn't reply once. Bye-bye OB.

MrN

I've had other items coming out 10/16 go 'In Process' but not Phantom Menace.
Unless something drastic happens, this will be my last month with OB also.

moocher

My SWTPM went to IP last Thurs but I haven't received it yet and I'm not convinced it has actually shipped. IP is the most unpredictable status. CS will tell you it means your order has been sent to their "warehouse" for processing/shipping but this is pure BS. As I posted earlier I have items still isted as IP that I received weeks ago and some that won't be released until December.

Let's face it, OB will never survive. They are about as screwed up as any online company I have ever dealt with (and that is saying A LOT!!). My advice is to get as much as you can out of your free month and then bail out. The new discounts (mostly 10%) can easily be beaten by sales and discounts at other retailers with NO per month fees. Unless you are ordering box sets every month it is not worth the fees nor the hassles.

junior

While checking the status of my SWTPM (now shows IP), I noiticed that they accepted 3 old 25% discount orders I kept resubmitting in an attempt to be obnoxious. I guess it pays to be an ass every now and then.

Now that I think about it, their old business model applied the lowest negotiated price to everyone's order. That's how your final price was 6-10 cents lower than the initial offer. I wonder if everyone who orders after today will also get Jurrasic Park 3 for the 14.17 I'm paying?? For that matter, will everyone who ordered Sopranos Season 2 get the same $52.12 price I got before the change??

Brett

All my 12 or so outstanding BIDs got accepted last night after lots of phone calls and e-mails...

Did anyone else order Bad Taste LE and if so, what was your accpeted price. I ordered both the regular and LE versions and each was accepted for $11.27 (shipped).

I'm a little worried a may end up receiving two copies of the regular edition...


UPDATE:
Just checked my invoices and for some reason, my order for the regular edition of Bad Taste had been cancelled, now I just have the LE for $11.27 shipped.

moocher

Ressubmitting is not being obnoxious. In fact, if you call CS, that is exactly what they will tell you to do. I have been resubmitting mine for weeks and finally they will act on one or two of them. I have some from 9/15 that have not been accepted yet...

junior

The only reason considered it obnoxious was a CSR telling me that there's no way I'd get the 25% discounts. In fact, she told me I could always cancel my account and buy DVDs someplace else. Once I get my last 25% discount title from them in December, that's exactly what I'll be doing.

Startide

It's kind of sucky that after cancelling membership, you can't look at the status of any of your shipping items. Well, I'm glad that I have some paper or saved-up HTML records of the transactions. I will have to keep looking over my credit cards (CC) to verify all these little charges.

RonBoster

Like everyone else, I too have received really poor turn around from OB. I had the following showing "IP" ...

Simpsons
Cape Fear (91)
Mummy Returns
French Connection
Cats and Dogs

I called twice and sent an email (the previous three business days). Finally on Monday, Cynthia said there was a glitch on my order and it would ship on tuesday....she said she would give me free shipping on the items because of the wait. I stated I was not looking for anything free...just wanted my DVD's to ship. (this was stated in a non-abusive, but a pleading voice). She seemed to be surprised by my response. I was shocked to find all listed as shipped on Tuesday.

I'm posting this for two reasons....to let everyone know what titles they have in stock and to be polite but persistent.

I am now reviewing my CC statements and canceling my membership.