0rderbox Discussion Part 2
 

The first O-box thread was closed for length. Please continue the discussion here.

Also, I can't suggest strongly enough that you read all the posts in the prior thread, and take others' experiences into account when dealing with this company.

Thanks.

-stevevt

When ******** was first mentioned on this board, it was excellent. Geat prices, fast service and i got my dvd's on time. Ever since the word got spread out all over the net, the place went to hell. I cancelled my account yesterday , as ill just pick up new titles at best buy since im there every week anyway. Even though i love all these dvd communities online, they really kill every single good thing that has been out there

capt

Just because O-box couldn't meet demand doesn't mean it's the consumer's fault.

If they couldn't keep up they shouldn't have offered the service to begin with.

Agreed.

I'll add that anyone that starts an online business who doesn't take into account information being spread quickly and widely at bargain forums and online commmunities is:

1) Kidding themselves
2) Doomed to fail

Stevevt,

Could you please get someone to remove the filter on the word "0rderbox"? It really serves no purpose anymore as even you have loopholed the filter just like we do. My concern is that someone doing a keyword search for info will come up empty. I realize that it is technically an affiliate competitor but seeing as how their service is so poor, allowing people to know about the service can only help DVDTalk.

...and yes, I obviously agree that the DVD community did not cause OB's failure. Lack of planning and a poor business model did. Amazon, DDD, CDNow, etc. seem to have no problem supporting the DVD community. Even Columbia House manages just fine and there is a whole forum here devoted to them. I am convinced OB is trying to run a major business on a shoestring budget. It can't be done. It is not a matter of whether they will go under, it is when...

Agreed, and done.

Good point. When I finish this post, I'll make sure to change the title of this thread (Zero --> O) to make it "findable."

Agreed that on balance, the discussion of Orderbox will most likely be more about customer dissatisfaction than praise, but I'll be monitoring this closely.

Thanks for your comments.

-stevevt

Looks likey they just raised their shipping rates. The per shipment charge is now at $2.59 according to one of the 'tips.'

Another nail in the coffin.

Well, if the postage fee per order went UP to $2.59, then all of us with out-standing orders (even though we cancelled membership) yet to be shipped will see even higher charges on our CC bills.... UGH

That means the first item has a S/H cost of $3.48. With that kind of pricing, that makes orders from DDD of less than about $45 rather useless as they would cost more (and have a longer delay) through OrderBox.

Link to OrderBox Shipping Fee FAQ item

Coincidentally, even if you cancelled your OrderBox membership, you might be able to post messages on their users' question board as well as reply to messages. To post, fire up your orderbox program, select LiveHelp, and then click on the "get help from other members" option instead of the OrderBox CSR. Your message will appear on the Members Board at:

http://www.orderbox.com/cart/pfs.asp...l=pchatrespond

I look in there from time to time. It is clear from the vastly fewer posts that the membership has either dwindled or has stopped asking questions.

Well, if your bid has already been accepted, the price breakdown for 'in process' and 'back-ordered' items on your invoices should remain the same. I would think the price increase per order only affects newly accepted bids, but I will be watching my invoice page and my CC statement.

Well, I had two items charged higher than expected "long ago" (i.e. last month) and an email from Cynthia Brown to correct the problem. But no correction was done, and further emails get the "stone wall of silence" treatment. Since the amount is small (a few dollars per DVD), it is much cheaper for me to walk away than to have the irritation of pursuing it during the last two months of 2001.

Looks like it's getting worse...
 

Just got off the phone with someone..and it sounds like things are getting worse.

I called because several of my orders are still "In Process" or "Back-Order/Pre-Order" even though the films have been out for weeks (and are readily available--come on, what store doesn't have a huge supply of films like Cats & Dogs, Dumbo and Shrek?!). The guy told me that MANY orders have been placed on Hold because the prices accepted were too cheap.

They would be fixing the system "in a day or so" (translation 1 to 2 weeks) to let you know which orders--so you can replace them at the higher price or cancel them. He said they are already selling stuff at 10% below their cost. Also, that you could ask for the monthly fee for the month to be credited back.

If they weren't going to honor their prices it would have been nice if they told us ahead of time--so that we could still take advantage of pre-order prices elsewhere! This place used to get the shipments to you right on the release date--then they changed their system and it has gone down hill ever since!

-Kyle

I'm surprised that someone picked up the phone....

:eek:

Boy, this reminds me of Pets.com.

Don't know why stores sell things below cost. :confused: One or two items is ok, as long as you make up on others, but if it's on a lot of items, then the more they sell, the more money they lose.

Kyle:

Consider yourself lucky that you had good service at ANY point during your OF'er experience. Of the 12 DVD's I received (notice I didn'd say ordered). I only received ONE that arrived within a week of the release date. The 11 others varied from 2 weeks to 2 plus months (with a month plus being the average) Almost all of the titles were commonly available at the average B&M retailer.

The music will soon stop.....how many chairs will be left?

Good Luck to All
Ron

Sopranos
 

I just checked my invoices to see if they shipped Sopranos :S2 yet, and they freaking changed the price!!

To accept, I have to click on a new link for $60, $7 more than was accepted almost 2 months ago!!

I hope I can dispute the charges with my credit card and I planned to cancel my membership anyway, but this sucks!!

Aaron

Anyone know if the new price they give you includes shipping/tax?

I tried to ask them via Live Help, but no response yet....

Not sure about tax, but it DOES NOT include shipping. Whatever you previously paid for shipping on that item will be added to that price when you accept the new price.

-Brett

Same deal with me on the Sopranos Season 2. New price is about $7.00 less than the BJ's price of $67.99 so I stick with that one. But I cancelled many others.

Time to bury this corpse. It's starting to smell bad.

Today is reason for celebration!!! I canceled my account today!!! I feel a great weight has been lifted from my shoulders. While I still have one more shipment left to receive (Beastmaster released almost 3 weeks ago -rolleyes- ), I could not wait any longer. They finally credited me (after many e-mail requests) for the MMDC VHS tapes they incorrectly sent and I just had to bail. Even if I never get Beastmaster, I'm only out $12.33. That amount would easily be worth being rid of this poor excuse for an online dealer.

Normally I am saddened when an online dealer fails and goes out of business. When this one goes under - and it will - it will be more cause for celebration in my book!!

This place really bites the big one. I love their motto, "Your price or less. Guaranteed." Unless, of course they decide on a new pricing structure. One of the orders they repriced and wanted me to approve was Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey. The new price at SH*TBOX was $9.01, plus .89 shipping, or $9.90. DDD sells the title for $9.36 and free shipping. And I get to pay a monthly fee for the right to pay higher prices. I will dance in the streets the day this place goes belly up.

As soon as my last orders straggle in....... I'm out the door!

well...
i just cancelled my "membership". they ask you to provide them with a reason/comments why you're cancelling so they could "improve their service" -- here's what i put...

"To be quite honest with you...i've had two transactions with your company. Both were good. But, unfortunately, according to the online community DVDTalk.com i'm think i'm in the minority. So, as much as i like getting bargains and sticking it to the "corporate" stores [and supporting a start-up dot.com], i don't want to take a chance on having a reason to become one of the MANY bad experience posts..."

right after doing this, i tried to uninstall the software and everytime i do, my norton anti-virus gives me a virus/malicious code alert. [the alert says it's nimba] when i repair the file. it tells me to quarantine it. when i quarantine it, it tells me to delete it. when i delete it, it tells me it's safe to use my comp...leaving the program INSTALLED! grrr :mad:

Hey dude! Don't forget to shut the door on the way out!!! :D

Many, many pardons for the probably stupid question, but is there an automated way to cancel or do I have to call this in?

You can do it through the site (I did). I can't remember the actual screen but there is a link on the site to cancel. You have to be logged in and it is on the bottom of one of the member screens, maybe the screen that comes up after you log in. I'm not sure.

Thank you. Indeed it was at the bottom of the Account screen after I logged in. Account cancelled.

Ah, how Orderbox has fallen. A few months ago, it seemed like such a good way to get great prices on DVDs... pick the online store with the lowest price, get 25% off that and one cent shipping.

Now, it is merely a crappy shadow of its former self.

Well said

Actually, I think thebear is being a little too kind. At the beginning (only the 1st two weeks for me but probably prior to that as well) they processed orders quickly, shipped prior to release date and promptly serviced any troubled order.

Now if they process the order at all it is a slow arduous process requiring multiple calls to CS, they ship long after release also requiring calls/e-mails to CS, and may or may not get around to servicing the MANY troubled orders.

I would not call this a "shadow" but rather almost like a completely different company...but I do get the point:).

BTW, still waiting on Beastmaster they said shipped almost two weeks ago. If I end up having to call and they blame it on USPS again I'll probably lose my cool. Last time they blamed USPS, they actually shipped 8 days after they said and USPS got it to me in 2 days!!

Moocher, Beastmaster is $15.99 at Circuit City if that helps.

I guess I can wait a few more weeks for OB to get around to it. Beastmaster is not one of those I'm waiting by the mailbox for.

Thanks anyway, Speedy :)...

In case anyone did not notice, when you cancel the membership, so does all outstanding orders. So don't expect anything else to come through from OB once you cancel. At least, these guys didn't charge my CC until the DVD ships; so I went ahead and did it, even though there were still several "in process" orders in my account.

I never got in during the $ 0.01 shipping period, and barely got some initial orders at 25% off. But I still got quiet a few bargains through orderbox, especially anime titles. Oh well, it was OK while it lasted.

PAL

Actually, be careful. Some people in the last thread mentioned that they had a few outstanding shipments go out and be charged to their card, after they had already cancelled their account.

Hmm I noticed most of my on hold orders were backorders or preorders and didn't cancel or accept their price, and so far 3 dvds that have come in have been sent to me at the original price, so it might be worth your while to wait a little and see if they send you anything.

Does anyone know of any way to talk to a live human? I've called the 818 number but no matter what number I press I get voicemail.

If you ever clicked on the option to get "live help" from other members, your message went to the "Recent Member Questions" board for other members to read and respond. You don't need to be a member to respond!!! Anyways, the posts there seem to be getting increasingly irate.

OrderBox Member Questions bulletinboard

Maybe someone can post the URL there for this thread vis-a-vis a "question"?

Yeah...especially this evandeluxe guy.

Well, I'm finally through with this @$#@ company. Yes, I canceled a couple of weeks ago but I had still not received my last DVD (Beastmaster) when I quit even though it was listed as having shipped long before I canceled. Since I still haven't gotten it, I e-mailed CS (since they no longer answer the phone).

I said "If you check and find that it did not ship, please cancel the order and credit my card." I got an e-mail response saying they credited my account. I guess this means Beastmaster never shipped even though the site said "shipped" and in numerous calls (back when they were occasionally answering the phone) they INSISTED that it did ship. This is so typical of Orderbox that I guess I should not be surprised.

Well, at least this closes the book although I would not be surprised if a month or so from now, Beastmaster shows up in my mailbox -rolleyes-... and possibly a charge to my card :mad:

Well, I got out yesterday. Now to watch my CC bill closely in case they pull a fast one...

I'll be joining you both shortly.....

Cynthia Brown finally sent an e-mail asking me for the same information that was sent in my first two e-mails to her.

They bite.