rdodolak

Could you send me her email? I have been trying to get in touch with someone from orderbox without any success for a few months now. Thanks.

mcarver

It's getting too risky to do business with them. I have NEVER EVER received any response to any of my e-mail to them in the last 2 months. Sooner or later I am going to get burned.

booswain

I got two emails today saying they had taken care of my problems...we will see...if they refund the overcharge i will continue to do business with them...

Yaright

Well, followup to my story above - before sending back my chargeback forms I got a letter from my CC co saying the issue was resolved and the credit was made permanent. Yay!

As for who I dealt with: [email protected] . I got a personal response from Cynthia Brown, and I replied to it (repeat ad-infinitum). Based on what I've read here and other places, I'm not sure she would even respond to unsolicited email. I've seen her email address posted here or at the retail forum of AnimeOnDvd if you really want to try it.

Personally, I'd write a (short) email to [email protected] saying you've received no response to your inquiry, and are therefore reluctantly initiating a chargeback with your credit card company. That will most likely get you a personal response. If it doesn't, you'll actually have to follow through and get your money back via your credit card co. It really is a very simple process, made much simpler when you can honestly write "Tried to contact the merchant X times to resolve issue, never heard back". Dates help too.

TheVelvetRope

I'm going to have to side with those encouraging others NOT to deal with this company. I ordered from them on 4-23. A $68 box set and two $13 DVDs. They arrived quickly and I was pleased. Today, I received my statement and I was not charged the $97 and change I should have been, but instead $297.21!!! I double-checked the site (to ensure I wasn't unwittingly agreeing to join some "savings club" or something by buying from them) and there is nothing in my account to indicate this additional charge is in any way legit. I tried calling them, but they could not be reached at the CS number and the number on my statement came up as disconnected. The matter is currently in dispute, and I'll post the resolution, but I will never buy from them again regardless of the outcome. Anyone else have something like this happen? I checked this thread before buying and haven't seen anything like it posted.

D.Pham5GLTE (>60GB)

Again, for anyone tempted to order from them, I strongly encourage you to read this thread, as well as the links to the two discussion threads stevevt pointed to in the first page.

rdodolak

Thanks Yaright. I wrote another email to this address. The only thing is I have written several times to this address without a response over the past 6 weeks. I have watched the inventory for those dvds slowly dwindle down until they were out of stock and then come back in stock and so on. Of course both orders have shown 'sending to warehouse' for more than 6 weeks as well.

booswain

i had a similar double charge..they sent me an email telling me that would deal with it but still have not seen a resolution to this one

my opinion is that this company is on the way out..and that they dont have the staff to deal with any of these problems...probably best to bail out on them if you already havent

Startide

I've ordered quite a bit from them and have been charged correctly so far. A few more titles are still straggling in as I ordered deep into the "future" when they had their low-cost shipping specials.

booswain

well...orderbox credited back my account the overcharge mistake...

im impressed..

as i said again..i have not had any problems..with the merchandise...

so i will continue to order from them....

mcarver

I would check your credit card charges very carefully....

On 4/24/02 I was charged 3 separate times by Orderbox (none of the charges match any of my outstanding orders). They did ship one item around this date,but the original invoice showed as $13.26 total w/shipping. However, my credit card charges show the following:

$16.68
$36.12
$25.94

I have yet to ever (and I mean EVER) receive a response to any of my e-mails to [email protected]

Do business with this company at your own peril....

mcarver

Just to keep everyone posted... I e-mailed Oderbox May 1st asking them to correct my credit card charges for items not ordered or shipped.

No response as of May 2nd. With other companies I have done business with, I have received some sort of response within hours.

I have since e-mailed them and notified them that if they do not respond and/or do not correct the charges, I will be reporting them to the FTC and the State Attorney's General office. Orderbox is not practicing legal or ethical business practices.

They also seem to have started a new practice of changing the status of orders to "in warehouse" even if they are not in stock. This prevents one from cancelling an order. By law, if they don't ship by the promised date (48 hours), one has the right to cancel the order. I have 2 items that have been in status of in warehouse for over 2 weeks now. And since Orderbox does not answer their phones or e-mail, there is no way to solve these issues.

They also have been pulling items from their "order" inventory without notifying customers that had these items on order.

I highly recommend that NO ONE do business with them, as these are all severe WARNING signs!

Startide

Well, I've received THREE more anime DVD in the past two days, so they are still shipping them out. Those DVD had been on the "sent to factory" status list. I have yet to receive the next Credit Card (CC) report, but everyone here that has been saying "the sky is falling, the sky is falling" has gotten me worried that the sky is falling. *wry grin* So far, my CC statement is correct.

To balance the slate, other dvdTalkers in the past have had billing problems with Amazon, DeepDiscountDVD, and, well, basically everyone else, including massmusic, 800.com, reel, valueAmerica, etcetera.

Anyways, I will keep ordering, and simply keep an eye on my charge statements. If I see something I don't like, I will just send an email, and then call the CC company if no response from OrderBox. It is pretty simple, and so, the amount of fright shouldn't be so great when the price is right.

Anyways, OrderBox is not the only company that rarely responds to queries unless it is a direct problem. I get the same thing from dvdPlanet. *heh* I have had MORE problems with dvdplanet.com and CDNOW and others than I have had with OrderBox.

FOLLOWUP:
I went back over the past CC statements and of the most-recent 70 (approx), they were all charged CORRECTLY. I had my CC stuff available online, and I also had purchase data in my laptop, so I was able to correlate them. No overcharges. No extra additional charges. If there was a charge, I had received the DVD from OrderBox. So, OrderBox still remains embarrasingly as my number one best no problem etailer (embarrasing because I keep wanting to believe all those "sky is falling" cts from everyone).

But my ISP charged me twice. I couldn't believe it! But there it was, a charge in early April (as expected) and another charge in mid April (not expected). Hmmm. Thanx to OrderBox, the inspection has yielded fruit against my ISP! I had called mid april with a CSR type question, i hope they are not charging for CSR help at the ISP.... UGH.

Anyways, I will continue to order from OrderBox.

mcarver

DeepDiscountDVD, 800.com, djangosmusic.com, ree.com, amazon.com, pokerindustries.com, hkflix.com, etc. have ALWAYS been responsive to e-mail and/or phone calls. orderbox.com has NOT been responsive to anything. Over the last 4-6 weeks they have not responded to a single piece of e-mail I have sent them trying to sort things out!

Yes, billing and orders can go amiss. However, in all of the other cases there has been reponse (heck, even cdnow.com responded <G>)... But not orderbox.com. I prefer to NOT do business with a company that only wants my money (even money they are not authorized to take) and doesn't give a damn about customer support. Nor do I have the time to deal with the headaches caused by such shoddy business practices.

rdodolak

I have yet to receive a response from orderbox.com regarding any of the emails that I have sent to them in the past.

Their 'Ships within 48 hours. Guaranteed!' is a joke. It's more like 'Ships with a year if your lucky.' If I recall, its illegal for them to post that if they aren't going to shipped the item within the posted timeframe. Otherwise, they need to contact the customer which they haven't done either. Anyone recall were those laws can be found?

mcarver

from:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/.../mailorder.htm

Making Fast Shipment Representations

Q: We represent that we ship in 48 hours. In case of delay, when are we required to provide notification of delay?

A: Within 48 hours of receipt of the order.

Q: Can we say 48 hours "most of the time?"

A: If you represent that you ship in 48 hours most of the time, you will be required to ship or provide notification of delay in 48 hours all the time. The Rule requires you to ship in the time you say. If you say you ship in 48 hours "most of the time," reasonable consumers will infer that you will ship their orders in 48 hours. Similarly, if you represent, "in-stock items ship immediately," unless you tell consumer when they order that the item is not in stock, you will be required to ship, provide notification of delay, or cancel the order immediately.

rdodolak

Thanks mcarver. I knew I saw them before but couldn't locate them.

mcarver

If it were funny, the other big joke about orderbox.com is there phone message when you call their offices for customer support. "Customer support will be dealt with promptly if emailed to [email protected]".

Any company that can't, or won't, deal with customer issues such as unauthorized credit card charges, non-prompt shipment as promised, wrong items sent, etc. is not a company anyone should support. There are more than enough other companies that care about their customers and follow the law to chose from.

The have missed their deadline to answer my concerns regarding 3 unauthorized credit card charges to my credit card. I am left with not other recourse than to file a complaint with the FTC and the California State Attorney's Office.

Startide

Thanx for the posting of the 48-hour shipping terms.

It is the irony that although I have put in many more total DVD orders with OrderBox over their various promotional campaigns, I have had more problems with the other ranked GOOD-to-GREAT vendors such as DeepDiscountDVD, CDNOW, DVDPLanet, 800.com, Reel.com. It is unfortunate for us that Orderbox doesn't seem to respond to all of their email. Since I am well-armed with the ability to contact my CC if there is a problem, I am not panicking. Panic occurs only when I start seeing strange telecom charges appear on my credit card like with DeepDiscountDVD and their popup advertisements that transfer your name, info, and CC number with permission to the telecom company. It is very easy for me to accept such popups as I have automatic focus where my mouse cursor automatically jumps to the YES button on the popup. So, if I was trying to CLOSE a window, there is a chance that I would accidentally accept the DeepDiscountDVD popup advertisement offers instead.

Anyways, after placing a CC order with OrderBox, whether or not it is indicated as SHIPPING to the WAREHOUSE, you have other federal protections. If your CC is charged, you must receive the product within 30 days of the charge or you can cancel the order. There are other protections you have if you live over 150 miles from the vendor. Anyways, my OrderBox charges appear when the item is shipping, not when the order was placed. So, there is plenty of time to catch any problem. From other people's postings, their CC lets them have 6 months to report a discrepancy; I have the minimal 60 days from the date the charge was placed. It is still a fairly straightforward process and not complicated to determine what I have ordered and what I received, even though I ordered VERY MANY discs.

For those looking for phone numbers, the one that that my credit card company has for OrderBox is 818-746-6493 (to the OrderBox office in California).

Credit card charges from OrderBox seem to appear when the item is shipping. I see lots of dates sprinkled throughout the various credit card statements, even though I had placed the large orders all at once on their same respective days. I expect I will see some more OrderBox charges appear in May and June as more of my pre-ordered items begin to ship.

mcarver

First I am not telling anyone they can't do business with whom ever they choose. That's the free market system. However, if one continues to do business with firms who act (or fail to act) as orderbox.com does, one allows them to continue unlawful business practices. If they stay afloat for any time because of this support, they continue to do business and have the ability to suck unsuspecting customers into their trap (not everyone who does business with orderbox participates in DVDTalk's forums). Also as long as a company can continue to practice unlawfully because people support them, the less likely they will ever change their practices and will continue to bilk unsuspecting customers.

Speaking of cdnow.com (deja vu all over again)... They did do a successful and fairly ethical and legal business, until one day they stopped supporting their customers and started unauthorized charging of credit cards (search this forum for that history). Until the day cdnow finally died of its own weight, we had people supporting them and doing business with them (even after reading the woes and tribulations here at DVDTalk -- go figure).

The 3 recent unauthorized credit card charges on my credit card are NOT related to any shipped order. Nor do they match any of the 2 outstanding orders I have with them. I have the ability to check my credit card charges online the day following them being posted. That is how I know about the recent unauthorized charges made to my card.

Speaking of pre-ordered items, I have 1 that was never shipped (nor charged) that has been In Stock for a week on their site. This is not a good sign. Nor is it a good sign that items I had on order are dropping from their inventory list (all without any notification to me -- which is a violation of federal law).

mcarver

Following from whois:

Registrant:
OrderMarket, Inc (ORDERBOX4-DOM)
320 W. 31st
Los Angeles, CA 90007
US

Domain Name: ORDERBOX.COM

Administrative Contact, Technical Contact:
Belson, Mike (BM4050-ORG) [email protected]
P.O. Box 56645
Sherman Oaks , CA 91413
US
818-9097110

Record expires on 17-Aug-2002.
Record created on 17-Aug-2000.
Database last updated on 2-May-2002 22:10:36 EDT.

Registrant:
OrderMarket, Inc (ORDERMARKET2-DOM)
320 W.31st
Los Angeles, CA 90007
US

Domain Name: ORDERMARKET.COM

Administrative Contact:
Belson, Mike (MBX153) [email protected]
POBox 56645
Sherman Oaks , CA 91413
818-909-7110 (FAX) 818-989-1422

(should have checked this before I even thought of doing business with them... an e-mail address at yahoo.com??? -- warning, danger, danger, Will Robinson!!!)

D.Pham5GLTE (>60GB)

sherman oaks? i used to work in that city

RonBoster

I think mcarver has a good point...people vote to support businesses by buying from them.

This next statement may seem harsh...after reading this thread, if someone continues to buy from OB, then they deserve the poor service that OB provides their customers.

I did business with them when they first started to sell DVD's. I had CC problems and lack of responses to my emails and phone calls. When they came back, I posted a "screw them" response in an OB thread. I got an email from one of their VP's, who asked me to try them again....

I'm glad I didn't

Ron

booswain

Although ive only had one problem with them i have begun to agree its almost too risky to deal with them...even though the prices are low..they are not that much lower that say DDD and actually the price shipped on Night of the Living Dead new version is cheaper shipped from them than orderbox....


which i found out after my order was shipped...

too bad though because for a while they were great and then fell apart...

as opposed to amazon whose customer service has always been great to me....but whose prices are higher


i remember an old order site called reel.com...that had great service..and then they went out of the order business...

what a shame..

Startide

I guess from mcarver's perspective I am supporting and furthering what he feels is a company that is very understaffed on customer service and has made mistakes on charging. I've got 89 inventory listings (approx) and only a few left to be shipped. With a long record of good deals like that, I am loathe to take mcarver's advice to drop support by yanking the remaining orders that are still cancellable outside of the preorder list.

However, I do support the free market doctrine that he mentioned. I will cancel the pre-order items that I have ranging out into August, but I will let the few remaining items I have linger as part experiment and part lingering loyalty to a company that has done well to me and saved a lot of dollars.

It is too bad that DeepDiscountDVD doesn't have a larger variety of anime titles, particularly with new releases. I find I am unable to switch over to DDD from OrderBox. By the time DDD lists many of their limited set of anime titles, I have already purchased and received them from OrderBox, BestPrices.com (ULN.COM), or got impatient and bought it at a retail B&M.