Orderbox- Back?
 

I did a search, and didn't find a current thread about Orderbox, so here goes...

I accidentally read some of my spam this weekend and saw an Orderbox e-mail with one cent shipping. I took a look at the site and ended up ordering four MGM Woody Allen disc for $12.87 shipped a piece, which is a great deal, topping even DDD. Heck, Quix Show was $9, but I already ordered it from DDD.

So, am I screwed here? They say that have shipping in 48 hours, but I ordered on a Friday, so I suppose if it hasn't shipped by Wednesday I'll know something is up. Anyone had any luck with them lately? I never used them before.

I can always protest the charge on my CC, since I have never done that, and MBNA has good protection for that sort of stuff.

They actually have something that I ordered from BigCD.com that they didn't send me and it's even cheaper than what I paid BigCD, so I'm tempted. On the other hand, I don't want to end up buying from another BigCD. Please give your opinion on whether or not it's safe to buy from OrderBox.com.

By the way, is the $.01 shipping for a limited time? Any details on this?

Yes, AFAIK it is for a limited time, $.01 for each item in your order.

I'll post in a few days if they've shipped/not shipped. I hope they do, I've wanted these particular films for a while. The inventory showed multiple copies of each in-stock, so I'm hopeful.

I got:

Crimes and Misdemeanors
Shadows and Fog
Manhattan
Sleepers

I have about 18 Allen films on DVD, but I still need a ton more, and prices like this sure help.

Here's a thread on a recent Orderbox misprice.

I'd urge anyone thinking about ordering from this store to consult these 2 threads:

http://dvdtalk.com/forum/showthread....hreadid=134522
http://dvdtalk.com/forum/showthread....hreadid=155960

I got the same email and placed an order on Friday for Breathless ($13.87) and Farewell My Concubine ($14.57). Both had the "guaranteed to ship in 48 hours" thing so I went with it. I'll post when I get confirmation.

Those older threads are from when Orderbox operated under a different business model, one with a subscription fee. Now it is a regular e-tailer, which is why I created a new "Orberbox Back?" post.

And honestly, I don't take issue with how the store handled the misprice. The way I see it, yes, it was a mistake, but they aren't legally obligated to follow through with it, it is just PR. I don't know why people get so self rightous and bitchy because they weren't able to take advantage of a company. Yes, I've tried it in the past, but I didn't start calling them "Scamazon" when they cancelled my $0 copy of The Insider.

Current policy:
"We guarantee your satisfaction with this item. You may return this item for a refund within 30 days as long as it is in its original sealed packaging. We will gladly exchange this item if it's found to be defective within 14 days. Shipping and handling charges are not refundable. "

Hope this is 14/30 days from the date shipment is received, for the sake of those choosing media mail. 14 days isn't really enough time to check for defects. I often don't watch a DVD within 14 days of purchase. Guess I'd better, if I buy something from these guys.

Are those people who signed up under the membership fee agreement still obligated under the agreement? I have never received any acknowledgement from them that those agreements are now cancelled. So if i start ordering again, they will start charging the membership fees again?

I think that orderbox.com is now working under a new model than that outlined in the old threads. I did place an order on the 18th of Feb. All 3 items in stock where shipped within 48 hours. So far so good...

Re: Orderbox- Back?
 

Let's hope they have done their legal research...

Therefore, if the item is stated to be in stock, they will need to notify you if they aren't shipping within 48 hours. Of course, does this include weekends? Since they are a 24/7 business. . .

Regarding OrderBox prices, there are a number of lower prices (after shipping) available at other sites such as DeepDiscountDVD (DDD)or even DVDPlanet (if you order several DVD to spread the shipping costs). Examples of titles are:

Thunderbirds Set #1 $21.25 delivered [DDD]
http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemID=ANE070159
Orderbox price is $24.47 (higher)

Thunderbirds Set #2 $21.25 delivered [DDD]
http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemID=ANE070162
Orderbox price is $24.47 (higher)

Thunderbirds Set #3 $21.25 delivered [DDD]
http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemID=ANE070329
Orderbox price is $24.47 (higher)

Thunderbirds Set #4 $21.25 delivered [DDD]
http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemID=ANE070332
Orderbox price is $24.47 (higher)

This is also true of some Japanimation (anime) titles as well such as those in the anime series "Magic Users Club" (and other series as well) which are lower-priced at DeepDiscountDVD or DVD Planet but higher at OrderBox.

So, does DeepDiscountDVD match the prices posted at OrderBox??.... .... .. . . . . . . . . . Verrrrry INTERESTING....

FOLLOWUP:

Mahou Tsukai Tai!: Magic User's Club #1 $14.98 delivered [DDD]
http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemID=MBI400274
OrderBox price is $16.67 (higher)
:
:
Mahou Tsukai Tai!: Magic User's Club #5 $14.98 delivered [DDD]
http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com/dvd.cfm?itemID=MBI401479
OrderBox price is $16.67 (higher)

There are other anime like that as well...

Order shipped today. Technically, that makes it 96 hours, but as long as I receive it for such a low price I'm happy. But I won't be placing another order with them.

My oder shipped within 48 hours and I got it today. Good job overall, and a great deal, 4 Woody Allen discs for a hair under $13 each. I saved at least !0 over DDD when tax is figured into the equation.

Wait a minute... So Orderbox isn't charging a monthly fee?

From what I remember reading in passing, they adonded that. As a first time customer, I was recently able to place an order and got my order no problems. Their checkout system was strange though because there wasn't a preview or summary of the order before final submission.

I really got some good deals when I used them last fall. I'm going to give them another whirl during this 1-cent shipping promotion.

My order shipped 88 hours after it was placed (well, USPS tracking info said they received electronic notice to be prepared for shipment 12 hours earlier, but it didn't actually ship until later, and that would still be 76 hours). So, according to those FTC guidelines that mcarver posted, they should've notified me of the delay. But I'm not too upset, considering there were only 4 copies left of my DVD at the time I placed my order and then it was out of stock the next day. Their stock info doesn't seem to be in real-time, but I'm glad they finally shipped what I ordered. Interestingly, my account page still says, "Picking order," but the invoice itself has a USPS tracking number.

Just a quick note to help you save on your phone bill ... The customer service phone number they have on their site is just a recording that says to e-mail them. Pretty stupid. It said to e-mail them for a quick response. Well, I e-mailed them a couple days ago before my order shipped to ask what the status was and I still haven't gotten a response from them. But it shipped anyway, so no big deal.

Only reason I ordered from them is because they had an out of print title I was looking for. Ordered it first from BigCD.com, but I don't have to explain what happened with that order. Was afraid OrderBox might be another BigCD, but looks like they're a legitimate business, for now anyway.

I have some serious reservations about them as well. They just sort of changed the business model to the prices they were having a hard time (avoiding) confirming to begin with.

That said, I highly suggest if you're going to order from them, just order items they have in stock. I suspect they won't be around in a few months...

i ordered Ilsa the she wolf of the SS & Bio Zombie from orderbox after noticing how much cheaper they were compared to amazon. i didn't bother to note the date i order, date shipped and date received but it seemed a normal amount of time.

i followed that order with another order with the 1 cent media mail. i ordered two aquarium dvds (under 5 bucks each shipped) and The Fifth Element- Superbit (18.88 shipped) last saturday night, i believe all of the dvds shipped on tuesday morning received on friday.

very nice. i had good experiences in the past with the old model, granted i got in and got out and didn't stick around for the fallout.
and now i have had two good transactions recently. 1 cent shipping rocks, although once it's gone, the deals won't be nearly as great.

oh, nearly forgot. i haven't gotten one of the aquarium dvds yet. and the two of that i order i did get where shipped seperately, find it odd that the third one didn't make it. but i'll give it till tuesday before i begin to worry.

ps, they sell more then dvds, but the 1 cent media mail only applies to dvds.

What e-mail address did you use?

[email protected]

listed on their "About Us" page

I placed my order late Thursday night and they arrive Monday morning. I am satisfied and will try to get as much from them as I can during the penny shipping promotion.

I joined the feeding frenzy as well. Another 50 movies considered, and about 15 have come in so far.

The longest delay was when an order was placed, but the items did not reach shipping status until about four days later. After they reached shipping status, it took another 4 days to arrive.

At one penny, that seems similar to the BrandsForLess model of free shipping rebates, only that OrderBox qualifies all the orders whilst BFL must have hoped that fewer people would seek the rebate. I wonder how long OrderBox can keep this up?

As for email responses or their "OrderBox Live" feature, i haven't received answers. I guess they pick and choose which questions they want to answer, and give the stone-wall-of-silence treatment to the rest.

If you are looking for questions to ask with their "OrderBox Live" feature, you might look at the posted list of unanswered questions at:

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

Even when the account info still shows "picking order" for an item, if you actually open the invoice information, you will usually see that it has been "shipped".

Well, when I placed an order with them, it said it "shipped" on the invoice twenty minutes later. It wasn't until the invoice actually had a USPS tracking number on it 3 or 4 days later that I actually knew the item had been shipped. Guess they can't maintain their 48-hour shipping promise with all the orders during the 1 cent shipping promotion, but I won't complain as long as I get everything I order in a reasonable time.

UPDATE: Just received my order from them. Ordered Feb. 25, shipped the 28th, arrived March 6. 5 days for Media Mail isn't bad, considering it was sent from CA to the east coast. Last two packages I sent from this side to CA took 9 days and 10 days. Maybe the mail goes faster in the other direction. Looks like I may place some more orders with them, as long as the shipping promotion continues.

Has anyone received, or have tracking info for items that came out yesterday? I had four on preorder for 3/5, including A.I. and The Castle. As of today, nothing, though their order pages indicate that they have lots of copies in stock.

Also, I had preordered Less Than Zero, but they indicate that they do not have any in stock, even though it was supposed to be released yesterday. Was there a delay in the release?

The first time I e-mailed them with other questions in the past few weeks, they have gotten back to me within an hour or so. I e-mailed this morning (about 8 hours ago) regarding the 3/5 releases, asking if they ship preorders on or around the release date, and have heard back nothing. So as someone else mentioned, they pick and choose which e-mails they answer.

-David

On the shipping labels, i've seen both California and Memphis,TN locations.

There seems to be a different approach between the two locations. The California boxes were generally small and the DVD cases fit tightly inside. The Memphis ones were larger and the air spaces filled with foam peanuts and an additional label that said "proudly packed by XX, number YY). Ha, ha, if i could get more shipments from the Memphis site, i would as i can reuse those sturdy little rectangular boxes in the garage to hold things.

I am glad that OrderBox seems to have learned a lot in how to combine multiple DVD and ship them together in the same box to save on shipping costs. It had been my particular lament in the prior threads about 0rderBox (that they wasted so much money on shipping just one DVD per box).

The mail order companies could use more competition from places like 0rderBox and DeepDiscountDVD. I like how OrderBox has a larger variety and can also deliver books. With the successful DVD orders starting to come in, i will now give their book ordering service a try (as i've got maybe ten titles in mind already).

For those wondering what books to order, perhaps you've always wanted to buy some anime manga anthologies....? Those are great to order through the 0rderBox service. A hint on finding them, once you find a few such books, switch to searching against the author's name, and you will find them readily. Whilst Amazon is no longer on 0rderBox's list of suppliers, you can still use Amazon as your bibliographic reference... It has been very handy for me.

I can now complete the broken collections for titles like Battle Angel Alita (Gunnm), Nausicaa, Appleseed, Dominion, and others.

I received the package today and opened it to find only one DVD. The other is "backordered" and there is no indication of when I'll receive it, despite the fact that it was "guaranteed to ship in 48 hours" 12 days ago. And I've already been charged for it. And they haven't returned my emails.

seems like their CS is just as good as before. Worst case senario, call up your CC company, and explain the situation to them

They have 0 email support. Call thier toll # for a CSR
To contact them by phone, call: +1 (818) 501-4611

If a item goes into BackOrder you are charged then. It took them about 2.5 weeks to get a Backordered title in stock. I've recieved at least 20 titles which only a minor issue.

If you want A+ customer service look far elsewhere as they have changed for the worse but with 1 Cent shipping I highly suspect they are basically running a one-two man CSR operation. Customer support cost's $$$$.

Hey guys, there is NO need to panic.

First of all, you are protected for up to 60 days if you used your credit card (and are in the USA). So, you can afford to have a little patience in waiting for the back ordered item to arrive. There have been people who said that you have more than 60 days, but that is only at the sufferance of that person's credit card company which may be changed at any time if a lot of claims are made against that business. The legally required minimum protection is 60 days however, so no matter what, the CC has to give you at least 60 days.

Second, in return for the lower price, you kind of knew that you would get no customer service, right? If you have customer service questions, you might try the OrderBox Live option and see if there is a response. That feature is available from your OrderBox tray icon for those who don't read any documentation.

Anyways, don't get your panties in a bunch, and life will be a lot more pleasant. Other vendors like DVDPlanet and Amazon go out of stock, and get back in stock in 2 weeks.

BACKGROUND:

I have had items in the recent 0rderBox ordering spree go out of stock, and they were back in stock in about a week. Only one item has remained backordered for more than one week so far (and it still is).

Before people call for 0rderBox to go out of business for simply having no customer service (despite the bare bones pricing), please note that without this barebones price competition, we will see DVD prices drift ever higher as they had been. None of us are in favour of that, right? Orderbox is not like those companies from hell such as bigcd which seemed to have a plan of declaring bankruptcy to escape debts but found out it couldn't due to potential fraud suit. I think they do seem to be doing a good job at the price point they have, even though i may *ahem* poke at them a little for having next to no customer service staffing.

Anyways, i plan to order a bunch more books through OrderBox pretty soon. It's a great price when you order two or more books because the savings are there.

I'm not panicking. The purpose of the store forum is to share our experiences we have with vendors. That is what I'm doing.

The problem is, they "guaranteed" that the item was in stock. So I placed the order. And after they have charged my CC, which is a practice that no legitimate business does, they inform me that they don't have it.

Regardless of whether I receive the item eventually or not, no company that has these practices deserves my business. And the bargain is not worth the hassle of not knowing when or even if you will receive an item, even after you've been charged.

Buy from them at your own risk.

0rderBox has a little bulletin board for people to post their questions. It looks like some of the most recent questions have been pulled.

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

What is amusing is that you don't have to be a member in order to respond to the posts!!!!!

""" As you walk on the surface of the frozen lake, you start to see cracks in the ice. """

The price of priority mail shipping used to be $4.95 with $0.01 added per shipment/order, but the pricing was recently changed to be higher. It is now $7.95 Priority Mail with a per shipment fee of $3.00 Priority Mail.

Followup:

Ugh. I tried ordering some books and the charges were pretty high. It caught me by surprise since i had been using what i last remembered for their book shipping charges (two weeks ago) instead of what they are now.

After the items moved from the "Recent Orders" to the "Invoice" section, i was then able to click on the individual invoice number for each book. There was a $3.45 shipping charge for EACH book that was additional to the overall $2 order fee. *blah* I cancelled all the book orders. Unless the individual book is fantastically expensive, the additional fee is too much.

By the way, the price you see on the summary page when you click on "My Account" is only the price of the item without the charges included. In order to see the actual additional fees, you have to click on the Invoice number once the order has been processed and has been listed in your Invoice section.... Don't let that price on the summary page lull you into complacency with OrderBox or you could get a surprise with a non-dvd order.

From OrderBox's updated listing of shipping charges:

Category/Shipping Method Per shipment* Per Item

DVD/Standard Shipping (3-10 days following shipment)
$0.01 for entire order PLUS 0.01 each DVD

Books/Standard Shipping (3-10 days following shipment)
$2 for entire order PLUS $3.45 each book

Orderbox orders
 

I placed 2 orders with Orderbox - one was a pre-order and charged to my credit card on 2/27, the other was "guaranteed 48 hour shipping" for in-stock items and charged on 3/4. Both orders are listed "In warehouse" status and a lady from "customer care", Cynthia Brown, told me that my items should be shipped by Tuesday or Wednesday (that is LAST Tuesday and Wednesday). My last e-mails sent on Thursday and Friday were not answered. Should I start worrying, dispute the charges and look for these items elsewhere or am just paranoid?

Re: Orderbox orders
 

from what i know, O-box doesn't really answer their e-mails. The best way to reach them is by calling.

Re: Orderbox orders
 

So far I have had good experiences with orderbox. However, they are not great on keeping one informed (don't seem to answer e-mail & do not notify that items are shipped). Their web page info on your orders is somewhat misleading. Items will say shipped (even when they can't be, as the title hasn't been released yet). You need to open up the invoice and look for a USPS tracking number to indicate whether an item has actually shipped or not. It's that ole saw, "you get what you pay for". Prices are extremely low, so we are not paying for fancy notification systems or 24/7 customer service.

1 cent shipping
 

Looks like the shipping special is over. Ground is now $1.99 plus $.99 per item.