Jeff W

I placed an order on November 7th for five DVDs and a paperback ($20 off $100 coupon). I have gotten three e-mails since then that they are "working" on filling my order because the following are out of stock: "Little Mermaid 2", "Patriot", "Pitch Black", and "Rules Of Engagement". I thought maybe they were holding my order until my fifth DVD, "Perfect Storm", was released so they could ship them all together (although they have never done that to me before). I can't believe that they haven't been able to get any, much less all, of these titles in almost a month. If I look the titles up on their site they say they usually ship in 24-48 hours.

Buy.com has been very reliable in the past, but this last order certainly isn't impressing me. Has anyone else been having problems with them in the past month?

indianajdp

That sucks. Have you tried calling customer service to get an explanation?

Heat

I have had mixed results with buy.com also. One order placed in early November, 2000 arrived in two or three days. A second order I placed a week later for two DVDs (only) took 10 mailing days to arrive, and everytime I checked the status in the interim it would say "sent to warehouse". That is, it was "sent to warehouse" for approximately 9 days. Finally it arrived.

I will use them again because of their prices, but was confused as to why it took so long for the second order.

Gil Jawetz

I have received the "Working on it" email from buy also regarding Donnie Brasco: Special Edition except... I already received it! Your order may turn up yet.

------------------
Read my DVDTalk Reviews Here...
You know you want buskerdog.com -- T-shirts and stuff

durden911

My nightmare: Placed an order with buy.com
(Repo Man Tin & X-men.) First they screwed up the order and offered me a $10 credit. ok, that's cool. then they messed it up again and offered to upgrade me to "Overnight." Still, no order rec'd. when I called back again, they said the order had mistakenly "not been released." They offered another $10 credit. Well, I finally receive my order but about a week later, something's wrong with my debit card. I go to the bank and find not only did Buy.com charge me FULL price, rather than credit me $20, the charged me an extra $10. They have now offered me a $30.00 credit , but with overdraft fees caused by their over charging I'm still out about $57.00!!
And customer service has yet to call me back!
Never Again.

RDYoung

Lemme tell 'ya...

I ordered the Monty Python Collection in Late October along with Life of Python. Life of Python shipped, but the collection was delayed.

About a week ago, I called to inquire about the order, the rep called the warehouse, who promptly said he had no record of it. The rep then cancelled the order, and then proceeded to try to re-place it. Then he claimed that it was using the wrong credit card information, so after I got off the phone with him, he cancelled the order, called and told me to re-place it myself, or he would contact me the next day to do it.

Soooooo, I go home, look at the order status, check the card information, and delete everything but the card I wanted to use. I placed the order.

Well, Now, I received the first order(the one the rep cancelled), it appears that the second has shipped, and there could possibly be another on the way. They sent me a return slip, but the order numbers don't jive, and I really don't know what I'll be getting.

Ugh.

msharkm

RDYoung,

You didn't finish the story - how many shares of their stock did you buy?

RDYoung

I guess the number of shares depends on how low they get--I may load up at a buck a piece.

dvdirv

My story:

I pre-order A STAR IS BORN (1954) in August and it arrives in mid-September around street date. It is defective.

I immediately return it (Buy will NOT send out a replacement until they receive your defective copy).

I am waiting 6-7 weeks until early Nov. when I receive an email that they are "still looking" for this title.

Getting disgusted, I cancel my order. If they would have replaced my title when I reported it defective, they wouldn't have had a problem finding another copy.

Three weeks later, I call Buy to ask about when am I supposed to get my credit for the return and they offer to issue it immediately. What would have happened with my credit if I didn't call them at all?

RDYoung

Got on the phone with them last night--one of the sets(which was guaranteed to be here yesterday, and is stuck in Salt Lake City) was supposed to not be charged, or at least the amount creditied back to me, under the understanding that I go through the process of sending it back. Well, the jerks took all the money out of my account anyway, and when I called to explain that I had been told by another CSR that I wouldn't be charged, they basically said "tough--The item has shipped, you won't be credited until it is back in the warehouse." I haven't even gotten the dam thing yet! They didn't even apologize for this whole mess, which is their fault.

Never again.

ever

r

Kromax

Listen,

I placed an order for the deal o' the day on October 20 (Austin Powers--9.99, no shipping). 2 minutes after the order was placed, a co-worker came into my office, saw the deal and asked me to order her one, which I did. I received 1 on the Oct. 23 (shipped on the same day I ordered it). The second one still hasn't shipped.

I ask you this: How can an item that was ordered while there were over 2000 left be on order?

------------------

"Enjoy the sauce."

My modest collection:http://www.dvdprofiler.com/mycollection.asp?alias=GG

RichardW

I just received an e-mail from them stating that they had mischarged me on a previous order and were now going to charge me in full. I ordered Kwaidan and The Blob back in August with a $10 off $30 coupon. Because of Criterion's track record, they ended up shipping months apart. I compared the charges on my statement to their detailed billing history and everything looks fine. Are they just stupid or are they trying to get more money out of me?

Regardless, the card they have on file has expired, so they can forget about squeezing anything out of it. This, as well as all of your stories, seriously makes me think about not shopping there again.

[This message has been edited by RichardW (edited December 07, 2000).]

ellone

I have a couple of items that I pre-ordered in August that haven't shipped. Of course it's listed on their site as shipping in 24-48 hours. I e-mailed them once asking about it, and they answered that items that aren't in stock within 90 days of being ordered get cancelled. I e-mail them again asking why the status of the order on their site was partially shipped if the order had been cancelled. They had never sent me an e-mail that stated my orders had been cancelled. This time they replied that if items are in stock within 60 days, they are cancelled. They told me I could reorder them. Well, now the prices of the items have gone up and I had used a 10 off 30 to order them the first time. So now I've tried to cancel the order myself since some people here have had experiences where items ship after they try to cancel them. I'm not counting on ever getting the items now.
I probably won't order from them again since their prices have been going up and they aren't offering as many coupons...so going through headaches like this isn't worth it.

Flipper

Just like RichardW, I received an e-mail today from buy.com stating that they "experienced an error" in billing my account on 10/5, so "as a result, we billed you in full on 12/01/00." I checked my credit card statement and found the transaction posted on 10/6. I called buy.com, the CSR checked with his supervisor, and he said they had a problem billing from 10/4-10/6, so they sent out a generic e-mail to everyone who had an order ship around that time.

I checked with my credit card company, and so far no charge has appeared. It could be an attempt by buy.com to add to their bottom line before the end of the year, or maybe it was just an honest mistake. Either way, they certainly didn't handle it very well. They could have said "there may have been a problem" and "we may have to bill you again," but they didn't.

RDYoung

I'm still waiting on an order they mistakenly shipped me and billed me for. Funny thing is, it was supposed to ship 2nd day air, was shipped on the first, and now is scheduled for delivery for tomorrow. I'll never get my money back...


Anyone wanna buy a copy of Monty Python's Flying circus collection for 104.99 shipped?

sneakerz

I contacted BUY.com regarding this billing error on 10/5 becuase I recieved the same email. I checked my credit card transactions and everything looks in order to me.
The customer serivce person told me it was a computer glitch and we should see an email soon disregarding the billing error.

RDYoung

Okay--sent Buy.com a letter about how bad they suck. here it is.(it's kinda long)

To Whom It May Concern:

This letter is to tell you that I am extremely displeased with your service, from customer service to shipping method. I ordered the Monty Python Collection and Monty Python Life of Python prior to October 31, 2000. Life of Python shipped and arrived by October 28th. When I called during the last week of November to find out the shipping status of the remainder of my order, I was told by Thomas, the Customer Representative I was speaking with, that after contacting the warehouse, there was no record of my order. He suggested that we cancel the order, and re-submit it. I agreed, and Thomas cancelled my order.

Thomas then noticed some sort of irregularity with my credit card number (something about it being shown as a MasterCard instead of the Visa that it was. He then cancelled yet a second order, calling me back twice at my office to tell me that I needed to place the order again if I wanted to get it. I then went home to place the order, and considered the matter closed.

I called again on Monday December 4, to inquire as to the shipping status of my order, and was told that it shipped on December 1st, Via UPS 2nd day air. Shortly thereafter, I received not one, but two shipping notices, stating that two orders have shipped. On December 5th, I received the one shipped USPS Priority. The UPS 2nd day Package was nowhere to be seen. I called customer service to ensure I would not be charged for the second set, since I was told the order had been cancelled. I even went through several steps to ensure that once I received the 2nd order, I would return the first(I obtained a UPS return label, talked to two different customer reps about it. One of the Reps talked to a person in the Credit department , who ensured me that I would not be charged, but if the package did not make it back to the warehouse, they would charge me. I accepted this offer.

Finally, after learning that both charges were deducted from my account, I called a customer representative, who then put me on with a supervisor, who eventually told me that since it had shipped, I had it, and until it got back to the warehouse, there was nothing they would do for me. Period. Even though I said I had not received the second package. Even though she had the tracking number there and could confirm that I had not received the second package. Finally, after contacting UPS every day since the 4th, the package finally arrived. December 7th. 6 days after shipped UPS 2nd day.

NOT ONCE, DID ANYONE APOLOGIZE FOR ALL OF THIS TROUBLE THAT IS ESSENTIALLY A BUY.COM CUSTOMER REPRESENTATIVE’S FAULT!

I really want you to know that I fully intend to never shop here again. I will actively discourage all of my friends and family from shopping there, as will I contact the Better Business Bureau about the whole ordeal. I work for the Wyoming Attorney General’s office, and am seriously wondering if there is any recourse for me here. I am an honest person who works hard for all the money that I spend. To have $105 taken out of my account during the holidays is devastating, and uncalled for, especially since I was fully willing to return the product that was erroneously shipped to me! Maybe my business doesn’t count, and maybe I can’t make a dent to your operation, but I’m fully content to cast doubt in the minds of everyone I work with, all my friends, and even people I don’t know who I talk to daily on message boards--all I have to do is tell my story.

Please consider the damage that your ignorant and possibly untrained customer service representatives and supervisors are doing to your company.


Anyway--don't expect anything from this. Hopefully, they will get a clue that this is bad business, and all they did was alienate me and anyone who listens to me.

Funk

RDYoung, if they don't listen to your letter, they ain't listening to anyone. You were concise, polite and direct. I hope it all works out for ya.

Kromax

RDYoung,

Great letter. Please apprise us of their response.

------------------

"Enjoy the sauce."

My modest collection:http://www.dvdprofiler.com/mycollection.asp?alias=GG

Don Catchpole

That was a great letter but they'll never answer it, I can garantee that much. I've sent them many an email and now I have filed a complaint with www.ugetheard.com who has sent them follow ups and they never get an answer either. I highly suggest you file the same letter with ugetheard also. All I wanted was a formal apology as well. If you would like to read the letter I wrote them I'll post it below:

"Dear Customer Care,

Subject: Unhelpful customer service

Aggravating Factors: Difficult to access or use customer service

I am writing to you regarding a complaint that I have about BUY.com and am using this service provided through uGetHeard.com, a division of Enkata Technologies to more easily forward and manage my concern. I am an existing customer of 1 years, and I am seething about this issue. The details are the following:

Where in the process: While using customer service

Attempted to resolve already: Yes - They responded, not to my satisfaction

Incident details:
Date of incident: 11/13/2000
Where shopping: Online
Name of employee Involved: Koren Huang

Detailed story:
I had a gift certificate from test driving an Oldsmobile in which I had to wait months for, when I went to use it it refused to work. I emailed customer service at least 10 times and kept getting the same response or no response at all, they would just ask me what my codes where but not fix them, the final email I got from them said I absolutely must call customer service so I get on the phone, 1st customer service rep confuses me to death with her questioning my order number, I had no order number. The second customer service rep tells me to place an order and then file for reimbursement, I told her that I was not going to do that since they had only a 24 hour order cancellation policy and I didn`t trust them to hold up their end of that so she basically tells me she can`t help, the next customer service rep confuses me even worse by repeatingly asking me what items were in my order and once again what my order number is then she puts me on hold and never comes back on the phone, on to the four customer service rep who is very friendly and does not confuse me but gives me the email address of the person in charge of these gift certificates. She forwards all my information to this person and tells me I will hear from her no longer than one week away. I wait the week and no response so I email Koren Huang and no response, after three emails I am getting irate so the final email I write I state that I am angry and about to call the better business bureau then I get an email from Ms Huang stating that the gift certificate is only missing a digit and fixes it in minutes. While I am happy to finally recieve this thing I am bitterly dissappointed in this company, I missed out on free shipping weekend and promotional coupons and feel that no one else had to go through what I did to recieve thier gift certificate so why should I have. All I wanted as compensation was a formal apology and maybe a free shipping voucher. It`s a shame their customer service is so horrible since they have great prices and ship extremely fast but I can never trust them again.

To resolve the problem and make me happy I am requesting the following:
Sincere Apology "
I wish you much better luck than I had!

[This message has been edited by Don Catchpole (edited December 07, 2000).]

RDYoung

Thanks, All!

You know, an apology would be nice and all, but I don't expect one. All I want is my money back before christmas. Anyways, I actually sent this snail mail, as well as including a copy within the returned item's box. I'm sorta planning to just blanket the complaint community with this letter, if for no other reason then that it feels better, and is more productive than getting mad.

They pissed me off, and so I needed an outlet. This was it. If it creates any iota worth of change, then great. I'm hoping the fact that I sent an actual Paper letter is enough to get a little attention. Maybe I can send a letter a day--amazing what you can do with a lazer printer, a ream of paper and envelopes.(on second thought, I'd have to pay for stamps, so forget that...)



robyn

p.s. Don Catchpole, Thanks for the ugotheard link--just signed up and filed a complaint.

[This message has been edited by RDYoung (edited December 07, 2000).]

djones6746

Look at this preorder price for What Lies Beneath.....

What Lies Beneath(Buy.com)
Our Price: $21.49
List Price: $26.99
You Save: $5.50

Things are really starting to look bad on the internet when you start seeing preorder prices such as this....




------------------
http://www.dvdtracker.com/~djones6746.asp


"You know Andy...I never thought it would come to this....Mayberry....Gateway to danger."

Barney Fife

[This message has been edited by djones6746 (edited December 08, 2000).]

dvdirv

RD Young:

Great letter. I've written to them as well (trying to be constructive), but they never respond.

Main problem with Buy.com is they operate under the assumption that the customer is always wrong!!!

Specifically, all of their "customer service" is based on the notion that Buy.com is never wrong. You can see this policy at work if you ever try to return a defective item.

Other vendors will side with the customer and send out a replacement BEFORE they receive the defective item. But NOT Buy!

They expect you to return the faulty item and when they get around to checking it out, they will then send you a replacement. Of course, by that time, the item is no longer in stock. And so you wait...

This has happened to me and after getting tired of waiting, I just cancel. That's about the only recourse that's left to us customers!

Jack Straw

My whole philosophy with Buy.com is that if you place an order with them, there is no way that you will ever have them accept a cancellation request. The 5th day after the street date of not receiving my Planes, Trains, and Auto's, I put in a cancellation request. A week and a half later, it ended up in my mailbox. I refuse to believe that they couldn't stop an order from being processed and shipped 7-8 days after the customer cancellation request.

Furthermore, I've had instances where the send me 2 copies of the same DVD order item (at separate times). Instead of dealing with the hassles and headaches of trying to receive a c/c refund, I just sell the extra item on ebay and accept it.

I have had the best experience with Buy when purchasing DVDs that are already released and available as opposed to pre-ordering and waiting and waiting, etc... Those orders have pretty consistently been filled quickly and in full fairly quickly. It's especially nice when I can get them with a coupon and free shipping.

While Buy.com definitely has their C/S problems, you just have to be wary of the nature of the beast and use your own trial and experience in deciding what and when to use them.

------------------
"No one here but us rich folk"- J.R. Ewing

RDYoung

Well, most of you are right--I've yet to hearback from anyone.

Finally, after tracking the package back to CA, I called to get the credit to my account started, and they tried to tell me it took 3 days to verify that the package was in the warehouse. Ha! Anyway, I told her that I had the tracking info in front of me and it showed that the package had been delivered. So she was going to contact the credit department to get the credit started. We'll see...I'm just hoping I get it by the week-end.

robyn