Info and forum posts by 'TheEvilTwin'

RE: CUSTOMS ---THE THREAD THAT NEVER SEEMS TO GO AWAY

why dont u try the following site:

http://www.ezydvd.com.au/

i managed to track down a very hard to find dvd called Ghosts of the Civil Dead (ok, it was australian in the first place, but, heck...) and the cost from australia including EVERYTHING worked out at little over £15.

they may be a little light on some dvds etc, but what they do have is very cheap to get hold of.

- l things bloom to suffer loss -

RE: HMV Refund Policy

Just to let everyone know that about March this year, the Law changed - it is now the Retailer`s responsibility to prove the goods were not faulty or damaged etc at point of sale: not the consumer. Translated, that also means you have every right to a refund on any given item you take back - regardless of reason. Their are a few minor restrictions, but, in short - HMV are trying to bend the Law to suit. Your statuary rights, which in part overtake most of conventional consumer law anyway, over-rule HMV`s decision anyhow. I suggest you either advise local trading standards to pop round and find out exactly what their wayward policy is at the moment making sure you know when they are going so u can tag along wityh what you need to get refunded, or you are very loud & public about your rights in the store itself. For one thing, any change in consumer policy HAS to be widely advertised within the store itself & not simply as part of a national awareness/advertising campaign on the side of carrier bags or whatever - if it is not, then you again have them over a barrell.

most retail stores will start feeling the pinch due to the new consumer protection Laws and are going to break many others in an attempt to make up the shortfall. e.g. it is now the retailer/manufacturer`s liability to service your goods for 5years (very shortly, this will be changing to 10years) on inherent manufacturing defects etc. - this means, warranties etc are basicaly useless so dont bother buying any along with your goods. they are already protected by LAW. the only good warranties are for, are if they are purchsed with specific & stipulated problems in mind of a non-manufacturing defect bent. so, be warned. stores will start trying to pull the replacement/credit note B.S. once the general public become more aware of the 5yr LAW in order to offset the amount of returns they can anticipate. mainly because they can`t re-sell items (or shouldn`t by law, anyway) as new if they have been returned for whatever reason. And there is no such thing as `sold as seen`. So, sale goods are ALSO covered by this stuff UNLESS every last obvious defect is pointed out to you at point of sale. If it aint - u can get a replacement at full cost.

back to the point - as a consumer, you have the automatic right to return the item for a refund within a reasonable time limit (standard these days is about 30 days, but some restrict ot to about 14, which again, is rubbish). any returns thereafter are done so on a replacement basis up to the cost of the original purchase.

- all things bloom to suffer loss -

RE: SplashDVD? I hope they drown!

Dear You.

I too have had a major problem or two with SplashDVD, & I put it all down to one, simple thing: SUCCESS.

But it didn`t start out that way at all. O no.

In the beginning, was their WORD.

& by that I mean, right at the beginning of SplashDVD`s entry into the supplier game, all was peachy keen & tickety-boo. I moreorless became aware of them at their infancy — right when they had started trading. so, for the first 7 or 9 months DVDs & CDs were ordered & were delivered within the space [on average] of about 3-5 days. It was truest kind of love. I spent a fortune keeping the two of us entertained. *sigh*

Over the course of the following months I placed numerous orders with Splash &, barring the odd oddity which had to be sourced or back-ordered [& even then, no more than a week`s wait at most], orders were processed & dispatched almost immediately. Even throughout a Christmas period, when I naturally expected a backlog or 1 or 2 delays/post New Year deliveries, Splash came through, & all the little kiddie-winks got their pressies on the Big Day. Suffice to say, all my e-mails were replied to within 6 - 12 hours on a working day. Standard practice & comforting, like the belly of a kitten lying across your neck on a cold winter`s evening in front of the box when you can`t be bothered to flick on the central heating or slip on an extra woolly. I digress...

Then, suddenly I noticed something. There was a crack or 2 appearing.

It began with a kind of `as endorsed by The Daily Star` banner on their home page & subsequent pages. It would seem the joy they were bringing to however many people on mainland UK was not nearly enough, so they seemed to have decided to team up with some of the tabloids & promote their fab-tastic services — i.e. cheap as chips & quicker than the little blighters going through you after a night on the ale.

OK, I thought. Knowing these people moreorless operate out of a shed in some raconteur`s back garden [I know this to be the case, as they done told me, Mr. Moderator] things were about to change... a whole lot more people would be logging on to share in the delights of this wonderfully prompt service. Therefore — here comes the science bit — by proxy, the stock levels either have to go up dramatically to cover the increase in initial orders & the inevitable sustained level of orders thereafter, or they continue as is & hope people don`t all want the same thing at the same time [you know, like the oft & heavily advertised pre-order specials & offers etc.], or #2, these new & exisiting customers don`t mind a delay of some sorts.

Thinking that my affair with them had been healthy, I would at least receive some note of some description explaining there may be delays in the future but don`t worry, they still adored me & my money. Turns out, within a very short space of time, they only adored my money.

2 months ago I ordered a DVD I knew to be widely available in retail & internet outlets. My loyalty [to those cosy evenings in front of a blazing VDU, tippy-tapping in sweet nothings in the form of DVD-this & CD-that to the sweet things at Splash] saw me ordering from them again. Only to be not told by anyone whatsoever amen that they didn`t have the item in stock & some 5 weeks down the line I would still be chasing the blummin thing. Doh! I cancelled. A week later, after much, much prompting, my refund appeared. I had to be a bit gruff with them, though. But they seemd to like it!? Zoinks!

Anyway, a few more `non-stock` items later, and a few more cancellations with the usual `give me back my money you fiends` style e-mails & phonecalls, I decided to call it a day.

However, my real-life, flesh & bone girlfriend decided 3 weeks ago to place a whopping great order with them [over £100] behind my back. The 2-timing slattern, I ask you! Anyhoo, she heard nothing. Na-da. So she sent a polite e-mail enquiring as to the whereabouts of blah & blah, but she received no reply. Another e-mail. Na-da. Another e-mail. Nowt. This time she was well angry. She tried phoning them. Their number was no longer in use! She thought it may be a mistake so tried again - not in use... So she e-mailed them. Nuffin`. Eventually, their phone mysteriously came back on & she got to speak to one of their expert aftersales personnel. Huzzah! But, not quite. She was told that one of the items was forever delayed as they cannot get it from their suppliers in Australia; 2 others would maybe with us sometime next week; 3 were on back-order &, well, who knows...; but, marvellously, 3 of the items may be with us this week. At the end of. Perhaps. She didn`t hold her breath. She immediately e-mailed all of the available e-ddresses with a polite demand they get back and be more acurate with their leadtimes & less non-commital about it. She didn`t get a reply. So she sent them this:

Dear Splashdvd,

Having received absolutely no written communication from your people concerning a large order I placed with you over 2 weeks ago, I am now seriously considering cancelling it. I want your assurance that, because you have been unable to fulfill my order to my satisfaction as per your mission statement & terms & conditions, indeed AT ALL, when I receive my refund I shall also receive compensation covering the Interest @ 12.3% accumulated on my credit card, waiting for these items to materialise. Something, evidently, they are obviously not going to do any day soon.

In short, you owe me money due to your lack of professionalism.

I note [from simply searching under your name on Google] numerous complaints have arisen concerning your company`s thorough lack of aftersales service. I note also that Jersey Trading Standards are investigating you, as is BBC TV`s Watchdog programme.

Please, for your sake, not mine, reply immediately and confirm all credit card Interest accumulated waiting for these goods will be covered in addition to my original transaction costs in this refund, should I decide to ask for one as per my rights as a consumer.

Please know, this situation is all due to your inability to simply send an e-mail advising that some of these items are presently out of stock. It isn`t hard. It is called Customer Service.

It is quite astonishing that, in all of this, you still have time to update the dairy entries of a dog, yet do not have the time or credibility to actually reply to standard email requests or, heaven forbid, be pro-active & anticipate a customer`s concerns...

Should you chose to ignore THIS email, or deny any compensatory liability, then I shall take this further than you ever thought possible.
*************************************************************************************************

& guess what... that`s right.

Bu99er All In Reply. Rotters.

She is taking it further. Watch this space.

In the end, their WORD was broken. As is our patience.

Final Thought: Just to set some of your minds at rest, all of this happened within the last month.

Dixie the dog, it would seem, is still with us & enjoying her free time. I guess she has plenty of it, these days. If my girlfriend has anything to say about it, & believe me she will, Dixie will have so much free time in the coming `FOREVER` she`ll be able to update her diary from a PDSA cage, reminiscing about all those darling days as a laptop dog for one of the saddest excuses for Customer Liability known to internet-commerce kind.

Amen.

— all things bloom to suffer loss —

This item was edited on Monday, 8th September 2003, 20:10