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How long does it take to import region 1 dvds?

carl6018 (Mostly Harmless) posted this on Thursday, 3rd August 2006, 11:49

Hi there. I ordered Highlander season 1 for £25 from playusa.com and I got an email saying it had been sent out on the 18th of July which was just over 2 weeks ago and I still havent received anything. This is the first time I have ordered a region 1 dvd. Can someone tell me how long they usually wait before getting their dvds as I am now getting a bit worried.
Thanks.

RE: How long does it take to import region 1 dvds?

Mark Oates (Reviewer) posted this on Thursday, 3rd August 2006, 12:13

You can`t really start panicking until three weeks have passed. I`ve had about three items in the past three months which have taken 23 days from the despatch email to the thud on the mat.

PlayUSA will reimburse or replace after two weeks have elapsed (the minimum Royal Mail allow before they admit they`ve lost something), but they may have to reconsider this as it is open to abuse.

The discs will arrive eventually. Genuine lost-in-the-mail is very rare.

J Mark Oates



I`m not indulging in a second childhood.
I never finished with the first.

This item was edited on Thursday, 3rd August 2006, 13:13

RE: How long does it take to import region 1 dvds?

Superted (Elite) posted this on Thursday, 3rd August 2006, 15:46

It could be stuck at customs too, that always delays things by a week to 10 days

All the best

Gerald.

RE: How long does it take to import region 1 dvds?

Matthew Smart (Reviewer) posted this on Thursday, 3rd August 2006, 15:48

^ in which case you`ll know when you get a note through the door from Royal Mail looking for the best part of a tenner before they`ll deliver it. :(




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www.DVD.Reviewer.co.uk
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RE: How long does it take to import region 1 dvds?

nostalgiadvd (Elite) posted this on Thursday, 3rd August 2006, 20:36

While importing from outside the UK can take a few weeks,PLAYUSA takes no more than 5 working days on average.
If its been 2 weeks since they posted it ,then its unlikely to arrive.
However,ordering items over £17.99 from PLAYUSA is a mistake and should it turn up you will be looking at another £8-£10 for import duty.
Once its in the local PO they should send you a card telling you how much to pay and where to collect.
Before contacting PLAY,pop down to the local PO and see if they have it.
The card could be lost or forgotten.
I would have expected a £25.99 item from them to be recorded anyway

RE: How long does it take to import region 1 dvds?

Mark Oates (Reviewer) posted this on Thursday, 3rd August 2006, 23:17

Quote:
While importing from outside the UK can take a few weeks,PLAYUSA takes no more than 5 working days on average.

And the rest. 23 days for a similar sized packet to the OP`s, resolved only a fortnight ago.
Quote:
I would have expected a £25.99 item from them to be recorded anyway

From Play.com. PlayUSA is supposed to mail from the US, and there`s no such animal as international RD.

J Mark Oates



I`m not indulging in a second childhood.
I never finished with the first.

RE: How long does it take to import region 1 dvds?

Hulk Smash! (Elite) posted this on Friday, 4th August 2006, 01:04

....if you order from DVDSoon or DVDImport, then you can expect to wait 2-3 months (that` presuming you actually get it at all...) :o

RE: How long does it take to import region 1 dvds?

nostalgiadvd (Elite) posted this on Friday, 4th August 2006, 20:38

If the item is in stock then under normal circumstances PLAYUSA dvd`s arrive in 5 days from posting ,or less.
If yours took longer then there was a problem.
I`ve had 3 items from PLAYUSA this week.
All were posted last Friday and the last one arrived yesterday.
PLAYUSA items don`t come from the US .
Last time I saw a shipping address that was different from the Jersey address it was posted from Belgium.
PLAY also have a warehouse/office in Middlesex,so items from PLAYUSA could still end up recorded.
There IS an international recorded delivery service anyway,but IIRC its restricted to European countries,and possibly not all of them either

This item was edited on Friday, 4th August 2006, 21:39

RE: How long does it take to import region 1 dvds?

Mark Oates (Reviewer) posted this on Saturday, 5th August 2006, 13:26

Quote:
If the item is in stock then under normal circumstances PLAYUSA dvd`s arrive in 5 days from posting ,or less.
If yours took longer then there was a problem.

No sh*t? Of course there`s a problem. I`m just saying he doesn`t need to panic yet as there`s every likelihood the stuff will turn up - eventually. He still has to wait fourteen working days before Play can do anything as Royal Mail won`t class a packet as lost before then.
Quote:
I`ve had 3 items from PLAYUSA this week.
All were posted last Friday and the last one arrived yesterday.

Well lucky bloody you. When the postal system works, it works. From personal experience, and I keep records of delivery times, international mail is all over the place. It takes an average four days for packets posted within the UK to reach me, and can take up to four weeks for some items to turn up.
Quote:
PLAYUSA items don`t come from the US .

No, they ship from Canada, leaving via (I think La Guardia) as sometimes there`s a Jamaica NY sticker on them.
Quote:
Last time I saw a shipping address that was different from the Jersey address it was posted from Belgium.
PLAY also have a warehouse/office in Middlesex,so items from PLAYUSA could still end up recorded.

Middlesex and Belgium are return addresses for returns/undeliverables. The idea is to keep costs down, they ship returns/undeliverables back in bulk say every couple of months.

Most of the online retailers are very cagey about how they ship, as they are wary of having to pay import and VAT type taxes. PlayUSA has what appears to be an accommodation address in Colorado USA, where you order from. The order is fulfilled in Canada (hence the frequent bi-lingual covers and Canadian censor stickers). Now what happens then is purely supposition. If they work straightforwardly, the items are bagged and sent out of the Americas via airmail through New York. If not, there is evidence they ship bulk via surface mail to Belgium, where the items are posted on to the UK. The problem with this model is the huge variance in shipping times. I am more inclined to believe that the Belgium address is a returns dump used by a number of firms for recovering lost mail.


J Mark Oates



I`m not indulging in a second childhood.
I never finished with the first.

RE: How long does it take to import region 1 dvds?

nostalgiadvd (Elite) posted this on Saturday, 5th August 2006, 20:18

I see you have returned to your rather tired and sarcastic responses.
If packets posted WITHIN the UK take 4 days to reach you then its your local PO at fault.
R2 stuff from PLAY in Jersey usually takes 2 days for me,3 on some occasions,and I`m in a rural location
I have been ordering R1 dvd`s from PLAY since 1999 and have yet to have an item turn up more than 5 days after posting.
Over the years there have been a small number that have not turned up at all,hence my comment that if its not arrived after 2 weeks then its arrival is unlikely.
Experience of ordering from other US or Canadian retailers,including Amazon clearly shows that PLAYUSA dvd`s are NOT posted directly from either country.
Just because they supply Canadian dvd`s does not mean they are shipped directly from there,and surface mail to Belgium from Canada would take weeks.
In most cases my R1 dvd`s arrive before official street date.
Dallas season 5,posted August 1st,arrived today

This item was edited on Saturday, 5th August 2006, 21:22

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