Stay clear of CD WOW unless you want to pay customs charges and wait nearly a month!

srlgh

Hiya

Just thought I'd warn people to be careful when buying items from CD WOW.

I'm a member of Blue Light Card (discount for Emergency Services) and I was looking to buy a game for the PS3 and when looking for discounts found CD WOW, although the discount applied only to CDs through BLC, the game was much cheaper than most places so decided to buy it as it said it would be sent out within 24 hours and I hadn't really heard of CD WOW before but thought it must be ok if BLC had it on there site as they have to go through checks etc.

I ordered the item on 24th June and finally got an email on 28th to say it had been sent out (even though it said it was in stock before) and after a week I emailed them as it hadn't arrived. They told me to wait longer. I waited 10 business days after it was sent out and they told me to wait longer and told me how usually items get to customers in 5-7 days and that they'd even tested it, and then said I should wait longer..... today... 15th July my postman handed me a card to say that there is customs charges of £13.39 to pay on it! No where on the site did it make it clear that the items were not from the UK and also on searching on the website it states that they pay custom charges upfront etc but sometimes it doesn't cover it and as the recipient its my responsibility. Its disgusting! It should state this when you buy it rather than having to search it up after. Never ever using them again!

I just thought I'd warn others as CD WOW are cheap... and obviously its because the items are overseas and you end up paying custom charges for the items!

zenseeker

Never had a problem with CD Wow, and received nearly a hundred items from them over time.

dazzer68

ive used cd wow loads of times and never had a problem.
infact i ordered two items, one for me and one for my daughter in new zealand (they post anywhere for free!) and hers arrived before mine! sorry youve had a bad experince with them but can honestly say i never have!

bleepandbooster

Same here ..........No problems, been using them for years !

David

katsu

Afraid my experience was more like that of the OP. My work's discount site had them on there so I thought they must be reliable.

I did not realise they were not shipping from the UK. They would not let me cancel under the distance selling regulations because they are not a UK website. I was stuck having paid them and having no item. Weeks later they eventually dispatched a replacement - most unwillingly.

I will never shop with them again and I encourage other people to avoid them. From my research it seems that if things go wrong for you the experience is hellish but some people are lucky to get their stuff no problems.

Never again for me.

gregmac666

To pay customs charges on item entering the UK they must have a value over a certain amount - can't remember what that is but it's likely to be around £18 if memory serves me well, so the item must have been way above that cost to incure such a high charge.

It's bad that CD-WOW do not state that some items may incur changes, but I have been lucky & never had such an experience. It has to be said thought that I usually only buy CDs that are under £10 in value & so would not incur chanrges. I have bought 1 computer game from them in the past (probably 3 or 4 years ago) and I did not pay any charges on that. It may have been luck of the draw.

joyce63

Although I've never been asked to pay customs charges on items bought from CD Wow, I stopped using them a few years back as they weren't selling UK versions of CDs. This meant some tracks could be missing. They were never upfront about this on their website. I'd not be tempted to use them again, even if they are cheaper than other places.

Phantom_Flan_Flinger

Years ago when CDWow first started I used them all the time. The CD's came from Hong Kong, but I was always aware there might be a chance of different track listings.

Their customer support line was near High Wycombe and the odd time I had CD's go missing, there was never any issues with replacements getting sent out.

As with most, they've long since been taken over. CS went down the pan and their prices for the stuff I was after wasn't any where near as competitive.

I haven't used them for a long while. Quidco have recently removed them as a retailer as they weren't paying the cashback.

Kite2010

I stopped using them last year when delivery times took a nose-dive for the worst, and the customer services is non-existent

ajay_89

I've only ever used CD Wow twice. The first time everything was okay but the second time I waited over a month for the CD I ordered to arrive. When I emailed then 3 weeks after they had dispatched it they responded and said in not so many words that it had been sent and then blamed the royal mail for it not arriving (there were not any strikes or anything at the time and everything else I had ordered at the time had arrived in good tike etc.) The cd then turned up just over a week later which made me suspect they had only sent it when I emailed them enquiring where it was rather than when they actually said they had.

cmayos

I used to use CD Wow all the time but EVERY CD came with a cracked case - the centre button for pushing the CD out had broken. My friend ordered a CD and he received a copy CD. He complained and they just wanted him to send the CD back but he refused asking them to investigate. It never came to anything but I haven't used them since.