play.com and cd-wow.co.uk

spidermanalf

Firstly i have over 400 dvds and a good many bought from these two companies.

If ANYTHING is wrong with your purchase, they will swap it straight away, sending your repleacement goods out BEFORE they send you a return envelope.

If you disk/box is damaged, they will swap it, and if it never turns up, they will send it again. They are always helpful and a pleasure to use!


Top marks!

lisyloo

A number of these comapnaies operate from the channel islands or hong kong (including the 2 above).

In my opinion they should make this clear (or at least available).
It can be very difficult to find out where they send from.

This does affect postage times.

I have occassionally bought CDs with little time to spare for someones birthday and not realised that extra postage time would be involved.

I'm not saying they should advertise it, but they shouldn't make it impossible to find out where they send from for customers who want to take this into account.

lisyloo

BTW - This is a general comment and not necessarily just about the 2 companies above.

isasmurf

A number of these comapnaies operate from the channel islands or hong kong (including the 2 above).

In my opinion they should make this clear (or at least available).
It can be very difficult to find out where they send from.

This does affect postage times.

I have occassionally bought CDs with little time to spare for someones birthday and not realised that extra postage time would be involved.

I have always found that CD WOW postage is very quick. Everything I have ordered from them has always arrived within 48-72 hours. The only problem with them I had was when I was charged £3.34 customs charge + £3.35 PO handling charge. >:( When I complained to CDWOW they paid it for me immeadiately. Great Service.

lisyloo

Are you saying that as a matter of course CD-wow do not pay the customs charges that they should be paying and they only pay these charges when they get found out (to the inconvienience of the customer who has to claim it back from them).

Sorry if I've misunderstood, but if this is the case then it's not my idea of great service.

spidermanalf

Lisyloo, if you do not like them. Don't use them simple as.

The customs thing is due to that anything over 18 pound MAYBE subject to customs charge! They put the true value on the box, and say what is in there. As they should.

Sometimes customs VAT you on items UNDER 18 pounds it just depends.

BUT as they give you any money back that you are charged quibble free, then that is good customer service!

go to https://www.avforums.com and look for cd-wow there is nothing but praise from a fair few people!

lisyloo

I am very suprised that the customs rules are not clear on what customs charges have to be paid.

But I'll take your word for it.

If that's the case then I would like to know (as I said initially) where the item was coming from and that I may have to pay customs charges and pay them back.
If I am unlucky and the charge hits my credit card at the wrong time it means I will have to pay the bill and wait for a refund.

I find that quite a hassle and bet that most of the people who are satisfied have never had this happen to them.

As I said initially I think this info should be available.
On some sites it's very difficult/impossible to find out where they send from.

isasmurf

Perhaps, I should've explained the customs thing a bit more.  When I queried this with CD WOW they did tell me that it is displayed on their site... I just missed it... so they paid the charges for me as a gesture of goodwill.  (and you pay the Post office the customs charge it doesn't go on your credit card.)

Your problem with delivery I don't get.  Nearly all websites show expected delivery times, and CD-WOW is no exception.    

From CDWOW
Delivery Times

UK 5 to 7 days from despatch
Germany, Austria & Switzerland 4 to 6 days from despatch
Other EU 6 to 8 days from despatch
Hong Kong and Asia 5 to 7 days from despatch
Australia & New Zealand 7 to 10 days from despatch
USA 7 to 10 days from despatch

(and CDWOW are usually a lot quicker then these times)

Just becuase they are not on the front page does not mean they are not there.

lisyloo

Your problem with delivery I don't get.

==================================

Let me explain.
If I see something on amazon.co.uk and it says "usually despatched in 24 hours" then if I order in the morning, it will normally get despatched that day and will arrive the next day.

If I order something from https://www.dvd.co.uk (who I know ship from Guernsey) then if they say "usually despatched within 24 hours" then it will not come in the same timeframe as it would from amazon, although the quoted despatch times are the same.

This is because it takes longer for the physical delivery to take place from Guernsey than it does from Amazon.

I buy CDs etc for birthdays and sometimes I'm under time pressure.
Therefore I would like to know where they are shipping from because I can therefore work out for example that someone shipping from Hong Kong will take longer than someone shipping from Coventry.

I have found it difficult on most companies web sites to find out where they deliver from and have occassionally been dissapointed when things have take longer than expected.
I have looked extensively on the dvd.co.uk website and the only address is one in witney which they use for returns BUT they do NOT despatch from here.

This to me is useful information that they do not display and I would go as far as to say that it appears that some of them are hiding this info e.g. dvd.co.uk displaying a UK address which gives the impression that they are operating from there.

Pal

I agree with the comments re Play.com. Great prices and delivery, They also give the warning re customs on their website.

mini

I have read your comments with great interest, I ordered from splashdvd and my items took weeks too arrive (I knew they were slow & wasn't in any hurry) my parcel was from Jersey like you say with the lable on saying what it is, my real question is - is that why splash do their £2 off each order offer to encourage people to order every item individually to remove the chances of having to pay the customs charge?