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Share Your Online Retailer Horror Stories!!!


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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 24030
PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2012 2:19 pm Reply with quote
I've just had a not great experience with buying an item off of Amazon.com.

Read the Gory Details Here

Needless to say, I am VERY much in the mood to hear Online Retailer Horror Stories (and it's almost Hallowe'en, too!) from the rest of yas. The more hair-raising the better - don't hold back!
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Sheleigha



Joined: 09 May 2008
Posts: 1674
PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2012 3:58 pm Reply with quote
Amazon Marketplace sellers can REALLY be hit or miss! Although I don't have any actual horror stories, I do have a few interesting Marketplace ones:

-Bought 2 singles of .hack//Roots, received 2 singles of Hayate by mistake. After a slightly upset email later, I got to keep them (made a bit of credit by trading them into Amazon... these two weren't the ones worth the big bucks) and later received my two .hacks Smile Both sealed, for pretty cheap!
- Dragon Drive Boxset 2 said to be "acceptable", but turned out to be in excellent condition! (Cheapest I've ever seen it too!)

...I guess those were stories that turned out to be good... The only thing I ever slightly got irked about, when when I bought the RahXephon movie chipboard w/artbook. I expected it to just have the movie in it. It came in... There's a water ring circle on the top of the box (who uses their boxset as a coaster?!) buuut the boxset DID give me a full second set of the singles (which I did sell off).
I guess that's my only shopping "horror" story from Amazon Marketplace. Doeswn't bug me that bad though...

eBay though, I was sad when my Ceres boxset 2 and Rozen Maiden Traumend boxset got 'lost' in the mail Sad Took me a while to find Traumend at that price again...
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Ortensia1980



Joined: 31 Aug 2011
Posts: 803
Location: some town near Amsterdam
PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2012 4:13 pm Reply with quote
Had one on eBay with Princess Jellyfish not too long ago. I only buy from sellers that I've bought from before and from ones with good feedback, but I crossed that particular seller off of my list. The seller always responded to my emails very quickly (which I thought was a good sign) and kept assuring me that if the package was officially confirmed lost that he'd refund me. Naturally, I ended up getting f***ed over and lost my money.

The last time that something like that happened was way back in 2000 (or something) so for about 12 years I was living in a carefree world where all online sellers were honest people. Well, not anymore Wink
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
Posts: 24030
PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2012 4:38 pm Reply with quote
@ Sheleigha - those aren't horror stories!!! I want gore, I want carnage!!! I want to read stuff so scary that I won't be able to sleep for 87 days!!! I wanna hear how, in the course of delivery, your entire house got burned down - I wanna hear how dealing with an online retailer resulted in your identity being stolen and the loss of $100,000 from your personal account - give me horror!!! Wink

@ Ortensia1980 - okay, that's more like it! Er, I mean, sorry to hear about that...
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manicli



Joined: 16 Jun 2012
Posts: 186
Location: Toronto, Canada
PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2012 4:52 pm Reply with quote
Blood- wrote:
@ Sheleigha - those aren't horror stories!!! I want gore, I want carnage!!! I want to read stuff so scary that I won't be able to sleep for 87 days!!! I wanna hear how, in the course of delivery, your entire house got burned down - I wanna hear how dealing with an online retailer resulted in your identity being stolen and the loss of $100,000 from your personal account - give me horror!!! Wink

@ Ortensia1980 - okay, that's more like it! Er, I mean, sorry to hear about that...


ROFLMAOOOOOOOOOOOOO That was hilarious. Probably lost all the knowledge I've been cramming for my exams but w/e it was totally worth reading Smile

I have a few bad experiences but nothing on the level you're looking for I'm afraid.

I once bought a DVD off ebay and it came glued between 2 sheets of plastic. Needless to say the DVD box was completely crushed and the DVD was actually cracked in half. The DVD box itself was in several pieces when I opened the plastic, I guess you could imagine the classic person opening the package only to have pieces fall to his feel in slow motion. I wasn't very happy about that but I ended up getting a refund.

I've received a few crushed DVD cases from rightstuf but they've always sent me a replacement so no complaints here. I actually received a crushed DVD case today but custom care took care of it Smile My boxes always come crushed but the items are mostly undamaged.

Oh yes the online retailer ImportCDS.com I placed an order from them because they're pretty cheap and I paid with paypal. They took 2 payments (of $150) for the same item and refused to give me my refund after they mysteriously cancelled my order. I was really pissed at them but again I got a refund through paypal. That took a whole month so I recommend avoiding them. Their customer service is actually NON-EXISTENT!

Then there was the time that I bought the Geneon release of Fate/Stay night singles with LE art box. The ebay seller shipped the item which magically got lost in the mail, which I paid $100 dollars for. She kept assuring me that it was going to arrive but it never did. I couldn't get a refund because I waited past the deadline. Sad

Oh and my edition of The Familiar of Zero first season took over 3+ months to arrive damaged, the discs were loose and ended up scratched ........... I got a refund because I thought it got lost or the seller didn't ship it or something. But it did turn up after a quarter of a year just recently I might add. I'm still debating whether I should contact the seller to send part of the money or item back. 3 months for a parcel is unacceptable, but sending it back to the states tracked would also cost a lot since those are ebay rules.

And the good news of the day is that I only got dinged with $22.50 in Tax & handling charges on a $250 dollar order. The actual charge should be close to $45 but I guess the customs officer forgot or something. Smile


Last edited by manicli on Fri Oct 19, 2012 5:01 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2012 5:00 pm Reply with quote
@ manicli - you're more honest than I am, if you do contact that seller. If I were in your shoes, I would rationalize that the refund on the Familiar of Zero order was the Universe's way of compensating me for getting burnt on F/SN... Twisted Evil
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Crisha
Moderator


Joined: 21 Apr 2010
Posts: 4290
PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2012 5:03 pm Reply with quote
I've bought a few series before thinking that they were legit releases, but ended up finding out later on that they were bootlegs. I was too unedumacated at the time to realize the difference, and by the time I realized the truth they were too late to return. Oh ebay.

Speaking of ebay, during the time before I knew about fansubs (ye olde olde days), I bought a bootleg of Rose of Versailles. 14 dvds, no artwork, in very basic round cases using the old crappy quality fansubs before Live eviL's release. The only distinguishing difference between dvds were the numbers 1-14 written in black pen on them. This isn't even Chinese level bootleg quality. This is middle-schooler-in-mom-and-dad's-basement-burning-fansubs-on-dvds quality. And only years later I downloaded LE's release.

I can't believe the shit I've paid money for.

Uh, I don't know if this is in line with this thread, but they're my most horrifying purchasing stories.
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manicli



Joined: 16 Jun 2012
Posts: 186
Location: Toronto, Canada
PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2012 5:05 pm Reply with quote
Blood- wrote:
@ manicli - you're more honest than I am, if you do contact that seller. If I were in your shoes, I would rationalize that the refund on the Familiar of Zero order was the Universe's way of compensating me for getting burnt on F/SN... Twisted Evil


That's true. I'm still debating it because I do have principles and morals to uphold but at the same time the fact that it took 3 months to arrive with a broken case and scratched DVDs makes me pretty furious since I paid a good $95 for the item. So I could think of the $95 as the hassle and stress I had to go through if I were to logically justify my actions, but I do feel bad for the seller.

I'm thinking of sending him $30 dollars on Christmas or something to compensate him or something. It would probably cost around that to send it back tracked anyway.

What do you think Blood?

Oh crap I forgot to mention my stupidity at buying a bootleg of Darker than Black. I didn't realize until after 2 months so I got burned on that aswell Sad
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Bright_Spear



Joined: 24 Jul 2012
Posts: 340
PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2012 5:09 pm Reply with quote
edit

Last edited by Bright_Spear on Tue May 06, 2014 2:50 am; edited 1 time in total
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Sheleigha



Joined: 09 May 2008
Posts: 1674
PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2012 7:15 pm Reply with quote
Blood- wrote:
@ Sheleigha - those aren't horror stories!!! I want gore, I want carnage!!! I want to read stuff so scary that I won't be able to sleep for 87 days!!! I wanna hear how, in the course of delivery, your entire house got burned down - I wanna hear how dealing with an online retailer resulted in your identity being stolen and the loss of $100,000 from your personal account - give me horror!!! Wink


Sorry, that's all I've got Sad I have heard horror stories on selling communities I'm a part of (people taking you money, never sending money out, vanishing from the community etc) but I've been pretty fortunate when it comes to buying online! Except for those lost items (wherever they may currently be floating around... v_v)


manicli wrote:

I once bought a DVD off ebay and it came glued between 2 sheets of plastic.


Wait, what? Why? Why would anyone think that it was a good idea? Sad
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2012 7:20 pm Reply with quote
@ manicli - what do I think? I think you should do whatever makes you feel best.

*nods wisely*
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manicli



Joined: 16 Jun 2012
Posts: 186
Location: Toronto, Canada
PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2012 8:06 pm Reply with quote
Blood- wrote:
@ manicli - what do I think? I think you should do whatever makes you feel best.

*nods wisely*


That was anything but wise -___- What would make me feel best is not giving the guy a dime since he made me go through all the trouble of getting a refund and waiting 3 months for a broken item!
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
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PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2012 8:52 pm Reply with quote
Well, Grasshopper ... I believe you have your answer.

*again with the wise nodding*
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manicli



Joined: 16 Jun 2012
Posts: 186
Location: Toronto, Canada
PostPosted: Fri Oct 19, 2012 10:13 pm Reply with quote
Blood- wrote:
Well, Grasshopper ... I believe you have your answer.

*again with the wise nodding*


But....but.....but....... my what about my morals and principles? FML idk what to do anymore. I honestly don't want to give him a dime because of the trouble he made me go through but if I reason out the situation I should.

I'm just going to send him $30 dollars and clear my conscience, this is getting over the top for me.

So Blood- would you really just walk away with the scratched discs? Which play fine btw.
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Ortensia1980



Joined: 31 Aug 2011
Posts: 803
Location: some town near Amsterdam
PostPosted: Sat Oct 20, 2012 1:51 am Reply with quote
Blood- wrote:
@ Ortensia1980 - okay, that's more like it! Er, I mean, sorry to hear about that...


Laughing

Thought of two more just now.

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in the day I bought Trinity Blood which was dirt cheap and when I got it, I found out why it was so cheap. This guy had just burned all the fansubbed episodes that he could find on some CDs and sold them as "complete sets" on ebay. That last bit was even more ironic seeing as the series was 24 episodes and he had only burned 18 episodes.

Also bought the new Peacemaker dvds and this guy sent me just the dvds. He never responded to my questions about it and to this day I wonder if the dvds were even real (they looked real enough to me) and if they were, what the hell he did to the box that they came in Confused

And before I found out about the business of bootlegging I bought two Fate/stay night figures which were horribly made. Rin was screwed to the base and Saber lost her leg at one point.

@manicli: I'd keep them as well, but I'm awfully dishonest.
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