Deep Discount DVD Preorders

[Darthnick37]

Has anyone ever preordered a DVD from deepdiscountdvd.com? The reason I ask is that I pre-ordered Texas Chainsaw Massacre and I still haven't received it. I e-mailed them a few times (they don't respond), and called and they keep giving me the runaround (wait longer, wait longer) I was just wondering if this was common with them or if this is just a freak occurance. Any input would be apprciated. Thanks.

[tomdkat]

I've pre-ordered several DVDs from them and they've all arrived, eventually. What shipping option did you specify when placing the order? If you chose the FREE shipping option, don't expect it to arrive anytime soon as that slow boat has just left the harbor and they have yet to "round the horn"...

Peace...

[Buffalo Bill]

First couple of years I ordered from DDD they almost always shipped new releases the Tuesday prior to release so that even with media mail (the free shipping option) it'd take a week to 10 days & I'd get my dvds on or a day or 2 after release date. The last year or so I've noticed that they're almost always sending new releases the Saturday or Monday just before release date so that I don't get them until a week or longer after release date (such as Final Countdown which still hasn't arrived). They definitely won't reship though until 15 business days after they've shipped so I've still got to wait another week before asking to send it if it hasn't arrived by then. I don't know why they don't ship earlier the way they used to always. They do occasionally but not very often.

[Darthnick37]

I paid the extra $ for 3-5 day shipping, but I ordered more than one DVD, and apparently, they only ship the first on that way, and ship all the others free shipping. It says they do this on the faq page (or so the rude customer service rep. told me when I called to see what was taking so long, after E-mailing twice with no response. I told him it also says that all preorders ship to arrive on or near the release date)

[svrasputin]

I also preordered TCM: FP from DDD...haven't received mine either...went to the website yesterday and added the title to my shopping cart, and it said that the title was not in stock...obviously, DDD must have had some kind of problem in getting their shipment of the title...after dealing with them for so long, i can assure you that they aren't giving you the runaround...give it some time...

[dogmaratt]

Where is the best place to preorder from?

In other words, which place will get your order to you on or before street?

[dougotte]

I often order from DDD. Their prices are often (not always! - use DVD Price Search) the best. However, others here are right - the free shipping option is VERY slow. It never takes less than 10 days, and usually 2 weeks or more. However, I'm cheap and patient, so I can wait. I sort of enjoy the anticipation. Will it be in today's mail? No! Maybe tomorrow?

Doug

[sukr_4_dbldips]

I've never had a problem with them...yeah, the free shipping is slow, although in my experience not as slow as some other people are saying. For example, my Final Countdown shipped on Saturday and arrived the following Friday, so it only took 5 business days to get to my door.

[James Cole]

I like to use DVD Empire. I do pay a little more, but if I order through USPS Priority Mail, I usually get in on Monday ( the day before the actual release date) or if you use UPS Ground, it arrives on the actual street date. Getting it on time or before the street date is worth a little more dough, in my opinion.

[Buffalo Bill]

Still waiting on Final Countdown LE to arrive. Shipped Saturday the 27th (release date the 30th). I don't mind the wait but as I said before they used to ship a week before the release instead of a couple of days before. Doesn't happen very often any more. I'd preordered it almost 3 months early also & as has been pointed out by Darthnick37 preorders are supposed to ship so as arrive on or near release date (so they say).

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by James Cole

I like to use DVD Empire. I do pay a little more, but if I order through USPS Priority Mail, I usually get in on Monday ( the day before the actual release date) or if you use UPS Ground, it arrives on the actual street date.

I use DVD Empire for pre-orders and gifts for other people. I used to use DVD Empire exclusively for ALL DVD purchases until I had a bad experience (which is documented on this site) with them.

I "stack" my pre-orders as far in advance as possible and just let DVD Empire send them to the designated recipients. It works well for me. There are some things that could still be improved but for the most the way I use their services works about as efficiently as I can expect.

Peace...

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by Darthnick37

I paid the extra $ for 3-5 day shipping, but I ordered more than one DVD, and apparently, they only ship the first on that way, and ship all the others free shipping. It says they do this on the faq page

Wow, I didn't know they did this. Thanks for posting it.

Peace...

[blakely614]

my only pre-order with dddvd was panic room se (3/30/04 street). i was very surprised to have it in the mailbox that friday (4/2/04). with free shipping to boot.

[Vader]

I used to pre-order everything from them (DeepDiscountDVD), and has been stated, they used to ship about a week before street date. The few times I had a floater (loose DVD in case), they would ship out a new one immediately, not waiting for the damaged one to get back to them (they looked at my past patronage, and saw that I was good for it). So, my new disc arrived in about 5 days, and I would send the damaged one back in the same box. I guess there was a change in policy w/in the last year, because they now ship a few days before (at best) street date, meaning it would arrive about a week late. I had a couple of floaters recently, but they required them to be returned (and go through their bookkeeping) before they would send out new ones. As a result, it took about 5-6 weeks (I'm not kidding) to get the good discs. Finally, I just moved into a new house, and the discs that were preordered prior to the move were sent to the old address (I changed the current shipping address on their site right before the move). They told me that their software grabs the address and billing information when the order is made, and there was no way to change the software so that it checked the most current information on my profile (translation: they didn't want to bother). This means that discs preordered over six months prior I had forgotton about disappeared down a postal black hole. A year ago, I would have recommended them enthusiastically, but their customer service has just nose-dived. My advice: stick with B&M (brick & morter)! Just my $0.02. Good luck...

Vader
------------------

"My opinion is that (a) anyone who actually works in a video store and does
not understand letterboxing has given up on life, and (b) any customer who
prefers to have the sides of a movie hacked off should not be licensed to
operate a video player."-- Roger Ebert

No OAR -- NO SALE!!!

"This screen has been formatted to fit your movie."

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by Vader

A year ago, I would have recommended them enthusiastically, but their customer service has just nose-dived. My advice: stick with B&M (brick & morter)! Just my $0.02. Good luck...

Yeah, DDDs software isn't the best (at least their ordering system). That's why I use DVD Empire for any DVDs I buy for other people. DVD Empire's web interface is really together and they provide great tracking of shipments, etc.

The only time I buy from B&M stores now is to buy DVDs ON release day. I posted some comments a LONG time ago about experiements I conducted at various places. I would make a list of DVDs and price compare them at various B&M stores (like Fry's Electronics and BestBuy) and I was just amazed at what I was able to find but more interestingly NOT find.

I made a point to NOT choose new releases or anything obscure. I chose "run of the mill" DVDs, like Independence Day, Fight Club, and some other DVD (I forget which now.. maybe Gladiator). In some cases, I was NOT able to find any of these DVDs on the shelf (much to my suprise)! I think I'll do this again and report back what I find.

Maybe I'm more patient than others but I've had some DVDs to send back to DDD and those transactions, while slow, worked just fine. I bought a DVD at Fry's Electronics (Silence of the Lambs, MGM release) and there was NO DVD inside, despite the shrink-wrap and security seals. I haven't had these kinds of problems with DVDs I purchase online even though I HAVE received some "floaters" that still played flawlessly on my DVD players.

Peace...

[Daniel Shock]

The only problem I've ever had with them has been in geting a bad disc replaced (took over a month) Other than that, no problem. Although - now pre-orders at Amazon are very close, so I usually go with them now.

[dave70]

DVDEmpire is the way to go. They ship like clockwork and have the best web interface.

[Gcomeau]

I live in Canada and i've ordered from DDD about 5 times. Never any issues except if i spend more than 25$ i get nailed with customs fees. As a canuck i love them...their prices rock compared to Amazon.ca. For example i ordered T2 Extreme and Running Man SE for 26$ . Here i would have paid that much for ONE of these awesome Ahnold flicks. I just hope i don't pay much for customs

[mrcoaster]

I haven't ordered from DDD in the last few months, but I have ordered a ton of stuff from them in the past. Occasionally I have had to wait for a pre-ordered title to arrive a week or two after release. Most of the time, however, I have had great success with the free shipping. Many times, I have received several titles under the free shipping in just 4 business days. I've received my order within 5 business days probably around 75% of the time.

[Darthnick37]

It finally came yesterday. Unfortunately, I had already ordered the Matrix Revolutions on the same order, and it was too late to cansel it. so...back to waiting, i guess.

[Buffalo Bill]

STILL waiting for Final Countdown LE. Called & complained about it not shipping until just before release date & told them people all over are not happy with DDDs late shipping of preorders lately. Got an, oh well, if it isn't there by the 16th call us & we'll reship. They're beginning to get on my nerves. It's not the same company the last 6 months or so that I had so much good luck with for a couple years & I told them so. They of course don't give a shit.

[tomdkat]

I think people get "seduced" by the free shipping. I'm patient so I don't mind the slow shipping. However people want the free shipping and like their low prices but they want the free shipping to be fast shipping and that's where the problems start.

I'm not faulting people or anything but just stating what I think is part of the root problem with DDD. DVD Empire offers free Priority Mail shipping if you buy 3 or more DVDs that qualify for free shipping. The problem there is having to buy 3 or more DVDs.

DDD is able to offer low prices since they conduct their business in such a relatively low-tech manner.

Maybe now's the time for all of us to pool our money together and send it to me so I can open a DVD shop, in our name of course, that will offer fast shipping for free and low prices on DVDs.

Peace...

[Buffalo Bill]

Tom,
I can agree with everything you've said about DDD. I never minded (& still don't) mid waiting the normal 7-10 working days which is normal for media mail. My problem is the compounding of this with the fact that DDD has (in about 3/4 of the cases) stopped shipping a week before release so that it will arrive "on or just after release date" which is how they always conducted business before. Now, I've had orders shipped the Monday or late Saturday before & sometimes ON or after release date. You combine THAT with media mail & by the time you get it the Special Edition is almost ready for release. I'm going to check out dvdempire as I've got a 5 disc preorder for June 1st with some Disney catalogs & some upgraded SEs. If they are even in the same ballpark as DDD I'll be cancelling that order & going with them. Thanks for the tip. As for helping you with startup capital for TomDKat DVD, the check is in the mail.

[tomdkat]

Thanks for the support buffalobill. Just make sure the check clears, ok?

I've been ordering from DDD off and on for the past year, if not two years. I've never received a pre-order on or near release day. I usually get them the week or two after release day. However, I don't do much pre-ordering with DDD since I try to catch loss leader sales on new releases I'm interested in. I use DDD mainly for catalog titles I want but recently I've been checking out used DVDs on Amazon.com for my catalog title purchases as I don't "need" a new DVD and I can get some killer prices on some DVDs I want.

I might not be ordering from DDD for a while because of this.

Peace...

[Dilmo]

Sorry to correct you tomdkat but it is free standard shipping at DVD Empire with the purchase of 3 or more dvds, and they must ship together. Priority Mail will set ya back over $5.00. I too am having an unusually late arrival date with DDD.

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by Dilmo

Sorry to correct you tomdkat but it is free standard shipping at DVD Empire with the purchase of 3 or more dvds, and they must ship together.

Hey man, don't hesitate to correct me... ever. It's all about propogation of accurate info, at least to me.

Thanks for the clarification!

(Mods, will you suspend Dilmo, please? )



Peace...

[Buffalo Bill]

I checked out DVD Empire on my 5 June 1 preorders (Flight of the Navigator, Candleshoe, Summer School, Back to the Beach & Spider-Man Deluxe Ed.). For the 5 at DDD it was just over $65. At Empire they totalled $64 minus a coupon for $5 off an order over $60 which brought the price down to $59. Needless to say I signed up with DVD Empire & ordered them & cancelled with DDD. Even though they're both media mail I'm so pissed at DDD that I'd have ordered from them even if it was a bit higher but also saving $6 is gravy & I love gravy.

Thanks for the recommendation Tom.

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by buffalobill

Thanks for the recommendation Tom.

No problemo... See guys, this is what being a playa is all about...

Peace...

[Dilmo]

I spoke with DDD today and inquired about what was going on with unusually late shipments. I was told it was probably due to the Easter holiday. I have since cancelled all orders with them.

[TheKing]

I did notice my last shipment from DDD was later than usual. It shipped in two parts, about 5 days apart, and both took longer than expected. The second half (Final Countdown) just arrived today, after being a preorder. They both took about 10 days total from when they shipped, so I guess that's right in the time they say it takes.

But usually it takes 6 days total from them.

[Buffalo Bill]

Still no Final Countdown LE. Glad I cancelled future orders. I'm hoping it arrives before Friday since they won't reship before then. They'll have to get back to the way they used to run their business before I go back to them (preorders that actually ship a week before release).

[tomdkat]

Originally Posted by Dilmo

I spoke with DDD today and inquired about what was going on with unusually late shipments. I was told it was probably due to the Easter holiday. I have since cancelled all orders with them.

That sucks... You should send them a written letter expressing your complaint and letting them know the approximate dollar amount of the orders with them you've canceled and be sure to mention you will be spending that same money elsewhere for those DVD purchases.

I'll send you a "juicy" PM with more info....

Peace...

[Buffalo Bill]

Originally Posted by Dilmo

I spoke with DDD today and inquired about what was going on with unusually late shipments. I was told it was probably due to the Easter holiday.

Yeah, we all know how brutal that Easter mailing season is. Just the other day I saw my mailman weighted down with dozens of eggs, pounds of chocolate etc... Wait that was the Easter Bunny. Do you suppose that our mailman is the Easter Bunny? And I wonder if the Easter Bunny is responsible for the recent trend of not shipping out releases until just before or on the release date???

[Darthnick37]

I cancelled the rest of my order also (Kill Bill, Master and Commander, Big Fish and a few others). Don't think I'm going to be buying from DDD for a while.

PS- Still no Matrix

[Dilmo]

Has anyone who pre-ordered Matrix Revolutions received theirs yet? It may be too soon, but has anyone received Kill Bill Vol.1? I have been in contact with DDD and a parent company about their cs. DDD can't keep their answers straight, and the parent company has failed to reply. If, and when you do receive these titles, please post. Your coorperation will help me get a feel of how widespread this is before I construct my next letter. Thanks.