ImportCDs.com and bad customer service

Discussion in 'Marketplace Discussions' started by rednoise, Jul 29, 2014.

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  1. rednoise

    rednoise Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Boston
    What's happened so far...
    • Thursday July 3: Ordered two CDs, paid via Paypal. Immediately realized that I had accidentally ordered one wrong one and sent a message to them by both email and their on-line contact form. I asked if they could either substitute the correct item and charge me the difference in price, or to cancel the order altogether and I would re-order.
    • Saturday July 5: None of my messages were responded to. I got a notice saying the order had shipped.
    • Monday July 14: I received a package from them containing two DVDs unrelated to my original order. Obviously a mix-up with someone else's order. I sent a message to them by both email and the contact form.
    • Tuesday July 15: My messages have been ignored, so I did some Internet searching and found a phone number for their apparent parent company (Super D) who, when I called them, gave me a direct number for importcds.com . My call was answered by a nice lady who seemed to understand my situation and who promised to issue me a credit and to send me a prepaid shipping label right away for returning the wrong items. She said that they would issue me a credit and that I had 30 days to send the incorrect items back, but that they would charge me for them if not received by then. She said my messages had not been responded to because of a holiday. Not sure I really buy that, but I let it go.
    • Monday July 28: It's been 2 weeks now and I have still not received the shipping label, so I sent another message via email and their contact form. I checked Paypal, and the credit was, indeed, issued.
    • Tuesday July 29: I have still not received the label or any response to my messages, so I phoned again at about 11 AM Pacific time, and again at about 1 PM. Their phone greeting says simply that the office is closed and to leave a message, which I did. No mention of their business hours.
    When I realized my ordering mistake, I hoped (but didn't assume) that they would be willing or able to fix it for me, but I did expect at least an acknowledgement of my message, even if to say they couldn't accommodate me. What I don't expect is for all of my messages to them to be ignored. I don't expect a shipping label to take over two weeks to get to Massachusetts from California. I don't expect them to be closed during regular business hours. I don't expect a company to hide their telephone number.

    At this point, I have my money back. I think, but I'm not certain, that they can't actually charge my Paypal account again without my permission, despite what they stated. So, the ball's really in their court now and I guess I don't really need to care any more. I've done all that I can, and if they want their DVDs back, they'll have to make it happen.

    I should have done more research about them before I ordered. I see lots of complaints about them on the 'net and even in this forum. I'll avoid this company in the future because of their terrible customer service. I'm starting to wonder if the company is even still alive. Maybe the decision has been made for me.
     
  2. SOONERFAN

    SOONERFAN Forum Resident

    Location:
    Norman, Oklahoma
    Good prices with terrible customer service from my experience.
     
    scobb likes this.
  3. ManFromCouv

    ManFromCouv Employee #3541

    Never a problem with them.
     
    RomanBlade and Fox67 like this.
  4. Jerryb

    Jerryb Senior Member

    Location:
    New Jersey
    Same here. Probably 100 orders with them and only one problem that was resolved quickly.
     
    Fox67 likes this.
  5. rednoise

    rednoise Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Boston
    Well, that's nice for you, but considering that they seem to have stopped responding to communication of any kind, including email, contact form, and telephone, and that their office has been "closed" all this week without any explanation, I think you should be cautious about doing business with them in the future.
     
  6. CraigVC

    CraigVC Senior Member

    Location:
    Portland, OR
    As I stated in a different thread (and as several others have suggested as well) ... never never never use Paypal to purchase anything from ImportCDs. Way better consumer protection with credit cards. Can't use any online payment method aside from Paypal? Okay, the answer is simple: Avoid ImportCDs entirely.

    I also have been ignored for months so far, trying to get them to cancel an online order that was never filled (but may potentially be filled in the future, which is why I want to make sure it's canceled - I ended up getting it from Amazon instead). I have been given the advice to call them instead, but honestly I haven't had the time. Seems stupid that an online company would be so unresponsive via online contact form, email, etc., that the only recourse is to get on the phone and call them during their business hours.

    Having said all that, they're often great for finding some semi-obscure stuff for lower prices (even counting all the shipping and handling extra charges they tack on), even if it does take at least a week for the item to arrive after getting the "it's shipped" email notification.

    Craig.
     
  7. SoporJoe

    SoporJoe Forum Resident

    Location:
    British Columbia
    Lousy service. They use DHL Global Mail to ship (horrible). Say they ship from California when they actually don't.
     
    905 likes this.
  8. rednoise

    rednoise Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Boston
    My Paypal account is linked to my credit card rather than a bank account, so I feel like I have double protection (though Paypal has been steadfastly UNhelpful the couple of times I have called on them.) But in this case, ImportCDS.com did, in fact, issue me my credit, so that's done with. The problem has been in returning the wrong items they sent me. I've done my part in trying to comply with their wishes but now the onus is on them.

    I've been calling them all week and getting an answering machine saying that the office is closed. I leave messages but get no return call. I'm starting to think that they have gone out of business. If so, I can see why.

    In any case, it's not worth this kind of heartache just to save a (very) few pennies. These guys have earned a permanent place on my spitlist if they are, in fact, still alive.
     
  9. CraigVC

    CraigVC Senior Member

    Location:
    Portland, OR
    It's not about using credit versus debit card, with your PayPal account. It's realizing that ImportCDs takes payment from your PayPal account immediately when you place the order, whether the items you ordered are actually in stock or not.

    If you pay directly with your credit card, they would not charge your card until the item is actually shipped.

    I realize in your specific example, in which you received the wrong merchandise and were trying to get a credit, this information would not have helped because you would have already been charged regardless.

    However, considering the first part of your scenario, in which you were asking them to make changes to an order before it shipped ... IF you had actually been able to speak to a customer service rep before they shipped anything, that part of the resolution would have been much easier, since your credit card would not have been charged by that point.

    As a general rule (and your thread title suggests that this could be a more general discussion of ImportCDs' customer service, beyond your specific bad experience), I stand by my advice to never ever use PayPal with ImportCDs.

    Craig.
     
  10. rednoise

    rednoise Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Boston
    An update to say that there is no update. I've been calling there every 1 or 2 days at various regular business hours, and always get a greeting saying that "the office is closed". It's now been more than three weeks since they have been reachable by any means or have responded to any communication. I can only conclude that ImportCDs.com has gone out of business.
     
  11. Jimi Bat

    Jimi Bat Forum Resident

    Location:
    tx usa
    They must still be in business.
    I got a dvd from them about two weeks ago.
    Took about a week to be delivered.
     
  12. rednoise

    rednoise Senior Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Boston
    But three weeks ago is just about the same time they screwed up my order and stopped responding to any and all communications. It looks to me like you and I may have been some of their last bits of business.
     
  13. Fox67

    Fox67 Bad as Can

    Location:
    Isle of Rhodes
    I see you are in Boston........(I am in RI)
    Ordered once in June & once in July both orders went smoothly.
    Last order was July 9th for me.
    Always use Paypal
    Both orders took close to a week (5-6 days)
     
  14. PHILLYQ

    PHILLYQ Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brooklyn NY
    Website looks live
     
  15. Reese

    Reese Just because some watery tart threw a sword!

    I received a shipment from them yesterday that was mailed early last week.
     
  16. Manalishi

    Manalishi With the 2-pronged crown

    Location:
    New Hampshire
    I've dropped about $300 with these guys the last 2 months and have had a positive experience overall. Their prices are competitive and every order has taken less than a week to arrive. They were bit slow to respond the first time I asked something via their customer service but this week I had to return a CD and they responded the same day, sending out a prepaid label via email. I then asked if they could hold a copy of the CD I just returned in case it went out of stock but they ended up just shipping a replacement before they'd even got my return.

    The only complaint is they ship in boxes that are 2/3 longer than the cds but they don't put a piece of bubble wrap in the gap to prevent the cds from shifting around. C'mon guys, a piece of bubble wrap is what - half a cent?

    Overall I'm happy with what they do and I'd use 'em again.

    M
     
  17. OobuJoobu

    OobuJoobu Forum Resident

    Location:
    Yorkshire, UK
    I've just ordered Wings Over America Deluxe Edition today through Amazon.com, with ImportCDs being the seller.

    This is to be shipped to the UK, should I be worried!?
     
  18. Electric

    Electric The Medium is the Massage

    I doubt it. I order from them all the time, both through Amazon and directly. Never had a problem yet. Most recent disc I received was last week.
     
    OobuJoobu likes this.
  19. slipkid

    slipkid Senior Member

    Try this #

    1-855-258-9650


    I spoke with someone there just a few days ago who helped me out as best she could (long story). It is useless to try to resolve anything with them via email though. You HAVE to call. On the phone they are very responsive in my experience, whereas with email it is a complete waste of time.


    I agree with the advice above about never using paypal to pay them via their site though (different story if ordering from them via their ebay store, that works differently with various ebay protection & pressures to get items sent to you within a certain time limit with shipping info etc etc).

    The reason you never want to pay them for orders via their own website via paypal is that they hit your account for payment immediately (as many vendors do, EG: CDJapan). But for importcds, unfortunately sometimes they do not have items in stock that you order, and never get them in stock either (this happens a lot for items marked as "shipping in 5-10 days"). What happens next in that situation is that after a certain period of time, like a month, or 60 days, or whatever it is, your order gets "canceled" by them and will never be filled, but you will receive no notification of this, and not get a refund either, UNLESS you then call them to inquire about what is going on. You won't get your $ back unless you proactively call (in my experience and many others up here who have talked about this). Also if you look at your account status, these types of orders confusingly just stay there forever - even for the cases of when you DID call and get a refund.

    Regardless of this, I find them worth patronizing & am happy with their prices & service. You just have to understand how things work with them, and minimize your hassle factor as much as possible - which means NOT paying via paypal (if you pay via a credit card you do not get charged until the item actually ships).
     
    vinyldreams and PROG U.K. like this.
  20. Myke

    Myke Trying Not To Spook The Horse

    Great advice. Poor bastard on the Blu-ray.com forum posted how he cancelled a B & N order for a Blu ray the other day, because they were taking too long to ship ( we were all getting ours, while he kept waiting), he posts very proudly, " I just cancelled, and went with Import CDs...they say it'll only be 5-10 days, and... "
    That's when I broke the news to him. :laugh:
     
  21. E.Baba

    E.Baba Forum Resident

  22. VinylRob

    VinylRob Forum Resident

    Ordered from them before, many times, no problem. Ordered from them about two weeks ago... got a package, two records I didn't order and a receipt to a Swedish fellows name and address.

    Wrote them three times through their website about my order problem, and no response.

    Looked up their phone #found this one 949.225.1170 Corporate offices message said to hold for operator, five minutes later, no answer.

    Called their Sales Offices at #1.949.225.1170 (the same numbers and address and suite as a company called "Super D"). Called and the customer service answering message said they were no longer excepting calls here and to call Alliance Entertainment at 1800.356.2049 ext. 4600.

    I called and the voice message told me they were not available to take a call...

    What do you think?
     
  23. slipkid

    slipkid Senior Member


    1-855-258-9650 worked for me about a month ago, was able to get something sorted out pretty easily.
     
    VinylRob likes this.
  24. VinylRob

    VinylRob Forum Resident

    I'll give it a try tomorrow... thanks!
     
  25. slipkid

    slipkid Senior Member

    Good luck. Hopefully that # still works and gets you to ImportCDs Customer Service. If you call in the morning and it doesn't answer or goes to voicemail or something try it later in the day, they may be on the west coast (I can't recall).
     
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