ImportCDs.com and bad customer service

Thanks again slipkid. To top it off I had a non-fill record We Still Move on Dance Floors by the Strumbellas, sent back to importcds through Amazon from about 15 days ago, it appears importcds are crisis managing. After opening a claim with Amazon last night, I got an immediate response and refund. Still lost postage one way for shipping the defective record back. Two more record refunds to go.

 

You are the MAN! slipkid. Called importcds and spoke to a kind lady in customer service, she is expediting my two records out today, with a return postage tag for the albums I received that were the Swedish fellows. Hope he finds his way as well.

Importcds has got to fix that email contact problem, as it will really ruin they're street cred. So it sounds like everything is coming up roses, well see...

 

Good for you. Glad to help.

I bet they will probably never fix their email customer support failings. Maybe it is a manpower type issue, I dunno. It's kind of like dealing with companies where to reach anyone to actually speak with in customer service it takes oodles of patience in dealing with multiple worthless "automated" voice messaging things, before you can finally figure out what buttons to press on the phone to get you to that magic place with a human being that can help you.

 

Same though, they have a huge stock and good prices. And like someone earlier said, when they're good, they are good but,...

 

Did Importcds eliminate tracking? I used to be able to track my shipments. I can't anymore.

 

AFAIK, when the order is large they use a courier, rather than USPS. That's when I get tracking. But, if a large order gets shipped out of more than one location then they might use USPS, and no tracking.

 

I had the "Paypal Experience" with them, too. Charged my account when I placed the order. Thirty days later, cancelled my order, said my credit card would not be charged. Well of course, I didn't pay via credit card. Filed a dispute with PayPal, immediately elevated it to a claim, and got a refund within a day.

 

I ordered an In Stock cd that is supposed to ship within 24 hours. That was a week ago and my order is just sitting there with no change.

 

I ordered the Beatles Stereo Vinyl box set from them and received an album by Phosphorescent. It took weeks and many emails to get a refund. Most emails were answered with messages that had very little to do with the issue, which I stated and re-stated as clearly as possible. I finally was able to get the carrier to verify that the package I received weighed many pounds less than the box set could ever conceivably weigh.

But I still order from them - go figure. They can be pretty cheap at times!

 

Could be a few lame-o reasons for this:
- They haven't updated your order info, even after a week
- If you have other items in the order, they are waiting for those to come in before they ship
- The item is not actually in-stock. Does the item still show in-stock on its page?

 

My order finally shipped after a week of just sitting there. It was In Stock at all times. I had no other items in my order. But according to tracking the USPS hasn't actually recieved my package yet. There were just notified to expect a package. I'll have it by the end of this week but it's never taken over 2 weeks for me to get an In Stock item from them. The more I'm looking forward to an order the longer it takes to arrive.

 

Weird how it always works out that way!

 

I'm officially done ordering from them. I placed an order of some vinyl that I received a stock email about. Updated my address in their system and placed the order. Once I received the confirmation email, I noticed that the address reverted to the old one. Emailed them and received a prompt cancellation of the order stating I was not charged. My account has a hold for the amount now placed on it. Frustrating, but I spoke to their customer service and re-ordered the items. Received shipping confirmation last night. Woke up to an email this morning stating the item is not in stock. My account on their site says the item has shipped. Ridiculously bad service and even worse inventory maintenance. Now I have two orders pending on my card with absolutely nothing to show for them.

 

ImportCDs actually has one main guy who handles the escalated disputes. When you first call them, most of the time an issue is handled directly by the customer support people in a call center. If an problem is more complicated, they will put you on hold, discuss the issue with their support manager and then have you speak to their manager. By that point, if things are still not resolved, they give you a very special "secret" phone number and claim number to give the main guy. The three times I've had to deal with him, everything was resolved. He is very customer service oriented and has the authority to process refunds and handle issues at that moment.

Most of my problems have been from having to return an item which is defective or the incorrect item is sent. They provide you with return labels and they are efficient when it comes to documenting the items returned to them, but not so much when it comes to storing the returns. There seems to be some kind of disconnect between an item being documented as returned and the final refund being issued for the item.

 

I've probably ordered a hundred CDs from them over the years, through eBay and PayPal. Never a problem, possibly because the eBay listings seem to be live with actual inventory counts.

 

E-mail is an absolute waste of time. They do not care about customer service because they are so big sales wise that a few lost customers doesn't matter to them. They do not do quick. It's a trade off for cheap so you need to decide which is more important for each order. I still use them every once in a while but I expect nothing from them except to deliverer the item I order after way too long. A garbage company that only exists because of their low prices. They will get a few of my pennies but very few compared to what they could get if they did better.

MovieMars is about the same except they list things they don't have and have to refund your money more often.

 

I bought several CD from importcds. Two years ago, I have received a defective CD. I agreed with them to send it for a refund. I never received the payment from them for the CD and the postage. Despite several emails with answers false excuses like, your request is handled by another department, the check will be sent soon, etc.

I lost more than $ 20 because of their lack of respect for their customers.

This company will not survive with a bad customer service.

I will never buy from them.

Watch out!

 

Ordered the new AF Blood Sweat and Tears from them. It was about $18.00. I knew they would be slow but it's getting to be beyond belief (Costello, right?). It was shipped from Kentucky. I live in Tennessee. The states touch. Almost 3 weeks and it's not here. Their tracking does not work even though it says I does. It goes into a loop you can't get out of and takes you back where you started. It's probably in Boston under 15 feet of snow. Only thing I can figure. Probably my last order from them. I don't see how they can last long with this level of service.

 

They last because they are basically one of the last CD retailers left in the game on the Internet. As a market shrinks and companies consolidate, the remaining customers for that market have fewer and fewer options.

 

I've probably placed about 50 orders with them. All my orders ship within 24 hours and I have them in about 7 days. I had one bad order which they gave me a prompt refund for.

 

Frankly I am amazed at the titles and prices that importcds has. If one loves obscure 70's rock this is the place to get cds.

 

The only time I ordered from them the box came with a big orange sticker taped across it saying that it had arrived at the Post Office opened. It may have not been their fault, but needless to say, I was not impressed. Plus the albums in the boxset were fogged.

 

Often the best prices. Honest. Biggest distributor in the US. Only genuine product.

The cost for those benefits is nearly non existent customer service.

 

I know I said I'd never buy from them again, but I almost did by accident. On Nov. 15 2014 I ordered a CD from Amazon, actually from one of their partner sellers. It was only after I placed the order that I realized that the seller was my old nemesis, ImportCD. Doh! It was to be a Christmas gift. The rest of the items on my order appeared to ship normally, but that one CD did not, and its status showed as "unconfirmed" but with a ship date of Nov. 17. I received the rest of the order, but not this item. Finally on the 21st, I got an email from Amazon saying, "shipment of the following order has not been confirmed by the seller within the expected timeframe" and advised me to contact the seller, which I did -- three times over the next couple of weeks. Needless to say, all messages were ignored. Finally, I got a message from Amazon saying my order was cancelled due to an unspecified "Technical Problem". The item continued to show for the next several weeks as available on Amazon from ImportCD. I just looked now, and I don't see it listed from them any more, nor do I see ImportCD anywhere as a seller. I wonder if they got booted out of the Amazon system?

Just another nail in their coffin as far as I'm concerned.

 

On Amazon.ca they are ubiquitous. No issues here as yet, and I order frequently.