Topic: On-line Stores & Sellers

[DavidW]

But it didn't really ship from PA, not originally at least. They are just like Momox, who say they ship from New Jersey. That's true, but when you place an order to them they ship it from Germany to New Jersey and then they ship it to you. I don't think that there is a single seller using that business model who actually originates a shipment from whatever drop box they use in order to have a USA address. Now, if you think THAT is wrong, then that's what you need to complain to Amazon about, the fact that they enable that bullshit.

Thanks for the fyi.  I just wish that they would advertise that.  Other sellers truthfully say "we ship internationally" so you know to expect a delay.

[George]

I want to de-rec the amazon seller Marvello who took 2 1/2 weeks to ship me cds not from overseas but from PA.  It should have taken at most a week to receive those cds.  That is a clear violation of amazon's policy which requires the seller to ship within two business days.

Also something useful to share in the feedback section.

[Parsifal]

Guess what arrived today, one of my packages from Marvelio (ordered August 31).

It was indeed sent DHL Global mail but the tracking number reports the origin was indeed PA last week.  That is consistent with Gurn's supposition that they sent product from Europe to the US in batches to be dispatched separately.

In any case, Marvelio's prices can be very low, and I would not hesitate to order again.  I can tolerate a delay, as long as the item arrives eventually.

I gave up on my Zoverstock package (ordered August 17) and complained.  They refunded immediately without quibbling.  I don't think I will order from Zoverstock again.

[k a rl h e nn i ng]

I want to de-rec the amazon seller Marvello who took 2 1/2 weeks to ship me cds not from overseas but from PA.  It should have taken at most a week to receive those cds.  That is a clear violation of amazon's policy which requires the seller to ship within two business days.

Tossers!

[DavidW]

That is unfortunate from Zoverstock Scarpia, I had good experiences with them in the past.  Maybe they're starting to slip.

[k a rl h e nn i ng]

Pity . . . it's a while since last I ordered from them, but Zoverstock had always done right by me, as well.

[kishnevi]

I've ordered three times in the relatively recent past from Prestoclassical.  The first two orders took almost exactly one week to reach me.  The third one was sent out September 1724, and has not arrived, but I've had orders from Presto take two to three weeks to reach me, and overall up to a month from some European vendors, so it's too early to be alarmed.

However,  given the DC temper tantrums now going on aka The Shutdown,  wouldn't US Customs be impacted?  I'd not be surprised if many packages are sitting in some Customs facility waiting for customs inspectors to return from furlough, or wherever customs inspectors go during government shutdowns.

Update:  my order from Prestoclassical arrived in today's (Monday) mail.  So Customs is apparently not complete shutdown, or this got to the US before the shutdown began.

[Octave]

FWIW, I had two little disappointments with Amazon MP sellers----Marvelio and Zoverstocks----at virtually the exact same time as Scarpia.
In both cases, however, everything regarding refund was zero-hassle; one PM to the seller did the trick.  This is the first such disappointment I've had with either, and I still think Zoverstocks has been really remarkably reliable in listing their used merch...I cannot remember ever being annoyed by shoddy discs being oversold.  Of course, I might be lucky; I have heard a couple complaints to the contrary.

[Parsifal]

FWIW, I had two little disappointments with Amazon MP sellers----Marvelio and Zoverstocks----at virtually the exact same time as Scarpia.
In both cases, however, everything regarding refund was zero-hassle; one PM to the seller did the trick.  This is the first such disappointment I've had with either, and I still think Zoverstocks has been really remarkably reliable in listing their used merch...I cannot remember ever being annoyed by shoddy discs being oversold.  Of course, I might be lucky; I have heard a couple complaints to the contrary.

One of my overdue Marvelio shipments arrived, and I am optimistic about the second.  It it takes as long as the first one did, it will arrive sometime this week.  But Zoverstocks, not so optimistic.  This is the second time a Zoverstocks shipment never arrived at all.  They did refund without quibbling, and for the second time I've re-ordered the item from another seller for a similar price.

[Fafner]

I never had any problems with Zoverstocks or any of the sellers who ship from Europe, but some of the orders that shipped from the US never arrived. (I am in Europe.) I'd say it's generally not the seller's fault, but rather the package gets lost somewhere along the way.

[George]

These days I have decided to read the first few pages of feedback. If I don't find at least 3 or 4 people saying how fast the shipping was, I buy from someone else. I'd rather pay a couple of bucks more and get the CD sooner.

Zoverstocks is definitely slow, but since it's coming from the UK, it makes sense. Plus their prices are rock-bottom. But if I am in a hurry to get something, I buy from a US seller on the East Coast with a number of comments that include "fast shipping." 

I also now use my order history to avoid sellers that have burned me in the past, as I have a bad memory. I leave feedback for very good or very bad experiences, so it's easy to avoid the same mistakes this way.

[DavidW]

That is well thought out George.  You are a meticulous shopper!

[Parsifal]

Update:  my order from Prestoclassical arrived in today's (Monday) mail.  So Customs is apparently not complete shutdown, or this got to the US before the shutdown began.

The postal service made it clear that it's operations were not affected by the shutdown, which was confirmed by the fact that I received a package from the UK the day before the shutdown ended, about 10 days after it was shipped .  Of course, that it moot, since the crisis has been kicked down the road another 3 months and the government is again in operation.

[kishnevi]

The postal service made it clear that it's operations were not affected by the shutdown, which was confirmed by the fact that I received a package from the UK the day before the shutdown ended, about 10 days after it was shipped .  Of course, that it moot, since the crisis has been kicked down the road another 3 months and the government is again in operation.

Reading a post mortem account in the paper yesterday,  I discovered that Customs is conidered essential and therefore customs agents remained on duty during the shutdown.

On a Prestoclassical note, and since that time of the year is approaching,  I would advise everyone to avoid ordering from them in the preChristmas period.  Twice I've placed orders with them in December for which I ended up sending followup emails along the line of "why haven't you shipped my order", and both times I've received contrite replies explaining that in the crush of business at that time of year, my order got lost in the shuffle,  and they're quite sorry and will be sending it out as quickly as they can.  (Which they did.)  The rest of the year, their service is fine--even excellent.  But apparently they get overwhelmed with holiday business.

[Parsifal]

Marvelio Update:

Dear Customer,

Thank you for your request.
Your order was dispatched as planned and has not yet been returned to us. The item may have got lost during the shipment or is still on its way to you.
We are going to send an enquiry to the delivery service immediately, also we will send a replacement at our expense, if the item is still available from one of our suppliers. Please note that this process could take a few more days.

It would be greatly appreciated if you could notify us if you should receive the original order. Again, we apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.
You may rest assured: It is of great importance to us that you receive your order as soon as possible.

Sincerely
-Marvelio

The order was placed Sept 12, and I was notified of shipment on Sept 13.

I find the reply disingenuous because I was notified that the shipment was by DHL Global Mail, which includes tracking.  If they really shipped it when they said they did, why didn't they give me the tracking number, and why didn't they just look it up now? 

BTW, I previously thought Marvelio was a European vendor that serviced the US.  Further snooping around seems to indicate that they are a US based vendor, but that they sometimes list items that are sourced from European vendors, causing a delivery delay. 

I think this is them:
http://www.marvelio.com/

In any case, I am losing faith in them.

[George]

I've lost stuff sent by DHL before. Some googling helped me see that I was not alone - at all!

[Octave]

Re: Amazon US-MP seller Marvelio (minor disappointment):
FWIW, I ordered the same item as Scarpia at almost the same time (perhaps a day before?).  When we ordered the item, Amazon US-MP said there were ~2-3 items left.  On Oct 14 I received this (perhaps a week after making an inquiry and getting an immediate reply like the one quoted by Scarpia above):

We would have liked to send you a replacement but, unfortunately, the respective item is temporarily out of stock. The full purchasing costs of the item have been refunded. Amazon will credit your account within a few days. Please note that there will be two separate transactions for the costs of the item and the shipping. Please accept our sincere apologies for any inconvenience. We hope to welcome you again in our store in the future.

and the next day I received a two-part refund (item/shipping).  The vindictive conspiracy theorist in me---that guy!---says that they realized they could command hundreds of dollars for the item, so why sell their stock for $30, so they faked a shipment.  But that is crazy talk, even if it's true...why wouldn't they?

Here's hoping Capriccio re-presses that Mozart/Vegh box.

[The new erato]

Here's hoping Capriccio re-presses that Mozart/Vegh box.

Capriccio seem to be actively reissuing stuff these days, so there's hope. I bought the set cheaply some years ago when Cappriccio were in trouble and dumped lots of stuff very cheaply.

[George]

Twice in one week, from two different sellers (smogtown and Music Spot 1), I received an order from amazon marketplace sellers that had been listed in new condition, and when the CD arrived and I opened it, I realized it was a used copy in Very Good condition that had been resealed. When I contacted each seller, neither one would take responsibility at first. After some debating emails, one seller agreed to a reasonable partial refund, the other would not offer me something reasonable, so I filed an A to Z claim. The cost of the latter order was $125. I wanted to share this here to alert folks to these sellers. This had never happened to me before.

[kishnevi]

My experience with Marvelio is consistent with the hypothesis that they operate out of Europe, and send any US orders to be trans-shipped from Pennsylvania.  (That would be reason enough not to supply you with the tracking number.) The amount of time it took for me to receive the item is about what it would take to be sent from Europe in a timely fashion.  It's been a while since I've bought anything from them, because 1) their facade of selling from the US leaves me with a bad taste and 2)while they may sometimes be cheap compared to US Amazon MP vendors, they're not much different in price for the items I'm interested in, when compared to other European Amazon MP vendors like Zoverstocks.  So  I figure that if I'm going to wait the extra time for a package to get here from Europe, I may as well stick to one who makes no bones about being in Europe.