On-line Stores & Sellers

Started by Expresso, July 02, 2007, 09:09:12 AM

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kishnevi

Quote from: Jeffrey Smith on October 06, 2013, 08:45:18 AM
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.
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Parsifal

Quote from: Octave on October 14, 2013, 09:03:09 AM
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.
"Remember Fafner? Remember he built Valhalla? A giant? Well, he's a dragon now. Don't ask me why. Anyway, he's dead."
   --- Anna Russell

DavidW

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

Parsifal

Quote from: Jeffrey Smith on October 07, 2013, 11:34:50 AM
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

Quote from: Scarpia on October 18, 2013, 06:05:01 AM
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:

QuoteDear 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.

Octave

#948
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):
QuoteWe 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.
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The new erato

#949
Quote from: Octave on October 23, 2013, 09:25:55 PM

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.

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.

kishnevi

BTW, Amazon (meaning Amazon USA itself) has once again proved that it's the least efficient of the Amazons I've dealt with.  I ordered some CDs from Amazon MP at the exact same time I ordered some others from Amazon itself.  Amazon was so slow in shipping that I actually received one of the CDs from the MP vendors the day that Amazon shipped what I had ordered directly from them, and it took a week for the Amazon shipment  to reach me.    And, unexpectedly, it showed up in my mail box even though it had been shipped with a tracking number on UPS.

Mirror Image

Quote from: Jeffrey Smith on October 24, 2013, 06:44:45 PM
BTW, Amazon (meaning Amazon USA itself) has once again proved that it's the least efficient of the Amazons I've dealt with.  I ordered some CDs from Amazon MP at the exact same time I ordered some others from Amazon itself.  Amazon was so slow in shipping that I actually received one of the CDs from the MP vendors the day that Amazon shipped what I had ordered directly from them, and it took a week for the Amazon shipment  to reach me.    And, unexpectedly, it showed up in my mail box even though it had been shipped with a tracking number on UPS.

Seldom do I buy directly from Amazon. They're generally slow if you have an order where you can get free shipping. Right now, they have Weinberg's complete set of Violin Sonatas (the one which GMG's own Jens wrote the liner notes) for sale for a great price. I may jump on it.

Brian

I have Amazon Prime. Nyah ha ha haha  ;D

Mirror Image

Quote from: Brian on October 24, 2013, 07:27:01 PM
I have Amazon Prime. Nyah ha ha haha  ;D

Yeah and you pay for it, too. Nyah ha ha haha ;D

Brian

Quote from: Mirror Image on October 24, 2013, 07:31:18 PM
Yeah and you pay for it, too. Nyah ha ha haha ;D
Six month free trial as an educator followed by half-price for several years. Nyah ha ha haha  ;D

Mirror Image

Quote from: Brian on October 24, 2013, 07:42:53 PM
Six month free trial as an educator followed by half-price for several years. Nyah ha ha haha  ;D

Damn, you lucky bastard. ;) :P

Karl Henning

Quote from: Brian on October 24, 2013, 07:42:53 PM
Six month free trial as an educator followed by half-price for several years. Nyah ha ha haha  ;D

You win!
Karl Henning, Ph.D.
Composer & Clarinetist
Boston MA
http://www.karlhenning.com/
[Matisse] was interested neither in fending off opposition,
nor in competing for the favor of wayward friends.
His only competition was with himself. — Françoise Gilot

Mirror Image

Quote from: George on October 25, 2013, 03:28:56 AM
Lately I have had a bad run with amazon third party sellers. Poorly packaged product, two orders of "new" product that turned out to be sealed used product, poorly graded used product that sellers rudely dismissed....the list goes on. If I only bought new product, I'd begin buying exclusively from amazon direct. However, I collect CDs and almost always the ones I want are only available used, as they are OOP.

You have to be very careful of whom you buy from on Amazon MP, George. Not all sellers are created equal. :)

Gurn Blanston

Quote from: George on October 25, 2013, 03:28:56 AM
Lately I have had a bad run with amazon third party sellers. Poorly packaged product, two orders of "new" product that turned out to be sealed used product, poorly graded used product that sellers rudely dismissed....the list goes on. If I only bought new product, I'd begin buying exclusively from amazon direct. However, I collect CDs and almost always the ones I want are only available used, as they are OOP.

I have had to tighten up my buying habits there lately too. I try now to stick to sellers I know when that is possible, and to look through the feedback on sellers I don't know already. Never a guarantee, of course. I have found it useful to take advantage of Amazon's capability of letting me look at feedback that I have given to others since Day 1 (for me, back in 2001). No surprise, I often forget that I gave that guy 1 star for being an asshole, but it's all right there.   :)

Other than that, I never get my hopes up until the disk is in my hand, and then after it has been ripped to flac. It is hard to believe some of the shit that gets sold as 'Used - Like New'. That disk wasn't like new when it was new!!  >:(

8)
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