Topic: On-line Stores & Sellers

[Lethevich]

Has anyone had any experience of Play.com?  (A search of these forums fails to find it, so I guess not.)  I wonder whether they may be what might politely be termed "a waste of time", since they appear to list on their website items that have long been deleted from the catalogue which they have no means of supplying.  In July last year I ordered A Sei Voci's 6-disc set of Josquin - deleted as a bargain box but listed as available by play.com.  In mid-December an apology arrived, saying they were unable to supply in time for Christmas, and hoped I hadn't ordered it as a Christmas present!  (Not even my wife begins preparing for Christmas that early.)  Stocks would be arriving in the new year, apparently.  So when I spotted another deleted goody on their site (one of the Clerks' Ockeghem discs) I thought I'd e-mail them first to check they were able to supply before I ordered.  A few days later a reply comes back: they are sorry my order for the Ockeghem disc is taking so long, but they hope to be able to supply within 28... something.   Days?  Years?  So, not good to far.  But I'm quite prepared to hear that others have received excellent service.

I've used them with success, although only to buy common stuff. They definitely don't specialise in the obscure as well as Amazon do.

[KeithW]

I have installed BabelFish for Firefox which can either translate the selected text (from many languages to other languages from the set and not just English) or the whole page using Google Translator. It's currently not available at AMO and incompatible with latest release of the browser, but I have it in a decent working condition under Firefox Compatibility Reporter.

Google chrome as a web browser is a good solution here - it automatically detects a web page in a language other than your default, and offers to translate into your language.  Obviously, it doesn't work if what appears to betwixt is actually an image, but most of the time it does the job.

The one drawback is that these technologies are becoming so good that humorous translations are now sadly too infrequent.

[kishnevi]

I didn't say it does. As you should be able to gather from my post, all I was expecting from them at the least was a notification of some sort -- nothing more, nothing less. (The part about reservation was just me hoping against hope. )

But this is a case of persistent storage. In fact, when I saw this I was at another computer (i.e. not in my home).

That's the likely reason there.  I would expect that if you log in from home you'll find--voila! voici!-- the shopping cart to be showing with whatever you left on there from the last time.

I know that if I log in to Arkivmusic, I can see my wish list from any computer, but my shopping cart only from my home computer (or whichever computer I use to build up the cart).  Apparently they store the wish list on their computer but the shopping cart is only on your computer.

ETA--come to think of it, not only is it computer specific but it's also browser specific--if I use Opera, I can't see the cart I made using another browser, for example.

[The new erato]

Yes, and that's because most shopping carts use cookies, if you change computer or browser, the cookies are gone and the shopping cart is blank.

[Opus106]

Google chrome as a web browser is a good solution here - it automatically detects a web page in a language other than your default, and offers to translate into your language.  Obviously, it doesn't work if what appears to betwixt is actually an image, but most of the time it does the job.

I find Chrome's translation service a bit intrusive (I'll call you when I need you! Okay?).

The one drawback is that these technologies are becoming so good that humorous translations are now sadly too infrequent.

That's the likely reason there.  I would expect that if you log in from home you'll find--voila! voici!-- the shopping cart to be showing with whatever you left on there from the last time.

I know that if I log in to Arkivmusic, I can see my wish list from any computer, but my shopping cart only from my home computer (or whichever computer I use to build up the cart).  Apparently they store the wish list on their computer but the shopping cart is only on your computer.

ETA--come to think of it, not only is it computer specific but it's also browser specific--if I use Opera, I can't see the cart I made using another browser, for example.

Yes, and that's because most shopping carts use cookies, if you change computer or browser, the cookies are gone and the shopping cart is blank.

This type of cart is not supposed to be based on cookies; at least that's one what one would expect when one is required to create an account to store items. (BTW, I came home, checked the basket in the browser in which I "shopped" -- it was empty -- and only then posted my complaint here.)

[The new erato]

This type of cart is not supposed to be based on cookies; at least that's one what one would expect when you one is required to create an account to store items. (BTW, I came home, checked the basket in the browser in which I "shopped" -- it was empty -- and only then posted my complaint here.)

I do agree, but long experience has told me to only thrust wish lists, not carts; I do assume abeillemusic support a wishlist? Terrible site designwise, but there's lots of bad sites (hmv.co.uk anyone?) out there.

[Opus106]

I do agree, but long experience has told me to only thrust wish lists, not carts; I do assume abeillemusic support a wishlist?

They have a "heart" symbol next to each item in the cart and I think it's a provision to move them to a wish-list.

Terrible site designwise, but there's lots of bad sites (hmv.co.uk anyone?) out there.

It looks sensible when compared to their Japanese site the last time I saw it.

[KeithW]

They have a "heart" symbol next to each item in the cart and I think it's a provision to move them to a wish-list.

I thought it was some sort of warning about stress as the cart fills up and the costs grow.   

[kishnevi]

This type of cart is not supposed to be based on cookies; at least that's one what one would expect when one is required to create an account to store items. (BTW, I came home, checked the basket in the browser in which I "shopped" -- it was empty -- and only then posted my complaint here.)

In that case you're right.   I would do more than complain.  But perhaps somewhere in les terms de service there's a proviso that lets them delete carts after a certain period of time or at their discretion?  If there isn't it--I can't think of any logical explanation.   You'd think a store would want to make shopping easier, not harder.

[k a rl h e nn i ng]

Ah, les proviseaux de service!

[Opus106]

WTF happened to my shopping cart, Abeille Musique?!!!

Here's a bad experience even before I made a purchase: The carefully selected list of items that had been part of my cart for the past few days had vanished when I checked earlier in the day. Without logging in I was scouring their lists (for the umpteenth time!) this morning when I noticed that the Brahms' chamber music box from Hyperion was no longer on sale, and this was an item I had added to my cart last week. But when I logged in immediately to see whether they had left me a message ("We have reserved the one just for you, sir." or "Sorry, no longer in stock, slow-poke!"), all I saw was an empty shopping cart!

Be warned, people!

Well, it's happened again, but this time it's about half the basket. I'll have to find out which item, if any, has gone out of stock. With such a misbehaving site, I wonder whether I should to let them store my credit card info there.

[mc ukrneal]

Well, it's happened again, but this time it's about half the basket. I'll have to find out which item, if any, has gone out of stock. With such a misbehaving site, I wonder whether I should to let them store my credit card info there.

Abeille is a bit of a strange site. I think the cart has a time limit. I know if I have an error in the checkout process, I will lose the whole cart too. So I jsut copy all the item codes so that if I lose it, it is easy to reconstruct. They do not store the credit card info either. You will need to re-enter it every time. But having used them a few years in a row, they do appear to otherwise be reliable.

[Coopmv]

Abeille is a bit of a strange site. I think the cart has a time limit. I know if I have an error in the checkout process, I will lose the whole cart too. So I jsut copy all the item codes so that if I lose it, it is easy to reconstruct. They do not store the credit card info either. You will need to re-enter it every time. But having used them a few years in a row, they do appear to otherwise be reliable.

Abeille Musique is not the only CD etailer that does this.  While Amazon (US & UK)always retain the cart items, I have noticed some US based etailers also clear out the cart after certain time limit has been reached.

[Sergeant Rock]

I have noticed some US based etailers also clear out the cart after certain time limit has been reached.

JPC does too.

Sarge

[kishnevi]

JPC does too.

Sarge

Speaking of JPC, but on another tangent: how does JPC ship?

They emailed me to say my order was shipped, but did not say how it was shipped, or provide a tracking number or anything--nor does any such information show up when I check on the order at JPC's website.

I'm kind of assuming that it will show up in the hands of my mailwoman,  but it would be nice to be sure of that, especially since the recent near fiasco with Presto was due to a lost "you weren't home to sign" slip she supposedly left in my mailbox.

[Coopmv]

Speaking of JPC, but on another tangent: how does JPC ship?

They emailed me to say my order was shipped, but did not say how it was shipped, or provide a tracking number or anything--nor does any such information show up when I check on the order at JPC's website.

I'm kind of assuming that it will show up in the hands of my mailwoman,  but it would be nice to be sure of that, especially since the recent near fiasco with Presto was due to a lost "you weren't home to sign" slip she supposedly left in my mailbox.

I placed my second order in December and to be honest, I am still not sure how jpc ships.  The package did end up in my mailbox, though the first order required some signature and was delivered twice.  Then my wife somehow told the PO I would waive the signature requirement and the mailman ended up leaving the package at the door without the signature.  With both MDT and Presto, I only ran into the signature requirement once when the order was close to $200.  As such I have always limited the order amount to under $100 in order to avoid that signature requirement.

[Opus106]

Abeille is a bit of a strange site. I think the cart has a time limit. I know if I have an error in the checkout process, I will lose the whole cart too. So I jsut copy all the item codes so that if I lose it, it is easy to reconstruct. They do not store the credit card info either. You will need to re-enter it every time. But having used them a few years in a row, they do appear to otherwise be reliable.

Thanks, Neal, for the reassurance*.


*But my credit card thinks that was uncalled for.   

[eyeresist]

Well, it's happened again, but this time it's about half the basket. I'll have to find out which item, if any, has gone out of stock. With such a misbehaving site, I wonder whether I should to let them store my credit card info there.

As a previous poster said, I don't trust the shopping cart to remember anything long term. That's what wishlists are for.
 

[Opus106]

As a previous poster said, I don't trust the shopping cart to remember anything long term. That's what wishlists are for.

Less than a week is long term?

[eyeresist]

Less than a week is long term?

Anything outside the 24 hour cycle.