DVDPacific - mickey mouse website

[Jimmyboy]

Thought I might give these guys a try.
For some reason they seem to think it's perfectly fine for orders to go through a non-secure server.
I thought these guys were recommended around these parts ?.

[rumbletum]

Just went into my account settings on their site, and thats secure

[Baz]

Orders seem not to be secure, but try to change your card details and it is secure.

[ForcedV]

I ordered a dvd that clearly displayed the cover of the Columbia Tristar dvd and it even stated that it was the Columbia release and as it was cheap I bought it.

What they sent was the edit Xenon dvd of the same title.

By the time I received the disc and email them, they had corrected their website mistake, but failed to acknowledge their initial error.

So as I'm stuck with this piece of crap, I just wanted to get this off my chest.

My advice is that if you see a bargin, save the web page as evidence or you could end up losing your money.

Have a read of what the T&Cs (http://thedvdforums.com) say about swearing.

[HenryKrinkle]

Have you e-mailed them regarding this? They seem to be very prompt with replies, and pretty fair too...so you may as well drop them a line.

[byronsp]

I'va had nothing than great service from the company, were excptionally cheap for my Dylan cds.

[Herbal]

Greta service, only one problem, checked my statement and $250 worth of dvd's went out, even tho didnt order a thing. Emailed them and after a few back and fore, regarding address etc. Found out they used my details (CC only), to ship to another, [My Full Name]. From England somewhere.

Got a full refund a day later, and as the $$ must have gone down, got about 79p in my favor.

Probally just a one off, but had to cancel my cards, just in case.

[Jimmyboy]

Originally posted by Baz
Orders seem not to be secure, but try to change your card details and it is secure.

Yep exactly, surely that's pointless though because your login information is being sent through a bog standard IE page & if someone has your login details they can access your account.

Herbal - That's fairly shocking (especially as they claim goods can only be shipped to the card holders address).
Why are people so quick to praise a company just because they actually received their dvds and ignore vital information like the crap security of their website?

[jonathan.e]

Aside from the shocking example above I don’t see the big deal about this lot. I ordered from them and got shafted by customs despite them promising to declare a favourable value. They knocked a bit off the declared value but it was still well over the limit. Shipping is per disc which is practically unheard of these days and they don’t seem all that competitive on general site prices. I’ve had occasion to mail them a couple of times and would agree their CS is excellent but there’s a reason for that - you’re paying a premium for it.

[paulclissold]

Never been hit by customs and am now over the 100 order mark with them (some small orders, some for a lot of £££). CS is superb to the extent that they even rang me following my email request that they dig out an undamaged Mondo Box-set (the plastic outer case is a disaster) and picked out a low number pristine copy for me.

Deliveries average 4 days, emails are promptly answered (sometimes eerily promptly IE. 2 mins after sending) and prices seem more than fair.

My on-line credit card statement helps me keep an eye if anything untoward happens - all fine and dandy so far. Jimmyboys point is a good one though - might be worth an email querying their security policy.

Of course ALL of the above should be standard practice for etailers but, Amazon apart, I can't think of any other dvd/cd supplier that comes close (CD Wow I do like but range limited).

[Brian Blessed Badger]

Originally posted by jonathan.e
and they don’t seem all that competitive on general site prices.


They do offer better prices than most for some of the more unusual stuff (eg they are cheapest on ********************* for Spellbound (2002) and Last Exile) - but for mainstream stuff they are less good.

Originally posted by jonathan.e
I’ve had occasion to mail them a couple of times and would agree their CS is excellent but there’s a reason for that - [b]you’re paying a premium for it.

Is that not worth paying a (small) premium for ?

The security bit is a worry though

Phil

[Bapapapa]

Originally posted by Jimmyboy
Yep exactly, surely that's pointless though because your login information is being sent through a bog standard IE page & if someone has your login details they can access your account. Not without your password they can't..

[Brian Blessed Badger]

Originally posted by Bapapapa
Not without your password they can't..

I think the problem is that the username/password are sent without using a secure server so in theory someone could grab them on the way to the server - It does seem odd as looking a bit further the registration is done via https so it's not like they don't have access to it

Phil

[jonathan.e]

Originally posted by Brian Blessed Badger
Is that not worth paying a (small) premium for ?


Promptly answering emails and solving problems shouldn’t incur any additional cost to the customer and I‘d debate whether or not charging shipping per disc could be considered a "small" premium.

If they introduced flat rate shipping (as DeepDiscount) over a $et amount they would do themselves a lot of good.

[Brian Blessed Badger]

Originally posted by jonathan.e
Promptly answering emails and solving problems shouldn’t incur any additional cost to the customer and I‘d debate whether or not charging shipping per disc could be considered a "small" premium.

Some suppliers are cheap but have bad CS, some are more expensive but have good CS (and every combination inbetween) - in an ideal world they should all have good CS but they don't, some people are willing to pay a bit more for that CS, some aren't. As long as you can make an informed decision whats the problem ?

Both the examples I gave provide cheaper prices including the shipping so i wouldn't be paying a premium at all (unless you can point me to somewhere cheaper) - I accept this is on a disc by disc basis though

Originally posted by jonathan.e
If they introduced flat rate shipping (as DeepDiscount) over a $et amount they would do themselves a lot of good.

No argument there

Phil

[jonathan.e]

Originally posted by Brian Blessed Badger
As long as you can make an informed decision whats the problem ?


There’s no problem. I’m not trying to sway anyone against them, just calling it as I see it. Another thing that I just remembered is that one of my orders way back was for some Disney tins and they really hammered me on the shipping cost after I placed the order, charging them as more even than 2 items apiece. Struck me as unfair at the time to not mention this before I ordered.

I did email them about a fixed shipping cost for larger quantity orders but they weren’t interested so I order elsewhere: DDD, CDWow, DVDSoon etc.

[Jimmyboy]

Originally posted by Brian Blessed Badger
I think the problem is that the username/password are sent without using a secure server so in theory someone could grab them on the way to the server - It does seem odd as looking a bit further the registration is done via https so it's not like they don't have access to it

Phil

Exactly.
You have to enter your password to make an order in the first place but you enter it into a site which is no different to logging into the dvdforums (which has been hacked in the past).

I don't get what they're thinking - you register over a secure server but you place orders over a non-secure server. What's the bloody point in that ?.
I honestly can't understand why nobody else has mentioned this before.

I've emailed the webmaster address anyway, no doubt I'll get some patronising reply about how the site complies with industry regulations or something equally irrelevant.

[Jimmyboy]

Blimey that was quick ! - I got a reply stating that they are aware that orders are placed over a non secure server but that it doesn't matter because "No information transmitted during this procedure contains anything related to customers’ personal information". Well, that's assuming you don't consider someones name, address, phone number, and email address to be 'Personal Information', plus the log-in process is still unsecure.

Customer service are quick to respond but geez would it really be that difficult to make the log-in process and check-out secure ?!. Even stardvds managed that!.:wave:

[target]

Originally posted by jonathan.e
you’re paying a premium for it. [/B]

Have to say I disagree - with older stuff at least. I recently got a widescreen 5.1 setup to replace a full screen stereo tv. I had 12 dvd's that were full/stereo of which there were better versions available and dvdpacific were the cheapest for every single one.

[bozman]

Originally posted by jonathan.e
Aside from the shocking example above I don’t see the big deal about this lot. I ordered from them and got shafted by customs despite them promising to declare a favourable value. They knocked a bit off the declared value but it was still well over the limit. Shipping is per disc which is practically unheard of these days and they don’t seem all that competitive on general site prices. I’ve had occasion to mail them a couple of times and would agree their CS is excellent but there’s a reason for that - you’re paying a premium for it.

Really? - every single order I've ever received from them has been marked at $20 - without being prompted before hand. I really really hope they're not following suit a la DVDSoon :( I've ordered a batch of 6 dvds tonight (worth £40) so we'll have to see what happens...

[beeleebme]

I have never had a customs issue with DVD Pacific to date (touch wood) and have used all 3 of their delivery methods at differing times. Even with their prices being calculated on a per disc rate they are still much cheaper than most out there and to me there customer service is superb and is certainly what is lacking from nearly every other e-tailer i have used regardless of price.

As for the security I don't really see this as an issue if all my personal information is stored on a secure server which it is. If your submitting an order no personal information is being transferred as they hold your details on site secured so you aren't required to resubmit this with every order and they send you an e-mailed confirmation in any case which is something I would expect and this is more likely to be intercepted but again what real use is it to anyone?

Saying all that though I will send them an e-mail that there has been concerns raised (albeit unfounded in my opinion to some degree) and I would not be surprised to see something done about it. That is what I love about this company!

[bozman]

Mailed them about the customs issue already mentioned - sounds like jonathan.e unlucky to have his package declared at full value:

>>>>>>
Nothing has changed our end and we have received no reports from customers stating that.



Regards,



William B.



Sales Representative

DVD Pacific Inc.
>>>>>>

[jonathan.e]

Originally posted by bozman
Mailed them about the customs issue already mentioned - sounds like jonathan.e unlucky to have his package declared at full value:

>>>>>>
Nothing has changed our end and we have received no reports from customers stating that.



Regards,



William B.



Sales Representative

DVD Pacific Inc.
>>>>>>


I did say that is wasn’t declared at full value, just not discounted a great deal ie still well in excess of the customs limit of £18. In addition I did mail DVDPacific about it and had a reply from William in March last year. It was a sizeable order and I was hoping to put significant business their way but personally I wasn’t impressed with being charged duty as I expected none. Sounds like my experience with them is in the minority which I guess is good for everyone else.

[jayok]

Certainly is, hopefully my Father Ted boxset will sail past C&E

[bozman]

jonathan.e - Ah! ok I should have asked that question before - I didn't start using them until September last year - looks like somewhere between March and September they must have established their customs friendliness..

[CarlFr]

Do you have to mail DVD Pacific to ask if they would mark it down or would this automatically be done?

Cheers
Carl

[beeleebme]

Think is automatic now.

[target]

Yep, just got my first large order with them through. Was marked as $20

[MrBrady]

My order of 3 DVDs which arrived Saturday had no declaration on the box at all! Is this good, or bad? It was only £12 worth of discs though...

[target]

Originally posted by MrBrady
My order of 3 DVDs which arrived Saturday had no declaration on the box at all! Is this good, or bad? It was only £12 worth of discs though...

I thought the same but it was actually printed by a stamp with hardly any ink - really faded on the side of the box.

[CLH]

Originally posted by target
I thought the same but it was actually printed by a stamp with hardly any ink - really faded on the side of the box.

mine too.

[HenryKrinkle]

It seems far from clever to mark all of the packages as $20...customs took a while to cotton on to the $12 DVDSoon practices, it won't be long before Pacific get noticed too!

...couldn't they just put a random value between, say, $9 and $36...would that be so difficult?

[Hernster]

I have a DVD on order that is "Payment Requested".

Does this mean the order is currently going through with the transaction, or something else?

There F.A.Q. doesn't list anything about this.

[aapeen]

well, i got a 'Payment Requested' when my credit card got expired between the order and the shipment. they did email me, but that took a couple of extra days.

- aapee

[jonathan.e]

Annoying that you can’t search by director on their site.

[beeleebme]

Notice log in is secure now.

[Njål]

Originally posted by Hernster
I have a DVD on order that is "Payment Requested".

Does this mean the order is currently going through with the transaction, or something else?

There F.A.Q. doesn't list anything about this.
If the details in your account are correct, send them a line and ask them to try again. For some reason, the US banking clearing houses (where the transactions are ok'ed) from time to time have timeouts or something, which leads to the transaction not going through.
I've had this once or twice from DVD Pacific lately, and previously from Deep Discount and Reel.

[Hernster]

Aapeen & NJal;

I recently changed to a new CCard, but this was about 2 weeks earlier so they should have taken it from the new card. :searchme:

I'll email them, just in case. Thanks guys. :thumbs: