I order dvds (mainstream and adult) from companies that have good repuations for customer service.

From that point onward I offer my own feedback based on the level of service/price/speed/etc that I as a -customer- recieve from them.

Regardless of the cstomer's location, if a retailer is willing to take the customer's money, which is just as spendable as your "great American" dollars, then the customer can expect a certain level of service.

So in my opinion, the stores give themselves a good or bad "rap". And I spend my money appropriately.

scipio
(filthy outlander)

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And as for the international shipping deal, this forum is for discussion between customers. It also has the rather useful effect of being a forum where proactive companies (both reatilers and producers) can see where their shortcomings are and make direct contact with a large number of their customers, getting feedback both positive and negative.

Five-star in particular have acted on the opinions and feelings found in this forum to attempt to make improvements to their international shipping, other stores have it pointed out to them that their shipping rates might not be particularly competitive.

Not to mention that you state that "If anyone reads this forum on a regular basis, then one should know which sites are dependable". That's what we're -doing-. That's what the forum is -for-.

scipio

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I think that's a weird question. However. I live in Europe, have ordered from American retailers quite often and have made different experiences. From good service to miserable service. After all I had heard I always thought America was the non-plus-ultra when it came to customer-service. When placing an order with American online retailers (all of them affiliated with ADT) however I quite often got some trouble. Missing orders, orders arriving weeks after they should have, customer-service replying only 2 days after sending them a mail, and if they answered, it often looked like a copy&paste standard mail.

Like I said above, I've also made a lot of quite good experiences with fast shipping, but I often got the feeling nobody cared about a package any more once it had left their store. Sometimes I got the feeling the customer service felt annoyed just because I was asking about the status of an order. Most of the time the answer was : 'Keep waiting...'

I agree with scipio that a retailer who takes my money ought to give me the same great service he gives to his American customers. It's not us - the customers - who give a retailer a bad reputation. Although I've sometimes posted a message on the board with a bit of criticism about one or another store, most problems I had with them were never mentioned. It's not anyone's intention to damage their business.

But think about that:

I've also placed orders with European online retailers, and so did many of the people here on the forum. Take ERODVD as an example. People from America, Australia and everywhere in the world say their customer-service is great, they care for their customers and the orders arrived very quickly without any problems. I myself made the experience that they contacted me via mail on Sunday evening, answering some questions I had asked them about half an hour ago. The mail was very friendly, telling me I could ask whatever I wanted whenever I wanted it. And the most important thing: They answered my questions to the full extent. No copy&paste message, and not just one sentence. This isn't meant to be advertisement. Other European stores offer the same service, and until now all of our American friends from the forum who ordered there were totally content. No late orders, no missing orders, no missing customer support.

Of course I'll keep ordering from American retailers, but I wish they'd care as much about their international customers as many European retailers care about their American customers.

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What I don't like to see is someone posting a negative headline prematurely, without first working with the store directly, by email, etc. Most problems are taken care of this way to the customers satisfaction, although it might take a couple of days for them to get back to you. Sometimes, the problem is not the retailer's fault, yet that bad rap headline remains in people's minds, even with a positive update.
By the same token, if you have tried and have not been able to get something resolved, by all means, let people know.
Drew & Steph screen any affiliates very carefully, and weed out any that are not up to their high standards, so I think rojo was saying, try to resolve any problem with the retailer first , and to think carefully before posting
something that could hurt someone's reputation, many times unfairly.

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