DVD Empire

Full review
I had ordered regularly from DVD Empire for several months. Then one of my orders failed to show up (shipped via Priority Mail). I wrote to customer service and asked what to do. She said there was nothing to do but cross my fingers and hope that it showed up. She tried to soften that blow by saying, "Sometimes mail can be delayed by as much as four to six weeks."

After about six weeks, I wrote back and said, "Is there really and truly nothing you can do?"

The response this time (from a different customer service rep) was, "Since it has now been more that four weeks, we can offer you a one-time replacement free of charge."

I replied that I did not want that. After my first correspondence left me feeling like they had no intention of doing anything, I purchased that title somewhere else.

The same customer service rep responded that the person I originally wrote to "would have told you to write us again if you did not receive the order after four weeks."

I forwarded the original response back and said, "No, she did not say that. Here's what she said, and she did not say anything more helpful than 'Good luck, I hope you get your order.' And, since that is what I was told, that is what I acted on. If she had said what she was supposed to say, I would not have bought this item somewhere else. I have had mostly good experiences with your company, but I have now given you money and received absolutely nothing in return. Once someone does that to me, I usually stop giving them money."

She replied that she could only offer me a replacement of the title that had been lost in the mail, and since I obviously did not want to take them up on this extremely generous offer, then she could do nothing more for me.

I pointed out that she had inadvertently revealed to me that one of their customer service reps had failed to follow their internal policies and procedures, which doubled the problem--a lost order is one thing, but misinforming a customer is another thing altogether. Considering that I had spent well over $1,000 with them in the previous few months, and considering their own failure to follow their own policies, I would prefer that she hand this matter on up to her supervisor.

I never heard from them again.

And I have not bought anything from them since.