Forum - View topicAnime Online Store (sales & rentals) Reviews/Feedbacks
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kuchu
 Posts: 52 |
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Review time! This time it's Deep Discount DVD. I know I was being extreme about them before based on complaints that I read both on this forum and on google but my view has changed since then. So I was taking advantages of their 20% off on top of their already low price not so long ago. Man, that was heaven on earth. So many reduced price, so little money I have.
I had to contact their CS by email and phone for a couple of issues. One was cancelling my pre order items. I did not pay close attention to the fine print saying that pre order item and games are not discounted for the additional 20% off so I had to email them to cancel some pre order items. My emails were returned quite fast, within 24 hours I think, and the issue was resolved just fine. Second issue was that they cancelled the wrong item. I asked them to cancel GITS Individual Eleven and the cancelled the Laughing Man so I decided to call them directly to solve the issue. This is where things started to get a bit troublesome. The CS I talked to couldn't locate the item correctly within the order. I even explicitly said it(GITS Individual Eleven) was the only pre order item on the order list and she told me that I had more than just one pre orders which could only mean that she couldn't differentiate between backorder and pre order. Then I told her the price and she couldn't not match it either. I told her the full title and she couldn't find the correct one since I ordered a few of GITS titles and it seemed to me their sales software were not capable of showing full title. So I had to search the item number on their website and told her that. Then I asked her to put GITS Laughing Man, which they cancelled by mistake, to be put back on my order and she said I had to re order it again and that was fine since they have free shipping so I didn't mind and it made no difference anyway. But then she told me I couldn't cancel the Individual Eleven at that time because they were in the middle of processing the rest of my order to be shipped on Monday and that I had to call back on Tuesday to cancel it. I told her it made no sense since this item was on pre order thus it didn't have anything to do with the rest of my order being shipped or not but she said she couldn't do it so fine I told her thanks and hang up. Before I hang up I actually asked her if she could take a note to cancel the item on Tuesday instead of me calling them but she said no. Fine. I don't know if it was her incompetence or it was their screwed up sales software. It was inconvenience but she was quite helpful so I didn't mind very much. I received my first package from them today, Tuesday and one item was missing. So I called the CS again to report it and a different person this time was right on the job. She did a quick check and informed me the missing item will be sent expedited and she canceled the GITS Individual Eleven upon my request. She read the title as Ghost in The Shell Indi which led me to believe that their sales software aren't capable of showing full title. Lame. Packaging wise, it was fine. No tracking ID, no padding. It was quite full but not exactly squeezed which I was relieved. External box showed some tears already, but unfortunately my box sets were fine. I often received damaged boxes from UPS so it wasn't a big surprise to me, just another disappointment. Some discs are dislodged but none were badly damaged that I felt the need to return. Less hassle, the better. Overall I would rate this seller to be okay. Maybe they have improved their CS, which is good and that's just fine with me. Their price is really hard to ignore especially with their additional 20% discount. Very generous. |
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ikillchicken
 Posts: 7272 Location: Vancouver |
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Roberts Anime Corner Store:
Of all the sites I've checked out they are the cheapest. They don't really have many sales to speak of so you can sometimes get stuff cheaper elsewhere on sale, but regular price they are definitely the cheapest so I usually buy mostly from them and bargain shop elsewhere. They offer a variety of shipping methods. I've found that their shipments are generally the quickest even for their standard shipping to Canada. It is often as early as 5 - 10 days. I think TRSI probably packs their stuff a bit better, but RACS is a close second. I've never had any problems with damaged items from them. I've rarely found items out of stock and orders almost always ship within a couple days. My only complaint is that their shipping isn't particularilly cheap and they don't offer any kind of free shipping to Canada. Their customer service gets back to you very quickly and is very helpful. The Right Stuff International: I've actually been rather underwhelmed with TRSI. I will start with the positive: They ship items with so much pading that I can't see how anything would ever get damaged. Their prices can't compete with RACS but are still pretty good. They have quite a few sales so I do often end up ordering from them. I have however had some issues with them. Firstly, they only have one shipping option to Canada and it takes forever. Its usually about 3 weeks. Also, items frequently are out of stock and I have to wait for them to get more which generally takes up to a week. Also, one time they were unable to get one of the items I ordered so they just cancelled it but never even contacted me about it. I don't know what was up with that. Also one time I asked them to cancel an item from an order and apparently somebody accidentally cancelled my whole order. That would have been one thing because I just reordered the items. However, I found out a bit later that they had actually realised their mistake and placed a new order for me except they then forgot to let me know about it. By that time they had both shipped so I had to wait till one arrived and send it back. Not to mention their website is butt-ugly and a pain to navigate. I don't mean to bad mouth them but all I can say is that I've had a lot of trouble with them. They are still certainly decent when you consider some of the crappy little sites out there. However when you conisder that they are one of the big guys in terms of anime sites I've seen better. and speaking of crappy little sites: Bargain Anime: I only ordered there because they had a Geneon title I was trying to find. Basically, I ordered it and didn't hear back for like a week. I emailed them about it and waited another week without hearing anything back. Finally the status of the order was changed to cancelled. So yeah....Really not recomended. AnimeNation: I only tried ordering from them recently. I'm actually quite impressed. Their prices are pretty high but they make up for it often with big sales. (Right now they've got 40% off ADV, 35% off Funimation, 35% off Dark Horse). Their shipping is reasonably priced and they offer a lot of options. Trackable and quick UPS is only usually a little more than regular shipping to Canada. |
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britannicamoore
 Posts: 2618 Location: Out. |
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I'm a newbie when it comes to online ordering but here are my experiences.
TRSI I ordered a Bleach bag from them in the begining of Aug. They kepet sending me emails saying they were working on it all through Sept & Oct. I decided to give up. I called to cancel the order- and the helpful woman on the phone asked did I want to replace my items with anything. I gave her the numbers and she was very nice in getting me everything. My items arrived pretty fast- and they were nice packaged. My only small gripe was that many of the front page specails are only available via the website- so I couldn't order any of those. DeepDiscount The prices were awesome. I jumped on their sale- and my items arrived nicely. They still need to ship me two boxsets, so i'll report back on them. Animate-USA I use to order from them a lot, but I lost their site until now. does anyone know if he is still in bussiness? I have several sets of pens, keychains, and stationary from him. And everything was delievered quicklu. I want to get a cell phone strap. |
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kuchu
Posts: 52 |
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From my quick Google search I came up with this site Animate-USA or Animate-USA. I'm not sure if they are the one you're looking for. You're welcome to write reviews about them but I probably won't put up their links on my list because I'm focusing on Anime DVD and Manga, not accessories. Unless the site also sells Anime DVD and Manga, but from my quick glance it doesn't look like they sell them.
I'm still waiting for their respond about my discount. I used their 10% off coupon code plus my PASSPORT 10% discount. Maybe you can help me clarify this issue. As far as I remember I didn't see any fine print saying that the 10% coupon is not eligible with 10% Passport discount. Yet when I tried to calculate their charge, they seemed to cancel out one of my 10%. I don't think my calculation is wrong. If they're proven to cancel the other 10% off, I would be very disappointed because they were trying to mislead their customer. As a business industry they should clarify everything because it's not up to the customer to try to guess their way of business or misinterpret their rules. Edit: the coupon code was 10% not 20%. My mistake. Content has been updated. Their CS is responsive but I'm still trying to clarify the issue. Edit 2: Update - After exchanging a few emails, all in one day, AN will refund a portion of my original charge. I had to give him a clear break down of my calculation and he agreed to go with it. They will also put free shipping for my the rest of my order. Two thumbs up for their CS. Definitely a pleasure to deal with. Recommended. The miscalculation threw me off at first but their willingness to solve the issue has replaced my doubts about them. Now the only thing left is to deal with DD. sigh Who knew online shopping could be a full time job? A little update on DeepDiscount. After I placed the call on Tuesday to cancel my GITS Individual 11 they still didn't cancel it for me after I checked a few days later. I hate incompetent beings. I emailed them again and explicitly saying I want the item to be cancelled because I don't want it to be shipped to me and I don't want to pay for the item either. They replied within 24 hour and cancelled the item. Maybe email is the way to go to communicate with them. On Tuesday I also called and reported that they missed an item in my package, Witch Hunter Robin Complete Boxset. Now I wonder if the person I talked to were really going to ship the item. On another note, my Yukikaze boxset needed to be returned because one of the disc has scratches. I hope, hope, hope this is going to be an easy process of exchange. Stupidly, I just realized after I paid for Parcel Post, as they recommeded, that the price is only 5 cents cheaper than Priority Mail. I should have just sent it Priority instead. Last edited by kuchu on Tue Dec 04, 2007 5:05 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Mylene
 Posts: 2792 Location: Indiana |
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Easy and exchange do not go together in the same sentence with DeepDiscount, unfortunately. A month and a half after I sent back my Rozen Maiden v. 1+ box, they claimed they still hadn't received it. They had, it was just sitting there for a month waiting to be processed. Since you seem the type to need frequent updates on the situation, you're probably going to find yourself emailing a lot. |
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Abdallah
Posts: 21 Location: Doha, Qatar |
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I've been dealing with RACS for the past since I started ordering my anime and manga online 4 years ago.
RACS is by far the best online anime store when it comes to internation orders. I live in the Middle East and I always receive the package using Fedex within 10 days from placing the order if it's a kinda large order. If it's only few items, I receive it in a week. I'm picky when it comes to receiving my anime and manga in perfect condition, but never had to worry, even with the GitS: SAC tin editions. Their packaging is the best. Their prices are cheaper than other stores, friendly CS and they reply within 24h. What I really like about RACS as well is the many shipping options they offer for international orders, something which other stores lack. Animenation.com only offer regular air-mail and UPS, which is really expensive and with poor packaging. I received Infinte Rivyuus box-set in a mmmm a not good condition. I contacted, and they sent me another one without asking me to send'em back the damaged box-set or anything. Previously in TRSI it was written in the internation shipping FAQ section that they ship using Fedex, period. It turned out later that it was Fedex Regular International Mail, and it took more than 2 weeks to receive my package since I ordered it. After telling them that in the website it only say "...via Fedex." they changed it. They offer no other method of shipping, which is such a pain if you want to get your dose of anime quickly. |
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kuchu
Posts: 52 |
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I knew I should have just hold on to it. It's not that I'm a picky and needy customer who wants to be treated like a royalty, I'm just expecting some responsibity and professionalism from sellers, that's all. I purchased a delivery confirmation so in case they're going dilly dally about not receiving I can always check whether they are honest or just a bunch of crooks. Have you tried to pursue them about sending your replacement? What were their responses if you have? |
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Mylene
Posts: 2792 Location: Indiana |
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After 4 emails and a bit over two months, I received an email saying that my money had been refunded, rather than receiving the exchange I'd requested. Apparently while they dilly dallied around, they ran out of the item (as did my favorite online stores while I waited for my exchange.) The emails I received generally ranged from, "We haven't received your item," to "We still haven't received your item," to "It takes 4-6 weeks to process once received" (which is really funny, since I was originally told it would take two weeks at most to get the replacement item shipped!) to "As per your request we have refunded $26.83 towards your account on 09/01/07" (gee, I recall requesting the item, not a refund!) My personal favorite was the email that simply said: "The order number that you have provided is not a correct order number. Please provide the correct order number or your full name and billing address so that we may locate your account and further assist you." This is my favorite, because it was the same order number I'd used with the previous and following emails. I don't know what customer service was on during that time period, but it really soured me on DD. That's not to say they're always bad. Last Christmas an order shipped. After nearly 3 weeks (I live in Indiana, DD is based in Illinois--even during the holidays it shouldn't take that long) they were still missing. I contacted customer service and received a response within 24 hours. They agreed to simply mail me the order again, and requested that I contact them if the original order finally arrived and they'd arrange for the spare shipment to be returned. Ah, to go back to those days, when an actual person signed email rather than just the impersonal "Regards, Customer Service Deparment" I get now. |
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ingram_pilot
 Posts: 66 Location: Ottawa, Canada |
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Right now they have a pretty awesome sale for the Christmas season. Some of the items are 70% off from the regular price.
Free shipping options are usually useless for Canadians buying in the US. Most online stores who offer it, offer it on large orders (TRSI: $150+ to Canada). With orders that large, you'll get charged huge customs fees and import taxes once the package enters the country. In certain cases you'll even be charged GST.  We are the most heavily taxed country in the world you know. 
I haven't yet received anything from TRSI (placed my first order with them this weekend) so I can't comment on their packaging; but I have a hard time believing they can beat RACS in that department. I once ordered 2 CDs from them and when they arrived, they were in a reinforced box big enough for 5 CDs. There was so much bubble wrap I could of sat on the whole thing and the CDs would never have been damaged. When I ordered the GitS:SAC boxset (7 DVDs) it came in a box big enough for 3 of the boxsets and there were so many packing peanuts in the box, that when I opened they litterally flew out from the pressure. As far as I'm concerned, you can't beat RACS's packaging. Plus, the packing peanuts are enviromentally friendly.
It should be mentionned that Robert Brown (the owner) answers most of the customer service emails himself. Last edited by ingram_pilot on Tue Dec 04, 2007 10:06 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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ingram_pilot
Posts: 66 Location: Ottawa, Canada |
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I'm surprised nobody has mentionned RACS's trade in programme yet. You send them the CDs, DVDs, mangas, and video games you don't want anymore and they'll email you a coupon. Your CDs and DVDs don't even have to be anime related.
Their website FAQ has all the relevant information. Last edited by ingram_pilot on Tue Dec 04, 2007 10:09 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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ikillchicken
Posts: 7272 Location: Vancouver |
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ingram_pilot:
Okay...Is there some reason you feel the need to correct my review? Do you work for RACS or something? You sure seem hell-bent on making sure everyone knows they are absolutely flawless. Especially since I gave them a pretty good review already. Heres an idea: If you disagree, why don't you let me have my oppinion and write a review of your own with yours. As I said, RACS is a close second in terms of packaging. Both them and TRSI are excellent. There is no huge difference but I've just generally found TRSI to have a bit more packaging. I couldn't really care less who awnsers the questions. All that matters is whether they are correct and prompt. They do have some sales but not really much compared to somewhere like TRSI or Anime Nation. Also, if you don't care about free shipping, good for you. If its so rare for people to qualify for it though, then I would think they could offer it for the few people that do. I usually do buy enough that I am going to get charged GST anyway. its not worth spliting up orders and paying shipping fees several times just to try and avoid it. Plus I don't know about Ontario but I've always only been charged a flat 5 handling fee for standard post or 10 for priority post. Its cheaper and easier for me if I can just place a big order and get free shipping and pay 5 bucks plus GST. |
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ingram_pilot
Posts: 66 Location: Ottawa, Canada |
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Your right, I went overboard with my comments. After re-reading my post I realize that it was overly critical of your review. That wasn't my intention and I apologize. |
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CaRDz
 Posts: 35 Location: Rochester, MN |
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I ordered 3 art books from bargainanime but haven't gotten them yet. I've emailed them and haven't gotten a reply. It's been two weeks now since I've placed my order with no word whatsoever from their sales people.
On that same date I purchased the 3 items from bargainanime, I ordered another art book from RACS, and got them immediately 2 days after. I'm not too anal about costumer service and the whatnots, but I'm kinda wondering if bargainanime is just like this? (haven't really read through this thread in depth). I'm not complaining though, even if it might sound like I am. |
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kuchu
Posts: 52 |
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You're the second person complaining about Bargain Anime on this thread. The first one is this post
If there are more complaints about this site, I will probably put a warning note beside my site link just to make people aware of any problems regarding this seller. |
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CaRDz
Posts: 35 Location: Rochester, MN |
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Guess I should've read through the thread before making the purchases. So far from what I understand, RACS seems to be the best option. So I'd probably just get stuff from their site. The only bummer is that the art books I was looking for wasn't in their lists of available items. |
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