Bad Companies - AlternativeDVD

In June 2006, I ordered two video games from AlternativeDVD through eBay. I never received these games; and it took me several months to get even a portion of my money back. The whole thing reminded me of a scam many times. The following documents every step I took to try to handle the whole process.

I recommend not dealing with AlternativeDVD.

Current Status

Over the three weeks since I wrote up the main portion of this page, I received quite a bit of advice

So, in short, I still need $1.55 back, and the negative feedback removed. At the end of the day, this isn't so bad.

Summary, to 08 Aug 2006

This is what I mailed to AlternativeDVD on 08 Aug 2006 at 22:01: 

        I would like a complete refund of my eBay order of two Nintendo DS
games from early June.  I would also like for you to retract the negative
feedback that you have left on my account.  

Summary
=======

        I ordered two games through your company back in June.  I never
received the items.  I have been attempting to have this taken care of
since mid-June; and I have been asking for my money-back since mid-July.

        I do not appreciate how I have been treated by your company.  At
the very least, I would like a refund, a retraction of your negative
feedback, and an apology.  

        I am very concerned that your company has been asking me to wait
specifically in order to wait past the deadlines for PayPal and eBay dispute
resolutions.  Certainly, that's what this process has felt like.  If I
didn't see that so many others had had good experiences with your company,
I would be convinced that your company was a scam.

        I would still be happy to take care of this problem rather than
escalating matters further.  I look forward to hearing your response.


Complete Details
================

        (Note: alternativedvd's comments are indicated with '*', while
mine are indicated with '|'.)

        On June 3rd, I ordered two games through 'Buy It Now' on eBay
- Bust a Move DS (item 8287679183, $15.99) and Metroid Pinball (item
8290183891, $12.99).  With shipping (USPS First Class), the total cost
of these items was $42.96.  I paid via PayPal.  According to the mail I
received from USPS on June 6th, the package was sent '3rd Party Insured'
(tracking number 9101805213907194997809).

        So far, so good.

        I never received this package.  I contacted your company on June
15th, asking where the package might be.  I got a response on June 16th:

* Your games were shipped on the 6th of June.  We'll see if there's
* anything we can do to locate your package.  Please be patient, but let
* us know if your games arrive.  If after 45 days from the shipping date
* you still have not received your items we can file the insurance claim
* and either refund you, or replace your games.

        This was somewhat suspicious - why would I have to wait 45 days,
coincidentally the time when I would no longer be able to get my full
PayPal refund?  I asked why this was, and received this response on June
19th: 

* That's the policy we've agreed on with our 3rd party insurance carrier.
* Better to have all packages covered and wait a little while for a refund
* than to not have any coverage at all.

        I reluctantly agreed to follow along without too many complaints.

        On July 13th, I sent the following message:

| We're at 39 days from date-of-purchase now, and the games still haven't
| arrived. Can we begin the insurance process now?

        I received no response.  I waited several days before sending
another message on July 19th (46 days after payment):

| Okay, I paid for this game and Metroid Pinball back on June 3rd. It has
| now been >45 days. Can we please re-send the games and deal with insurance
| now?

        I received the following response shortly thereafter (7/19):

* Hi, I am going to file a claim for insurance and I will notify you when
* I receive further information, thank you.

        On 7/23, I wrote:

| When should I expect a response? 

        And the next day, having gotten no response, I wrote the following:

| I am going to file a dispute claim if I don't get something reasonable
| back from you by Wednesday. This is taking too long, and the deadlines
| are coming up.

        I did not receive a response to this either.

        On July 26th I opened two disputes through the eBay dispute
center.  I finally got a response on July 27th, the same for each dispute:

* package shipped on 06/06/06. it is probbaly lost. we are filing the
* insurance claim.

        I again patiently waited a few more days, before responding with
this (again, in both disputes):

| When should we expect an answer from the insurance folks?  You claimed to
| file for insurance early last week...

        I received no response.  Finally, I attempted to escalate the
dispute on eBay on August 8th (today).  My final comments:

| This has been going on far too long.  I will leave negative feedback.

        At this point, I attempted to escalate the claim, but the
relatively small amount of money made this impossible.  I did follow up
with the negative feedback, as follows (for each item):

| Never received the item; seller promised reimbursement, but did not deliver.

        In response, I got the following negative feedback (my first
ever):

* Product lost by usps. we filed insurance claim even thou buyer didn't
* pay for it

        ...and...

* Insurance claim filed, it takes up to 30 days to receive funds.

        I also received the following negative feedback from your
company (for both items):

* product lost by usps. we get negative. never paid for insurance.

        I have responded to one of these two negative-feedbacks:

| You got paid. I never got my item. You told me insurance would cover it
| anyway.

        I plan to respond to the other one if I do not receive a
satisfactory response to this mail.

			   - Tim Skirvin (tskirvin@killfile.org)
-- 
http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/  Skirv's Homepage < <*>
http://www.killfile.org/~tskirvin/history/       Skirv's History