Whats wrong with amazon? they have always been first class in my opinion, never once had a problem if an item gets lost, always send out a replacement for a faulty item before getting the faulty item back and are always keen to partially refund or send a e-voucher if your not happy. Ths is the total opposite to what many peoples experiences with play are like. I have only had a few items lost from play but they take an age to action it and it often takes well over a month before you recieve a replacement or refund.
I've never bought anything from them so have no idea what their service is like. Ethically I just would not feel comfortable using them due to their stance on tax avoidance (over £3billion of sales in the UK with no tax paid on profits!) , workers rights and many other issues. I know most people just want their cheap DVDs/CDs/Books and don't care where they get them but I'd rather pay a bit more and not give the scumbags my money. I can't bury my head in the sand.
When I was buying Region 1 DVDs PlayUSA and Loaded 24 7 were my main suppliers. Both now defunct. Since switching to Blu Ray I shop mainly from Amazon, HMV & Zavvi. I rarely even check Play.com for comparisons.
I've never bought anything from them so have no idea what their service is like. Ethically I just would not feel comfortable using them due to their stance on tax avoidance (over £3billion of sales in the UK with no tax paid on profits!) , workers rights and many other issues. I know most people just want their cheap DVDs/CDs/Books and don't care where they get them but I'd rather pay a bit more and not give the scumbags my money. I can't bury my head in the sand.
Waaaay off topic!
I did not know this. Colour me naive. And I agree with you.
On topic, yes Play are pretty poor now. Really sad. They were awesome for years.
I've never bought anything from them so have no idea what their service is like. Ethically I just would not feel comfortable using them due to their stance on tax avoidance (over £3billion of sales in the UK with no tax paid on profits!) , workers rights and many other issues. I know most people just want their cheap DVDs/CDs/Books and don't care where they get them but I'd rather pay a bit more and not give the scumbags my money. I can't bury my head in the sand.
Waaaay off topic!
Not heard any of this but amazon trading in jersey as indigostarfish is not tax avoidance or is this something different your on about.
Notice on amazon very little is now sent from amazon jersey, since the government closed the tax loophole a few months back.
It's a bit of a dilemma for online stores to be fair - their own prices can never compete with what marketplace sellers are offering, especially for DVDs/Blu-Rays over a year old, and any CD over a few months old. They can only really compete price-wise on chart items, which to be fair, Amazon and Play (well perhaps not anymore) are actually very good at.
But the attraction of buying from Amazon/Play themselves lies in reliability, as far as many are concerned. With marketplace buyers, there are too many variables from seller to seller - delivery times, P&P, condition (a particularly important one) - and with Amazon/Play themselves you know exactly what you're getting, and that you are guaranteed good standards, or your money back, and no sly tricks from sellers.
So for Amazon and Play, the trick is to strike a balance between reputation and price. They have to keep their costs just low enough to persuade people to take their slightly more expensive offer, while still making a profit - which they do by ensuring that all users can trust them without a second thought. Problem is, Play is doing neither particularly well. They're not bothering to play fair in either arena by a) hiding their own prices amongst the marketplace and b) also not bothering to compete realistically. There's no incentive to pay the extra few quid to buy from them directly, whereas Amazon has lots of incentives to do so. Play need to sort their priorities out, basically.
If we stopped buying from everyone who tried to avoid tax we would never buy anything.;)
It wont stop me using amazon.
I am not sure but on doing some searching cant find any blu rays/dvds on sale now from amazon jersey on amazon, not sure if they have shut it down due to this VAT loophole the govenment closed.
I used to like amazon jersey as they dispatched within 24 hours even using supersaver and you got the item in 2 days almost everytime, often quicker then amazon uk delivered.
If we stopped buying from everyone who tried to avoid tax we would never buy anything.;)
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A familiar, lazy and blatantly untrue 'argument'.
Its amazing how huge the backlash against an individual like Jimmy Carr was a few weeks ago but you tell people that a company they use regularly is doing something even worse on a massive scale and they just shrug and carry on using them just because its convenient and saves them a few quid. :rolleyes:
SLIGHTLY off-topic (but that seems to be the word of the day) - they are useless. I had so many problems with Play over about 2 months last year that I'd never use them again now. Two examples of which:
I ordered a box-set from a third-party through Play and six days after my order confirmation, I was informed that it was out of stock and I was refunded. But that was after six days waiting on nothing... AND... the item was still being advertised on-site as in stock!
Similarly I ordered a dvd for my sister for Christmas on the 9th of December, which was directly from Play, but only on the 17TH did I get an email saying they couldn't fill my order. Again, that was a shocking amount of time in which to hear nothing.
I suppose my point there was that I had problems with both third-party sellers and Play.com themselves, they seem poorly managed, and marketplace sellers obviously aren't monitored responsibly enough if they can advertise items they don't have, with no mention of having 'low stock' or 'temporarily out of stock'.
The only problem I ever had with Play is them send ing stuff that I didn't want. A few years ago I received a Hellraiser boxed set and recently a huge boxed set of seasons 1-8 of 24, neither of which I'd ordered. They hadn't taken any money off me and I sent them both back but it was a bit strange!
I've never had a problem with them in the past. i remember spending an absolute fortune with them. £18 each for star trek 2-4 special editions on dvd! i recently bought the same 3 films on bluray for £12!
recently though they do seem to be having issues. just last week i ordered two blurays but the package i was sent had my address on the front but someone else's order in the box! what a shambles.
Just been on the Play.com website as I have a £25 voucher to use up. Was going to buy myself a PC Motherboard to do a home upgrade. Here's what I was after ASUS Socket 1155/Intel Z77/DDR3/S/ATA 600/Micro ATX. However on the item Play have a slight pricing error, as they are charging £999.99 for the board. Even the 3rd party sellers are only asking about £115 for it. I wonder if they meant to list it as £99.99?
They probably haven't been helped by the new VAT rules that means all goods imported to the UK from the channel islands now have to have UK VAT paid on them, whereas previously goods under £18, probably the majority of Play's trade was exempt.
Third party sellers have been given more prominence as of late but surprised to see them ditch direct retail altogether. I've been buying from them for years.
with hmv potentially going to the wall as well, it looks like it will be a choice between amazon or thehut/zavvi/sendit.
cue a typically uninformed post from geordielady saying this demonstrates the decline in bluray sales:D
Third party sellers have been given more prominence as of late but surprised to see them ditch direct retail altogether. I've been buying from them for years.
Interesting, not surprised either as I've noticed the cheapest price has often been a third party seller for a while now.
with hmv potentially going to the wall as well, it looks like it will be a choice between amazon or thehut/zavvi/sendit.
I've been ordering from Sainsbury's Entertainment store for the past few months, they have some pretty good deals on blu rays/DVDs/music, undercutting Amazon's prices. Interestingly the company is based in Guernsey, but the packages state they are shipped from the UK, presumably they have to pay full UK VAT now since the rules changed in April.
I've been ordering from Sainsbury's Entertainment store for the past few months, they have some pretty good deals on blu rays/DVDs/music, undercutting Amazon's prices. Interestingly the company is based in Guernsey, but the packages state they are shipped from the UK, presumably they have to pay full UK VAT now since the rules changed in April.
I would buy from Sainsbury's Entertainment more often, but they don't accept any debit cards other than Visa debit which is a shame as I don't have a credit card and only MasterCard debit. It's rather annoying having to find someone else to make the payment, especially when there's a really good bargain that you want to get before they sell out.
It's a shame about Play though as I used to buy from them very often since the Play247 days when they just sold DVDs, but they went downhill when they started selling all sorts of other stuff.
Play can't compete with Amazon, best to admit defeat before it gets embarassing. All Amazon needs now is a digital download service like it has in the US and it will be the king.
I haven't bought anything from Play since I ordered some items advertised as BOGOF. I never received the "free" ones, and Play didn't answer any of my emails. Never trusted them after that.
Comments
I've never bought anything from them so have no idea what their service is like. Ethically I just would not feel comfortable using them due to their stance on tax avoidance (over £3billion of sales in the UK with no tax paid on profits!) , workers rights and many other issues. I know most people just want their cheap DVDs/CDs/Books and don't care where they get them but I'd rather pay a bit more and not give the scumbags my money. I can't bury my head in the sand.
Waaaay off topic!
I did not know this. Colour me naive. And I agree with you.
On topic, yes Play are pretty poor now. Really sad. They were awesome for years.
Not heard any of this but amazon trading in jersey as indigostarfish is not tax avoidance or is this something different your on about.
Notice on amazon very little is now sent from amazon jersey, since the government closed the tax loophole a few months back.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/apr/04/amazon-british-operation-corporation-tax
I'm actually shocked by the number of people that use Amazon and don't know about this.
I know about Jersey etc, but I don't know why, I thought Amazon was different. Stupid me, I suppose.
But the attraction of buying from Amazon/Play themselves lies in reliability, as far as many are concerned. With marketplace buyers, there are too many variables from seller to seller - delivery times, P&P, condition (a particularly important one) - and with Amazon/Play themselves you know exactly what you're getting, and that you are guaranteed good standards, or your money back, and no sly tricks from sellers.
So for Amazon and Play, the trick is to strike a balance between reputation and price. They have to keep their costs just low enough to persuade people to take their slightly more expensive offer, while still making a profit - which they do by ensuring that all users can trust them without a second thought. Problem is, Play is doing neither particularly well. They're not bothering to play fair in either arena by a) hiding their own prices amongst the marketplace and b) also not bothering to compete realistically. There's no incentive to pay the extra few quid to buy from them directly, whereas Amazon has lots of incentives to do so. Play need to sort their priorities out, basically.
If we stopped buying from everyone who tried to avoid tax we would never buy anything.;)
It wont stop me using amazon.
I am not sure but on doing some searching cant find any blu rays/dvds on sale now from amazon jersey on amazon, not sure if they have shut it down due to this VAT loophole the govenment closed.
I used to like amazon jersey as they dispatched within 24 hours even using supersaver and you got the item in 2 days almost everytime, often quicker then amazon uk delivered.
A familiar, lazy and blatantly untrue 'argument'.
Its amazing how huge the backlash against an individual like Jimmy Carr was a few weeks ago but you tell people that a company they use regularly is doing something even worse on a massive scale and they just shrug and carry on using them just because its convenient and saves them a few quid. :rolleyes:
I ordered a box-set from a third-party through Play and six days after my order confirmation, I was informed that it was out of stock and I was refunded. But that was after six days waiting on nothing... AND... the item was still being advertised on-site as in stock!
Similarly I ordered a dvd for my sister for Christmas on the 9th of December, which was directly from Play, but only on the 17TH did I get an email saying they couldn't fill my order. Again, that was a shocking amount of time in which to hear nothing.
I suppose my point there was that I had problems with both third-party sellers and Play.com themselves, they seem poorly managed, and marketplace sellers obviously aren't monitored responsibly enough if they can advertise items they don't have, with no mention of having 'low stock' or 'temporarily out of stock'.
recently though they do seem to be having issues. just last week i ordered two blurays but the package i was sent had my address on the front but someone else's order in the box! what a shambles.
You can get post free but it goes second class, a little while back they used to post first class free by default.
yeah they started doing this about a year aho..? Another reason I dislike them!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-jersey-20953357
Third party sellers have been given more prominence as of late but surprised to see them ditch direct retail altogether. I've been buying from them for years.
with hmv potentially going to the wall as well, it looks like it will be a choice between amazon or thehut/zavvi/sendit.
cue a typically uninformed post from geordielady saying this demonstrates the decline in bluray sales:D
I've been ordering from Sainsbury's Entertainment store for the past few months, they have some pretty good deals on blu rays/DVDs/music, undercutting Amazon's prices. Interestingly the company is based in Guernsey, but the packages state they are shipped from the UK, presumably they have to pay full UK VAT now since the rules changed in April.
It's a shame about Play though as I used to buy from them very often since the Play247 days when they just sold DVDs, but they went downhill when they started selling all sorts of other stuff.
Item is still processing, don't think I'll be using them again.
http://www.thebookseller.com/news/playcom-closes-direct-consumer-retail-business.html