Excellent letter, but a few points I'd like to add from my experience with Zavvi
Dear Zavvi-I am writing this letter to you as a former fan-the following has happened and needs to be addressed-It's not just me & I am sure others feel the same way;
Pricing-Any else notice the huge disparity in Zavvi's steelbook pricing from October to January-I did. As it stands I pre booked somewhere in the region of £2.5 k's worth of steels over this period-most were to replace amaray copies of titles I own but most were as gifts for Christmas. What I didn't appreciate was the price cuts on 90% of the items I pre booked AFTER they had been delivered-the worst case was Zatoichi-£14.99 on release date-£12.99 a week later & £9.99 pre Christmas week-All in all this cost me somewhere in the region of £105 difference which I won't see again. Zavvi-I appreciate that not all your exclusive titles sell as well as others but if you are releasing a catalogue title that is not a new release for 4000 units & it doesn't sell as well as you like, any price drop is a massive smack in the mouth to your loyal patrons that pre book the majority of your titles-(Sixth sense is a prime example of this-you are practically giving it away)-you need to look at what quantities you are pressing these in as well-your stock holding must be massive...
Dont forget the greedy price increases -
March 13, Roger Rabbit = £14.99
May 13, Aladdin = £17.99
Aug/Sept, The Little Mermaid/The Jungle Book = £22.99
Sept, Iron Man 3 = £23.99
ALL of these were single disc editions.
In addition, Aladdin's print run was increased and miraculously came back in stock on their ebay site at the inflated £23.99 (the price still listed on Zavvi's website).
Both TLM and TJB have been decreased to £9.99 which for people like me who pre-ordered both, its a smack in the face and its too late to return and re-order at the reduced price. Also, lets not forget the infamous mass spine slashes that appears on many copies of TJB - 3rd copy I sourced from ebay, and I FINALLY got a mint copy. 2 damaged copies sent from Zavvi - after the 2nd replacement I gave up and requested a return for refund...this took a few months of arguing with them.
the website-on play.com,Amazon & Base.com I can change my address, payment card & cancel items-hassle free. Your website is antiquated, is not customer friendly and-looking at the forums-pisses people off. If I prebook 4 steelbook titles & need to cancel one-I have to cancel the whole order or email your CS team to cancel. I have changed my email address since march 2013 but still do not receive shipping confirmations or alerts as you keep sending them out to my old address which no longer exists-prime example was my cancelled order for From Dusk till dawn-paid via paypal but there was an issue as my credit card changed numbers and this never arrived-hence no steelbook as I was unaware of the issue. HMV.co.uk had the same issues-& look what happened to them...oh and sold out means sold out-i.e no stock-not no stock this week and some next week-Wreck it Ralph has been sold out 3-4 times and is probably still live now...
I've never had an issue being unable to cancel single items, unless a discount code was used.
There have been odd copies of steels on orders, that seem to be tied together randomly (order of 5, 3 single and 2 lumped together; specifically, die hard 4 and Monsters inc pre-orders) but I simply messaged them via Twitter/FB/internal messaging system, and so far, whoever picked up the message, has been able to cancel the item for me. Still clearly a buggy website mind.
Lack of a phone number is a HUGE issue, especially when I have to message them in the only 3 ways possible, to ensure a reply - I've found that by just using one method, its hit or miss as to whether you get a reply and if you do, it can take up to a week at times.
Their issues with sold out items being available again not only makes them look pretty bad and highly unprofessional, but shouldn't be happening before release. We all know, as Zavvi do to, that there will always be a % of replacements needed/requested, so these steels that become available again, should be kept to fulfil the replacements. Then, a week or two after release date, relist away by all means. But no, they would rather make you either order multiple copies to increase your chance of getting a mint steel, or leave you with a measly £3 discount for any damage that may occur, or return the damaged copy (that you know gets re-added to stock and re-sold) and wait ages for a refund. By contrast, Amazon who have recently started using the same 'collectplus' return service, action refunds within hours of the item being scanned in for return, so long before it even arrives back with them. Whats preventing Zavvi doing the same?
packaging & damages-I have had minor issues with your packaging and really do not care how you send me items-my copy of Place beyond the pines was received with a dent in it & you asked me to send your proof of the damage-like I was a criminal-before authorising a return. Initially you offered me a refund when I had already asked for a replacement copy-do you read emails people send to you? I returned a damaged Skyfall to amazon & a damaged World's End to Base.com-they paid for the return and sent replacements after I emailed them-no proof of damage-no need to send a copy of the invoice. Zavvi-your customer service is lacking & as someone who has worked for a decade in retail (remember when Virgin switched to Zavvi? I do-because I was working for their buying team when it happened) this is an issue-but when the Zavvi website was re-launched & I used to buy XBOX games & DVD's-any damages were dealt with quickly and without fuss-where is the love for your customers? Non UK buyers-your comments please...
issues with their cut and paste replies that often have nothing to do with you query is another problem - infact, their whole customer service department is a shamble. Even when replying with the FULL message chain, the person who picks up with most recent message, never bothers to read prior messages, and like you pointed out, its rare they even read the recent message.
I get the impression they offer these half-arsed replies in hopes we will just 'give up' when in fact, they are just annoying would be faithful customers and putting us all off ordering again (if all the other complaints didnt already do so)
Their packaging is hit and miss at best, and since the thin foam has disappeared and been replaced by an almost paper thin bit of plastic, there is little to no protection should the box get damaged. By contract, play.com had the best foam packaging of anyone in the UK - much thicker than Zavvi's first foam attempt. Zavvi need to make a vast number of improvements, as currently, I pre-order anything I might want, but cancel those that are still in stock come release date, and usually buy from ebay at a fairer price, and just so I dont have to deal with Zavvi directly. If Zavvi reduce the price enough - Reservoir Dogs for £6.99 for example - then I'll re-order with them, but usually, I only keep pre-orders for titles that stay sold out so I dont miss out completely, but when I have the option to order from elsewhere I will ALWAYS chose that over Zavvi
All of this has led me to cancelling a bunch of pre-books with you-Why? A-because I can't afford to pay £20-£25 for a steel that will be half price a month after release-(Wreck it Ralph-£22.99-to sold out-to £19.99 as more stock was produced) B-the packaging ranges from good to abysmal-depending on when you order & what you are ordering-& C-I just don't have the time to play silly buggers with you anymore-a wide range of people have been bitching about the Disney steels on these forums but I really don't care about the quality-as a certified film buff and collector I love my steels-but if I am paying for a collectable exclusive product the least I can expect is to receive it at a fair price on release day & in the condition your warehouse received it in. If anything you have saturated the market with mediocre titles and-now-are having to slash your prices to reduce stock-which must be having an adverse affect on your revenue. Have you not noticed a lack of people pre-booking your titles? (Alien 3 pre-order-no Alien-who makes this decision?!?)
yours
themanfromunkle
nail on head for the bolded bit here
