Zavvi - Retailer chat [Europe]

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**Retailer charges cards when items ship

Per update received at HDN, starting with August 4,2014 releases, Zavvi will ship in boxes again.

[email protected]

Possible contact #s:

- 08442 640702
- 01606 336169
- 08442 439088

Thanks yeslek!

Current packaging is a cardboard mailer with the steelbook usually wrapped in either a layer of bubble wrap or foam

Spoiler: Past Packaging Updates

Update 9/5/2013:

https://www.hidefninja.com/forums/showpost.php?p=753977&postcount=1732

Current packaging-thanks dv8mad:

Spoiler

Previous packaging:

Spoiler

3/20/2013 Comparison of Play's old packaging to Zavvi's new packaging-thanks Zesty!

14/03/2013 By Wreck:
I now have confirmation that I can announce ... for all those worried about future packaging from Zavvi. My Play contact has been working with zavvi as well on this mission for better packaging. Between the 3 of us and the future comments from this community after its in place I'm sure it will be go over well.

View attachment 29368
from the pick line .........
foam inside

Spoiler

1/19/2013 Member Nyvo tweeted Zaavi about packaging concerns. They said they may be looking into alternate packaging methods.

http://www.zavvi.co.uk​

Zavvi shipping international list:
Zavvi UK

Box update1- 1/7/2014

Spoiler

https://www.hidefninja.com/forums/showpost.php?p=872703&postcount=2421

Box update 2-1/17//2014-we're told they have boxes again.

 

[snooloui]

I just hope Zavvi have all the feedback they need and will be ending this trial promptly.

 

[Pushing Tin]

Don't think it's cheaper to save on shipping costs and to replace the few damaged copies or offer discount codes. Considering that most of the Limited Print Runs and Zavvi exclusive steels are sold out well before release date it is pretty likely they will never be able to replace them. So the number of discount codes they will have to offer will increase with the number of damaged steels caused by poor protection during shipping.

On the other hand people are losing confidence in Zavvi if the steels arrive with dents and scratches. Guess most collectors are quite picky when it comes to collectible items and don't want to be used as Gunea pigs for testing new / cheaper shipping options. The final consequence will be people will cancel orders since nobody likes to gamble on what they will finally get. I know I won't.

In the end they will lose more than they can ever save on cheap shipping.

 

[VRob98]

In Zavvi's defence, they're not the only ones shipping in cardboard envelopes, just received something from FoxDirect at Play.com. Which had the exact same style of packaging.

That's true, and you'd get the same if ordering from someone like Sainsburys. All the same, you'd really expect the self-dubbed 'home of steelbooks' to know better.

 

[Maccadinho25]

Got an amaray from Zavvi today in a cardboard envelope - mint

 

[mr blue]

No, we have never hosted a retailer vote.

think it's fair to say that they won't be winning it this year if you do a vote

 

[BluSteel2012]

Tried to apply the Vendetta discount code to the Jumpstreet 21 & 22 deal (5 GBP discount if bought together), but it didn't work. Any idea why? Is it because of the already discounted price?

There was no comment about code not being valid or not applicable. It simply didn't show up after pressing enter.

I've contacted Zavvi about this. This is how it went down....

ME:

I have an issue with something else.

Issue: Help with placing an order
Details: I am having a problem placing my order
Customer info:

Hi. I just received the following email from you:

Thank you for placing order 37511899 with us.
There may have been a packaging error when shipping your recent order of V For Vendetta Steelbook, unfortunately at the packing stage, protective foam was missed out of some orders.As an apology, we'd like to offer you 10% off your next order at zavvi.com.Discount codes can be used across most of our categories with the exception of electronics, computing and games consoles, your code will be valid for three months.Your discount code is XXX-XXX-XXX

Problem is, the code does not work for me. If it doesn't work on preorders then it isn't '10% off my next order' and is useless to me.

Reply From Zavvi:

Hello,

Thank you for getting in touch about your discount code.

I am really sorry, we are unable to offer you a discount on a pre order.

If there is anything else that we can do, then please do not hesitate to get in touch and a member of our team will be happy to help.

Kind regards,
Clare

Zavvi.com Customer Service Team

Couldn't be any more of a 'we really couldn't give a ****' response

 

[psychoscot]

So basically the Discount is 100% useless to those who only use Zavvi to preorder steelbooks! Pathetic!

 

[BluSteel2012]

So basically the Discount is 100% useless to those who only use Zavvi to preorder steelbooks! Pathetic!

Yep. Pretty much. And not only that, but they lied that it would be '10% off your next order' which isn't true. It shouldn't matter if it's a preorder or not as long as you are spending money with them.

Jesus Christ, they know well that it was the same repeat Steelbook collectors who place hundreds of preorders with them that was wronged in the first place

I don't know why they even bothered sending that code out. Talk about adding insult to injury.

 

[hayemaker]

I've contacted Zavvi about this. This is how it went down....

ME:


Reply From Zavvi:


Couldn't be any more of a 'we really couldn't give a ****' response

So its basically:
Hi

I'm afraid there is nothing I can do to help you.

If there is anything else I can help you with, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Thanks

It's staggering how any company can get away with such 'customer service' and still be in existence.

 

[augustus]

That's really strange as I order from Amazon De and Fr almost weekly and have never received an A1 envelope lol

That has also been the case with me with both Amazon.de and Amazon.fr up until this week because I normally order more than one item to save on the shipping costs, although about a year ago Amazon.fr sent me a replacement copy of the French "Ninja Assassin" steelbook in an A1 mailer. The original order had been for about 5 or 6 items and each individual steelbook came in 'frustration free packaging' with all of them sent in a large box. I was, therefore, surprised to get the replacement in an A1 mailer but assume it was sent this way because it was gratis. It had been the disc which was faulty so I ended up with 2 perfect steel book cases.

Again, I have always had my orders from Amazon.de sent with the individual steelbooks in 'frustration free packaging' then shipped in a large box. This week, however, for some reason they split the order and the German "Dances with Wolves" steelbook was sent in an A2 mailer whilst the rest of the order was shipped in the normal large box. Fortunately, it reached me free from damage but it is a worrying trend.

 

[Pushing Tin]

Don't think it's a general trend at Amazon. It's more like if they are running out of proper packaging they use whatever they have at hand. Won't be surprised to get my next steelbook wrapped in newspaper either.


PS
@ BluSteel2012

The only reason I can imagine why the discount code is only applicable to already released items is the Pre-order Price Promise. How should they handle that if the price drops between the order and the release? Don't think the system is able to re-calculate the 10% discount if the price changes. And it is pretty unlikely they will manually check each and every order for used codes.

 

[TonyStark64]

Hi Guys,

I've just posted this off to Chris Hill at Zavvi Customer Relations!!!!

That company is a complete and utter joke!!!


zavvi - Enquiry Update / Order Number : 37511748
For the attention of Chris Hill
Customer Relations Executive
Customer Relations Department

Dear Chris,

Thank you for your e-mail reply regarding my damaged V for Vendetta steelbook as below-

"One of our customer services advisors has reviewed your query and we are able to confirm the following:
Hello David,

Thank you for sending in a picture of your damage item.

Again I am sorry for the inconvenience this has caused to you, I will be happy to refund 50% of the item for you as mentioned in your email and I will request this for you today, if this is not something you want to accept then we will have to ask you to return this for a full refund.

We ensure all of our items are sent out safely and protected, out of the thousands of Steelbooks we dispatch daily, it has been proven after a survey that there is 1% of damaged steelbooks which on all occasions we will provide resolutions for, unfortunately the Steelbook you have received is out of stock therefore we cannot replace this but again we are offering a solution.

I will request a refund for you of 50% off the V For Vendetta - Zavvi Exclusive Limited Edition Steelbook. I will also pass all of your feedback over to our Customer Operations Department to be looked into with regards to the packaging of our steelbooks.

I am again sorry for the inconvenience this has caused to you and if you require any further assistance in the meantime then please do not hesitate to contact me."

Kind regards,

Chris Hill
Customer Relations Executive
Customer Relations Department


I look forward to receiving my 50% refund to my bank account.

I now have one other question.....

Can you please tell me why, after telling me that NO replacements were available for me on this steelbook because it was "sold out" that this morning i have been able to order a copy for £16-29 inc P & P from ZAVVIOUTLET on Amazon UK!!!!!!!!!!!!!.....not only that, there were 6 in stock!!!!

I would very much like to know how this is possible and the fact that you completely lied to me when stating that this steelbook was now "unavailable" as a replacement for my damaged one!!!

I have to say that after reading so many messages on steelbook forums about this entire mess regarding this steelbook release and your company's total disrespect and regard for your customers who spend their hard earned money on these steelbooks and a total lack of apology anywhere on your website i will be taking this matter up with UK Trading Standards and also contacting the BBC Watchdog programme.

Whoever decided that it was going to be ok to send a sought after limited edition steelbook out in a pathetic A1 cardboard mailer is a complete imbecile and don't even start me off on that supposed "foam" protection!!!!which wasn't even included!!!!!!

What i and every other steelbook collector/purchaser would like to know from you and your company is a statement issued assuring us that from NOW ON no steelbook will be sent in anything less than the white boxes and foam we are used to!!! If that is not forthcoming then at least we will know that you as a company really do not care in the slightest about your customers and are only interested in taking our hard earned money!!!!

If your company is seriously thinking about sending out the forthcoming Disney releases, the Indiana Jones releases and Captain America Winter Soldier in these pathetic mailers then you are in for a deluge of even more complaints than you already have!!!!

Give people the chance to decide whether to cancel their pre-orders or not with you....and not play "russian roulette" with will it-won't it be damaged when i get it!!

I fully expect some proper answers from you, i have been buying steelbooks from Zavvi for over 2 years and we deserve our questions answered!!!!

Thank you,
David,

 

[Mrhoyt]

.Zavvi screwed me on the Maleficent Steelbook, i pre-ordered on the 28 and received an email confirmation, yesterday I decided to check my zavvi account page and couldn't find this in my Outstanding Orders, i then looked under order history and found it - "canceled".

WTF !!! i am not too happy right now

Contacted zavvi about it but i dont expect anything else than some BS answer.

 

[Pushing Tin]

Seems like they are quite proud of that 1% damage ratio. Do they consider that too low?

But what exactly does 1% mean? Are we talking about the usual cardboard boxes with the protective foam inside or the plain cardboard mailers with that fig leaf sized protection? It's quite obvious a mailer can't be as safe as a box. And what about the number of copies used for this statistics? If it's just 1 out of 100, nobody would care. But how about 100 upset customers out of 100.000? Can't really estimate how many items they sell per year, but most probably much more than that. I know I've bought / ordered some 140 steelbooks at Zavvi, and that's just me!

Winston Churchill once remarked: "The only statistics you can trust are those you falsified yourself"

 

[Bobthesub]

having read the recent posts on zavvi and their 'shipping experiment' I'm wondering how many folks got theirs in A1 mailers and how many like me got their v for vendetta in the regular white box/foam, I got an email apologising that 'some orders had been posted out without the protective foam' and offering a 10% discount from my next order, i assumed this meant boxes without foam but it now appears they were experimenting with A1 mailers with foam and some went out sans foam. I wonder if the 1% damage rate reported in a post above is across the board or if it was 1% of the items shipped in A1 mailers? and what is the reported damage to actual damage ratio? Im sure some folks received damaged copies that didn't get reported or it was minor and they just accepted damage in the post as 'one of them things'

Im curious as to why the self titled 'home of steelbooks' isnt leading the way with its service, design and packaging, seems to be that after a fantastic start, the 'home of steelbooks' is dropping the ball with poor film choices, lazy design/finishes but rising prices and now with this potential cheap packaging/uncertainty of weather my item will arrive undamaged Im going to be giving my already vastly reduced zavvi preorder list a serious rethink. I dont want to pay a premium for a potentially damaged item and have to go through the hassle of a return or partial refund, I dont want to pay 10% less for a damaged item, I want to pay 100% for an undamaged one!

I would have dropped zavvi like a hot potato long ago if it wasn't for the fact the items I buy from them are exclusives, for non exclusive titles Id rather pay a couple of pounds more and buy from somewhere I know package well (Amazon for example) but for exclusives you have no choice than to take the risk. its almost easier to let someone else take the risk and buy a used one through the secondary market, at least then you know its condition even if you have to pay a bit extra...

 

[leelee17]

if zavvi really is 'the home of steelbooks', then that's one home that should be condemned and razed to the ground!!

 

[mr blue]

Hi Guys,

I've just posted this off to Chris Hill at Zavvi Customer Relations!!!!

That company is a complete and utter joke!!!


zavvi - Enquiry Update / Order Number : 37511748
For the attention of Chris Hill
Customer Relations Executive
Customer Relations Department

Dear Chris,

Thank you for your e-mail reply regarding my damaged V for Vendetta steelbook as below-

"One of our customer services advisors has reviewed your query and we are able to confirm the following:
Hello David,

Thank you for sending in a picture of your damage item.

Again I am sorry for the inconvenience this has caused to you, I will be happy to refund 50% of the item for you as mentioned in your email and I will request this for you today, if this is not something you want to accept then we will have to ask you to return this for a full refund.

We ensure all of our items are sent out safely and protected, out of the thousands of Steelbooks we dispatch daily, it has been proven after a survey that there is 1% of damaged steelbooks which on all occasions we will provide resolutions for, unfortunately the Steelbook you have received is out of stock therefore we cannot replace this but again we are offering a solution.

I will request a refund for you of 50% off the V For Vendetta - Zavvi Exclusive Limited Edition Steelbook. I will also pass all of your feedback over to our Customer Operations Department to be looked into with regards to the packaging of our steelbooks.

I am again sorry for the inconvenience this has caused to you and if you require any further assistance in the meantime then please do not hesitate to contact me."

Kind regards,

Chris Hill
Customer Relations Executive
Customer Relations Department


I look forward to receiving my 50% refund to my bank account.

I now have one other question.....

Can you please tell me why, after telling me that NO replacements were available for me on this steelbook because it was "sold out" that this morning i have been able to order a copy for £16-29 inc P & P from ZAVVIOUTLET on Amazon UK!!!!!!!!!!!!!.....not only that, there were 6 in stock!!!!

I would very much like to know how this is possible and the fact that you completely lied to me when stating that this steelbook was now "unavailable" as a replacement for my damaged one!!!

I have to say that after reading so many messages on steelbook forums about this entire mess regarding this steelbook release and your company's total disrespect and regard for your customers who spend their hard earned money on these steelbooks and a total lack of apology anywhere on your website i will be taking this matter up with UK Trading Standards and also contacting the BBC Watchdog programme.

Whoever decided that it was going to be ok to send a sought after limited edition steelbook out in a pathetic A1 cardboard mailer is a complete imbecile and don't even start me off on that supposed "foam" protection!!!!which wasn't even included!!!!!!

What i and every other steelbook collector/purchaser would like to know from you and your company is a statement issued assuring us that from NOW ON no steelbook will be sent in anything less than the white boxes and foam we are used to!!! If that is not forthcoming then at least we will know that you as a company really do not care in the slightest about your customers and are only interested in taking our hard earned money!!!!

If your company is seriously thinking about sending out the forthcoming Disney releases, the Indiana Jones releases and Captain America Winter Soldier in these pathetic mailers then you are in for a deluge of even more complaints than you already have!!!!

Give people the chance to decide whether to cancel their pre-orders or not with you....and not play "russian roulette" with will it-won't it be damaged when i get it!!

I fully expect some proper answers from you, i have been buying steelbooks from Zavvi for over 2 years and we deserve our questions answered!!!!

Thank you,
David,

hope you (and everyone else) get's the answer your looking for, i think everyone accepts that sometime things arrive damage but if they keep sending items out in the crappy mailers then they are just inviting trouble and more complaints from pi$$ed off customers

 

[kron]

Captain Philips arrived from them in the A1 brown mailer + thin foam.

I hope they go back to the boxes for steels that have sold out before release. If they arrive damaged you are buggered

It will be quite sad to see the £25 Maleficent or Captain America steels arrive on ninja's doormats in this joke of packaging.

 

[hellboydce1]

have received a reply to a question i sent them about the the cardboard mailers and if they will be going back to boxes and they said they would, probably have come across a supply of mailers in their storeroom and decided to use them up

 

[lights]

That 1% damage surely must be from the old packaging, or from the things they sell on the whole. The results are totally skewed. It would be interesting to see the survey of how much damage from this particular packaging for steelbooks, im sure it would be more than 1%.