Zavvi - Retailer chat [Europe]

hatredhorror · Jun 14, 2013

zavvi seems to have improved their customer services
received a damaged the town and 48hours later i already had a new copy sent to me+return costs fully refund... not bad :thumbs:

BluSteel2012 · Jun 14, 2013

Another annoying thing I noticed about Zavvi is their 'rewardz' points.

If a Steelbook is £15GBP I get charged €20 (which is another bullshit story altogether as their exchange rate is waaaay off) but I only get 15 rewards points.

On Play.com, whatever I spent I made back on points eg: €20-20 points, €5-5 points etc....which I think is only fair. I'm being charged more than the UK but only getting the same points.
And don't say It's working out the same through the exchange rate because it's not. It's just another way a lot of customers are getting screwed. It all adds up over time. Over a year or so I could be losing out on maybe 100 points compared to what I spend

Sigill · Jun 14, 2013

hatredhorror said:
zavvi seems to have improved their customer services
received a damaged the town and 48hours later i already had a new copy sent to me+return costs fully refund... not bad

That's not always the case unfortunatly, I have been waiting 2 weeks now for mine.

aliblahblah · Jun 14, 2013

As much as I think Zavvi as flooding the market with steelbooks, it is ultimately up to us as customers to decide which ones we want to buy - that applies to all steelbooks, regardless of whether they are exclusive to a particular retailer or are available everywhere.

On the pricing front, we really don't know whether it is Zavvi trying to make a load of cash, or the studios catching on to a good thing and increasing their pricing to retailers - when Play were doing catalogue steelbooks pretty much no one else was in the UK, so maybe they got them cheaper than Zavvi now are. To give you a comparison, Jungle Book blu-ray (amaray edition) is currently £22.99 on Amazon, so £1 more isn't that much for a steelbook that probably cost more than £1 vs the amaray to produce. Of course, Amazon's price may come down as we approach release date...

Ultimately, buy the steelbooks you want to buy if you find the price acceptable - if you don't, walk away. With the number coming out now, you're in no way guaranteed to make money through collecting execpt on the most limited of print runs, so buy the films you like with the artwork and packaging you like.

TakingYoSteelz · Jun 15, 2013

Gotta hand it to them in some ways, I picked up 4 steelbooks today from the post office (2xNemo, 1xBlack Swan, 1xStar Trek) and all 4 were nothing short of pristine. Chuffed to bits as I was dreading scratches and spine slashes.

Thisisnotsparta · Jun 15, 2013

Bobthesub said:
In my experience with Zavvi regardless of order quantity/release date/time of order etc all orders are shipped separately, bizarrely Ive had orders shipped days after others arrive first, 2 orders shipped at the same time arrive almost a week apart, some arrive on or before the release date, some dont...its very hit and miss

That's because they send packages on a round trip to the US before they arrive in the UK to avoid the clampdown on VAT dodgers in the Channel Islands. That's also why it takes 4/5 days on average.

RajLondon · Jun 15, 2013

Does anybody know of any codes that will work with IM3?

bobafettish66 · Jun 16, 2013

jitstark said:
Not necessarily. It's a bit of Zavvi and Disney. I'm sure Wreck mentioned that Disney basically put a price up and if a certain retailer doesn't want it to sell it at that price they move on to one who will.

Zavvi agreed to price (whether through gritted teeth like TLM or TJB or not) so they have to take some flak but if it wasn't them then [insert retailer here] would have taken it.

From a business standpoint it would have been foolish to turn this down from Disney as it'll sell loads. Anyone thinking they have an obligation to collectors is wrong. Business is business.

its no coincidence that zavvi have dramatically hiked the price up for all their steelbooks. older films are being packaged in steelbook form are sold for £15. yet when they're trade wide eg xmen,batman. etc they can be found for around £12. i'vre got a sneaky feeling if they were zavvi exclusives they'd be £15 a piece. the new die hard was £15 at hmv, i can imagine zavvi would of listed that at £17+. surely its no coincidence that steelbooks sold outside zavvi are cheaper.

though it can't be denied disney slap a premium price on their things. i'm inclined to think it's more zavvi then disney that sees us stuck with these ludicrous prices.some retailers slap an even higher price on disney products cause they see disney as a premium product. zavvi do that. eg standard aladdin blu ray is £16 on zavvi £14 on amazon. incredibles is £16 amazon £22 zavvi. its like that with loads of other products. disney released cars 2 and avengers as steelbooks and they had a premium price,but if zavvi had them they'd have been more expensive

dont get me wrong, i'm not upset with this, its good buisness. they put aladdin up for a reasonable price and saw it sell out almost instantly, so they saw an opportunity and took it. nothing wrong with that. i accept i need to pay a preimuim on jungle book little mermaid. i just think people are being a bit naive in putting more blame on disney then zavvi.

lgans316 · Jun 16, 2013

One of the key reasons behind the high pricing is due to charging low postage for importers.

Jango · Jun 16, 2013

lgans316 said:
One of the key reasons behind the high pricing is due to charging low postage for importers.

that's a lame excuse, why the other items from zavvi besides steelbooks not that high priced than? surely not because of that cheapy cardbord.

hatredhorror · Jun 16, 2013

lgans316 said:
One of the key reasons behind the high pricing is due to charging low postage for importers.

perhaps

another key reasons:

- amazon is much larger and can therefore buy more for less and give that price advantage to the customer

- lot of collectors are ocd and send their items back when spotting the smallest paint chip, which incurs high return costs for zavvi, which they need to compensate with a higher price

- they see how scalpers sell their items for lot higher prices, so apparently their items are worth a lot more

Sir Hilary Bray · Jun 16, 2013

It's a shame really, I supported Zavvi massively when a lot of people were slatting them for poor packaging, and poor customer service, I knew things would improve.

However with the amount of releases and the PRICES, it's just killing it for me, I'm losing the passion.

When Play.com had the £9.99 steelbooks, I bought 95% of them, however in the last few months, I've had one or two steelbooks.

Please, charge £11.99 at the most for old releases, I don't mind paying £16-£20 for new films.

monkeyspinach · Jun 16, 2013

I hear a lot the time now Zavvi ask for photo evidence to prove your steelbook is damaged before sending a replacement or refunding. Does anyone know of a time when someone has sent photo evidence and Zavvi have refused a replacement/refund? I can imagine that they don't get how annoying it is to have a steelbook arrive with a slashed spine.

Softwing · Jun 16, 2013

elverange said:
Zavvi really don't care about there steelbooks ... Nemo has a spine slash, black swan and I Robot have scratches underneath de cardboard ! Seriously, home of steelbooks ? Making twenty releases each month doesn't make you a good retailer if the quality is crap.

While I agree that Zavvi could stand to improve their quality control and customer service, scratches underneath the slips are likely to have come from the manufacturing level, as do some cases of spine slashing. Outside of opening up every steel and checking for damage, there isn't much Zavvi can do in such an instance.

If you choose to get in touch with Zavvi to arrange an exchange, I wish you the best of luck however. Because, yeesh!

lgans316 · Jun 16, 2013

Jango said:
that's a lame excuse, why the other items from zavvi besides steelbooks not that high priced than? surely not because of that cheapy cardbord.

They are still priced above Play's price to cover up low shipping cost.

10.99 > 14.99
99p for shipping
49p for packaging material and 4.50 to ship.

gitsurfer · Jun 16, 2013

Softwing said:
While I agree that Zavvi could stand to improve their quality control and customer service, scratches underneath the slips are likely to have come from the manufacturing level, as do some cases of spine slashing. Outside of opening up every steel and checking for damage, there isn't much Zavvi can do in such an instance.

If you choose to get in touch with Zavvi to arrange an exchange, I wish you the best of luck however. Because, yeesh!

I disagree. If zavvi are having these made and are taking our money then they are responsible. If there is a problem with flaws then this should be between Zavvi and the manufacturer. Instead, Zavvi has allowed the customer to be affected.

There is presumably a cost per unit based on quality of finish, thickness of steel, quality control, etc with the cheaper paint finishes being more susceptible to flaws. Perhaps Zavvi are greedy for profit or perhaps they are priced fairly according to cost and the only way to improve is to put the price up. I don't know the answer to that but I do know that this should be Zavvi's problem but they have allowed it to become the customer's.

snooloui · Jun 16, 2013

gitsurfer said:
I disagree. If zavvi are having these made and are taking our money then they are responsible. If there is a problem with flaws then this should be between Zavvi and the manufacturer. Instead, Zavvi has allowed the customer to be affected.

There is presumably a cost per unit based on quality of finish, thickness of steel, quality control, etc with the cheaper paint finishes being more susceptible to flaws. Perhaps Zavvi are greedy for profit or perhaps they are priced fairly according to cost and the only way to improve is to put the price up. I don't know the answer to that but I do know that this should be Zavvi's problem but they have allowed it to become the customer's.

Except quality issues aren't exclusive to Zavvi, they are an issue for retailers all over the World. It is the studios/manufacturers who are to blame. If Zavvi were to kick up too much fuss, then studios may look for alternative retailers to stock their products. There's only so far Zavvi can push for better quality standards.

snooloui · Jun 16, 2013

lgans316 said:
They are still priced above Play's price to cover up low shipping cost.

10.99 > 14.99
99p for shipping
49p for packaging material and 4.50 to ship.

Exactly, if I were to ship a single Steelbook in Zavvi's packaging, then the approximate cost by the cheapest methods would be:

UK - £1.10
EU - £3.50
USA - £4.50

Add to that the fact that Zavvi have to pay 20% VAT on all items (unlike Play.com). There you go, your £4/£5 price rise is accounted for.

One thing I find funny are non-UK members moaning about Zavvi's prices. Play.com didn't ship outside of Europe, so everyone else had to join a group buy making them more expensive than Zavvi's releases. Some members don't realise how lucky they are with 99p shipping and Amazon removing VAT from their prices.

gitsurfer · Jun 16, 2013

snooloui said:
Except quality issues aren't exclusive to Zavvi, they are an issue for retailers all over the World. It is the studios/manufacturers who are to blame. If Zavvi were to kick up too much fuss, then studios may look for alternative retailers to stock their products. There's only so far Zavvi can push for better quality standards.

Maybe I'm being too hard picking on Zavvi alone but I've had too many substandard steels from them. I shouldn't have to put up with it and it seems the only way to achieve that is to stop buying from them (so I mostly have - I couldn't resist taking the risk on Wicker Man). Just because other retailers have the same problem doesn't make it acceptable for the customer.

I would say consider the Masters of Cinema steels. Much higher quality and seemingly far fewer issues but the price is also higher. I'd rather have fewer high quality steels than loads of damaged ones.

snooloui · Jun 16, 2013

gitsurfer said:
Maybe I'm being too hard picking on Zavvi alone but I've had too many substandard steels from them. I shouldn't have to put up with it and it seems the only way to achieve that is to stop buying from them (so I mostly have - I couldn't resist taking the risk on Wicker Man). Just because other retailers have the same problem doesn't make it acceptable for the customer.

I would say consider the Masters of Cinema steels. Much higher quality and seemingly far fewer issues but the price is also higher. I'd rather have fewer high quality steels than loads of damaged ones.

I don't think it's acceptable either, I'm just saying Zavvi aren't really to blame. It is the studios to blame for trying to release as many titles as cheaply as possible.

It's all down to how studios view Steelbooks, as an example in my opinion, Fox see them as a way to sell catalogue discs which need a sales boost. On the other hand, Disney view them as a way of producing a premium product they can charge a higher price for.

Let's compare the two studios so far this year:

Fox

19 Steelbooks - Black Swan, Commando, Edward Scissorhands, Firefly - The Complete Series, The Great Escape, A Good Day to Die Hard, Independence Day, I Robot, Life of Pi 3D, Platoon, Predator 2, RoboCop, The Silence of the Lambs, Skyfall, Star Wars Original Trilogy, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Taken 2, Willow and X-Men

* Few with embossing/debossing
* Poor matte finishes
* Lots of defects reported

Disney

2 Steelbooks - Finding Nemo and Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

* Unique embossing/debossing
* Quality glossy finishes
* Very few defects reported

I think it becomes evident. There are some studios who see Steelbooks simply as a way to make money and the quality of their products suffer as a result. In my opinion Disney have clear spent more time and effort thinking about the design, the finish and the quality of the final product. Fox have just been punching numbers into calculators. Zavvi choose to sell these products, but if they didn't, I'm sure they would be released anyway. The only way to stop it is to stop buying these inferior products, but of course that is easier said than done.

Zavvi - Retailer chat [Europe]

Attachments

hatredhorror

(not actually) BANNED

BluSteel2012

Sigill

Lead Steelbook Mod

aliblahblah

TakingYoSteelz

Thisisnotsparta

This is madness...

RajLondon

bobafettish66

lgans316

Jango

hatredhorror

(not actually) BANNED

Sir Hilary Bray

monkeyspinach

Softwing

Dracarys

lgans316

gitsurfer

snooloui

The 'Negative' Ninja

snooloui

The 'Negative' Ninja

gitsurfer

snooloui

The 'Negative' Ninja

Similar threads