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maybe this is more /dev/random... but it deals directly with a large-scale tech supply firm that some people might consider dealing with and thus could impact people directly in a computer-related sense. feel free to move if it's more appropriate elsewhere.
I am so completely done with these people. Ugh. In a fit of poor recollection, i failed to realize that supermediastore.com was the same establishment that last year caused an unacceptable delay in TTB X-Mas project disc production. Foolishly, i ordered again from them this year, only to have a similar result. Let me retell the whole story here briefly, in the hopes that no one ever makes the mistake of giving money to these people ever again.
Super Media Store, also known as Linkyo Corp (why do so many of these fly-by-night California warehouses have a bunch of names? is that part of their shady nature? or do they just have to change their identity so often due to bad customer service?) is one of a few outfits with decent pricing on ink for my Dymo Disc Painter which i use in creating the TTB Holiday DVDs. Since i was ordering ink from them last year, i also placed in a request for printable discs.
My original order of "Ritek" discs on October 24th of 2008 turned out to be fake (those who know how to use CD and DVD identifier tools know how common this practice is, sadly) and generated all sorts of burn and read errors.
On November 6th i was finally able to get Idera in their customer service dept to give me RMA information and swap the fake Riteks for Verbatim discs.
Nearly three weeks later, on November 24th i still hadn't received my replacement discs, despite sending back the bad ones ages ago. After numerous calls i was able to reach Priscilla in their service department who gave me tracking information for my package. It was due to arrive in two days. I suspect that they never sent it and just scrambled to get a box in the mail, then read off a UPS number.
Two days later, a package did indeed arrive. It was the wrong goddamn discs... more fake Riteks. I called back again (their phone system seemed to change at various times during this process, if i recall correctly) and eventually, after many mumbled and garbled voice menus, reached Rebecca. She confirmed that my desired product was available and that it could ship out right away. The shipping prices for a rush order (which was what i desperately needed at this point) were outrageous, and Super Media Store wouldn't give any special consideration to us after all we'd been through.
"Fuck that," i said, "just cancel my order." I was transferred to returns and managed eventually to send back the rest of the defective discs... long after i had acquired another source for them.
This year, for Christmas 2009, i was getting the process underway again. Like a fool, i did a simple product search for Dymo Disc Painter ink and just placed an order with the first outfit i could find. It was Super Media Store... they are really good at getting high rank in Google listings.
Tuesday the 24th, before Thanksgiving, i placed my order. Three-day saver shipping would reach me by Friday or at the latest Monday, given the holiday. It wasn't until some time on Wednesday that i saw an email from their system stating that because i had the audacity to place an order over $100 with expedited shipping and not use a phone number for contact (i handle all ordering through email so i have a record of everything) things would be on hold until i contacted them.
I called Super Media Store that day and reached only their automated system. I tried calling them on Thanksgiving, knowing full well that they wouldn't be open. Only now, Friday (when i had hoped to maybe have the discs) did i reach them. After much fumbling through broken phone menus again (the system would only play recorded messages and hang up on you... i had to eventually just keep pressing zero to reach a human) i spoke to Yvette.
When i asked about all the problems i had reaching anyone to respond to their "your order is on hold" email, she stated "Oh, right... they've been making a lot of changes with vendors and other resources and our phone system has been giving us a lot of grief." So possibly i could have reached a human back on Wednesday if i had resorted to pressing zero over and over back then.
Yvette said she had "two addresses on file" for us, then said that maybe they didn't when i pressed her for more details. I confirmed our location and asked when we could have the discs. "Tuesday or Wednesday" came the reply. When i indicated that wasn't fast enough, and we had wanted them by Monday, Yvette stated "well, we can cancel the order or change it to free ground shipping" which would take even longer.
"Uhm, maybe you're not understanding me," i clarified... "we need the products faster, hence our original expedited order." After another hold, Yvette came back saying that for a Monday delivery we could pay $23.90 in shipping. We had originally already paid $17.97. I asked, "With this being a $6 difference, would Super Media Store be willing to cover that part, in recognition of all that we've been through?"
"No," was her instant, cold reply. Ok, how about splitting that cost with us? I explained about the TTB Project, our gifts to men and women in uniform overseas, etc. "Super Media Store will not cover that, sir," came the response. I was shocked. They wouldn't even go in for $3 to help out a charitable organization after delaying the order by days? I expressed sympathy over the fact that she may not have the power to do anything about this and if that was the case, i told her, i didn't want to take up more of her time... "Is there anyone else i can talk to about this?" i then asked.
"Yes. Hold on," she snipped. I was on hold for a moment, then i was speaking to a dial tone. Apparently that is the only party to whom Super Media Store refers you when you ask for any help or consideration of your difficulties. Yvette had taken my phone number down earlier in the conversation... but no one made an attempt to call us back.
I'm so fucking done with these people. I will not be so forgetful next year. Mere seconds after this all happened, i was on amazon.com and had found exactly what i needed. With a few bucks extra, i was able to have Saturday delivery and can start work on the discs tomorrow.
While Super Media Store may have some rock-bottom prices, they come at a cost. Next time, i'm willing to pay the extra $30 to $35 and go with a reputable supplier. Everyone awaiting TTB X-Mas DVDs this year, sit tight... i'll be cranking them out very soon now.
- -- ----- ---------- ----- -- -
supermediastore.com has Super Fail
supermediastore.com has Super Fail
I am so completely done with these people. Ugh. In a fit of poor recollection, i failed to realize that supermediastore.com was the same establishment that last year caused an unacceptable delay in TTB X-Mas project disc production. Foolishly, i ordered again from them this year, only to have a similar result. Let me retell the whole story here briefly, in the hopes that no one ever makes the mistake of giving money to these people ever again.
the 2008 saga
Super Media Store, also known as Linkyo Corp (why do so many of these fly-by-night California warehouses have a bunch of names? is that part of their shady nature? or do they just have to change their identity so often due to bad customer service?) is one of a few outfits with decent pricing on ink for my Dymo Disc Painter which i use in creating the TTB Holiday DVDs. Since i was ordering ink from them last year, i also placed in a request for printable discs.
My original order of "Ritek" discs on October 24th of 2008 turned out to be fake (those who know how to use CD and DVD identifier tools know how common this practice is, sadly) and generated all sorts of burn and read errors.
On November 6th i was finally able to get Idera in their customer service dept to give me RMA information and swap the fake Riteks for Verbatim discs.
Nearly three weeks later, on November 24th i still hadn't received my replacement discs, despite sending back the bad ones ages ago. After numerous calls i was able to reach Priscilla in their service department who gave me tracking information for my package. It was due to arrive in two days. I suspect that they never sent it and just scrambled to get a box in the mail, then read off a UPS number.
Two days later, a package did indeed arrive. It was the wrong goddamn discs... more fake Riteks. I called back again (their phone system seemed to change at various times during this process, if i recall correctly) and eventually, after many mumbled and garbled voice menus, reached Rebecca. She confirmed that my desired product was available and that it could ship out right away. The shipping prices for a rush order (which was what i desperately needed at this point) were outrageous, and Super Media Store wouldn't give any special consideration to us after all we'd been through.
"Fuck that," i said, "just cancel my order." I was transferred to returns and managed eventually to send back the rest of the defective discs... long after i had acquired another source for them.
the 2009 incident
This year, for Christmas 2009, i was getting the process underway again. Like a fool, i did a simple product search for Dymo Disc Painter ink and just placed an order with the first outfit i could find. It was Super Media Store... they are really good at getting high rank in Google listings.
Tuesday the 24th, before Thanksgiving, i placed my order. Three-day saver shipping would reach me by Friday or at the latest Monday, given the holiday. It wasn't until some time on Wednesday that i saw an email from their system stating that because i had the audacity to place an order over $100 with expedited shipping and not use a phone number for contact (i handle all ordering through email so i have a record of everything) things would be on hold until i contacted them.
I called Super Media Store that day and reached only their automated system. I tried calling them on Thanksgiving, knowing full well that they wouldn't be open. Only now, Friday (when i had hoped to maybe have the discs) did i reach them. After much fumbling through broken phone menus again (the system would only play recorded messages and hang up on you... i had to eventually just keep pressing zero to reach a human) i spoke to Yvette.
When i asked about all the problems i had reaching anyone to respond to their "your order is on hold" email, she stated "Oh, right... they've been making a lot of changes with vendors and other resources and our phone system has been giving us a lot of grief." So possibly i could have reached a human back on Wednesday if i had resorted to pressing zero over and over back then.
Yvette said she had "two addresses on file" for us, then said that maybe they didn't when i pressed her for more details. I confirmed our location and asked when we could have the discs. "Tuesday or Wednesday" came the reply. When i indicated that wasn't fast enough, and we had wanted them by Monday, Yvette stated "well, we can cancel the order or change it to free ground shipping" which would take even longer.
"Uhm, maybe you're not understanding me," i clarified... "we need the products faster, hence our original expedited order." After another hold, Yvette came back saying that for a Monday delivery we could pay $23.90 in shipping. We had originally already paid $17.97. I asked, "With this being a $6 difference, would Super Media Store be willing to cover that part, in recognition of all that we've been through?"
merry christmas to all
"No," was her instant, cold reply. Ok, how about splitting that cost with us? I explained about the TTB Project, our gifts to men and women in uniform overseas, etc. "Super Media Store will not cover that, sir," came the response. I was shocked. They wouldn't even go in for $3 to help out a charitable organization after delaying the order by days? I expressed sympathy over the fact that she may not have the power to do anything about this and if that was the case, i told her, i didn't want to take up more of her time... "Is there anyone else i can talk to about this?" i then asked.
"Yes. Hold on," she snipped. I was on hold for a moment, then i was speaking to a dial tone. Apparently that is the only party to whom Super Media Store refers you when you ask for any help or consideration of your difficulties. Yvette had taken my phone number down earlier in the conversation... but no one made an attempt to call us back.
and to all a good night
I'm so fucking done with these people. I will not be so forgetful next year. Mere seconds after this all happened, i was on amazon.com and had found exactly what i needed. With a few bucks extra, i was able to have Saturday delivery and can start work on the discs tomorrow.
While Super Media Store may have some rock-bottom prices, they come at a cost. Next time, i'm willing to pay the extra $30 to $35 and go with a reputable supplier. Everyone awaiting TTB X-Mas DVDs this year, sit tight... i'll be cranking them out very soon now.
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