There are more online stores now than ever before, some good; others not so good. I decided to start this thread – with the approval of scarlettdraelynkhar – so users here could share their online shopping experiences – both good and bad – with others.
I used various websites to do some Xmas shopping, and everything went quite well. Here are a few short reviews of the sites I used:
Website: www.dracinabox.com
Item ordered: Priest's coat - minus the silly cross.
Delivery estimate: 4-5 weeks.
Actual delivery date: Approx 4 weeks.
Customer experience comments (if any): After placing the order, my father was e-mailed (the coat was my parent's Xmas present to me and so it was my dad's credit card and e-mail that was used) and was asked to provide additional information with regard to his method of payment. He was asked to give his CV2 number, and state the bank where his cc was issued – all via email, which is not the most secure method of transferring private information. However, seeing as there was no other way to contact the site owner, my father replied to the e-mail. A week or so after sending, I emailed the site from my dad's address, to see if they had received it, as we had not heard back from them since. Even though the website states all email correspondence is replied to within 72 hours, we never received a reply, prompting my dad to fret over his credit card details being in the wrong hands, and me to worry that my coat was not going to arrive for Christmas (or, indeed, at all ...). Eventually, everything turned out ok, but it was a stressful experience at the time.
Overall experience/rating: I'd say 3/5. My coat arrived and is a wonderful piece of clothing, which, I suppose, is the bottom line, but the customer service was appalling.
Additional comments: Read this thread if you want more information about this site. I was lucky with Drac In A Box. Many customers – in fact, to me, it seems most customers – were left disappointed. You have been warned!
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Website: www.amazon.com
Item(s) ordered: See my post in this thread for the cds I ordered. (I figured linking to this would be easier than posting individual links to each item on amazon.)
Delivery estimate: The shipping and delivery dates varied for almost each individual cd. For example, the estimated date for arrival of Sleep in Safety was Jan 5th, while Consummate was not expected to be in my hands until late February.
Actual delivery date: Again, they all varied. However, every cd came before its expected 'due date'. In fact, the Killing Miranda cd came a whole month and a half it was expected to!
Customer experience comments (if any): Not entirely applicable, as I had no real reason to contact the site prior to, or during, ordering or delivery. However, being able to track your order and have up-to-the-minute approximate shipping and delivery dates was very useful, and I often find myself wishing more sites had this feature. It was also very considerate of the site to have 'this item will not arrive before 25th December!' warnings with regard to certain items.
Overall experience/rating: Unsurprisingly – 5/5. Everything went smoothly and amazon.com is still one of the best as far as I'm concerned.
Additional comments: At first I was concerned about ordering one of the cds – KMFDM's Symbols – second-hand and from an outside party, but all went well and the cd arrived on time and in good condition.
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Website:http://dvd.cdwow.ie/
Item(s) ordered: 'The Birds' for my dad.
Delivery estimate: 8-10 days.
Actual delivery date: 7 days!
Customer experience comments (if any): None really, I was kept up-to-date with my order and all went well.
Overall experience/rating: 5/5.
Additional comments: None.
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Website:http://www.heavymetalonline.co.uk
Item(s) ordered: At The Gates 'Burning Darkness' top and Killing Joke 'War Dance' tee, both for a friend.
Delivery estimate: 28 days.
Actual delivery date: About 16-20 days.
Customer experience comments (if any): Same as the above site, I was e-mailed when my order was confirmed and dispatched and everything was done professionally.
Overall experience/rating: 5/5.
Additional comments: None.
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Feel free to contribute to this thread and tell others your experinces
As you can see (with my cd-wow order :b)the sites do not have to be exclusively goth-related, so include whatever you wish.
