View Full Version : Request RE: Akira tin from Play247
Rambo John J
26-07-2001, 12:28 PM
They've already posted mine so I'm guessing it'll arrive Sat/Mon.
Mine was posted 25th from Play ;)
I've also have the same problem :mad:
Pre ordered form Play247 at the begining of June. Checked my Order detaisl, and just like Mr.D It says order taked, and there out of stock, and will dispatch as soon as it arrrives.
Im not a happpy chappie :mad:
If you've ordered this title from Play could you post when it arrives . I pre-ordered mine yonks ago and was assured by Play I would get the tin version . So far its showing up as order taken on their website but no sign of being sent as yet . Is this the case with everyone I wonder ?
Rambo John J
31-07-2001, 7:57 AM
Got mine 27th (last Friday).
They've sent a reply to my query apologising for the delay . They advise me not to cancel my order. However if they try and fob me off with the non-tin version I'll be rather miffed along with the 2 dozen or so of my workmates who use them on my recommendation.
Especially as there appear to be a couple of places still able to obtain the tin version and deliver within a couple of days.
I also ordered at the beginning of June. I assume they're fullfilling orders on a first come first served basis but they were still taking orders weeks after I placed mine.
I rate Play highly . I just hope they don't let a lot of people down.
PoochJD
31-07-2001, 10:00 AM
Hi All,
May I ask this question: what is up with "Play 24-7" when it comes to getting hold of Special Edition DVD's or Special Sets?
At the moment, I am hearing that people aren't getting their Akira Tin Editions yet, despite it being on sale for nearly 2 weeks now, and some of us owning it for nearly 3 weeks. PLus, a similar situation happened over the "Terminator 2: Special Edition" DVD set as well (the one with the Metal sleeve).
I wonder how most other major (and even some of the not-so-major) sited can get all these Special sets without any problems, and ship them out to their customers on time, or with minimal delay, but Play can't! Anyone care to try and explain why this is?
Personally, if any company was keeping me waiting for a Special Edition set, even though I'd ordered it ages before it was due out, would find me cancelling the order immedaiately, demanding an immediate refund, and taking my business elsewhere!
Pooch
I have had countless emails and phone conversations with Play and to my disgust they said they have sold out and instead I would be getting the 2 disc set only. They failed to inform me of this and were just going to send a version out that I never wanted. :mad: F0
I refused to believe that I missed a copy so after some investigation with people who had received a copy I found something that seriously ticked me off.
A guys order
Ordered from Play247: 04/06/2001 16:44
He got his copy
My order
REF - 04/06/2001 15:03 Akira - Limited Special Edition (2 Discs) R1 £24.99
As you can see I made my order before him and they told me I missed the cut and they are sold out! :confused:
Mr.D take my advice and visit to http://www.discemporium.com/ and make an order. The disc is £26.99 and I got mine next day! As usual Play have handled an awkward situation badly and I'm now looking for a new online supplier.
Personally, if any company was keeping me waiting for a Special Edition set, even though I'd ordered it ages before it was due out, would find me cancelling the order immedaiately, demanding an immediate refund, and taking my business elsewhere!
Agree 100% and exactly what I did do.
I have also emailed Play about this and will keep you posted if they bother to answer my questions of course.
Reiner
01-08-2001, 2:46 AM
You might be interested to know that <a href="http://www.dvdempire.com" target="_blank">www.dvdempire.com</a> claim to have this in stock (USD31.98).
LOL <img src="biggrin.gif" border="0"> Play's reply on why I did not get a copy despite ordering before someone who did receive a copy. <img src="confused.gif" border="0">
[quote]Thankyou for your email. Sometimes the time may vary as to when orders are received by ourselfs. We can assure you that generally we do send out titles as to when they were ordered. We do apologies for any inconvenience or upset that this may have caused. <hr></blockquote>
ROFL <img src="smile.gif" border="0">
[quote]Originally posted by YETi:<br /><strong>I have had countless emails and phone conversations with Play and to my disgust they said they have sold out and instead I would be getting the 2 disc set only. They failed to inform me of this and were just going to send a version out that I never wanted. <img src="mad.gif" border="0"> F0<br /></strong><hr></blockquote>
<br />Thats totally reprehensible. I've now ordered from disc emporium who say I'll recieve it tomorrow.
Once I've got the tin edition in my hands I'll be looking for a explanation from play247 as to why they effectively lied to me twice.
PoochJD
01-08-2001, 10:08 AM
Hi All,
Mr D - personally, I'd tell "Play" to stick their DVD's up their own back passage, and tell them you are taking your business elsewhere.
As for everyone else, I fail to understand how come other DVD firms can get these Special Sets without any problem whatsoever, but they somehow seem to slip "Play" by! What is it with them?! Surely, if they can't get the sets, then a simple e-mail saying "We apologise, but we are unable to obtain this title. Would you like a refund, or would you like to order an alternative title? Please contact us, as soon as possible. Regards, Play 24-7" can't really be that difficult for them to do, can it?!
If anyone else still wants the Tin Edition of Akira from a DVD firm that will actually send it out to you, and not fob you off, visit:
<a href="http://www.dc-dvd.net/" target="_blank">DC-DVD</a>
I think the DVD was £29-47. Not the cheapest price, I know, but at least you won't get lied too!!!!
Now, whilst "Play" may be good at getting regular single-disc DVD's, I think that in this day and age, if you can't the Special Editions, then your company is useless! Sorry, but anyone who now tells me that "Play" is still a good firm, obviously doesn't order from them that often.
Thank God, I stuck to my always reliable, small and very independent e-tailer! Cheers Dave. Your firm is the best!
Pooch
[ 01-08-2001: Message edited by: PoochJD ]</p>
Rambo John J
01-08-2001, 12:54 PM
[quote]Originally posted by PoochJD:<br /><strong>Hi All,
<br />a simple e-mail saying "We apologise, but we are unable to obtain this title. Would you like a refund, or would you like to order an alternative title? Please contact us, as soon as possible. Regards, Play 24-7" can't really be that difficult for them to do, can it?!
</strong><hr></blockquote>
They don't actually charge until they send the discs out so nobody's out of pocket as such, but the annoyance of not getting your stuff must be frustrating.
Can't wait to see forums go ballistic when they can't fulfil orders for TPM fast enough, come October. It's already down to £15.99 for the R1 set at Play and they say it's outsold anything they've ever listed before.<br />Ho hum.
Site Sponsors Movietyme.com also carry it.
Play's stock comes from Canada which nearly always has a problem with these Limited Edition type products.
Mr D. if you are looking for answers from Play then Good luck my friend. I would be interested to hear the outcome.
OK I agree with everything thats been said. In the past Play have been reliable and they've been cheap and they have a good selection they've never been as quick as I'd like but hey credit where credit is due.
My order request still has the status "order taken" so I will give them a bit longer to either get the disc out to me or initiate contact with me as hopefully I'll get the disc from disc emporium tomorrow anyway.
I think its inexcusable that they appear to be honoring orders with no regard to when the orders were placed: ie no first come first served from the evidence posted here. I've contacted them three times now and each time I've been assured that I will recieve this title: however they have been ambiguous as to whether this will be the tin version or not.
I would be most annoyed if these assurances were a cynical ploy to retain my order when I could cancel and still obtain the version I actually wanted from a different supplier.
If Play are unable to supply the title I ordered and are unable to give me an adequate explanation as to why they maintained they could. I will look to other suppliers in future and I will also advise the two dozen or so of my colleagues who also use Play solely on the basis of my recommendation of these events. ( I regularly see Play247 packages in the post most days)
I have also used DC-DVD in the past and have found them to be as reliable as Play were albeit a tad pricier.
Have got good news...!
Just recieved my collectors tin from Play247
I sent them an email on sunday quering why they had not sent me a copy, and i got a reply monday saying that they were only given limited stock at first, but would be receiving moer in the weeek. Wednesday morning, nice heavy package from play on my doormat <img src="tongue.gif" border="0">
Well done Play247 my faith has been restored....
Hope the other frustrated customers have a happy ending to.....
Have got good news...!
Just recieved my collectors tin from Play247
I sent them an email on sunday quering why they had not sent me a copy, and i got a reply monday saying that they were only given limited stock at first, but would be receiving moer in the weeek. Wednesday morning, nice heavy package from play on my doormat <img src="tongue.gif" border="0">
Well done Play247 my faith has been restored....
Hope the other frustrated customers have a happy ending to.....
Doubly excited hey ? <img src="biggrin.gif" border="0">
I did get my copy thanks but it was from Disc emporium.
Ordered from disc emporium yesterday.<br />recieved tin edition today.
Play have until the end of the week ( I can shift the other boxset).
After that I doubt I will be using them as much in future.
Rambo John J
02-08-2001, 9:49 AM
Well, I can understand the bad feeling. That's limited editions though. Shame. Still, at least you got one in the end.
On a positive Play note though, imagine my surprise when my copy of Enemy At The Gates arrived from them yesterday even though it isn't streeting stateside until 14th August. I didn't even know they'd sent it. (cue calls of "what? They didn't send you an email update?? Drop that supplier at once!" <img src="wink.gif" border="0"> )
I really do sypathise with anyone they've left out in the cold. Apparently they do have more stock arriving but it'd be nice if they let those waiting know.<br />I still stand by what I said about Phantom Menace though, there's no way they'll meet that initial demand for it.
Bone Daddy
02-08-2001, 4:02 PM
Just recieved an e-mail from play 247 stating that they can not guarantee the tin edition and they are not sure when their stock is due in -(don`t they speak to their suppliers!!!!!) and do I want to cancel my order - duh!- yeah,so it`s a big hello <img src="biggrin.gif" border="0"> to disc emporium,and a sad goodbye to play.Be intresting to see how many get this e-mail and decide to take their business to more on the ball suppliers!!
PoochJD
02-08-2001, 4:56 PM
Hi Again,
Having read the most recent posts, I still fail to see why Play can't get their Limited Edition sets properly.
Surely, if their Canadian supplier has troubles gettting them, on behalf of Play, then would it not be in their best interests to change suppliers, to someone who can get them?!
Secondly, if some people are getting e-mails stating that either a) stock is due in, but not sure of when they shall be receiving it, and/or b) that they will be getting the DVD, but it may NOT be the Tin Edition, then I would be extremely p*ssed off with them.
If any company, online (or high street) wants my business, and I place a pre-order with them, then I would and should expect to get what I ordered, and not an alternative. This is not too different to those online supermarkets like "Tesco's" or "Sainsburys", in that if your chosen product isn't available at the time, they substitute it for something very similar.
Simply put, Play need to get their act together. If they offer a Limited Edition disc on their site, then anyone who orders it prior to the release date, or a note on the site saying "SOLD OUT", should have that order fulfilled, and should not have to put up with this waiting and guessing game.
It's shocking that in this day and age, other less-known DVD firms can get Limited Edition DVD sets like "RoboCop" from Criterion, or the "Terminator 2: Limited Tin Edition" without a problem, but Play can't!
I look forward to hearing from the the few remaining people who still have orders with Play, regarding the "Akira Tin Set". I do hope you get your orders fulfilled, but if not, then take your business elsewhere, and tell them why!
Pooch
Just cancelled my order. Bye bye Play.
Confucius
03-08-2001, 10:24 AM
It seems a tad churlish to ditch Play because of a cock-up over one 'film'.
[ 03-08-2001: Message edited by: Confucius ]</p>
[quote]Originally posted by Confucius:<br /><strong>It seems a tad churlish to ditch Play because of a cock-up over one 'film'.
[ 03-08-2001: Message edited by: Confucius ]</strong><hr></blockquote>
One film that was ordered nearly two months in advance only after they assured me they would be able to deliver the version I wanted .
The three subsequent times I queried the order they assured me they would deliver but completely stonewalled whether this would be the tin version or not.
I strongly suspect that by the time play had either told me they couldn't supply or sent me a non-tin version instead it would be very difficult to get a hold of the tin version at another supplier. I wanted the tin therefor I cancelled my order.
Cocking up an order is one thing stringing your customers along is another.
In fact if they had simply contacted me earlier and explained the actual liklihood of me recieving the order from them I would have been fine about it.
[quote]It seems a tad churlish to ditch Play because of a cock-up over one 'film'.<hr></blockquote>
If you were aware of all the bull**** I had to take then I'm sure you would understand.
I totally agree with Mr D's decision having endured the same amount of heartache and frustration. <img src="frown.gif" border="0">
As I said in a previous post, Play have dealt with an awkward situation badly. I just could not believe some of their replies!
PoochJD
03-08-2001, 10:35 PM
Confucious,
They haven't simply cocked-up on one film! A similar situation happened with the "Terminator 2: Special Edition" set as well, last year.
And, as others have already said, they have strung people along with misleading and dubious information. No one has yet been told straight:<br />a) when Play is definitely getting new stock in<br />b) if the stock will be the Tin Edition, or the standard Amaray 2 DVD set, and<br />c) why those who pre-ordered the Tin Edition before it was even out, have not all received it.
If they were not expecting much stock, then they should have rectified it, either by ordering more stock, or telling people quicker that the Tin Edition was not going to be available to all of them. They must have known that this was going to be a popular set, so they can't use that as an excuse. This is, after all, the Granddaddy of Anime films, if not necessarily the best anime film ever. (That last part of my comment's open to debate.)
Simply put, if Play can't get enough Special Edition sets to cover pre-orders, then they either need to make certain that they don't allow people to be able to pre-order it, unless they can definitely get them a copy, or, alternatively, start getting their stock from another firm who can supply them with enought copies in advance, in the first place!
Anything else, is simply unacceptable, especially when a lot of other firms are still able to get it, without any problems!
Pooch
Confucius
05-08-2001, 12:15 AM
I can't comment too much on T2:UE, it's still very easily available in stores in the US & Canada, the aluminium casing shows no sign of being a limited edition in any way and one can still get it from Play. Just because some people didn't get it as early from Play as others is neither here nor there.
As ever with Play, if they send the wrong disc one can return it and get a refund (including the p&p you incur).
Why should they know it was going to be popular? As ever on the internet it seems the smallest minority has the loudest 'voice'.
If they change supplier the prices may go up, thus they'll lose customers - if they keep the supplier who can't seem to deliver all the stock they require early enough they'll lose customers. I hope they lose customers because of the latter not the former.
I still think it's a tad churlish to refuse to order from them in future, it's like failing an exam because you only got 99%. As long as people go on about isolated incidents involving late delivery or not enough stock I'm going to pop up and say I've no complaints about the service. After all, it's not some great conspiracy to defraud you or make sure you miss out on some special edition, the world is still going to be spinning on it's axis in the morning.
[ 05-08-2001: Message edited by: Confucius ]</p>
PoochJD
06-08-2001, 2:12 PM
Confucius,
You said: "Just because some people didn't get it as early from Play as others is neither here nor there."
Actually, it is. Everyone says Play is one of the best importation companies, and for the most part, they probably are. However, why did they make a balls-up of probably the most highly-anticipated title on DVD, at that point in March/April 2000?, by not getting in a much larger amount of stock! No one else did messed up, and were thus able to fulfill all pre-orders in time, and without delay!
You also said: "As ever with Play, if they send the wrong disc one can return it and get a refund (including the p&p you incur)."
True... but you shouldn't have to have the hassle of sending something back, you didn't order in the first place, should you?! If you pre-order an "Akira Limted Tin Edition", then you should be guaranteed an "Akira Limited Tin Edition", and NOT the "Akira; Limited Edition 2 DVD Set in an Amaray Case"!
Next, you say: "Why should they know it was going to be popular? As ever on the internet it seems the smallest minority has the loudest 'voice'."
Not necessarily. It's just that the majority of film fans on the internet, aren't quite as stupid as the staff at PLay, and know when anticipation for a certain DVD title is going to be big! "Terminator 2", "Akira" and "Star Wars: Phantom Menace" are all BIG titles! It doesn't exactly take a genius to work that out!
You also wrote: "If they change supplier the prices may go up, thus they'll lose customers. If they keep the supplier who can't seem to deliver all the stock they require early enough they'll lose customers. I hope they lose customers because of the latter not the former."
I agree, with you on that, in full!
Finally, you said: "I still think it's a tad churlish to refuse to order from them in future, it's like failing an exam because you only got 99%."
No it's not! People who pre-ordered the "Akira" set, should get the set, and not an alternative version. Those who pre-ordered it, should also have their orders fulfilled, within the first couple of days of it going on its actual release date. After all, that's the idea of pre-orders - you get the disc, on the day of release, or a day or two before! People should not be waiting for their discs, three weeks later, AND not know what version they may or may not be getting. Especially, when every other site who has it for sale, can get the item with no problems, and get the orders fulfilled on time!
Essentially, it boils down, to the fact that Play have handled a bad situation very badly, and have lost customers over something that could easily have been made a lot more palatable, with a few e-mails, or a little more concrete facts, and not the half-arsed "We're getting more stock, but we just don't know when, nor do we know which edition it'll be. Sorry.". To me, that's a big cop-out, and smacks of incompetence. Any company that had the balls to do that, won't get my money. Period!
I'm happy to agree to disagree with you, as it's not you that I have any problem with. However, Play do need to realise that they need to clean-up their act, and start to find ways of getting hold of Special or Limited Editions, without screwing-up in such a big way. The iminent release of some of the biggest Bixed Sets and Limited Editions this Autumn, ("The Simpsons: Season 1", "The Godfather Trilogy", "Star Wars 1", etc, etc), is going to be a real big test for them, and I doubt there are many people who are going to forgive them if it happens again.