Has play.com gone really downhill?

[Spatial]

Nah, Play were okay (compared to some of the other problems I had) when I bought my first HDTV from them and returned it due to a few dead pixels. I don't know what they're like now as I haven't used them in a while.

Ah sorry, I had it stuck in my head it was you.

I'm not as young as I was, what are you people doing in my house etc etc

[VR46]

Thats because play.com are based in the channel islands to dodge VAT. It takes the extra day to get the stuff over to mainland UK by boat.

Last month the government changed the law so no longer will anything £17.99 and under be VAT free, which is going to hit play.com and tescodirect/tescojersey (or whatever they are called) really hard. Not sure when the new law comes into effect, but read about a few Jersey based companies closing down or moving to other countries, extreme stuff eh.

Back to the question play.com are too slow, and I mention that in every email questionnaire they send me.

eg:
Order an item say midday Monday
Item despatches Tuesday
Item normally arrives Thursday

Not good enough in this day and age.

Hope your item arrives tomorrow Jebus, otherwise you can get it redirected and I'll take it in for you on Wednesday

[Kongster]

Play.com are okay for me, although I haven't used them in a while.

Play.com's call centre is now based in Northern Ireland.

[JohnMcL7]

I'm generally fine with Play although I'm a little annoyed with their returns process - I ordered Earth Defence Force 2017 to try and get it for the start of my off shift time. Unfortunately it arrived on my last day and better yet it was WWE RAW 2007 or some crap like that...so I e-mailed them and got a response saying to send it back at my own expense at the earliest convenience (otherwise they would charge me for the WWE game) and then once they'd received the item they'd refund my postal fees.

Given it's entirely their fault, I thought they might send a prepaid envelope with the new game so I could send the other one back and we'd all be happy. Since I've been on shift I've not been able to send the game back, which I'll now do on my off shift time so I won't see the proper game until my next off shift time...that means it's probably going to take around three weeks before I see the game.

John

[Extra Terrestrial]

I must be alone in thinking that play.com are online shopping Gods.

The amount of DVDs I have bought from them is staggering and I have only had two problems with them; one DVD didn't have subtitles when play.com stated it did but the refund process was quick and easy and the other was the M. Night Shyamalan box-set that came in a pretty worn and torn condition but again, I got a replacement in 4-5 days.

I don't understand the complaints about how long the products take to arrive when they are based overseas and the delivery is free thus taking slightly longer than the likes of amazon (UK).

I'm sorry to hear that other people may have issues but play.com are a God-like figure - in terms of online shopping at least - to me and always have been.

[VR46]

Don't get me wrong, I have bought plenty of DVD's etc from them, but when it comes to games, I am alot more impatient. Think they should add the option to upgrade your delivery to next day (assuming you can do that from Jersey), and anything ordered before say midday will be sent the same day.

For what it's worth, wife ordered a couple of DVD's on Sunday, shipped Monday and arrived today.

[jimmbob]

They've always been pretty consistent with me, things tend to take around 4-5 days to get here. It's alright, better than paying for delivery, as look as you aint in a rush.
Anyway what do I care, I'm going on holiday today.

[Jebus]

I don't understand the complaints about how long the products take to arrive when they are based overseas and the delivery is free thus taking slightly longer than the likes of amazon (UK).

Amazon do free delivery and so do shopto.net.

Most good retailers do free delivery now.

Play.com used to be ****ing SUPREME. Back in 2001 they were like a god to me, but now...there are better alternatives.

My item has shipped, will be here tomorrow : My pants are wet in anticipation

You'll see the thread tomorrow about it

[EDDIE M0NS00N]

Play.com have always been pretty slow since I started using them back in 2002. 5 days max usually, apart from at Chrimbo when they managed to get 360 Far Cry out to me next day!! I wasnt too bothered by the time it took as I thought that they were so busy they just couldnt get em out quick enough.

I've had problems though over the yrs. Platinum titles sent instead of the originals (DW 7), Fantavison arriving already opened, scratched & not working. Oh, & dont ever order GBA titles as they pack them in the same bubble wrap envelopes as DVDs meaning that the box gets squished in the post!
From other ppls experience they seem to be selling a lot of USA DS & 360 Bundle games which is obviously cheaper for them & us but is not advertised when u make a purchase. And if u intend to trade in these items in the future they may not be accepted.

I just ordered an LG Monitor from them that looks like its promising the lot. 22", Scart, S-video, VGA, DVI, TV Tuner all for £199! However, I was told soon after that my account/card details werent correct & so I had to re-order. In that time they'd bumped the price up by £40!! What a load of bollox!! They've dropped the price back down now but the date's been put back (again!) to ****in June! Why do they do this?
They did the same when I pre-ordered the Samsung 206bw. I gave up on that 1.
Dunno what I gonna do about the LG tho. Just seems to good to be true now.

[Chief H]

Aye, I've ordered the LG as well. Dead gutted at the delay as I was really looking forward to getting it all set up this week for the long weekend but I guess it'll have to wait. The 22" LG does seem like an awesome deal so I might stick with it and see if it comes good eventually - there doesn't seem to be anything else around for the price point that does the same, though if it keeps getting delayed even that might change.

[Miguel007]

Spent over £4000 with them, DVD's, Games and even my HDTV (Came next day).

Everything arrives for me two days after the day it was posted, so three days really, exactly the same time frame for Play USA, no problems what-so-ever. They are my first port of call normally.

[Astra]

unfortunately id have to agree they have gone downhill now, i ordered a 360 game last thursday and it still hasent arrived, the posted date on my account details has changed twice now and the order tracking number theyve given me for parcelfarce doesnt work either.

Been using play.com in this household for good few years and spent thousands with them, always regarded them high and pretty much my first port of call when i wanted to order something online, however now i think ill take my business elsewhere, buying the game from shopto or amazon, cancelled all my preorders and advised my friends and family to do the same.

[EDDIE M0NS00N]

I have to say that I havent bothered with Play at all recently.
I've bought more stuff from sendit which are just as cheap & they get your goods to you a lot quicker.
I bought MS Anthology from shopto.com on Thurs night. It shipped on Fri & I got it yesterday!! Thats free 1st Class delivery & MS Anthology only cost £19.99!!

I'm still really sceptical too about whether the LG 22" all in 1 Monitor I ordered will be released at the start of June. Especially as the Samsung 22" has been put back again by another month.

[Tetsuo]

They've increased their range of products massively over the last year or so and are dissapointingly going the way of Amazon with their "customer reviews" and offering second-hand trade ins.

They never used to do all this crap - I'd say it all explains why their customer sevice is currently playing second fiddle to everything else. Shame, as the great thing about Play used to be it's no-nonsense, simple approach to buying electronics online. It's starting to now look a bit messy (though no-where near as awful as Amazon)

[EDDIE M0NS00N]

Yeah it has gone very Amazonish lately.
Maybe its a case of a smallish company thats tried to grow just a little too quickly.