Issues with Digital River Customer Service

[TheShadow]

 

If you have experienced any issues with Digital River's customer service, please post your testimonials here.

Please be to the point, constructive, and keep it civil.
Off topic and/or insulting posts, etc. will be removed.

Your information could be helpful to all parties involved so please provide the most accurate information that you can.

This thread is not about open orders or problems placing an order on the Matty website -- it is only for issues regarding contacting customer service.

Thank you!
Note: Digital River is the company that handles Matty Collector's customer service.

 

[markatisu]

Mine may sound like an order problem, but its rooted in dealing with the customer service.

In late September my subscription was deleted, completely disappeared from the system. Called Digital River Customer Service to inquire and was told I never placed the order and that it never existed, forwarded them the email proving it existed and was told there was nothing they could do because the September figure shipped so it was "complete". After not receiving anything in October I was told to contact a account rep which I did, 2 weeks of emails and my subscription was recreated.

However in December when the remaining figures were supposed to ship my order was sent into Limbo, when I contacted Digital River I was told my order was ready and I could download my software as many times as I needed. I pointed out to them I bought toys and not software, the response I received was that Mattel was holding the orders up and they would request my order be expedited, 1 week later (the very last day of 2009) everything was finally fixed.

3 complete months, many phone call and emails, and numerous explanations that varied depending on who I was speaking to.

[Dynamo of Eternia]

I had an issue with DR back in October that took almost 2 week of frustration and phone calls to get resolved.

Can I post about that here, or do the issues have to be more recent than that?

[markatisu]

I had an issue with DR back in October that took almost 2 week of frustration and phone calls to get resolved.

Can I post about that here, or do the issues have to be more recent than that?

Any problems you have had with them period since the beginning. Just keep in mind its not about resolving open orders or asking Mattel/DR for help.

This thread is only for information about your attempts to contact customer service.

[Binx4life]

I called a few months back to change my address on my subscription account. The rep told me that I was unable to change my address, and that she would cancel my subscription so I could reorder with the updated address. I told her that I did not want to do that because the subscription was sold out. She Again told me that she could cancel my subscription so I could reorder. I thought she did not hear me so I stated again that I did not want that, and I again stated the reason. She told me for a 3rd time that she could cancel my subscription so I could reorder with the correct address. I told her yet again in a more stern tone to NOT cancel my subscription, she asked if there was anything else she could help me with. I said no, that I was only calling because I just wanted to change my address. She AGAIN told me that she would cancel my subscription so I could reorder. I told her to do nothing and ended the call.

I have not been that frustrated and annoyed in a long time.

[Fugitoid]

My issue stems from an apparent issue with an order (7960257615) not being able to be processed, and not shipping. I made the order on 12-15-09 and it still has not processed.

I have been told many times that my order will ship "in a couple of days" but still no luck. To highlight specific issues with their customer service below, I have provided some additional information:

(1) When I had not received my processing email in over 1 week I contacted Digital River. No proactive efforts were made to contact me and let me know there was a problem with my order.

(2) The response I got in an email dated 12-23-09 was " The reason why the order 7960257615 is still being processed is due to the few information entered. Please attempt a new order (empasis added) and complete all the information being requested." This response was totally inappropriate, as for one it implied that it was my fault I did not enter enough information into the system and this was my fault. Clearly, the system is designed to only process orders where all relevant fields are completed.

(3) Digital River later responded to a request from me as what information was missing so that I could provide this to them. When I finally understood what information was missing it was the shipping information which was present on my order confirmation (and email, and customer name fields). The solution to simply re-order was poor as more product has since sold out (Randor, Goddess).

(4) I then got an email from the same customer service representative on 12-29-09 "Kindly contact us through phone so we can better help you with this Issue". I did so a day later, making an expensive international phone call to be placed on hold for a significant period of time. The only response I got was that it was being followed up and to expect an email in 2 days to describe the status.

(5) I also provided again the outstanding information required to ship the item via email.

(6) for the last 2 weeks I have been following up the status. I simply get emails saying that your order is being looked into and will process in a couple of days. This has not yet processed. When I asked for an expected processing date, no date could be given.

(7) Items not yet processed.

[ChgoMarc]

I live in Illinois and started getting charged tax with either the October or November figure. I can't recall off the top of my head. I called them about it and they e-mailed me two weeks later saying that they had to charge tax. I haven't had a chance to call them back and explain that I was never charged tax before and to my knowledge, no new laws have passed in IL that allow for online tax unless the company has a brick and motor store present in the state.

[bezem]

I received a Goddess with very poor paint apps on the face and the bobble head issue. I called CS and asked to get a shipping label and a replacement. They asked me to call back in 72 hours after issuing a ticket number and forwarding it to their supervisors. When I called back in 72 hours, they said I would have to pay for shipping to them and when I said that was unacceptable they said to call back in 72 hours again. I asked to speak to a supervisor, they said I would receive a resolution by email within 24 hours. When that never came I ordered another Goddess right before she sold out. After 2 weeks of nothing I called again and stated my dissatisfaction, they said I could pay to ship her back and then they would ship me another, I said that was very unacceptable, I was absolutely not satisfied with their customer service, and hung up. That was 2 days ago; now I have a no charge order for the Goddess that was delivered today. Not quite sure if that is a resolution or not, but what a hassle.

[PaTrIcKfOgArTy]

The feedback I feel most compelled to share would be with issues around the reps knowledge of the product. I have talked to several different reps over the many calls I've placed to DR. To date, not one has appeared familiar with the product (MOTUC) when I've called. I don't mean "fan crazy familiar", I mean to date NONE have have understood how the subscription(s) work, i.e., that they are no longer available for purchase, what a subscription renewal order number is, etc.

The height of my issues were in regards to the whole "back ordered Teela-gate" situation. I actually informed the reps I spoke to at DR that I was recording the conversation and indeed did so, simply because we kept getting statements from Mattel that nothing was back ordered and EVERY rep and a supervisor kept telling me my order was indeed on back order. I still have the conversations if Mattel is interested.

General product knowledge and improved communication skills seems needed.

[bigsexy_j]

an issue I have had and I am sure many others have is being told that they are looking into whatever and you will receive a response. Currently I am still waiting on 3 responses from October.

There is also according the many 'supervisors' i have spoken to no communication between warehouse and customer service. They have no idea what's going on in the warehouse or when/why things have or have not shipped yet.

[Rokkon]

I orderd Club Eternia to get one figure a month I got them then they sent me them agian I called them and they told I will loose my shipping and handling I asked them how is that fair and they told me they would get back to me and it's been almost 3 weeks now and nothing I called them four times now

[Cringer_luvr]

I live in Tennesse and I order stuff on-line every month (3-6 items), and This is the ONLY ONLY company that charges me TAX for my items....seems kinda odd to me!!

[SirBushnell]

I've had several problems with Digital River's customer service department. The most notable being when my subscription suddenly failed to renew back in October (I believe that was for Teela).
The payment processed successfully when the subscription started back in September. Nothing changed in my account, or in terms of my card (which they had on file). Yet suddenly I was notified that my subscription had failed, so I called DR. And that's when it turned into a real farce.

The customer service agent said that they couldn't fix the problem and that I would have to "re-place my order". I tried to explain over and over that the subscription was no longer available, but the CS agent just kept saying that the figure was still in stock. They didn't at all get the fact that this was a repeating subscription that had failed, despite my protests.

After about 20 minutes, I was starting to become frustrated with this particular agent - who clearly had no clue about the product that they were trying to sell, and continued to claim that they could do nothing about this issue. They swore up and down that they had no control over my account, and could not make any changes to either my payment information or any orders in the system. As I couldn't actually re-order the subscription, I asked what I should do... and they told me to call another number - promising that they could help me over there.

Yeah, right, I thought. But I decided to try regardless, because I was getting nowhere fast. So I called the number that the agent gave to me. Imagine my surprise when I was connected directly to MATTEL customer service. When I got through, I explained the problem and asked pessimistically if there was anything that could be done. The Mattel rep said that they had moved their accounts directly over to Digital River for October, and for some reason this was causing DR to make lots of mistakes. I wasn't the first person to call Mattel that day, complaining about DR's customer service, so they promised to log my complaint and told me to call DR again and to this time immediately ask for a supervisor.

So I did exactly that. And when I asked for a supervisor, this (new) rep got a little touchy and said that they could suddenly do anything that a supervisor could do. (Sigh)
I explained the issue - again - and this time was told that my payment information was incorrect. That it was trying to process an old card, not the one that was supplied with my subscription. I gave the correct information and they told me it was fixed and not to worry further about my subscription.
Now, can anybody tell me how an automatic on-file payment could possibly process correctly in September (at the start of the subscription)... yet suddenly fail with different payment information the following month? It makes no sense! But that's what happened. I suppose there was some mix-up in the transfer of information from Mattel to DR for October's orders.

Oh, and just to rub salt into the wound, I received another email on November 15th - saying that the automatic payment had failed. Again. Depite being assured that it was updated and fixed.

So I had to call once more, and enjoy the wonderful activity of trying to get a CS agent to 1) understand the problem, and 2) fix it. He tried to direct me around the mattycollector web site, but it was quite obvious that he had no actual reference or understanding of the layout and options on the site - was looking at my computer at the same time, yet he told me constantly to click on links that didn't actually exist.

Ultimately, I found the page to which he was trying to refer me on my own. And, to be fair, he had told me from that point how to fix the error myself (changing my payment information to be the default payment).
However, at the end of the day:
(a) my order shouldn't have ever reset the payment used to my default, rather than the payment processed at the time of the order (and used automatically - and successfully - in September),
(b) I shouldn't have been told that nothing could be changed in my account,
(c) I absolutely should never have been asked to call Mattel to try and fix the issue (being fobbed off, obviously),
(d) this obviously should not have happened a second time - after me being assured it was fixed,
(e) a customer service agent for DR should clearly know how to navigate the web site of the products that he/she is supporting.

TO BE CONTINUED?

[Stefan81]

I had a question about the return policy and they only told me to call mattel directly!
If a figur like scareglow doesnt have the cool grayskull key included then i want quick help from customer service!

[penagain]

I tried to change the shipping address on my 2009 subscription. I called before Webstor, before Teela, and twice before Scareglow. Each time I was assured it was changed, and each time the figure was sent to the wrong place--resulting in (for Teela and Scareglow) me never getting the figure as it was returned to the warehouse.

I was assured by DR that the Warehouse would then re-ship me the items to the correct address, which of course they did not do. When confronted on that lie, they suggested I simply use the refunded sales price (less shipping of course) to order another. They had no conception of the sold-out nature of the product. I spent ~$18 dollars for the privilege of interacting with DR, with no figures during the months of Oct and Nov to show for my money or my troubles.

I sent 6 e-mails in addition to the more than 2 hours I spent on the phone total, and in the end, rather than address any of my concerns or actually follow through on any of the promises they made, they simply canceled my subscription one week before Randor went on sale without any explanation.

I asked to speak to supervisors, and was told that was not an option. I INSISTED and was told there were no supervisors available. The customer service staff more often than not had no idea what we were even talking about, as the very nature of the subscription seemed confusing to them.

The worst things of it all, however, were the UNCOUNTABLE number of times during these interactions that I was OUTRIGHT LIED TO. I was a card-carrying subscription holder with open channels of communication, and I still had to resort to overpriced resales on ebay to get Teela and Scareglow.

Their system is structured in such a way (no management, never getting the same rep twice on phone or e-mail) that I couldn't even find a proper way to address my frustrations. I felt utterly betrayed by Mattel for a long time--I still do, in some ways. I know that DR is not Mattel... but when one speaks exclusively on behalf of the other, they might as well be.

I feel that Digital River is undermining, and perhaps even destroying, consumer faith in Mattel--at least for those of us trying with all our might to keep MOTUC afloat. In this day and age, can any company afford to let their hirelings drag their name through the dirt with such wanton displays of incompetence?

I surely hope not.

[skully]

I ordered man-at-arms last july 09. due to an error, my order was doubled. I asked for a refund on the same month from digital river and they told me I will get the credit the following month. I forgot about it until Oct. I checked my credit card statements but none of them reflect the credit they promised so I called. I called Mattel customer service and they told me to call digital river and gave me an advice that if "digital river told me to call mattel" tell them that I was told by mattel that digital river is the one that should handle it not mattel! Guess what, I called digital river and spoke to Mary (id#00250) and she told me exactly what mattel told me "please call mattel" so I got upset and told her I already called Mattel and they told me you are responsible for this not them. I also told her that was not right passing me to Mattel where in fact they are the once responsible. I opted to talk to a supervisor but she told me everyone was busy but I know that's BS. So I told her I will wait, alas I spoke to a supervisor.
His name was Joseph (id#004853). At first he told me they were not allowed to give their id#, I told him are you sure that's your company policy? He said yes, then I told him how come Mary gave her's? After that, he gave me his. This guy was very unprofessional and rude. Anyway, he told me I will get the credit and then asked me with a very insulting tone "is that all -- SIR" that's where I got really really mad! I asked him are you mocking me?!! I admit, I might have said a few choice words. BUT MATTEL!!! come on!!! We are good paying customers!!! DO WE DESERVE THIS???

PEACE

[MrKrnkle43]

I ordered the 2009 subscription in May. My credit card company issued me a new card with a new number a couple months later. In October, my subscription order for Teela didn't go through because the previous credit card number (which I completely forgot about being associated with my MotUC subscription) was no longer valid. I updated the credit card number associated with my account and had to call 1-800-GOMATTY to order the figure. I eventually got the figure (after having to give my mattycollector.com password to the DR representative, which I was not comfortable with).

Since mid-October, my account has had the correct credit card number associated with it, but DR apparently canceled my subscription. I didn't receive any confirmation email or charge on my credit card for Scareglow. I wrote to customer service and was told that "Upon checking on our records, it shows that your subscription for Masters of the Universe Classics has already expired on 11/17/09 12:00:00 AM CST."

There was no notification for this, other than as a response to my question. I called customer service and talked to two different people. They both tried to tell me that my subscription was still active and wanted to forward the confirmation from May as proof.

I ended up ordering Scareglow off eBay just so I could have him and manually ordered Randor, Green Goddess and Winston from the Ghostbusters line in December.

Another thing, why is there no option to change my password for mattycollector.com? I sent an email to customer service asking how to do it, and their response explained how to retrieve my password.

[Morningstar]

I´m from Argentina. 2 months ago I bought the He-man and scareglow figures, and they have not arrived yet (order 8156341415). I was told to call mattycollector. How will I make a phone call from Argentina to EEUU for this? I guess they did not do the shipping on the date the mail says so. I am very disappointed and i have no solutions.

[Arvulis]

Hello,

At first I'm not a native American or English, so please accept my apologize for any problem of language.

I contacted the support by email 8 times to inform my move in order to change my address from a place to another. Each time I contacted the customer service, I had an automatic reply which was totally out of the subject

I had such answer :

Dear XXXXXXX,

Thank you for contacting the MattyCollector.com online store.

The order number that was attempted is incomplete and does not have any
addressl. Your credit card will not be charged for this attempted order
and no items will be delivered.

Sincerely,

MattyCollector.com online store
Customer Service
norman.us.cs@digitalriver.com

or

Dear XXXXXXXX,

Thank you for contacting the MattyCollector.com online store.

To update your user account information:

1. Please go to

2. Enter your email address and your password*.

*If you do not know your password, it can be retrieved at http://www.mattycollector.com/store/...otPasswordPage.

Through the "My Profile" page you have the following options to update
your information:

- Change Password
- Update your e-mail address

Please note that your username is unable to be changed.

Sincerely,
Lota G.
MattyCollector.com online store
Customer Service
mattycollector.cs@digitalriver.com

It was totally out of the subject ! After some emails they finally answer with another message but the message never help me.

Messages such as :

Dear XXXXXX,

Thank you for contacting the MattyCollector.com online store.

A request has been submitted to change the shipping address of your
order. In some cases, we are unable to do so, as orders are processed
for shipment immediately upon completion. If the address cannot be
changed, the product will ship to the address that was entered.

If we are unable to change the address, you may wish to contact the
carrier, using your tracking number included in the shipping
confirmation email. Please note that some shipping methods do not
provide tracking information. If this is the case, we apologize, however

no changes can be made.

Sincerely,

Rochelle O.
MattyCollector.com online store
Customer Service
mattycollector.cs@digitalriver.com

or

Dear XXXXXXX,

Thank you for contacting the Online Store.

Records shows that the package was shipped via USPS and we wont be able
to change the delivery address from our system.

Sincerely,
Mary Jane K.
Customer Service

Whereas when I'm connected on mattycollector.com, there is a message in red on the top in the main help page : "If you need to change your shipping address for your subscription order, please contact customer service directly at (877) GO-MATTY."

So I didn't want to use again by email, I contacted Customers Services by phone. They told me that they will process my request and will give me a confirmation by mail in 48 or 72H.. 3 weeks later, no news... I called again and they told me "No update, it should be ok, I can't do anything else"
I checked in my order details for Eternia 2010 and no change...
How can I be happy with that. I will wait the next order for Adora in order to see if it's changed but when I asked the same thing for Eternia 2009, it has been never changed !! I hope even it seems not ok, it will be ok for Eternia 2010 but I'm very disappointed about that. It's just a change of shipping address and any other company is able to do that easily

What can I do now ??

[Mekaneck]

Please only post messages about dealing with Digital River customer service.
This is not the place for complaints or suggestions about shipping times, sell out times, or other issues not directly related to dealing with Digital River's customer service department.

Thank you!

[Musclor.org]

I tried to change the shipping address on my 2009 subscription. I called before Webstor, before Teela, and twice before Scareglow. Each time I was assured it was changed, and each time the figure was sent to the wrong place--resulting in (for Teela and Scareglow) me never getting the figure as it was returned to the warehouse.

I was assured by DR that the Warehouse would then re-ship me the items to the correct address, which of course they did not do. When confronted on that lie, they suggested I simply use the refunded sales price (less shipping of course) to order another. They had no conception of the sold-out nature of the product. I spent ~$18 dollars for the privilege of interacting with DR, with no figures during the months of Oct and Nov to show for my money or my troubles.

I sent 6 e-mails in addition to the more than 2 hours I spent on the phone total, and in the end, rather than address any of my concerns or actually follow through on any of the promises they made, they simply canceled my subscription one week before Randor went on sale without any explanation.

I asked to speak to supervisors, and was told that was not an option. I INSISTED and was told there were no supervisors available. The customer service staff more often than not had no idea what we were even talking about, as the very nature of the subscription seemed confusing to them.

The worst things of it all, however, were the UNCOUNTABLE number of times during these interactions that I was OUTRIGHT LIED TO. I was a card-carrying subscription holder with open channels of communication, and I still had to resort to overpriced resales on ebay to get Teela and Scareglow.

Their system is structured in such a way (no management, never getting the same rep twice on phone or e-mail) that I couldn't even find a proper way to address my frustrations. I felt utterly betrayed by Mattel for a long time--I still do, in some ways. I know that DR is not Mattel... but when one speaks exclusively on behalf of the other, they might as well be.

I feel that Digital River is undermining, and perhaps even destroying, consumer faith in Mattel--at least for those of us trying with all our might to keep MOTUC afloat. In this day and age, can any company afford to let their hirelings drag their name through the dirt with such wanton displays of incompetence?

I surely hope not.

I have exactly the same case. That's crasy to see they are unable to change an address. Still haven't received my Teela and Scareglow. They sent me a shipping confirmation on 31th of December for a new Teela. In the mean time I'am still waiting for Scareglow but they sent it to my old address. I wrote 3 months before to do the change... I wrote 15 times with each time a stupid answer bever in relation, I even called...but nothing to do...Silly

[Shadowcat]

I ordered my 2009 and 2010 subs back when they both first were put up on the site. However, I moved on October 1st, 2009. So, both subs were under my old address. I called DR and Mattel several times to get my addy changed to my current addy, and FINALLY on 10/15/09, I was able to get someone to change it for me. (I had already changed the addy on my account on matty, but it didn't change my shipping address on the subs). So, everything seemed OK, until Teela shipped. She still shipped to my old address. I called DR and was told that they would contact UPS and change the shipping destination. They didn't do it though. I called DR again, and they told me to contact UPS to reroute Teela. I did just that, but UPS said they couldn't do it for me, that the shipper needs to call them to reroute the figure. So, I called Digital River once again, and they told me to call Mattel Customer Service (this was on the 26th of October). I called Mattel, they told me to call Digital River. I called DR AGAIN and spoke to a supervisor who told me he would have his vendor call UPS and that I should call UPS as well. I told him that I already did that, and he said that we'd just have to wait and see if the vendor calls UPS before Teela is delivered (she was set to deliver the next day, October 28th). I also asked the supervisor to ensure that my future sub figures are not shipped to my old address.

In the end, through some very nice people on he-man.org, I was given the contact info to a relationship manager at DR who fixed my problem (at least for my 2009 sub). He sent me a replacement Teela, since I couldn't get the other Teela rerouted, and told me to contact him directly if any of my future figures ship to the wrong address.

Sadly, it took all of this just to get a simple address change to take effect.

[vancak]

I haven't really had issues with DR customer service per se. I ordered the first He-Man, first Skeletor, and Teela, and never got charged tax. Then, when I got Scareglow, I was charged $1.25 tax. I contacted customer service by e-mail, and was directed to call them. I talked to a friendly fellow, who said that he would send it up to someone above him that could take care of it. It took about three weeks before I got an e-mail saying that I would get a refund. I did get the refund on my credit card statement. The next month, when I ordered Randor, I got charged tax again. I sent an e-mail and got an e-mail the next day, saying that someone would take care of it. Within a week, I got an e-mail saying that I would get a refund. I haven't gotten my credit card statement yet, but I assume that I will have the refund. So, they actually improved. I guess my only problem is that I want them to not charge me tax, so that I don't have to bother with it.

[TRICLOPS2317]

I had a very terrible experience. I was emailed notification that my order was not completed for the October figure. Contacted Digital River, they said my status was fine...I kept all my e-mails stating Subscriptions was was good and paid for in advanced....again they sent me an e-mail saying all was fine. 1 week later again get another e-mail saying transaction not completed do to failure of credit card...e-mailed them again, notheing on there end was in error.My card was completely ready with funds....they had tried my card too many times which caused my company to halt any extra attempts. I explained this to them and they sent me another e-mail stating they were re-applying subscription again.another week goes by nothing.Then a email staing they are closing my cancelling my subscription.I gave up and now have to order each and every figure seperately, which does notbother me, but I lost out on WUNDAR and the MAP bonuses. I hate Digital River, I really do.

[DCComicsguy]

The last two months of 2009, I was unable to purchase the figures online. I was "in line" at the right time, got the items in my cart and submitted my order and got the message "UNABLE TO PROCESS ORDER. PLEASE CHECK YOUR INFORMATION TO MAKE SURE IT'S CORRECT". All my info was correct. Nothing had ever changed since I began getting the figs with He-Man over a year ago. I got two copies of each figure each month until November and December. I called DR and they tried to order my figs on their side and they got the same error. They could not help me. I tried using a different credit card and still got the same error. I had to resort to ebay both months.

Back in the summer of 09 I got 2 subscriptions that will begin this month of Adora. I am worried I won't get my figs now. Also, I have had to enter a new expiration date for my credit card on file, since it expired Dec. 31, 09. I am worried about that as well.

Let's hope and pray that I get my two Adora's and I will be able to get online on the 15th and get my two BA He-Man's....

The 16th of January is my birthday so I hope a big birthday gift to me will be DR will actually work!