Issues with Digital River Customer Service

[VaultsofGrayskull]

And of course we international fans have to wait much longer even when things go well. I received one of my Buzz-Off parcels a couple of days ago and I'm still waiting for the other.

When you have to wait four weeks normally, it makes it harder to work out when an order is overdue.

If you get no help via e-mail, I would suggest sending a letter in the post. When my Zodac order was wrong, I phoned Mattel UK a couple of times and didn't get anywhere. When I wrote to the customer service manager I got a response right away. It still took a couple of e-mails after that, but I got there eventually.

[Rhanen]

Figures should have been delivered a month ago already.You have gone through the threshold of 6 weeks delivery time frame.

I've had the same sad experience of not receiving July's Mo-Larr/Skeletor nor Orko and September's Gygor.
On both occasions I've called Mattycollector Customer Service with a $20 pesos calling card (which help me to have nearly an international call for 1 hour with a local charge call) reminding them about the cost of such task and asked to escalate the issue to a tier 2 agent and demand to have a case opened because of the issue.
Luckily, based on my order history, they manage to send me all the figures that I did not received originally. Although, they all seem to be like a 2nd selection MOC figures, but I don't mind. It'd take ages to get them, but definitely they reached destination.

Alternative shipping options for international fans is another point to consider
in the "Fans relations..." thread.

[Epicasino]

I never waited more than 2-3 weeks to get my figures... I don't wanna have to make an international phone call! They should solve this problem through e-mail!

[Metron]

My He-Man, Battlecat and Skeletor just arrived yesterday. I was getting pretty worried too. Digital River didn't ship until the 9th of December it turned out, and I think it got clogged in the Christmas rush and New Years holidays. I hope yours turns up or you can get through to matty to get replacements soon.

[jmb410s]

Updated the website with new address, but decided to check to make sure everything was 100% by calling and guess what? They still had my old address and said they had no way of checking the website. I said I had it pulled up and was looking at it myself.

Totally incompetent when digital river cannot access the website info. I had them update and read back to me the corrections but I am very anxious that they will still mess up and send the package to my old address or cancel the sub due to their incompetence

[Epicasino]

The thing is that a friend ordered two Buzz-Off figures (one for him and one for me) and they arrived weeks ago!

[Darkkosis]

Guys, I just went to check on my 2011 subscription info and clicked my order history, and what a chock, there was no history at all!!! No history to be found at all (no orders were found)!!!!????
What in hell, I've been ordering since day one (the first King Grayskull figure in 2008). They just wiped out all my orders in the past two years plus clean, did that happen to anyone, and should I be worried? My credit card is still valid to this day?... Please help.

Edit: Never mind, I just cleaned my cache and found my info, duh...

[Nick Jones]

...but I figured this was something to be shared here as well.
I received my shipping confirmation...for my old address! I'm a Soldier, so less than a month after I purchased the 2011 sub, I received orders to Italy. So I called Digital River to change the shippping address. They said it was no problem. Obviously it was, since when I got paranoid (and just because you're paranoid doesn't mean no one's out to get you...)
I called a couple days ago to confirm, especially since the invoice still showed my old address. Lo and behold, Digital River did nothing at all. I argued with customer service for 20 minutes about how simple this should be to fix. Then they said I would receive an email from their "escalation team". I got that email this morning. They basically threw up their hands and said, "oh so sorry". So now my Vikor is going to Georgia, unless I can get UPS to reroute to my parents' home in California (All of my figures have to go there now since Matty won't ship to APO addresses, unlike EVERY OTHER SALES ORGANIZATION! Seriously, Hasbro ships to APO, so does Nordstrom, Sears, Toy R Us, etc...). I called Digital River back just a few moments ago, and finally someone confirmed that my subs would be going to my parents' home.
This is starting to get ridiculous. No one should have to go through so much stress over a toy.

[Epicasino]

Hours ago I received this e-mail:

Thank you for contacting the MattyCollector.com online store.

We have submitted a ticket to our escalations team and have asked them
to respond to you directly. Please allow up to 3 business days for a
response.

For your reference, your ticket number is: 4xxxxx

We apologize for the inconvenience.

Sincerely,
Christian Jay G.
MattyCollector.com online store
Customer Service
mattycollector.cs@digitalriver.com
Email ID: 17451562

Let's hope these people will help me out!

[Donimo]

Here's my most recent problem with Digital River:

In November, a glitch occurred in DR's system where an order was created in my Order History for the Nov Sub, but it was stuck in a "Submitted" status. It never processed and my order never shipped out. I spent 3 weeks trying to email and call DR/Matty to get the situation resolved. FINALLY, I got a manager in the Escalation Team to reluctantly help and she created a new order for me since the glitch prevented the original one from being fulfilled. She was annoyed that I asked her to help me, but at least she did it.

Then, the same thing happened again in December! My Sub Order never even showed up in Dec though! I was finally able to get another Escalation Team member to assist me. Again, it took much calling and follow-up to get someone to help. After I got Dec's order straightened out, I was assured that my Jan Sub order for 2011 would NOT have this problem and that everything looks okay in the system.

Lo and behold, the same thing is happening again this month. I noticed that the order in the system for my 2011 Sub doesn't look right. So, I started calling DR/Matty again - I'm starting to get the usual run around where the reps are stumbling around and can't tell whats wrong. The reps just tell me they don't know what's wrong and basically tell me "touch luck". Then, finally I call again and get a rep with some sense in the Escalation Team. He had me on hold for several mins and came back on the line to tell me that, yep, there sure does seem to be a problem again this month with their system glitch. He told me that he'll submit this to have it reviewed and would have someone contact me shortly. He asked if I wanted an email or phone call. I emphatically stated that I wanted someone to call me back. Ha - 15 mins later he emails me and says that other orders are experiencing the glitches too and that I'll have to just wait it out and call them back again for assistance next week. So, they want me to do the legwork again and don't plan on being proactive to assist me.

I'm done with this - I'm not calling them back. If no order goes thru, then it doesn't. I'm finished collecting MOTUC unless they get this fixed themselves and follow-up with ME. Knowing DR though, they NEVER call back when they are supposed to, so my days of MOTUC are now over. I'm pretty sad about it because I really love the figures. But, if they can't get their **** together, what do they expect customers to do? It's too much stress and time trying to deal with this crap and I shouldn't have to do this every month. It's ridiculous.

I've been dealing with this crap for 3 months now. Seriously.

EDIT: I noticed over the past 3 months that a handful of people on the Matty FB and the MattyCollector forums had reported experiencing this same issue. Has anyone on here had a problem with the DR system glitch yet? Perhaps others aren't reporting it.

[Epicasino]

Mattel has shipped me 2 free replacements for the two He-Man figures that never arrived. Thank you Mattel!

[Fabulous]

SO I get my 2nd replacement batch of 3rd release He-Man and Skeletor figures today. I'm convinced there isn't a single good skeletor from that third batch but the big problem is that instead of sending me 2 regular He-Man figures, they sent me Battle Armor He-Man. It's rather funny considering I put the proper catalog number in all the emails.

[Aussie Stinkor]

I have changed address since i signed up to Club Eternia in July 2010. I had updated it 3 months ago and DELETED my old address.. Why does my order state that its shipping Vikor to my old address???? Please don't send it there!!!

Just be mindful that if you have changed shipping address since july then vikor will be shipped to your old address (even if you have updated to your new address) frustrating indeed!

[Larry Waters]

So, I've been away on business for the past week and I missed the UPS delivery of Vikor (the figure that I want the MOST this year). Every time that this has happened in the past, the package was sent to my local UPS Customer Center and I'd simply go in and sign for it.

I called them this AM and they told me that it had been shipped back to the sender.

Damn.

Well, that shouldn't be a big deal, right? Call Digital River and just get it sent back out, right?

Right????

Wrong!

First, after sitting on hold for 20 minutes (at 8:30 on a Saturday morning?), I finally got a customer service rep. I was about to find out first-hand how my collecting bretheren have been frustrated by this "service department" in the past.

After giving her my order number, UPS tracking number, personal information and explaining the situation to her, I was expecting to hear that is was no problem and that Vikor would be re-shipped to me and (at the worst) I would have to pay another shipping fee. I wouldn't have been wild about it, but I'd have eaten it.

She put me on hold (another 10 minutes) and when she returned, she didn't even ADDRESS the shipped product...she informed me that my subscription had been CANCELLED!

Really??? Cancelled?

She advised me that the only thing that she could tell me was to go back onto the Matty website and buy another subscription...

Over 2 years into the "service" and their reps STILL don't know anything about the product.

Anyway, I'm not going to go into the mineuta of the conversation. The end result (after another 20 minutes) was that she "submitted a report" and I would get a call or email confirming whether they were able to re-ship during the next 3 business days.

What about my "cancelled" subscription? Well, she didn't know..that is in the request she submitted, as well.

Can I speak to your supervisor? There isn't any here that you can speak to.

So what about my sub? I can't help you, but they may be able to.

MAY???? Yes, I can't say anything further.




Why, oh why, can't Matty treat us like they care just a little?

TG, you want to know what you can do to improve fan relations???

DROP DIGITAL RIVER.

I'll keep you posted, guys.

Ticket number# 425 451

[Minion]

Sounds awful Big Country.
I've had so many frustrating exchanges with DR that just leave you either exaspaerated, furious or a combination of those two. It really is customer service at its worst.

I hope your Vikor arrives and you manage to reinstate your 2011 sub.

[Stefan81]

i use international post. and afaik i have 2 weeks to grab the box, before it is shipped back! hope you get vikor and the sub stays alive!

[Donimo]

So, I've been away on business for the past week and I missed the UPS delivery of Vikor (the figure that I want the MOST this year). Every time that this has happened in the past, the package was sent to my local UPS Customer Center and I'd simply go in and sign for it.

I called them this AM and they told me that it had been shipped back to the sender.

Damn.

Well, that shouldn't be a big deal, right? Call Digital River and just get it sent back out, right?

Right????

Wrong!

First, after sitting on hold for 20 minutes (at 8:30 on a Saturday morning?), I finally got a customer service rep. I was about to find out first-hand how my collecting bretheren have been frustrated by this "service department" in the past.

After giving her my order number, UPS tracking number, personal information and explaining the situation to her, I was expecting to hear that is was no problem and that Vikor would be re-shipped to me and (at the worst) I would have to pay another shipping fee. I wouldn't have been wild about it, but I'd have eaten it.

She put me on hold (another 10 minutes) and when she returned, she didn't even ADDRESS the shipped product...she informed me that my subscription had been CANCELLED!

Really??? Cancelled?

She advised me that the only thing that she could tell me was to go back onto the Matty website and buy another subscription...

Over 2 years into the "service" and their reps STILL don't know anything about the product.

Anyway, I'm not going to go into the mineuta of the conversation. The end result (after another 20 minutes) was that she "submitted a report" and I would get a call or email confirming whether they were able to re-ship during the next 3 business days.

What about my "cancelled" subscription? Well, she didn't know..that is in the request she submitted, as well.

Can I speak to your supervisor? There isn't any here that you can speak to.

So what about my sub? I can't help you, but they may be able to.

MAY???? Yes, I can't say anything further.




Why, oh why, can't Matty treat us like they care just a little?

TG, you want to know what you can do to improve fan relations???

DROP DIGITAL RIVER.

I'll keep you posted, guys.

Ticket number# 425 451

Yep, DR is definitely the worst experience anyone will ever have with Customer Service. I hate to say this, but it is very unlikely that you will hear back from anyone regarding the Escalation Ticket that was submitted. So, be prepared to do several follow-up calls next week to try to get a competent person to help you.

[Skeletortilla]

First of all, WHY does Digital River even have the authority to cancel a subscription placed with MATTEL?

That should be up to Mattel, not the damn shipper, and shouldn't happen AT ALL until the customer has been contacted FIRST.

Good luck BC...I wish you well.

[Caesar]

Did she just not understand u and cancel your sub?! Here I'm **** because days prior to shipping I call to let them know about new address, of course they still ship it old one!! Lol now I imagine if I called to complain they'll accidentally cancel my sub

[Tundra_Torque]

I understand your frustration. I went through a similar ordeal when trying to change some credit card information. The customer service reps at Digital River know nothing about the product that they are handling. It was like that a year and a half ago and it's still like that now.

I brought this up in Toy Guru's Fan Relations thread. One way to have better relations with the fans is to have better customer service. It's frustrating beyond belief.

[Ealo]

did you post over on the matty forums with your info etc. when stuff happened to me and i couldn't get anywhere with DR, that nice lady on the matty forums called up DR and told them to fix it.

[markatisu]

UPS is required to hold all boxes for at least 5 business days, I mean yes Digital River is a crappy company but UPS is really the ones that screwed you. There is absolutely no reason they sent the package back to sender as quickly as they did.

Keep us posted, if you still do not have a resolution in a week I can try to give you a private contact to speak with via pm.

I would also post just what you did over at MattyCollector's forums. They have account reps on the board that tend to get the problems taken care of when this happens.

[AnnnaMot]

welcome to Digital River hell . sorry to hear that . i just hope Mattel isnt in for a 5 year contract

[Larry Waters]

Did she just not understand u and cancel your sub?! Here I'm **** because days prior to shipping I call to let them know about new address, of course they still ship it old one!! Lol now I imagine if I called to complain they'll accidentally cancel my sub

No...she said her records showed that the sub had been cancelled. Asked me if anyone in my home had the authority to cancel it.

Other than my dog, you mean???

UPS is required to hold all boxes for at least 5 business days, I mean yes Digital River is a crappy company but UPS is really the ones that screwed you. There is absolutely no reason they sent the package back to sender as quickly as they did.

Keep us posted, if you still do not have a resolution in a week I can try to give you a private contact to speak with via pm.

I would also post just what you did over at MattyCollector's forums. They have account reps on the board that tend to get the problems taken care of when this happens.

I talked to the UPS people this AM and they said that if something is shipped Ground and doesn't require a signature by the SHIPPER, then it goes back.

Like I said, never happened before.

Thanks for the info, I'll let you know what happens.

I did just post the issue on the Matty boards in the DR section. Oddly enough, the banner says not to post questions about individual orders, but to call the toll-free Matty number!

Irony, I name thee Matty.

[markatisu]

I talked to the UPS people this AM and they said that if something is shipped Ground and doesn't require a signature by the SHIPPER, then it goes back.

Like I said, never happened before.

Well first if it did not require a signature then why was it just not dropped at your door? If it did require a signature then they are breaking their own statement

I mean their site even says

UPS makes up to three delivery attempts, excluding weekends and holidays. The third and final delivery attempt has been made, and the driver was unable to leave your package. UPS reserves the right to return the package to the shipper after three delivery attempts.

UPS policy is to attempt 3 times then hold it for 5 business days before going back. I think someone is pulling your chain there and blaming Digital River for their mistake. Not that Digital River is not horrible but it seems UPS is not your friend in this situation either and basically assisted to screw you