Another DRI Victim - Not taking this!

[MrBlitzer]

Im sure this will be yet another track on the HOW DIGITAL RIVER FAILS soundtrack , but yknow , oh well

So here goes!

Last Sunday , I got my email

MattyCollector.com - Your Club Subscription Has Renewed!
Renewal Date: February 12, 2012
Subtotal: $40.00
Tax: $4.26
Total: $56.01

The card that has been defaulted for my sub payments is my Bank . Sure enough , right when I got this email, sitting right there in my banks recent activity is a pending charge for DRI*MATTYCOLLECTOR for $56.01 .

At this point , I am only irritated about the lack of combined shipping with my Voltron sub. (which after checking my original invoice - for the Voltron and Eternia subs, I realized I have already Paid for the red lion , lance, tax , and shipping . )

Fast Forward to Thursday - Feb 16th! (My sons 8th Birthday!) WHilst at work , my dearest wife texts me at 720am with , "Now that charge from matty collector is gone?" - I am now a bit nervous! All the horror stories Ive heard , I am now doubtful I am going to get my Fisto , Sorceress , or even Shadow Weaver! But Ive no time at work to figure this out , and it is my sons birthday so we have plans. Sure enough later this day I get my notice that my order has been shipped! Im dubious! I check, its confirmed on mattys site. So I assume the charges will reappear , and dont give it another thought until this morning (feb 18th)

Feb 18th - Still no sign of that $56.01 on my bank (remember, they were there , then they werent!) So I decide to check the credit card that I originally signed up the subs with (WHICH , BY THE WAY , wasnt used for my Jan SUB, which by then had already been changed to my BANK card) and SURE enough , there it is! The charge from Matty ! Ive found it ! Its screwy it would go from one to the other but HEY , problem sol....WAIT JUST A MINUTE !
This is what I see
02/15/2012 02/16/2012 DRI*MATTYCOLLECTOR MINNETONKA MN $62.50

NOT $56.01 . I check my Order AGAIN on Matty , it says $56.01. I check the INVOICE , it SAYS $56.01 .

SOMEHOW , DRI originally charged my default card the $56.01 . It was in my banks activity. My bank would not refuse this charge. I can only ASSUME Digital River cancelled the charge themselves , and then charged my other card instead. for $62.50 ! With No explanation !

So this morning I sent my message to EVil Skeletor and CS

MR EVIL

Its time for you to shine my friend.

I just sent this to "Customer Service"

-OK so when you guys originally charged me for my Club Eternia Sub (order # 10315306700)you attempted the charge on the correct card (my bank , which I designated for my default payment) for $56.01 . This transaction was on my pending charges list in my banks activity. Then it was gone. Then you let me know my order was shipped. Still no sign of the $56.01 . So I checked my credit card which I ordered my sub with and sure enough theres a charge. FOR $62.50 !!
There is no explanation for you to ADD an extra $6.49 to my order , this does not even show on this orders INVOICE. FIX this IMMEDIATELY or I WILL report this to the CREDIT FRAUD center and the BBB. IF I have to make any PHONECALLS it will not be to YOU. AND an apology would be nice as well. THIS is not an invitation for you to cancel my subscription.-

Needless to say , I sir am not HAPPY . I dont mean to sound like im making threats , I am not attempting to "strongarm" you guys. I expect this matter resolved , and quickly , and I am simply letting you know what you can expect of me. I will never condone unwarranted charges without notice , or approval.

Thanks
Aaron

Im done with this matter until Monday , which I have off work. I will wake up , drink coffee , and either has a resolved matter waiting for me , or I start kicking doors.

[Berserker79]

Digital River-another reason not to buy a sub...

[Prahvus]

Good reaction, MrBlitzer !

It seems that all the fears we had regarding February and the subs reinstatements are coming true... I sure hope for the subbers that the promised improvements will be implemented very quick.

[Fendi]

Will toyguru Realize that DR going to Keel Teh Lien? or continue to blame us for not taking the subs?

[blackiecats]

I really do think they will struggle to sell subs for next year. Sure the hardcore fan base will subscribe, but is that really enough? I just recently checked BBTS and how many Star Sisters packs they had for sale... they had 135! Now that comment is NOT an oh lets all feel sorry for the poor reseller (just before anyone gets on their high horse) but the fact that resellers are gonna buy less subs next year, if they have an abundance of an expensive item, which they are literally gonna have to take an hefty loss on to shift them!

Far too many strikes against the next sub, so whatever the sub exclusive is next year, I predict much less produced than what was done with Shadow Weaver.

Anyway I hope you get things fixed next week MrBlitzer

[mekaneckpain]

Has anyone noticed that no matter what we are promised, no matter what is said, DR still continues to "ef" up the subs along with everything else they do? Do people really still have faith that things will improve??? I don't see how. This has been going on for so long now, any other respectable company would have gotten their act together years ago. I have never, ever seen such disorganization from a company. This is not a rant, but it's a sincere question that will never be answered with any truth. I absolutely cannot wait...to see what TG has to say, if anything about this catastrophe.

[markatisu]

I really do think they will struggle to sell subs for next year. Sure the hardcore fan base will subscribe, but is that really enough? I just recently checked BBTS and how many Star Sisters packs they had for sale... they had 135! Now that comment is NOT an oh lets all feel sorry for the poor reseller (just before anyone gets on their high horse) but the fact that resellers are gonna buy less subs next year, if they have an abundance of an expensive item, which they are literally gonna have to take an hefty loss on to shift them!

Far too many strikes against the next sub, so whatever the sub exclusive is next year, I predict much less produced than what was done with Shadow Weaver.

Anyway I hope you get things fixed next week MrBlitzer

Wow that is really a flawed look there Neil, they sold out of Shadow Weaver and Fisto (sold out on the 15th) , have roughly 25-30 of Photog and Sorceress and presold out of some future figures. So while the Star Sisters did not sell out for them they are making more then enough to sub at the same level or more

[blackiecats]

Wow that is really a flawed look there Neil, they sold out of Shadow Weaver and Fisto (sold out on the 15th) , have roughly 25-30 of Photog and Sorceress and presold out of some future figures. So while the Star Sisters did not sell out for them they are making more then enough to sub at the same level or more

The sold out pre-orders will come back up for order much like Sorceress just did, once folks have placed their day of orders at Matty. I think Kobra Khan, much like Fisto will sell out at BBTS. Not so sure about the rest. They already have 2011 items sitting around which doesn't help either.

As for Shadow Weaver, she balances out the Star Sisters loss. So basically their profit lies with the $10 mark up on each monthly. Fisto and Kobra Khan are only 2 out of 16 figures. I'm not sure what BBTS profit projections are on their MOTUC 2012 stock, but if it were me selling out of 3-4 figures out of 16 (including the variants) is not enough to convince me to increase the inventory of this product line. I think BBTS will continue to buy subs, but at a lesser order quota.

But then if folks are cancelling their subs, maybe BBTS will see this as an opportunity to get more customers?

[XelaStratos]

The only improvement that Matty could make with Digital River is getting rid of them. I think people are dropping from subscriptions and/or the line solely based on DR.

[hhhelmsley]

I can see it happen. Sub went down again, the price for the figures outside the sub up $25.00 and the line is going to really star to ....

[Tallstar]

I don't get why BBTS didn't put the Star Sisters up for Pre-Order right away?

Oh and LOL @ $94.99

[Larry Waters]

After 3 years of Digital River blunders and the Fisto debacle, I am officially on board with paying extra to Pre-Order from BBTS.

The extra $$ is worth saving myself the headaches...

[omee]

This happened to me too. They charged my default card...Damnit!

[Exinferis]

I'm going to be moving in a couple of months (hopefully!), I can't wait to see how often they send my stuff to the wrong address.

[chuc98]

I'm going to be moving in a couple of months (hopefully!), I can't wait to see how often they send my stuff to the wrong address.

When I moved I had no issues updating my shipping address.

[shadowfall1976]

After 3 years of Digital River blunders and the Fisto debacle, I am officially on board with paying extra to Pre-Order from BBTS.

The extra $$ is worth saving myself the headaches...

Actually I did the math, and as long as you can wait a few months, you can actually save money, or spend almost just as much, hey to save money, and still get my figures, I can wait a few months....seems the waiting is a part of the line anyway, at least with BBTS you can get good customer service, instant order cancellations & if you E-mail them, they E-mail you right back by next business day.

6 months of BBTS figures in the POL system they have, is actually cheaper than 6 months worth of figures with DR & full shipping prices every month, especially since now out of sub figures are $2+ more.

[mjharwood]

Trying to find a logical answer (because in the entire history of this line, I've been fortunate enough not to have any issues with payment or address), did you place any day-of-sale order? If so, could that be what's on the other card? If your sub hasn't shipped yet, the auth would have fallen off between the original date DR created thew renewal order and when it ships (heck, my day of order auth isn't showing in my bank as pending because it hasn't shipped yet, but it was there on sale day and within a day or two after, while my renewal sub auth was there on about the 13th and then vanished on the 16th, only to reappear when it cleared on the 17th because the order shipped). Just a thought...

[audman]

Yeah this is getting ridiculous. Actually getting is not even applicable. I also had difficulties with their charges lockin my bank card due to security concerns. Giving them the theoretical 60 days (twice what Toyguru said) if things are just as chaotic in 60 days I am not sure i am going to resubscribe. For me coming in i had MOTU, Ghostbusters and picked up Voltron for the heck of it. We know what happend to ghostbusters and I am not seeing a huge reason to resubscribe as I am not seeing early shipping or even combined shipping (still paying extra now for the ghostbusters). So Without any reason to think they will do anything new for voltron next year and ghostbusters will remain non sub if existant after 2012 I will have MOTU and whatever they do with Back to the Future. Really not showing a huge reason to resubscribe. I still have to babysit this like if i waited to the 15th and subscribed. I never had this kind of legwork with any sites I have dealt with. I love and support these lines but Matty has to stop the sweetheart I promise I won't cheat talk. Throwing out new promises and previews whenever they get caught in a jam. We just want our products without a hassle and with all limbs attached in the applicable order. Not too much to ask. Ah enough rambling.

[Blaster]

I can say with confidence that once I receive my Fisto, Sorceress, and Shadow Weaver, that I don't care if they "accidentally" cancel my sub, I will let them keep it cancelled this time.

[EldestSon]

Wow that is really a flawed look there Neil, they sold out of Shadow Weaver and Fisto (sold out on the 15th) , have roughly 25-30 of Photog and Sorceress and presold out of some future figures. So while the Star Sisters did not sell out for them they are making more then enough to sub at the same level or more

do you mean sorceress sold out on the 15th? shadow weaver was not available (club exclusive).

[mekaneckpain]

Yeah, but as it turns out... The subs were never cancelled to begin with. Or at least for some of us.

[omee]

I can say with confidence that once I receive my Fisto, Sorceress, and Shadow Weaver, that I don't care if they "accidentally" cancel my sub, I will let them keep it cancelled this time.

I'm with you brother.

[MrBlitzer]

Trying to find a logical answer (because in the entire history of this line, I've been fortunate enough not to have any issues with payment or address), did you place any day-of-sale order?

Yep , I intended to buy another set of Fisto and Sorceress , which for obvious reasons did not happen. But I did get a Photog alone. Paid thru my Paypal Mastercard with no problems.

If so, could that be what's on the other card? If your sub hasn't shipped yet, the auth would have fallen off between the original date DR created thew renewal order and when it ships (heck, my day of order auth isn't showing in my bank as pending because it hasn't shipped yet, but it was there on sale day and within a day or two after, while my renewal sub auth was there on about the 13th and then vanished on the 16th, only to reappear when it cleared on the 17th because the order shipped). Just a thought...

Yes , apparantly when they shipped it the charges went thru, but on the wrong card. Which is a common occurrence with DR. There's plenty of room on the card they used so it went thru with no issue. And to be honest, I really couldnt care less. Incompetence is tolerable. Fraud and stealing is absolutely not. The amount is minuscule a mere $6.49 . I wouldnt care if it was a dime, ill waste my money however I choose and see fit, but any jagaloon company tries to take me for a patsy and take from me more than I authorize will be fought tooth and nail.

[XelaStratos]

Actually I did the math, and as long as you can wait a few months, you can actually save money, or spend almost just as much, hey to save money, and still get my figures, I can wait a few months....seems the waiting is a part of the line anyway, at least with BBTS you can get good customer service, instant order cancellations & if you E-mail them, they E-mail you right back by next business day.

6 months of BBTS figures in the POL system they have, is actually cheaper than 6 months worth of figures with DR & full shipping prices every month, especially since now out of sub figures are $2+ more.

I just might have to do this option. I am okay waiting. I am sick of the headache of every month wondering if I will get my figures or if DR will somehow mess up my order.

[BoShek]

I a worried with Digital River myself. I have been charged twice in the last week and I have no idea what it is for! I paid for Fisto and company already. What is this for now? On Matty collector it has nothing listed on my orders for these charges either ...