The "They have it cheaper on Amazon.co.uk than Amazon Thread

[J.P. Samson]

Originally Posted by zeze

For anyone who has recently ordered from Amazon UK, how did your order ship? Making an Arrow order and debating if I should go with Zavvi or Amazon UK. One blu-ray that I want is only on sale on Amazon UK but if they are still shipping with a courier then I will just go with Zavvi.

I received my copy of the Titans of Cult release of The Thing 4K today from Amazon U.K. Was shipped in a very thin cardboard envelope (not corrugated, no padding). This seems to be the new standard for packaging, unfortunately. Product arrived partially crushed (i.e. is damaged). Was shipped using their Standard Shipping (cheapest) option. Went by Australia Global Post (AGP) and transferred to Purolator in Canada. No duties/extra fees were charged (e.g. paid no tax).

Addendum: Since the plastic slip is translucent, I used a bright light to look through it. Without even opening the package, I can see that the SteelBook is significantly bent. So back this goes to Amazon U.K. And as has happened for others, Amazon U.K. is only offering to refund an amount for return shipping that is less than the cheapest Canada Post shipping option (Small Packet International Surface). So I guess I'll be haggling with their customer service.

JP

[Beckstreaker]

Originally Posted by TheDarkBlueNight

Ouch.

I had some pre-orders there, but cancelled everything a while ago after hearing about these DHL fees. Didn't realize at checkout they aren't taking the import fees deposit beforehand anymore. If they were, this wouldn't happen (in theory).

Only IT and DE take taxes up front now for some reason so UK and FR are a coin flip if it's going to ship with APG for no extra or DHL and get dinged with their fees and duty.

[Habsfan77]

Originally Posted by Beckstreaker

Only IT and DE take taxes up front now for some reason so UK and FR are a coin flip if it's going to ship with APG for no extra or DHL and get dinged with their fees and duty.

It's not exactly a coin flip. The chances of having your package shipped with APG are way higher than DHL. I think my last package sent with DHL was back in January when they sent all their packages with DHL for about a 2 weeks period. Since then I've had at least over 10 packages from Amazon UK and Fr, all sent with APG.

[Beckstreaker]

Amazon UK - Get £5 off your next purchase of £15

[J.P. Samson]

Originally Posted by J.P. Samson

I received my copy of the Titans of Cult release of The Thing 4K today from Amazon U.K. Was shipped in a very thin cardboard envelope (not corrugated, no padding). This seems to be the new standard for packaging, unfortunately. Product arrived partially crushed (i.e. is damaged). ...

Without even opening the package, I can see that the SteelBook is significantly bent. So back this goes to Amazon U.K. And as has happened for others, Amazon U.K. is only offering to refund an amount for return shipping that is less than the cheapest Canada Post shipping option (Small Packet International Surface).

I shipped the damaged disc back to Amazon U.K. at my own expense. I used the more costly Canada Post - Small Packet International Air because I figured going by ground/boat would take forever, especially as the holiday season approaches. My return shipping cost was $25.80.

After Amazon U.K. reported receiving the package back and partially refunded my purchase and expenses, I sent them a photograph of the parcel (complete with the postage label affixed showing the cost) as well as a copy of the Canada Post receipt. Amazon U.K. agreed to refund me the full cost of the return postage. For future reference, the e-mail address for making postage refund requests is: return-postage[at]amazon.co.uk

JP

[kokot]

Thanks for the update. So far I've been really lucky with the shipments from European amazon stores. Amazon US is a different story so I stopped ordering from them.

[J.P. Samson]

Originally Posted by kokot

Thanks for the update. So far I've been really lucky with the shipments from European amazon stores. Amazon US is a different story so I stopped ordering from them.

I was lucky enough to be awake and notice when Zavvi put up their surplus stock of Titan of Cults - The Thing 4K one night. So the happy ending to the story is that I did receive a nice, minty copy, no thanks to Amazon U.K.

JP

[Beckstreaker]

Lord of the Rings 4k trilogy is £10.79
https://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Lord-of.../dp/B08KJNXNKW

Matrix 4k trilogy is £10.47
https://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Matrix-.../dp/B07HNJ8QS1

Dark Knight 4k trilogy is £12.59
https://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Dark-Kn.../dp/B076B587K6

[pixote]

Still can't believe SHAW BROTHERS VOLUME 1 (Shawscope Vol 1) from Arrow was 22 GBP a couple of days ago. I missed it but hopefully some Canadians got in on it

[Habsfan77]

Heads-up, right now is a good time to avoid Amazon.co.uk since they are shipping all standard speed packages to Canada with DHL. Last time this happened was around the same time last year and they did it maybe for a couple of weeks. After that, all my orders from February to December had been shipped with APG and delivered by Canada Post.

I have a package from Amazon.fr that shipped yesterday with APG, so apparently the situation only affects Amazon.co.uk.

[bubaglobalj]

Originally Posted by Habsfan77

Heads-up, right now is a good time to avoid Amazon.co.uk since they are shipping all standard speed packages to Canada with DHL. Last time this happened was around the same time last year and they did it maybe for a couple of weeks. After that, all my orders from February to December had been shipped with APG and delivered by Canada Post.

I have a package from Amazon.fr that shipped yesterday with APG, so apparently the situation only affects Amazon.co.uk.

Thanks for the head's up, that is super annoying.

[supervij]

$36 all in for Arrow Video’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Limited Edition 4K UHD [Blu-ray] [Region Free] https://amzn.eu/d/bY8t64Z

[J.P. Samson]

Originally Posted by supervij

$36 all in for Arrow Video’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas Limited Edition 4K UHD [Blu-ray] [Region Free] https://amzn.eu/d/bY8t64Z

Combine that with StudioCanal's The City of Lost Children 4K for about CDN$21.75 and spread the shipping cost around. Just bear in mind that the Blu-Ray copy will be Region B locked.

JP

[George.P]

Any knows what happens to the shipping cost spread when you order a bunch of movies (which reduces the per movie shipping cost), but then cancel some of them? Does the ratio stay the same? Or is the per piece shipping cost higher?

[J.P. Samson]

Originally Posted by Habsfan77

Heads-up, right now is a good time to avoid Amazon.co.uk since they are shipping all standard speed packages to Canada with DHL. Last time this happened was around the same time last year and they did it maybe for a couple of weeks. After that, all my orders from February to December had been shipped with APG and delivered by Canada Post.

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but...
My latest order of a Blu-Ray boxset from Amazon U.K. was just shipped DHL Express despite me paying only for cheap "standard shipping". So, here we are at the end of March, and they are still giving you the unwanted free shipping service upgrades. ... I've already paid the additional DHL ransom on the package.

JP

[Habsfan77]

Originally Posted by J.P. Samson

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but...
My latest order of a Blu-Ray boxset from Amazon U.K. was just shipped DHL Express despite me paying only for cheap "standard shipping". So, here we are at the end of March, and they are still giving you the unwanted free shipping service upgrades. ... I've already paid the additional DHL ransom on the package.

JP

It's strange, I placed a lot of orders since my post and they have all been shipped with APG/Canada Post, including my latest preorders last Sunday.

[J.P. Samson]

Originally Posted by Habsfan77

It's strange, I placed a lot of orders since my post and they have all been shipped with APG/Canada Post, including my latest preorders last Sunday.

No one is more surprised than me. Like you, everything else I've been ordering from Amazon U.K. has come APG. In fact, the other part of this same order went by APG earlier. But obviously there is still a random if rare risk of them using DHL, so I thought I'd let others know.

JP

[spawningblue]

Just received the Second Sight Limited Edition Texas Chainsaw Massacre set from Amazon UK, and they just threw a sticker on the Collector's box itself, not even a bubble mailer. To no one's surprise the box is pretty beat up, though thankfully the discs look fine. And of course it is sold out everywhere now so I couldn't get a replacement, and after arguing with an Amazon supervisor for an hour, the most they would do was offer me a 33% discount. He asked me for pictures and then when I sent them he said that's just the box, show some actual pics of the item damaged, ie. if the discs are fine then all is well. I tried explaining that that is the whole point of this release, if I just wanted the discs I would have ordered the standard edition, but obviously that went in one ear and out the other. Either way, be weary as it was mentioned several times that if they feel the box is big enough to get away with just slapping a sticker on the outside of the item, then that's how they will ship it now.

It's unfortunate as I ordered this with several other limited editions hoping they'd ship them all together in a box, but this was was delayed and then shipped separately. Mind you, The Driver steelbook came bouncing around the box with a big dent in it anyway, so I guess ordering anything limited from Amazon UK is just not a good idea. I wish there were more options for UK releases for Canadians without costing an arm and a leg.

[Animatic33]

Shit, I'm so sorry to hear this. Many years ago I would've gone to bat saying the Amazon UK shipping packaging was 10x better than what we had over here. Boxes were properly padded, the style and quality of shipping boxes were better and all the things I ordered from there was in good quality.

Frustrating how things always change to the worse.

[fred25_Ca]

Originally Posted by spawningblue

Just received the Second Sight Limited Edition Texas Chainsaw Massacre set from Amazon UK, and they just threw a sticker on the Collector's box itself, not even a bubble mailer. To no one's surprise the box is pretty beat up, though thankfully the discs look fine. And of course it is sold out everywhere now so I couldn't get a replacement, and after arguing with an Amazon supervisor for an hour, the most they would do was offer me a 33% discount. He asked me for pictures and then when I sent them he said that's just the box, show some actual pics of the item damaged, ie. if the discs are fine then all is well. I tried explaining that that is the whole point of this release, if I just wanted the discs I would have ordered the standard edition, but obviously that went in one ear and out the other. Either way, be weary as it was mentioned several times that if they feel the box is big enough to get away with just slapping a sticker on the outside of the item, then that's how they will ship it now.

It's unfortunate as I ordered this with several other limited editions hoping they'd ship them all together in a box, but this was was delayed and then shipped separately. Mind you, The Driver steelbook came bouncing around the box with a big dent in it anyway, so I guess ordering anything limited from Amazon UK is just not a good idea. I wish there were more options for UK releases for Canadians without costing an arm and a leg.

I had the same problem but they accepted the return in my case. Unfortunately, it cost me 70$ CAD to send it back and even though they assured me they would refund both the cost of my purchase AND the cost of what it cost me to send it back by mail on my visa card, a month and a half later i got an email saying i had 200$ amazon uk credit.
All of this took nearly two months of fights and frustration with employees constantly telling me different information. After I got the amazon credit, every employee I talked to said it was impossible to refund me on my visa since they had already given me the credits, even though I had two emails assuring me they would.
I told myself i'd never buy from amazon uk ever again. Their customer service is one of the worst i've ever dealt with. I rebought the Texas limited edition on Second sight's website directly and it cost me 97 frigging bucks but at least it's in pristine condition.
God I hate amazon. They treat their customers like crap and lie again and again. Never buy from amazon uk a limited edition, they will drive you insane. :P

The worst is, when I pre-ordered this item I talked to 4 different employees asking for this to be well packaged. They all assured me it would be and that i'd get my item in perfect condition. Obviously none of them cared or did anything about it and it came all beat up.