"I've just had a bad experience with them.

Since describing it in detail would take too long I've written a blog about it.

Feel free to check it:

http://stuffhappens-justonemoreguy2.blogspot.com/"

"Horrible company. I pre-ordered SKyrim. They cancelled my order after the item was shipping elsewhere. And I can request a refund because they sent the cancellation email after they closed on Friday. I will have to request it, the next week."

"I have been purchasing CDs and DVDs from CD Universe since 2008 and have never had a problem."

"On September 9, 2010, I ordered 2 DVD items at CD Universe, Cry The Beloved Country & Something The Lord Made. Their estimated delivery date was Friday, September 17, 2010-Monday, October 4, 2010. I became increasingly concerned when it was October 11, 2010 & my items hadn't been shipped to my address. I then sent them a couple of e-mails nagging them & inquiring about my order. I also told them that on September 13, 2010, a week after I placed an order on them, I placed a DVD order at Amazon.com, Love Don't Cost A Thing. Amazingly, Amazon delivered first, shipping my DVD on the 7th October 7, 2010, although their estimated delivery date was 19 October, 2010. Now that is excellent customer service. Then the Customer Service Representative at CD Universe eventually told me that the name & shipping address on my order were incorrectly listed. They have now gone ahead & updated my details & processed a replacement order with a new order number. Now I'm hopeful that my order will arrive because I can't wait to watch those movies.

Such an error has really made me skeptical about the quality of the service they are rendering to customers. After I get my DVD order, I'm thinking of not buying again from them.

Seka Samuel Gaula

Cape Town, South Africa"

"I'm a repeat customer here. These folks have always shipped promptly, I usually get the item a couple days after ordering. I'll use them again."

"BACKGROUND - This rating deals with the physical storefront operations. Before I visited the store, the sales rep I contacted confirmed this was the online store and worked with Amazon.com.

COMPLAINT - Because I wanted a CD right away, I contacted the merchant and asked if the carried the CD, I was informed they had one copy left and would put it under the counter with my name on it to be picked up the next day. I drove 45 minutes (each way) and when I arrived was informed that the sold the CD after I had contacted them! This was the same person I had talked with the day before!!!

If they treat customers face-to-face in this manner, I cringe to think how they treat on-line customers.

DO NOT DEAL WITH THEM"

"Horrible service! I ordered a computer game to be shipped as a gift to a friend overseas and paid for 'express' shipping. Got a confirmation email but then CD Universe decided to hold my order for phone validation of the address WITHOUT INFORMING ME. Found out about this weeks later when I called the friend and discovered he had not received his gift. Called CD Universe and was promised that the item would ship out the next day. THREE WEEKS later it has still not shipped.

It is now a month and a half since I originally placed the order. I give up. I have bought another copy of the game from a different merchant and will never use CD Universe again."

"I placed an order on June 14, including a pre-order for a DVD to be released on June 24; this pre-order item being the only reason I placed the order at all. The other three items in the order were added as an afterthought; they would not have been ordered if I was not already placing the pre-order.

Checking the status of my order on the website, I discovered that my PRE-ORDER ITEM was placed on backorder and had not shipped with my order! Had I known that this PRE-ORDER ITEM would be – strangely enough – backordered and shipped separately, I would not have bothered to order the other items at the same time.

Additionally, I paid extra to have the order shipped "Expedited with Tracking." But CD Universe does not honor the shipping method requested - and paid for - in the original order for divided shipments despite the selection of "Ship Together." Instead, if the shipment is divided, due to a backorder, when you chose "Ship Together," the delayed shipment(s) are sent without additional shipping charges, but they are sent via the "Standard Shipping" method. Translated, this means that, if you request - and pay additional fees for - "Expedited Shipping," your delayed shipment will not only take longer due to the backorder delay, but it will take even looooonger because the default shipping method is slower.

Again, had I known that the items would be shipped separately, I would have ordered only the PRE-ORDER ITEM and paid for that item alone to be shipped "Expedited with Tracking." If I still desired the other items, they would have been ordered at a later time.

When a customer pre-orders an item, it implies that the customer desires to have that item shipped on, if not before, its street date. If that same customer requests – and pays for – "Expedited" shipping, it further indicates that the customer wants to receive that item within "2-3 business days from the shipping date"; not "3-8 business days from the shipping date" (via the "Standard" shipping method).

Moreover, although their Help Center asserts that "the 'Ship Together' option allows 3-5 business days for delayed or backordered items on your order to arrive from our suppliers so that we can send your order in as few shipments as possible," and I did select "Ship Together," they did not wait 3-5 business days for my backordered PRE-ORDER ITEM to arrive before shipping the other items. In fact, I would have preferred waiting 3-5 business days so that all the items in my order would be SHIPPED TOGETHER - EXPEDITED WITH TRACKING. The delayed shipping and subsequent refusal on CD Universe’s part to honor the original shipping method request defeats the purpose of the pre-order!

Now, thanks to CD Universe's intuitive customer service, not only is my PRE-ORDER ITEM shipped after the release date, but I can expect to receive my PRE-ORDER ITEM 3-8 business days after the DVD’s release date! Where is the logic? Why should anyone bother to pre-order anything from CD Universe if they won’t receive the item until two weeks after the same item is available everywhere else?

Reviewing their pre-order offer, "Place your order today and be one of the first to receive this product when it arrives," makes it difficult to refrain from breaking out in fits of laughter. Is this a joke? Perhaps, the above statement merely contains a typographical error and should read: "Place your order today and be one of the LAST to receive this product when it arrives."

At this point, I will most likely decide to buy the DVD elsewhere, since I should be able to obtain it TWO WEEKS BEFORE I receive their shipment – yes 3-8 business days will mean two weeks AFTER the release date as the maximum shipping estimate usually holds true.

To make matters worse, if I buy the DVD elsewhere and refuse to accept their shipment, I will most likely have to pay ADDITIONAL nonrefundable return shipping charges. Capitalism is great, isn't it? It seems that, these days, customers must pay for the errors of the merchants. Strange new world we live in.

I would like to consider myself a valued customer at CD Universe as I have placed many orders – and spent much money – over the course of this calendar year (2008) alone. As a customer, however, I have recently noticed a decline in the accuracy of the CD Universe website and in the consistency of service provided by CD Universe. As my faith in CD Universe wanes, so will my business. After all, I was a loyal customer of a competitor for years before I discovered CD Universe, so why shouldn’t I now be courted by other competitors? Although CD Universe does offer competitive pricing, my dollars may be better spent on product than on “expedited” shipping methods when “expedited” so often turns into “delayed.”"

"It came when expected, in perfect condition. They also used post-industrial recycled plastics for their shipping packaging. I would (and most likely will) definitely buy again from CD Universe."

"Terrible service. The item was back order, so I cancel the order. Two months later they shipped it anyway and charged me the wrong price. When I returned it, they attempted to give me **store credit** instead of giving me my money back. I will never use CD Universe again."

"Have placed two pre-orders from them, one for a game and the other for a DVD. The first arrived quickly, within about 2-3 days. On the second order, I received an error message saying my credit card couldn't be charged so that my order would be shipped out. I contacted them, and received a response the next day saying it was an error. When I received the DVD (which I received 3 days later), I noticed on the invoice they gave me free shipping, which I had no idea they were going to do. I would definately do business with again!"

"I used CD Universe to order EU3 Limited Edition. It was the ONLY on-line store that had the LE edition.

This particular item was very hard to find. Targets were suppose to carry this in their stores, but at this point had not put it on their shelves. EB Games and such only had the non LE edition.

Normally I wouldn't care or obsess so much about finding an LE edition, but this LE edition gives you access to beta patches and exclusive content, etc etc.

So I was overjoyed when CD Universe had this item. I ordered it. It shipped out the next day and went out US Mail.

I prefer sellers to have a US Mail option. That gives Saturday delivery a possibility and is cheaper. Shipping and handling was 3.99 - fair for a game.

Another plus is they use google checkout, something I'd much rather use than paypal.

Also, when I inquired whether my package was shipped - they got back to me very quickly on the status.

All and all it was a good experience."

"I was extremely pleased with my transaction with CD Universe. Product arrived very quickly, even though I did only did STANDARD shipping. I would highly recommend CD Universe based on this perfect order."

"Short story long, the website indicated that the item will ship in 1-2 days, with a predicted delivery on Friday. Unforunately I received the Merchandise on Monday, which is no big deal. While waiting for the merchandise, I contacted customer support and was responded to immadiately. Received the CD, sealed in good condition, so far it is playing very nicely. Great vendor, had exactly what I wanted for a very good price. Will definitely recommend to people that I know and use them in the future."

"***A preface. The true test of service & performance is not when things are simple and go well. The true test is how it is dealt with when things are not so simple.***

WATCH OUT.

I ordered 9 CDs. I clicked off the shipping option box for "Ship Together". 4 DAYS later, I got a cryptic email which I had to decypher to figure out that they only shipped me 3 CDs!

NO mention of the other 6 CDs.
NO e.t.a. for when the other CDs would come in.
NO notice whatsoever. Nothing.

Any other store, Amazon, CDBaby, would have said something about the missing CDs. Any other store would have paid attention to the option "Ship together".

Here are the mistakes CDUniverse made.
1) CDUniverse did not have my permission to ship a partial order, yet they did.
2) CDUniverse gave me no notice of a backorder situation.
3) CDUniverse did not ASK me if I wanted just the 3, or if I wanted to a) wait, or b) cancel the order (so I could get my complete order from elsewhere, and not pay 2 shipping charges for nothing).

The fact that there was a backorder situation doesn't bother me so much. What does bother me is that they didn't give me notice of the situation before shipping. I had to refuse the order, and in the end, wasted 4+ days, many emails, and a call to my credit card company, all for nothing.

More CDUniverse mistakes.
1) Telling me my order was cancelled when they shipped and charged me for a useless partial order (a shipment which I had to refuse).
2) Being uncooperative in giving me my refund in a timely manner.
3) Creating a situation where I had to call my credit card company to get a refund which I was obviously entitled to.

And guess what? As soon as my card company representative made the 3 way call to CDUniverse, they gave me a prompt refund.

It's a shame that it took so much.

So, beware. I read reviews of CDUniverse mentioning the same thing, and I thought, nah, it won't happen in my situation. But it did, and in the end I HAD TO CALL MY CREDIT CARD COMPANY TO GET MY MONEY BACK.

Amazon.com has good communication, and CDBaby.com has extraordinary communication and real time stock systems, so you won't fall into the same situation as I did. That's where I'll be shopping from now on.

You can be optimistic and say it won't happen to you, as I did, but if, and when it does, you'll be kicking yourself, as I was. Especially when there are so many GREAT places to shop out there."