"I ordered from Columbia House on December 14th. They generally have a good order process. The prices aren't bad (if they were I'd go some place else, right?), and the shipping is generally good. The one problem: they let me order and confirmed my order, even though I later found out my account was characterized as inactive. A stunner considering that I am a "preferred member" when I log in to thier web site. I had to call them to find out that they wouldn't be processing my order, 9 days after I placed it. Not a great place to be when I was planning on giving some of these movies as gifts. This glitch in the ordering process is unacceptable.
Update: (Jan 3, 05) After the fact, they helped me reactivate my account, and sent part of my order expidited shipping (charging me before they even asked if I wanted this service) and dropped a DVD off my order that was supposed to ship to someone else."

"So far all your reviewers must be from outer space. I have been with Columbia House for over 10 years and have purchased over 300 hundred dvd's from them with hardly any problems. When I have a problem I call customer service at 1-***-***-**** and go thru the prompts to get a live person. Some times that does not work,so I get the prompt for ordering over the phone. Any person you then talk to will handle your problem in a professional manner. I had a major problem a few years ago that required a supervisor. I got one who gave me her name and I was able to get a hold of her for future problems. Please people have patience and treat these people as fellow humans. They are good people and will not bite. My goodness,the person who did not know about sales tax on s&h must be new to on line buying.All vendors charge tax on s&h if the state taxes on the merchandise. Most states do not tax on shipping only,but when handling is added there is tax.Another thing,merchandise does come from multiple warehouses requiring multiple shipments on an order. So what? The only complaint is their online account balance status which includes in the amount due the "pending(ready for shipment)dvds.Ignore the amount curently due and just pay off of invoices received with the merchandise. The invoice shows the true current and past amounts due."

"Beware!!! Columbia House record/DVD club(s) are a scam! Much like the older AOL fraud game - Columbia attracts customers into memberships... only then does the customer see their real charges and realize that the same [DVD] movie can be bought at most local outlets for as much as $14.00 less than Columbia's (average) $26.00 price.

Not a problem, just contact them and cancel your membership! That's what 'they' tell you in their Ad's...

Now! Just you start trying to contact someone at Columbia who will process your membership cancelation!!! GOOD LUCK!

I've been calling numbers for over a month -"ALL" I can get are 'mazes' of recording machines, "none" of which address canceling a membership. Their WEB site is setup to mislead and misdirect customers in the same way.

My real frustration is that 'now' I must resort to the 'Internet' to find [their] "hidden" phone numbers or address or some solution, only to find that most of the so-called fraud/complaint forums online are not much of a help at providing any worthwhile information to contact these crooked SOB's. "

"I ordered DVDs from Columbia House on March 1. They double shipped 9 of them and significantly overcharged me for the extra shipment, $135.46. I returned the extra items with the invoices indicating the overcharge and asking for the credit to my account, per their instructions. Every time I call I receive misinformation and am told a different story. A customer service person named Trent stated that the only person in the organization who can fix this problem is Russell Harding, and after almost 3 weeks of attempt to get this taken care of he has not. No one I have spoken to has ever returned any of my calls, even though they all assured me that they would. I have spent over 20 hours and sent a dozen emails and still no one will fix this."

"Have a good selection, ok prices, and on time delivery."

"Beware.

I don't know what happened to this company. It used to be great and have bought vidios and DVD's from them for many years. They must have sold out to some fly by night operation.

Zero customer service.

We have been having problems with the on-line system. We can't seem to pay off our account because every time we buy something, it will not recognize the sale. Because it will not recognize the sale the system says we have not fulfulled our obligation. Consequently, we are getting automated letters stating collection efforts.

Columbia house has no customer service by phone, will not answer emails or letters.

Columbia house has turned into on of the worst companies out there. It's only a matter of time before peope get taken advantage of enough and stop buying from them."

"Ordered CD, never received. Emailing customer service said it takes 30 days (30 DAYS!!) to arrive after shipping. Did not arrive even after 30 days and after that customer service only hed this to say:

Normally, delivery can be expected within maximum
four weeks from the date of shipment. If for any
reason there is a delay beyond the expected
shipping date, we will notify you. lease feel
free to contact us if you do not receive your
order after 30 days.

Again, this reply was after their 30 days were long over. Columbia is good for your first order of CDs to suck you into the membership agreement to buy those 5 CDs at regular price over two years which they will not deliver!!

Note: the invoice number I entered is my order confirmation number."

"Not too great pricing for a Club - Customer Service rather unresponsive - Fun Cash expires at the end of the year no matter when earned - billing may differ from the original confirmation (got straightened out after a complaint)."