Rob_Impreza99

iTrader: (3)

I needed some DVD -R recordable discs so i thought i would give play.com a go after someone recommended them, they currently have an offer on a lot of products where you buy 2 and get the 3rd free.

I thought great, you order 2 and get the 3rd free so thats what i did and went ahead and ordered 2 packs of 50 discs so i got the 3rd one free.

I made a slight error with being a new customer along with being new to the site which was my fault as the order format to get 2 items into your basket isn`t straight forward, what i did was to put 2 seperate items down as one order instead of 1 order of 2 items on the same bill.

Anyway i noticed this straight away and thought i would give them a ring on the number at the bottom of the page, after about 5 attempts on the number it kept saying due to techinical difficulties this number is not available or sometimes it would just ring dead.

I eventually got through this morning and to say it was a joke was an under statement, i explained i was trying to get the "buy 2 get the 3rd free" offer and i had made a slight mistake as i had put them down as 2 seperate orders of 1 item.

The girl then said to me that you need to pay for 3 items to get one free, i then said to her why does it say on your website that you buy 2 and get the 3rd free and not buy 3 and pay for 2 which is what she was saying, if it was what she said the website should read "buy 3 items and pay for 2". To say its not straight forward is an under statement and i bet a lot of people have experienced the same situation.

Anyway after a while she said what i need to do is to buy another pack and she will put it on screen that i get refunded for the 3rd pack, this seems an odd way to operate as all they had to do was to put a free pack in with my order which is what i suggested rather than taking more money from my bank and then having to refund it again at a later date.

Now i will have 3 items arriving at different times as she said they can`t put them in the same box, i even said to her that i don`t mind waiting a few extra days so they can all be held back and boxed together but they were having none of it.

Just don`t make the same mistake i did in believing that if you buy 2 items you will get the 3rd free, from what they said on the phone you need to pay for 3 items to get one free which is not what it says on their website.

ryn004

They have good prices, but for some reason most items arrive weeks later or not at all!

Iain Young

I used to use play a lot, but I had too many things arrive weeks late, (or not at all), or be completely the wrong thing. I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole now...

bob269

Never had any issues, altho don't use them all that much.

A lot of web based companies work on the basis of add the 3 items then discounting it at the end.

I use these

Burn-media.co.uk

it's ran by 1 guy and always sends out replacements no questions asked if there's ever a problem. Only downside is he uses citylink (they like dropping boxes amongst other things).

judgejules

I've ordered 350 items off them over the last 5 years and have never had a problem.

I've just checked the ad, and it says "3 for 2" not "buy 2 get 1 free"



They always do this, it puts a little line through your order when you select 3 and loweres the overall cost per item to make it the same as buy 2 get 1 free.

Its not possible to add the same item on separate lines in your order unless you selected their +R and -R media by accident. I've just added two and three of the same item and they all go into the same group and increment the number of that item.

When you discovered the error, your best option would have been to go into your account, cancel the order and reorder.

Don't let this little problem put you off them

writeofreply

similar problems myself, only they delivered the wrong product, weeks late. Wouldn't use them again, their loss, not mine.

Rob_Impreza99

iTrader: (3)

Wrong on this one mate, i took a screenshot yesterday just incase play.com wanted to contest what they were advertising. You can clearly see above that it says "Sony 50 pack DVD buy 2 get 3rd free". They may change it today as i said to them that the wording is decieving to buyers.

You have to buy 3 to get one free and not what they are advertising which is to buy 2 and get 3rd free.

Click on image to enlarge

judgejules

Yeah mate, but hello?! You're buying 1 each of 2 different manufacturers, what did you expect to get free, another maxell or a sony or a pink elephant? Looking at your screenshot, I'd not expect you to get a third for free as you've not chosen 3 off that screen even though I appreciate that maxell are offering the same deal.

When you go to a store and you see a bin that says buy two get third free, do you pick up two items and take them to the checkout only for the sales bod to walk over to the bin and pick up a third for you, or do you select three items and expect to only pay for 2 when you get to the counter?

Rob_Impreza99

iTrader: (3)

Are you on drugs ? I didn`t buy any maxell as that wasn`t in my final basket, do you think i would be honestly posting here if i had bought 2 different items expecting a 3rd free, wake up and smell the coffee.

Here is the screen shot of my order yesterday on the 31st, you can clearly see that you can put 2 seperate items of the same item in your basket of which you said earlier you can`t. The item from todays date is the one they said i had to buy again to get one free which i said above.

The way your going on is as if you work for them as your defending them to the hilt after their wording is clearly wrong which i have proved, its not buy 2 and get the 3rd free which they are advertising, its buy 3 to get one of them free which is totally different as that means you have to buy 3 of the said item in your basket and not buy 2 as people like i did will put 2 in their basket thinking they are getting the 3rd free which isn`t the case. I have obviously blanked out my address.

click on image to enlarge

judgejules

ITS NOT BUY 3 AND GET 1 FREE. Omg that would give you 4 items. Its buy 2 and get 1 free because you are paying the cost of two items, yet you get 3! Whether that is done by adding 3 items then only getting charged for 2, or by adding 3 items and getting charged slightly less for each item making it the total cost of 2 or by adding 2 and getting another item magically added to your basket, its the same thing.

"what i did was to put 2 seperate items down as one order instead of 1 order of 2 items on the same bill"

^^ is impossible, I've just tried. If you add the same items it adds it to the existing entry and increments the number of that item. As I said above, you can only create two different lines if you add different products as you see in your first screen shot.

Thats not a screen shot of your order, thats the outstanding orders page which always splits the items in there, and doesnt group them by order. Showing a screenshot of that page doesnt prove anything in the way you added items to your basket. If you ordered 100 of the same item, it'd put 100 different lines in that outstanding order page, thats how it works. They send every item separate, thats how play works which is why everything is either listed as free delivery or delivery included. Its based on their original business plan of being able to get 10 dvd's through your letter box one at a time rather than sending 10 in a massive box that you need to sign for or be in to collect.

Rob_Impreza99

iTrader: (3)

This is the last reply your going to get from me as your obviously not capable of reading and you must have some agenda with play.com to defend them so much like your doing.

I did not say anywhere that its buy 3 and get 1 free as you have put it, i said you have to buy 3 items to get one of them free.

What they are advertising like i have shown you from a screenshot is to buy 2and get one free, thats not the case and i`m sure even you can digest that.

You have to buy 3 to get one of them for free, if your basket has only 2 paid items in it you won`t get the 3rd one for free and a lot of people will buy 2 like it advertises and expect the 3rd one for free which it says is what will happen, the way its worded is decieving end of story.

ScoobyDoo555

LOL!!!
Popcorn anybody?

Seriously, Play are pretty good usually - IMHO, you've had a bad start.

Anyway, my stuff is pretty good, but the poor issue is one of reliable delivery.
Not good for Christmas deliveries etc

DAn

davegtt

FWIW I would have added 3 of the same thing to the basket if it was me. How many times do you order of the internet? Seems normal practice to me.

judgejules

Wrong, wrong, wrong. Like the hypothetical situation I put in my other post, what do you do when you go to a shop that has a buy 2 get 1 free offer? You put 3 items in your basket, walk to the checkout where the discount is applied and you only end up paying for 2.

This is EXACTLY the same on play. You add three items to your basket, at which point the price is recalculated and you end up only paying for 2. You DO NOT pay for 3 items at any point then get refunded for the cost of one item as you're implying and if the lady on the end of the phone actually cared about her job and was actually awake she'd have told you this.

You are NEVER buying 3 items, never, they have not made an error on the site. You are adding three items to your basket like you would in a shop. I'm amazed that I dont see more people ending up at the checkout of a shop with 2 items and a puzzled look on their face when they wonder where the 3rd item will come from...

I have no adjenda with play, it just gets on my nerves when people feel they have been let down by an etailer when its clearly operator error.

If you had noticed right away, as you claim, why didnt you just click the blatantly obvious button next to your orders? If you do wait too long your order changes to processing at which point the cancel order button vanishes.

Rob_Impreza99

iTrader: (3)

Dave, the point i am trying to make is this.

If i had a website and i had an offer on the site that said "Buy 2 and get one free" then why would you need to buy 3 of that item as it makes no sense whatsoever as your buying 2 and getting one extra for free.

Its the way its worded, a lot of people will put 2 items in their basked and expect the 3rd for free as thats whats advertised as if the system will pick up that you have bought 2and the free one will get added to your order. In the shops around town they advertise 3for the price of 2 and thats clear cut in how its worded that your paying for 2 items and you will get one for free.

judgejules

So how would you work your website if you could add product A, product B and get product C for free? You'd do it exactly as Play have done it as some people might want to add 2xA and one B free or 2xB and one C free.

There's even big orange alerts under each entry on the basket that remind you that you're getting 3 for 2, what more do you want?

This is an exercise in futility, there's always a customer type that you cant plan for in any scenario.

judgejules

I dont care if it is your last reply. I am more capable of reading your messages than you are about recalling what you've written minutes before. If you want to edit your posts to try and "win" or prove a point, at least do it when I've not quoted your original text.

Oh I think you did mate. Nice edit 30 minutes later, shame I quoted you before you edited it, and you think I'm the one on drugs?

edited to

Like I said, operator error and you want to moan about it? If you're willing to lie about what you're posting on here why should play.com go undefended with your alleged "poor" first experience?

DJ Dunk

iTrader: (5)

Got to admit, I would have added 3 to the basket too, same as you would for a BOGOF.

ESH

Play done ok with a recent order. One item was a pre-order and one was just out of stock but did not show up as so. My card was not debited as a result. I misplaced my wallet last week and cancelled all my cards. they were very helpful at the contact centre and helped me to change my card details.

All in all a good site. Very easy to register and get started. As with all online offers of this ilk you'd have to select the 3 items to get the discount. Works on most of the sites we use at home:

Boots
Sainburys
HMV etc....

Normski

I've used Play.com a fair bit too and never had any problems. In fact I've always been impressed with the time from ordering to delivery.

Iain Young

They used to be good, but I've had so many things just not turn up, or turn up late, or turn up damaged, or be the wrong thing completely, that I would never use them again now. I've found Amazon to be much more reliable, and pretty comparable on price...

Dream Weaver

You normally find that the 3 for 2 offers are on multiple products (brands, specs etc), so hos is the system supposed to guess that the third one you want is the same as the 2 you've already added as you may want a different spec???

And please tell me you checked the order at the checkout before submitting it? Even just to check that it said somewhere that a mystery third item would be telepathically added for you?

I spend a fortune with Play every year, and I haven't had a single issue in 7 years. Yes, it may take a week for some things to turn up, but providing I'm not in a rush that's fine.

Swen6

Had a few issues with Play.com, normally sorted easily enough. The biggest thing that pee'd me off was when the 360 was launched, the minute it was available for pre-order i did it, and never received my console on day of release but a few weeks later, when people ordering days before launch got them on launch day.

It took 3 attempts at posting the original splinter cell to get it. Ordered a film and ended up with the terrible Panic Room, sent straight back, and one or 2 others didn't arrive but after a few weeks of nothing and a call to them and they sent replacements.

Play.com are great for some savings, also easy to find a product you want instead of hunting the shops but also there are somethings that arn't so great. Personally i go to Tesco now for my 360 games as i get what i want when i want for the same money.

ScoobyDriverWannabe

I did the same thing a wile back. Purchased 2 thinking i would automatically get the 3rd.

Didnt bother contesting it. But the site doesnt or didnt have any instruction of how to order them.

rkbycrof

I agree totally, its software afterall, if it was 3 for 2 or buy 2 get 3rd free I would assume you have to check 3 items out so that any discount can be subtracted in the checkout procedure, common sense to me!

I'd like to stick up for Play too, I've bought every game and DVD I've bought over the last 5 or 6 years from them and never had a problem. Sometimes even games that I have preordered have turned up the day before they have been released in shops!

Remember you can also get that extra 2-4% off their listed prices by using Quidco!

Iain Young

Over the last couple of years, I've had at least a dozen dvds not turn up at all, and probably around 10 deliveries with the wrong thing in them altogether. Average delivery time for preorders I've found to be 2-4 weeks (after the release date). Not impressed with them at all, and I stopped using them a while ago.

Never had any problems with Amazon...

rkbycrof

You are not buying three! You are checking 3 out and paying for 2! Simple

rik1471

Play have made the mistake of getting too successful. It has affected their service. I wouldn't use them anymore.

john_s

iTrader: (1)

Indeed. If you went to "Asdescorisonurys" supermarket and found chocolate biscuits on 3 for 2 / buy 2 get one free / however they might dress it up, you'd put 3 packs of chocolate biscuits in your trolley, not take 2 off the shelf and expect a third to appear as you went through the checkout, wouldn't you?

Rob_Impreza99

iTrader: (3)

Exactly, so other people have experienced the same problem, we won`t be the last as their will be plenty of people that have done the same thing.

I have used other sites before where its buy 2 and get a 3rd free, the way it has worked on those sites is that it seems to be programmed that it recognises 2 of the same item in your basket which is on the 3 for 2 offer and it then automtically raises the free item on your account when your at the checkout.

All play.com needed to do is to explain the buying procedure on their site somewhere about how the buy 2 get the 3rd item free actually works.