The Dreadful Customer Service of Rightstuf

[Beocat]

So, once upon a time, I really liked shopping at Rightstuf.  I can't remember what year it was that I got my first catalogue from them (big book full of anime!), but I recall getting my Escaflowne LE DVD boxset from it (I literally got my mom to get it for me for my birthday (might've been Christmas)) and that was the first experience I had owning anime.  Since then, I always would check online at their sales and whatnot.  Then, I started to have problems with their customer service. 

 

In the summer of 2015, Rightstuf did a major update to their website.  It changed people's accounts (you had to sign up again and all of your watchlist anime/saved for later was removed) and even worse, it screwed up the ordering process.  Unbeknownst to me at the time, I was buying a birthday gift for a friend in another state...  Their updated website kept changing all my addresses' zipcodes to match my billing.  When I saw what had happened, it was too late for them to fix it and I was unable to reroute the package to the correct zipcode because obviously, I'm not her.  Upon calling them (I called them probably 20 or more times on this issue), I was told they'd fix it when it was returned to the warehouse, no big deal.  They never actually fixed it (the reason for maybe 15 or so of those calls).  I had promises from at least 6 different people of varying titles that they would go to the warehouse and find it and relabel my package, some via email....none of them actually did this (I can only imagine that they put all the returns in a big pile in the corner and maybe get around to sifting through them after 5 or 6 years).  I emailed them multiple times, spoke with them on the phone...finally, after my friend's birthday had passed, I asked them to just refund my money so I could buy it for her from someone else.  Then they begrudgingly sent me some paperwork to fill out.  The whole ordeal of being repeatedly lied to put a really bad taste in my mouth.  I'm expected to deliver dazzling customer service at my job at all times, so the fact that they were so lazy and insincere really rubbed me the wrong way. 

 

This past year, I decided to give them another chance.  So, I ordered from their Black Friday sale.  Of my package of 5 anime, only one arrived in good condition.  Four of the DVD cases rattled severely when being removed from a pristine box (so, obviously my postal worker at least cared about delivering my package in good condition, even though Rightstuf's warehouse obviously played soccer with my DVD cases).  Upon opening the individual cases, I found disk sleeves to be broken in pieces and disks dislodged and scratched beyond playability.  Sentai (I always assumed Sentai shipped from Rightstuf as it also comes from Grimes, IO) did not have this issue whatsoever.  I obviously, started yet another case.  ~sighs frustratedly~  So, first I submit the case, detailing which DVDs were damaged, noting that I took pictures, and that I wanted to have the items replaced.  That was early December.  With Christmas practically on top of us, I realized I had waited almost 2 weeks for a response.  Now I'm not a fool.  I know Christmas is a busy season for any retailer, so I wrote them again on the case requesting that they at the very least ACKNOWLEDGE that they read my case, even if they were too busy to deal with it immediately.  I also pointed out that the box was pristine, indicating that these DVDs were in this condition prior to leaving their own warehouse.  The very next day I get a response.  It was eerily like in 2015 where a promise was made to look at the case, requesting pictures be emailed, requesting that I notate on the email the CSR's name so they would immediately see it.  I immediately began to have flashbacks, yet a couple of days later I emailed them the pictures with all the information they needed (information I had already outlined for them in the initial case, but I guess reading is overrated in the customer service profession).  I really just want the form so I can fill it out and have my replacements sent on the way.  Sometime after that, inbetween a week before Christmas and today, they closed my case.  No communication to me about why...just closed.  No form either.  Well, I've started a new case, and if they try to give me the run-around a second time, they'll be hearing from me every day when I take my lunch at work.  Apparently, customer service just isn't dreadfully important at Rightstuf.  They likely thought I'd forget about it and they could outwait the "case must be submitted by xxxxx time frame" period.

 

Anyone else have any horror stories to share?  I had gotten to the point that I really didn't like suggesting to people to shop at Rightstuf, even though it is the only place you can find things at times.  Today, after seeing my case closed without any reasoning as to why, my friend mentioned to me that she had seen multiple YouTube videos of people complaining of the same issues.  Is it really that widespread?  I don't think I'll ever recommend them again after this.  Their sales really aren't all that good and the customer service is more a pain than a help.

[efaardvark]

I've ordered a few things from Rightstuf over the years.  Never had a problem worth noting however, and I never had to send anything back.  Fortunately.  I'll definitely think twice before placing another order with them after hearing your story though!

As a side note, as I type this their web site seems to be having problems as well.  It timed out and I had to retry a couple times before it would load.  Sounds like they need to get their act together.  Companies that don't communicate well with their customers don't usually last very long.

Edit:  I was just thinking the other day it was about time to add to my DVD collection too.   

Edited January 8, 2019 by efaardvark

[Beocat]

Way back in the day, I never had problems with them either. It just seems in the past 5 years everything about thrir customer service has gone straight downhill. 

 

That said, so far Sentai and Funimation I've never had an issue with (though if Rightstuf isn't shipping for Sentai I'd be surprised as they ship out of the same town). I used to buy from Best Buy...that might be my only choice in the future other than conventions to get all the anime I want not available through those two suppliers. 

[EnviousEnvy]

I've never had any problems with Rightstuf either but now I'm a little afraid; especially since this is the only site where I can find most of my anime from and they usually have decent deals. My Best Buy has slim pickings when it comes to anime and BAM up scales their prices on anime movies and series way too high. They literally wanted Part One of Soul Eater for over $50 when I can order the complete series online or buy the complete series at Best Buy for $50.  And I'm definitely not about to resort to buying series or movies on Amazon or Ebay, lol.