Problem with eStarland (Resolved in my favor)

dafoomie

dafoomie

CAGiversary!
Feedback
39 (100%)
Some of you may know that I recently bought a used copy of Keio Flying Squadron from eStarland. I received it in very poor condition, the disc was scratched up, the manual's cover was detatched from the staples, had rental stickers on it, and was folded in half. I chalked this up as an abberation, since eStarland almost always sends their games in excellent condition.

I sent them an RMA request and mailed the item back. They sent me an email stating that they will not accept the return, since they don't believe that this was the same item they sent out. I can understand why they would think so, but its not so farfetched that one of their employees was lazy about inspecting the item, which is what probably happened.

I politely expressed my disappointment, and kindly asked if there were a way to resolve the situation. I also stated that I would file a complaint with my credit card company if they refused to replace or refund the item, which was absolutely not in the condition advertised.

If this were a cheap item, I probably wouldn't have even bothered returning it. But, I paid $85+shipping for this, I'm not about to eat that cost because a lazy employee failed to do more than open the case when inspecting the item.

Has anyone else had any recent problems with eStarland? They've been excellent in every possible way until my last couple of orders. I was going to make a fairly large purchase with them in the next couple of weeks, not anymore.

EDIT:
Problem resolved, finally. I have no current complaints.
 
It just occured to me that I probably paid for the game with at least some trade-in credit, that pretty much kills my chargeback options.

Its really not a big deal for me financially if I'm stuck with it, I could almost certainly profit if I put it on eBay, but thats a big waste of my time and effort. Why would I try to defraud them when I could just sell it for more cash than they'd give me in store credit for returning it?

eStarland has been very good to me until this. I don't know if I'd do business with them again if this isn't resolved. They certainly don't seem to care that I've been a good customer for a few years now. Its really too bad, they're everything I want in a vendor, they've got a nice selection of imports, decent prices, usually good service and their items are usually in good condition. But, if they're going to accuse me of defrauding them every time I have to return something, theres no way I could ever buy anything from them or recommend them to anyone.
 
I had a issue with them taking several weeks to credit me for a trade but they eventually made good and gave me the $. It was over a holiday weekend in the middle of that period but still all my other trades have processed within a few days. Most all my orders have been new games but i've bought a couple used games from them and they arrived in near perfect condition.

Sounds like you just got unlucky because everyone seems to love them including myself now that they finally have shipped my backordered Yoshis Island. They give some of the best trade credit besides Ebay and take 2 of each game. :D
 
Bad luck is getting an $8 game with something wrong with it.

This is a major malfunction! $90 with shipping... As far as I'm concerned, this is failing to honor their warranty at best, and bait & switch at worst.

How does the 90 day guarantee work?

If you purchase pre-owned merchandise and you find any problems with it, we will fix or replace the merchandise at no cost to you, and refund your shipping costs for sending it back to us.

Item Conditions

eStarland offers quality pre-owned merchandise, but it’s important to note that someone had it before you did, so there may be some minor flaws (faded labels, missing instructions, etc.). All merchandise is cleaned and tested and is guaranteed for 90 days. The merchandise may not be perfect, but it will be in excellent condition.

Return Policy (US Customers Only)

In order to return merchandise purchased at eStarland you must first contact us through Live Support or e-mail to receive a Return Authorization Number. When you send your merchandise, please include a copy of your receipt and this number. Returns will not be accepted without a Return Authorization Number. eStarland will only accept returns of defective or improperly shipped merchandise. When returning unopened products, you must contact us within 7 days of receipt; we will not be able to accept returns for unopened products after 7 days of receipt. No other returns will be accepted. Any manuals, accessories, or pack-ins included with returned item must be included. If the item was new, it must still be factory sealed to be accepted for return. Any merchandise that does not meet these guidelines will not accept it and eStarland cannot be held responsible for return shipping costs.
Click to expand...

Their position with me is that their minimum wage employees are infallible, and that any defective return must be an attempt to defraud the company since every item is thoroughly inspected without fail. This is rediculous! I'm lucky that I can just sell the item and make most of the money back, otherwise I'd be seriously screwed right now.

Just to make this clear, I'm not trying to rip them off. They're accusing me of buying that game, and trying to return a different copy in worse condition. I can understand that this can be a problem for them, but why would anyone do that for this game? That game is never in stock there, I jumped at the chance to buy it as soon as I saw it. Their price ($85) is much less than the ebay price ($150), and even in such poor condition, I could easily get $85 cash for it, instead of $85 in eStarland store credit, which I could get $56 in cash for.

If I'm stuck with this game, I will never, ever, ever do business with them again. How can I order from them in good faith if I know they won't honor their warranties or guarantees? Since 04, I've traded in more than $500 in games, and I've spent far more than that, I'd find out how much if I could see more than my orders in the last 90 days.

I didn't even ask for a refund, I wanted an exchange. They could resurface the disc and replace the manual, and I'd be happy. They could resurface the disc, and refund the difference between the complete price and the missing manual price, and I'd be happy.
 
Never had any problems with them, so far.. Ive only bought 2 used games there and both came in like new condition. Although its taking a lot longer for them to proccess my trade-ins.
 
You saying you traded in over $500 worth of stuff to them since 04 made me wonder what my total was. I started doing business with them in 04 as well. I totalled all my trade ins and it comes out to exactly $5245.66. :shock:
 
Bad luck would be getting the game in crap shape and them processing the refund properly. (As you'd want the game in the promised condition more than a refund.) This is called worthless customer service.
 
[quote name='wubb']Bad luck would be getting the game in crap shape and them processing the refund properly. (As you'd want the game in the promised condition more than a refund.) This is called worthless customer service.[/QUOTE]

They have the best customer service of any retailer(online and B&M) I have ever dealt with. What happened to dafoomie sucks, but is a very rare occurance. I would get back with their live chat again and explain the situation to another customer service rep to see if they outcome is any different.


Or better yet dafoomie, give them a call. (703)941-0165
 
I had a problem with them a while back, which I posted here. Most people said, "suck it up", so much for fellow CAG-sympathy.

I ordered a game, it got lost. I asked for a replacement; they wanted to charge me 80% of the orginal cost. I balked, saying I never received the game, and got screwed out of the whole cost.

I spoke to them via chat, and phone, and found them pretty rude.

If I had used a credit card rather than trade-in, I would have had a leg to stand on. So beware when using the credit option.
 
Thats rediculous, did you ask them for a DC#?

This further confirms their recent attitude towards customers. If you have a problem, it must be YOUR fault, our part time minimum wage teenagers couldn't possibly make a mistake.

Its too bad, they were quite good for many years.
 
No response from them, and no game, either. Should I be worried yet?

Should they decide to screw me by both denying my refund and not giving back the game, I don't have a lot of practical recourse here. I'd probably have to take them to court in Virginia.
 
I'm now terrified to order from this place, and I've considered it many times..
Do you think i'd be in trouble if I just bought new?
 
[quote name='Azumangaman']I'm now terrified to order from this place, and I've considered it many times..
Do you think i'd be in trouble if I just bought new?[/quote]

I've bought new from them before a number of times and never had a problem, although if ther customer service has gone this far down hill I doubt they'd do anything if the post office loses your game.
 
[quote name='dafoomie']
Should they decide to screw me by both denying my refund and not giving back the game, I don't have a lot of practical recourse here. I'd probably have to take them to court in Virginia.[/quote]

That doesn't sound to practical either since it's only $85. I don't see taking them to court doing much, if you are even able to do that.
 
[quote name='schuerm26']That doesn't sound to practical either since it's only $85. I don't see taking them to court doing much, if you are even able to do that.[/QUOTE]
That was my point, its really not practical for me to go to small claims court there. But legally, what else can I do if they simply refuse to give me my game or my money back? I can't file a chargeback, I used mostly store credit. I'm pretty much at their mercy here. Seriously, what are my options?

No progress, no refund, no game, no responses to my emails. I'm giving them a call today, media mail is slow, but not that slow.
 
[quote name='dafoomie']That was my point, its really not practical for me to go to small claims court there. But legally, what else can I do if they simply refuse to give me my game or my money back? I can't file a chargeback, I used mostly store credit. I'm pretty much at their mercy here. Seriously, what are my options?

No progress, no refund, no game, no responses to my emails. I'm giving them a call today, media mail is slow, but not that slow.[/QUOTE]
Heh, take them to small claims court in Massachusetts, I doubt they're going to send a lawyer up there, it would cost them more than the judgement. And if they didn't show, they would be responsible for court costs too, I believe.
 
[quote name='dafoomie']That was my point, its really not practical for me to go to small claims court there. But legally, what else can I do if they simply refuse to give me my game or my money back? I can't file a chargeback, I used mostly store credit. I'm pretty much at their mercy here. Seriously, what are my options?

No progress, no refund, no game, no responses to my emails. I'm giving them a call today, media mail is slow, but not that slow.[/quote]

I don't think there is much you can do except chalk one up to getting screwed.
 
I had one problem with them. I ordered a bunch of stuff at one time, and they forgot an item in the package. They had it checked off as being with the other items. It took me a couple of times to get through to them. I finally got through to them by phone and luckly they had 2 left at their warehouse that were suppose to be sent. I wasn't the only one who didn't get their item.
 
I sent in a bunch of kmart $2 games($60 worth) for $164 in credit there the other week. I used all my credit plus $38 of my own money to order 3 FFVII resin figures and a Xenosaga figure. They all came nicely packed via UPS the day after they shipped, no problem.

I've always wanted to get those FF7 figures, but the cost always put me off, but with the good tradein values it all worked out.
 
Hey Dafoomie, estarland screwed me over as well. I sent them Suikoden II, Suikoden and Valkyrie Profile to resurface the discs since they've been badly scratched. Theys hot me an email like in May to say that they've been resurfaced and a following email should come to say they've been shipped. So then its in the middle of June and still no discs so I call them up to see whats happening and it turns out they lost my discs for some reason or mixed up some orders... seriously wtf. I'm still awaiting on their reply but I expect they'll try to pull some bullshit by giving me store credit at the trade-in value.
 
Sorry to hear that Bilo, I hope we can get these things straightened out.

No progress, tried calling them 3 times and tried live support, couldn't get through to a person. Will try again tomorrow.
 
[quote name='BiLo']Hey Dafoomie, estarland screwed me over as well. I sent them Suikoden II, Suikoden and Valkyrie Profile to resurface the discs since they've been badly scratched. Theys hot me an email like in May to say that they've been resurfaced and a following email should come to say they've been shipped. So then its in the middle of June and still no discs so I call them up to see whats happening and it turns out they lost my discs for some reason or mixed up some orders... seriously wtf. I'm still awaiting on their reply but I expect they'll try to pull some bullshit by giving me store credit at the trade-in value.[/quote]


That sucks - though if i had those titles myself i dont think i would send them off to an online company to get resurfaced.
 
Update: The person that handled my return was not in, they will call me when they have more information. The CSR I spoke to was helpful, for what its worth.

I just hope its resolved soon, one way or another.
 
Yea eStarland definitely sucks. I was thinking of dealing with them one more time but their half-assed customer service is repulsive. They were fairly good back in the day but now they're complete shit. I'm going to be filing a hard negative for them at resellerratings just to show my spite of them.
 
I actually ran into a problem a few months ago with a few used games. Before I go any further I will say they credited me back my credit and all was fine.

Here goes...I ordered a used Syphon Filter (PS1) a used ICO (PS2) and Timesplitters (PS2). So I get my package with all 3 games. All 3 were in crappy condition. Well not exactly Gamestop condition but below what I'm used to getting from them. I talked to a customer service person and they told me to ship them back for a replacement....ok no problem.

So then I get the same games shipped back to me and it was obvious they tried to resurface them or something to that effect because the discs had that cloudish look to them. Still not in acceptable shape. So they gave me a bit of a hard time returning them but I did. I just found it strange that all of a sudden I got not 1 but 3 used games that were in less than stellar shape.

I haven't ordered used from them since because of this. I've never had an issue with a new game. It stinks because I was really happy with their discs in the past. I'm wondering if maybe they have a new owner or are taken a different stance to compete with gamestop or something to that effect.

The only thing else I can say is to be very persistent with the Customer Service....I don't think its that there bad I think they are understaffed.
 
Sending in another big batch of games for tradein. Hopefully goes as smoothly as it has in the past. I like eStarland because they still take ps1 and DC games. $6 for Vigilante 8 2nd offense DC? Sold!

Gonna use that credit to get two more FF7 resin figures,
 
Talked to them today. They agreed to refund my store credit, they were very nice. Wasn't a problem.

If anyone else has a problem, try the Live Chat feature. The CSR's seem to be able to devote more time to you, and to make calls to the appropriate people faster. Also, the managers seem to go home in the afternoon before support closes for the day, so it might be helpful to call earlier in the day. Until now, I was only able to call late in the afternoon.
 
So something I got from them 7/7 i finally opened(was in process of moving) and its broken. Bought a $60 Cloud resin figure and the handle of his sword is broken...i guess we'll see how this turns out.
 
Ok my case has been solved. They've been an ass of a time and always never seem to fulfill promises. We settled with 60$ of in-store credit for losing my Suikoden and Suikoden II that were sent to be rebuffered. I know, I was jipped but it's fine as I know I can't haggle more and I just need something for compensation. So then the guy promises I'll have the credit by the evening. I wait another week and still no credit so I had to call them up and get it settled. All in all, they lost my games and I had to wait 4 months to finally get compensated somehow.
 
[quote name='BiLo']Ok my case has been solved. They've been an ass of a time and always never seem to fulfill promises. We settled with 60$ of in-store credit for losing my Suikoden and Suikoden II that were sent to be rebuffered. I know, I was jipped but it's fine as I know I can't haggle more and I just need something for compensation. So then the guy promises I'll have the credit by the evening. I wait another week and still no credit so I had to call them up and get it settled. All in all, they lost my games and I had to wait 4 months to finally get compensated somehow.[/quote]

Sorry to hear that BiLo - I bet your games were stolen by some corrupt employee.
 
Man, this is almost as bad as Buyritegames, almost.

I'm currently trying to get my refund back for an item they never had. The site says "instock and available for shipping" when I placed the order. Come the next day, I get an email stating that the item is now on preorder. It's been more then the 72 hours that they stated to get my refund...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top