Avoid buying from Deutsche Grammophon.com?

Zeotrope

Well-Known Member
Feb 11, 2021
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Perhaps someone who has ordered from DG.com can comment on what’s going on. I’m astonished by the horrible customer service and no one seems to know where my shipment is.
I spent about $2000 ordering a few Supersense/“Mastercut” records from https://store.deutschegrammophon.com/
The shipment went out with DHL to N. America from Germany. DHL tracking # starts with 2 letters, which I think means it will be passed onto another carrier for local delivery in the US/Canada. Is that correct?
The DHL tracking page says it was delivered to my address but to ‘someone other than the recipient’ - what? Furthermore, the parcel seems to have been delivered in Germany. I’m in Canada.

No one at DG with knowledge of what happened has answered my emails - Orders seem to be handled by a 3rd party, which hasn’t answered any of my messages.
No one at DHL Canada seems to know how to find more information about this shipment - other than to say it is not DHL Express, but DHL freight forwarding…

Has anyone in N America had experience with ordering from DG in Germany?
 

rando

Well-Known Member
Sep 22, 2019
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International commerce in the age of bidding out every step in the process to partners. The typical routine appears to have set in. Multiple delivery notices in conflict with your location included. Then onset of customs and duty collection, hardly a transparent process from the exterior, takes control of your package.

After having shot out a first round of calls and emails. I'd relax. Magically it shows up one day or it doesn't and your CC files to have payment returned.

The only issue I'd like to comment on is facing down DG as the guilty party. To some extent they have options choosing a delivery service. In reality once it gets thoughtfully packaged and sent out the door... personally importing anything can put you right in line with every complication and variation of law and business. I (and ddk) have suggested in the past making use of a small service who takes control of the process if you regularly bring in consumer objects from other countries. This middle ground of giving way to blind internal arrangements across multiple national carriers is confusing and often inefficient for all involved.
 
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Zeotrope

Well-Known Member
Feb 11, 2021
1,762
1,398
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France, Canada
My criticism for DG is their lack of customer service - simply no response after more than a week is unacceptable. Once they respond, they should also comment on the process. It’s a simple FAQ / training procedure for staff to explain to a customer how the shipment is handled.
It looks like DG has outsourced fulfillment to a 3rd party - usually a bad idea, especially when they are unresponsive.
I’m likely going to go out of my way to never order from DG directly again.

This is my first order. I’ve tried to order other items before, but they canceled after I paid, once when they realized they had no stock and another time when they tried to increase to price (after I had paid!).
 

rando

Well-Known Member
Sep 22, 2019
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My criticism for DG is their lack of customer service - simply no response after more than a week is unacceptable.

Frustrating, experience in these matters produced awareness they have nothing to tell you and lots you would like to say to them that will have no impact on delivery or their product quality.

This is my first order. I’ve tried to order other items before, but they canceled after I paid, once when they realized they had no stock and another time when they tried to increase to price (after I had paid!).

As a USA resident I can assure you that even trade across our friendly border to the North incurs a lot of regional and national practices that don't align with ease of doing business. It is a challenge (referring to the unquoted passages falling between those I chose) to place high level personnel into low level duties anywhere on earth. This is often coupled with a very individualistic person at the top who may not have the broadest sight within the pool of advisements they act upon. Or hard facts surrounding larger business world creating impossible situations for smaller companies to resolve despite having customers on the other side of a given wall blocking them.

At some point it may become worthwhile to pursue mention of a fee based agency. Tackle all of your outbound enthusiasms within a few months. By handing over the accountability for procurement to someone intimately aware the second by second changes that can open or close doors to be negotiated. Sometimes it just comes down to being able to talk the same language convincingly enough to wedge open a crack for something to slip through. ;)
 

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