So…Mattel and Digital River struck again yesterday. I thought everything was fine and all set. I was wrong.
At 3:45pm EDT I received an email saying Mattel/DR “were unable to renew [my] subscription due to a credit card authorization failure.” Sure, that made perfect sense since the orders for Webstor went through fine last month on the exact same card.
The first thing I did was put in an order for two Teelas in case my subscription order issue couldn’t be rectified. Then I called the customer service number provided. The clearly outsourced CS person basically told me this was a problem with my credit card and to “talk to my bank.” Right. I called my credit card company and they told me that while they saw the charge for the emergency order I’d made, there was nothing else–not even a declined charge–meaning Digital River hadn’t even tried to charge my credit card before sending an email about a “credit card authorization failure.”
So I call CS back, and this time they tell me they see THREE orders–the one I made around noon for Zodak and so forth, the “emergency” order, and a third order that appears to be THE SUBSCRIPTION ORDER.
What. The. F***?
I tell them to cancel the emergency order, but that, apparently, was already in process so I’d have to send the figures back and so forth. The subscription order, however, hasn’t gone through, so I ask them to cancel that. Now, in my order history, that order says “Order Unsubmitted.”
What will arrive in the mail next week? Your guess is as good as mine!
Here’s what I think MAY have happened, though. As I was perusing my account information at Mattycollector, I noticed under “Payment information” I had no default card selected–there was nothing under “default.”
I think what happened last month was that Webstor was charged to whatever card had been used to originally order the 2009 subscription. With this “auto-renewal,” they tried to use the “default” card instead. Since I hadn’t chosen a default card, there was an error that the system interpreted as a “credit card authorization failure.”
My hope, now that I’ve selected a default credit card, is that my sub order will go through as normal next month–IF that order still exists. In the “subscription failure” email they sent, it says my 2009 subscription order’s “Expiration Date” is 10/17/2009. On the other hand, in my order history it says my subscription is “Active.”
What will happen next month? I have no idea. I’m just happy Teela’s still available as of right now, which suggests I’ll have time to order Scare Glow next month if my subscription doesn’t kick in again.
Mark
@Kid Nicky: Well said.
Newt
@Scott: Yeah, getting that little confirmation is nice, but that only confirms an order has been placed… NOT that it has been processed. Dunno if you've been following the drama here, but Digital River denied this credit card earlier when it screwed up my subscription, so it's very IMPORTANT that I know if the order went through or not.
As to the idea that the "hundreds" wouldn't effect Mattel's bottom line, i agree to an extent. But if there are hundredsof people online upset that they can't find Mattel product, it's reasonable to assume there are thousands who can't find the product not talking online. Eventually it does cut into Mattel's bottom line.
Though I suspect the loss of profit is more because of a bad economy than anything.
Scott
Do you really think "hundreds" of additional sales (less really, since most people get the product eventually) would have had a huge impact on the bottom line of a company taking in hundreds of millions of dollars?
Fengschwing
This tickled me…
http://toynewsi.com/news.php?catid=241&itemid…
They've had a decrease in the third quarter despite the many hundreds of us desperate to give them money for their product.
WAKE UP MATTEL!!!
Scott
If you got an order confirmation, then you did get some information.
Newton Gimmick
I still haven't gotten any ship notices. It'd be awesome if I got some kind of information about if my order went through, you know… Sometime before the figures sell out. But hey it's SATURDAY, why should I expect information so soon for a product I ordered two days ago.
Kid Nicky
This is a lot of the reason I don't buy these figures. 30 dollars is about 3 times too expensive,but yeah,I'd probably bite the bullet and buy if they were on a regular site like Amazon or somesuch,and I could,on a whim,say "I've got 30 bucks" and order whichever character I wanted,at any day or time,and then recieve said figure in the quantity I ordered.
You know,like how a normal person buys a normal product.
Go describe this scenario to your non-collector friends,and see if they consider it a good deal,or a worthwhile pursuit.
Even among toy collector circles this is not normal. Star Wars guys have the stigma of being "fanatics" or whatever,but they don't do this,they go to something called a "store" and purchase their figures along with their laundry detergent.
I can see occasional special figures being worth the hassle,but I can't bring myself to collect a line where EVERY figure is 30 dollars,and most must be ordered on one certain day in a one hour time span.
BTW,I loved He-Man growing up,and this new line would be a dream come true for me if it was sold through normal channels.
Paul
What a pain in the ass.
I may be interested in buying your extra Teelas btw.
Fengschwing
Kinda makes me glad I'm not into MOTUC but I feel sorry for the folks who are.
Newton Gimmick
Hey Mark, I feel your pain. I wouldn't pay $49 for MOTUC figures. I pay about $30 now and that's where I draw the line.
dayraven
wow… didn't see a fish and chip shop analogy in the pipe… we do attract a diverse clientele around these parts, don't we?
Mark
@PrfktTear: Thanks man, I can appreciate your passion for the line, like myself.
Your analogy is spot on, but that is were we differ….in the small village where I live the fish and chip shop (LOL) is run by an asswhole and rather than line his pockets I go a lot further to get my chips LOL.
PrfktTear
@Mark: but until the price drops and they are sold comercially in the shops we will be forced to put up with all the Matty.com crap well uh, cuz thats where they're sold!
If there was a bakery in town and they sold the best pasteries, crossiants, and cakes, but the lines were out the door, the chefs were assholes, and they only took cash, I'd still go there cuz the food was THAT GOOD. Maybe this is a bad analogy, but I hope my point comes across. Its just like I don't complain that McDonalds doesn't sell tacos or something.
I can appreciate you having to give it up though, and I feel for ya dude. I can see how the extra cost of s&h would really pour lemon in the milk.
Mark
Don't get me wrong MOTUC are amazing figures and great well made products, but until the price drops and they are sold comercially in the shops we will be forced to put up with all the Matty.com crap.
The toys should sell on their own merits, I am sure many parents would buy them having had the originals back when they were young.
I mean DCUC is available in the states in Walmarts, Targets, Toys'R'Us etc etc and they are selling to collectors and children and doubt a lot of the children have ever heard of a lot of them.
I will not give up on tll these are for sale in shops or Mattel has a website over here for UK fans so we are not over paying on postage.
As much as I love the line I had to stop collecting them as one figure was costing me £30 and that works out at $49…so before you all jumpat me just ask yourselves would you pay $49 for one MOTUC figure, cause I'll tell you when your self inployed and not earning a lot its really hard to justify spending £30 of you savings on one figure. I think it sucks paying so much for a figure that if it were in a shop would be about $12.
Newton Gimmick
I found it to be a minor annoyance, but not something to protest over. It's just a sign of their shoddy e-commerce.
Hopefully nothing like this happens when the REAL subscription kicks in.