Rare TV

[bangkokbarry]

Raretv.net has been mentioned on this forum in the past, but the company now appears to be in trouble and I would advise members not to use their service.

I ordered three series of Big Deal from them. They accepted the money, and then said they were withdrawing series one as it had now been officially released, and a partial refund would be made. So far so good.

However, no refund was forthcoming, and they have not replied to messages sent via their contact area on their website. In addition, e-mails are returned from two address available on their site, cs@raretv.co.uk and raretv@hotmail.com.

They also no longer have a credit card merchant account.

On top of all that, I have discovered that one of my DVDs has a completely different programme than Big Deal, called Mother Love, and two of the discs are the same.

Be warned.

[bloodworm]

Originally Posted by bangkokbarry Raretv.net has been mentioned on this forum in the past, but the company now appears to be in trouble and I would advise members not to use their service. I ordered three series of Big Deal from them. They accepted the money, and then said they were withdrawing series one as it had now been officially released, and a partial refund would be made. So far so good. However, no refund was forthcoming, and they have not replied to messages sent via their contact area on their website. In addition, e-mails are returned from two address available on their site, cs@raretv.co.uk and raretv@hotmail.com. They also no longer have a credit card merchant account. On top of all that, I have discovered that one of my DVDs has a completely different programme than Big Deal, called Mother Love, and two of the discs are the same. Be warned.

Thanks for the warning, not that i deal with them but the forum now knows that if their name crops up they should steer clear.

C/U The Worm

[Harbottle]

Thanks for the warning, I thought they had vanished some time ago.

Paying for it would make me feel dirty though

[clubster]

A warning has been given in a previous thread about buying from raretv.net, I would also advise against trading with them, I sent them in good faith a number of dvd's three weeks ago and have recieved nothing and my e-mails have been ignored. Whilst I know a few people who have recieved their goods after a long wait I know more who have sent payment and recieved nothing. Its a shame as I did a few trades with the previous owners and purchased quite a few of their dvd's with no problem whatsoever but I am now beggining to think this once excellent site is now just a scam.

[woodsy]

It now seems that the e-mail address raretv@hotmail.com doesn't work, and this appears to be the only e-mail address they now list.

I'm on my 2nd order with them. The first transaction wasn't too painful. I got quite prompt e-mails from them and all items were sent okay, although one disc was missing, with a note on the invoice saying to e-mail for a replacement.

I actually made a new order, and indicated my replacement disc along with the order. In my account history it shows my order as "pending", having been processed on 22nd August. Since then I have heard nothing whatsoever, and now cannot even e-mail them. Needless to say my cheque has been cashed.

The previous guy who ran the site was reliable, prompt and honest. These new owners of the site are just rip-off merchants and should be avoided at all costs!

[raretv]

Having been alerted to this thread via an email to the site I feel it is only right to come here and address the concerns publicly.

I could go into lengthy details ... but I will not ... thank god I wasn't ill for the last two weeks as I would not only have a tattered reputation but also still be in some form of recovery.


Addressing the posts one at a time:



bangkokbarry

- We are still plowing through the catalogue inherited from the previous owner and apologise that this one slipped the net. The product has now been removed
- We have issued you a FULL refund.
- We are ALSO fulfilling your request to receive Banacek as replacement.

- RE no merchant account - Dave (the nice guy everyone keeps talking about who used to own it and close it down all the time) - sold us a site blacklisted by PayPal. We learnt the hard way - if he had mentioned it before the sale we would have made alternative provisions sooner.



clubster

- We use a mailing address and your DVDs were only available to us a few days ago.
- Your 4 disc trade will be honoured in the morning and shipped via Special Delivery.
- We are seasoned collectors and would never shortchange anyone on a trade.



woodsy

- raretv@hotmail.com has never worked as an email address it is purely for MSN support (as listed on the site).
- All emails are handled through our contact form.
- cs@raretv.net this is our email address for future reference.



Regarding orders and payments

No orders will be shipped without cleared payments - no cheques or postal orders have been cashed during my abscence.

By the morning of the 6th September 2006 all emails will be replied to and all orders will be ready to ship by 7th September 2006. Soon we will set everyone right with anotehr discount code.

[ChristineCB]

Thanks for the statements and clarification of actions.

[Steve Crook]

Originally Posted by ChristineCB Thanks for the statements and clarification of actions.

And when people get their orders delivered they can withdraw their complaints at the start of this topic.

Steve

[David Brent]

This topic enhances my view that a buyer is still incredibly vulnerable when purchasing anything online.
I have experienced problems with a well known retailer when purchasing DVD's on line. Once a payment has been made its extremely difficult to get a refund from any company for undelivered items. Especially companies who refuse to answer emails of complaint. Who do you turn to when your emails get no response?
Most people give up and do their dough.
Sure there are many "reliable" companies out there but there are also plenty of bandits. I think every one of us has been ripped off at least once when dealing online. Most purchases are made in blind faith and with fingers crossed, especially when dealing with overseas traders.
There are still plenty of black holes hidden out there for unsuspecting online shoppers.

Dave.

[The Doc]

Hi everybody,
The Doc here, hope you are all well.
As Mr.Brent has said there are many bandits out there who sell DVD's and i don't just mean private sellers, retail outlets too. However I have dealt with Rare TV from day one and would just like to say that this site is a breath of fresh air for TV show collectors who are searching for unreleased TV shows. I know that recently the ownership has changed but what was a very good site before is turning into a great site since the change over with many more rare shows to choose from, the lay out is excellent and prices are very reasonable indeed. There are bound to be teething problems when someone new takes over and i think this has obviously been the case, I beleive the owners have been away on holiday for a while and maybe a note on the site just explaining this should have been forth coming to stop buyers or traders worrying that they had been scammed as member clubster might say. I'm sure the new owner won't make the same mistake again and like the owner before him will inform people through the site if he/she is away for any length of time. There are very few sites out there that sell unreleased shows for collectors, after being a TV show collector for over 30 years the internet has brought collectors closer to finding the rare shows that were almost impossible to find before computers were born and as far as I'm concerned rare TV does this and it's a good thing. I find it strange when senior member Harbottle states with regard to a site like Rare TV, and I quote,
" Paying for it would make me feel dirty though"
So has Harbottle never bought a DVD from Woolworths or HMV? Because there's no difference it's not as though Rare TV are selling any retail sets, I'm not having a go but I don't see what is wrong with buying unreleased TV shows from an outlet that sells them. Finally over the last twelve months I have dealt with many people from the Forum on trades, some absolute diamonds, but a couple not so good, not mentioning any names, one wanted to charge me 10.00 for each movie I had from him, he said that was the going rate for a single movie, the second member wanted 60.00 for EACH episode of a rare comedy series he had, now as far as i'm concerned thats being scammed, and when it's members of your own Forum, it's a damn disgrace and these are the ones who should be feeling dirty.
Best wishes as always
The Doc.

[woodsy]

Well I'll be the first to eat a big helping of humble pie when the discs arrive (and I'm now very confident they will).

I think so many of us have been stung before at one time or another when trading with independant companies that we're bound to be a bit jumpy.

However, I will re-tract my statement right now that the company are "rip-off merchants" and accept that I was being too hasty.

Thanks for coming onto the forum to explain the situation raretv, I'm sure it's put many minds at rest, mine included.

One thing I would say though, is that a bit of e-mail communication does wonders.

[JamesM]

If you are going to be away, could you not set up an automated response on your cemail account.

Could you not have someone answer emails for your whilst you're away?

Do you really need to go away somehwere where there are no computers?

"We use a mailing address and your DVDs were only available to us a few days ago" - shouldn't you be supplying an address where the business physically operates its business from, as required by the Distance Selling Regulations (2000)?

I wonder of your site is blacklisted by Paypal because you are offering for sale, within the UK, uncertified DVDs that, by law, should be classified by the BBFC.

Of course, classification might be difficult ifyou are not a copyright holder or licensee.

Just a few thoughts.

[Harbottle]

Originally Posted by The Doc Hi everybody, The Doc here, hope you are all well. As Mr.Brent has said there are many bandits out there who sell DVD's and i don't just mean private sellers, retail outlets too. However I have dealt with Rare TV from day one and would just like to say that this site is a breath of fresh air for TV show collectors who are searching for unreleased TV shows. I know that recently the ownership has changed but what was a very good site before is turning into a great site since the change over with many more rare shows to choose from, the lay out is excellent and prices are very reasonable indeed. There are bound to be teething problems when someone new takes over and i think this has obviously been the case, I beleive the owners have been away on holiday for a while and maybe a note on the site just explaining this should have been forth coming to stop buyers or traders worrying that they had been scammed as member clubster might say. I'm sure the new owner won't make the same mistake again and like the owner before him will inform people through the site if he/she is away for any length of time. There are very few sites out there that sell unreleased shows for collectors, after being a TV show collector for over 30 years the internet has brought collectors closer to finding the rare shows that were almost impossible to find before computers were born and as far as I'm concerned rare TV does this and it's a good thing. I find it strange when senior member Harbottle states with regard to a site like Rare TV, and I quote, " Paying for it would make me feel dirty though" So has Harbottle never bought a DVD from Woolworths or HMV? Because there's no difference it's not as though Rare TV are selling any retail sets, I'm not having a go but I don't see what is wrong with buying unreleased TV shows from an outlet that sells them. Finally over the last twelve months I have dealt with many people from the Forum on trades, some absolute diamonds, but a couple not so good, not mentioning any names, one wanted to charge me 10.00 for each movie I had from him, he said that was the going rate for a single movie, the second member wanted 60.00 for EACH episode of a rare comedy series he had, now as far as i'm concerned thats being scammed, and when it's members of your own Forum, it's a damn disgrace and these are the ones who should be feeling dirty. Best wishes as always The Doc.

Just to clarify that having been mentioned here I have never entered into any financial transactions with "The Doc", I personally would never pay for home recorded items and to my mind there is a world of difference between doing this and buying commercially released items from retailers. Each to there own however and if people are happy to do so good luck to them.

[DB7]

Originally Posted by The Doc So has Harbottle never bought a DVD from Woolworths or HMV? Because there's no difference it's not as though Rare TV are selling any retail sets,

There's a world of difference.

I'm not having a go but I don't see what is wrong with buying unreleased TV shows from an outlet that sells them.

Personally I've no problem providing piracy isn't involved - which it is. Scully is £7.45 at raretv and just £9.99 at Play for the legit 2 dvd set. That said I'm sure this is just an oversight.

Finally over the last twelve months I have dealt with many people from the Forum on trades, some absolute diamonds, but a couple not so good, not mentioning any names, one wanted to charge me 10.00 for each movie I had from him, he said that was the going rate for a single movie, the second member wanted 60.00 for EACH episode

Well if you don't advise admin/mods of rip-off merchants you've only yourself to blame for their proliferation. I've heard that some expect ex-gratia or free discs but that has never been a site policy and these canny souls are no doubt building up a nice collection of freebies. If you don't offer to cover somebody's time and expense you're a tightwad in my book. If it's a film I'm hunting for I'll happily part with a tenner.

[The Doc]

With regard to Harbottle's comments, I never mentioned or stated the fact that he had had financial dealings with me, it was just in my view there is no difference at all in buying unreleased shows from a private outlet and buying a commercial release from a retail outlet, there certainly isn't a world of difference! What I was getting at was Harbottle calling it "dirty", and stating he's never bought any show or series that has been unreleased commercially, well i'm pretty sure that a good percentage of members at this forum at one time or other have bought an unreleased movie or TV show from either another member or privately. Harbottle did however finish off his last message with
"each to there own however and if people are happy to do so good luck to them"
which is what should have been stated in his original message instead of making out it was like some unsavoury act.
Then DB7 states in his message
Well if you don't advise admin/mods of rip-off merchants you've only yourself to blame for their proliferation. I've heard that some expect ex-gratia or free discs but that has never been a site policy and these canny souls are no doubt building up a nice collection of freebies. If you don't offer to cover somebody's time and expense you're a tightwad in my book. If it's a film I'm hunting for I'll happily part with a tenner.
I'm sorry DB7 but as the Administartor I had mentioned this to you with regard to a member wanting to charge me 60.00 for an episode of a TV series, it's a while ago in a private email before the forum changed it's format, but you never asked me to name the person. Finally I don't call not wanting to pay 60.00 for one episode of a comedy series being a tight wad! A tenner for a movie fair enough although I'm sure many members here at the forum would think that was a little on the high side for one unreleased copied TV movie.