Victims of CD WOW! unite

AntMan76 on 24/03/2009 - 19:58

I am sure there are quite a few of us here who got stung by the debacle we shall call CD WOW.

We all know the facts: a cheap Presets CD and a cheap copy of NFS:Undercover for Xbox 360 were both offered, orders accepted, but then cancelled. It seems that CD WOW have breached their own T&C in doing so.

Anyway, instead of clogging up the deal thread, can we get a bit of a head count as to how many here had their order cancelled? I think it would be much better for our cause if instead of each going to the ACCC/Dept of Fair Trading (DFT) separately, we could get a head count of the victims here in order to make a joint complaint (as well as any individual complaints made).

Anyone else think this might help strengthen our complaint? I am happy to complain on behalf of us all if people with to participate.

General Discussion

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Comments

  • adam on 24/03/2009 - 20:38

    Well I got done with the NFS deal. I'm not going to put any effort into chasing ACCC or DFT as I've done this before and I know that there response will just be to side with the vendor.

    EDIT: Gah - just read all the comments and found they've really got stock!! I will log a ACCC complaint now!

  • alexportnoy on 25/03/2009 - 01:15

    To complain, make sure you WRITE to the following addressed BY POSTAL MAIL:

    Director-General,
    NSW Department of Fair Trading,
    PO Box# 972
    PARRAMATTA, NSW, 2124

    and

    Chief Commissioner,
    Australian Consumer & Competition Commission,
    GPO Box# 3131
    CANBERRA, ACT, 2601

    DO NOT EMAIL THEM!

    DO NOT RING THEM!
    (They will ignore you & your complaint will not be taken seriously, if you do)

    ALWAYS INCLUDE A RETURN POSTAL ADDRESS.

    I asked for both agencies to enforce Australian and State legislation against CDWOW, to enforce a FINANCIAL PENALTY/FINE against CDWOW, and also to request an "enforceable undertaking" by CDWOW not to engage in misleading and deceptive conduct or "bait and switch" conduct.

    I also included my return postal address, but did NOT include my phone number or email address; I'd rather wait for a written response from the above Departments, rather than the to-ing and fro-ing that phone calls and emails generally entail.

  • Crownie on 25/03/2009 - 04:45

    I got stung as well.
    Order cancelled and Debit Card has been debited.
    Refund hasn't appeared yet.
    Over the past few days it’s been showing up as a "pending" charge on my Bank account/Debit Card.
    Now they decide to cancel the order yet take my money from me.

    Thanks to Ozbargain I know they have stock of the game under the dodgy title of Need For Speed 09.

    With 1600+ click-throughs from Ozbargain to the deal, it seemed very popular.
    Seeing that EB games have this for $74.95 it would cost me more for 1 copy that the four I bought from CD Wow.
    On each copy I would have to pay $62.66 more.
    For me, it would cost $250+ to replace what CD Wow has sold me.
    How much for everyone that had bought one, had their Bank accounts/Credit Cards/PayPal accounts debited.
    Were talking $1,000's.

    With support from other victims, its worth a shot at attempting to get our items.

  • Kelly666 on 25/03/2009 - 10:41

    They have only refunded $3.95 of the $19.75 owed to me so far.

  • Orgazmo on 26/03/2009 - 19:37

    i was screwed over too, paid and got nothing then refunded days later with the same robot emails

  • luckytrio on 26/03/2009 - 21:24

    I e-mailed the ACCC who phoned me a day later. CD WOW is a Hong Kong company and so the ACCC has no jurisdiction. They are looking into Cd-wow, but they are under Hong Kong laws, and not Aussie ones. The ACCC advised me to contact the Australian Domain hosting website and alert them that CD-Wow is doing a dodgy by having an Australian domain and pretending to be Australian. He said they may have breached the terms and conditions of hosting an Australian domain address.

    So; Do complain to the ACCC - it escalates the issue and is more likely to result in ACCC workers attempting to negociate with Hong Kong officials (who can prosecute).
    Also complain to the Australian Domain names people.

    Finally, is there a website we can 'dob them in' so people are aware CD-wow is dodgy?

    Also, I've had cc issues before, and St George bank gladly refunded my money.

  • Lenneth on 26/03/2009 - 22:20

    Actually, cd-wow is indirectly australian owned so the ACCC etc may have some jurisdiction. This information used to be on wikipedia but it seems somebody took it down.

    Cd-wow is owned by Stomp HK Ltd which is a division of Stomp Pty Ltd of Australia.

    For those writting letters, if cd-wow won't listen, maybe the parent company will.

  • MetalPhreak on 28/03/2009 - 23:21

    You need an ABN/ACN to buy a .com.au domain so there is an australian company involved.

    Registrant STOMP PTY LTD
    Registrant ID ABN 72065002940
    Eligibility Type Company

  • alexportnoy on 29/03/2009 - 21:24

    CD-WOW's AUSTRALIA OFFICE:

    5 Harper Street,
    Abbotsford, VIC, 3067,
    AUSTRALIA

    The ACCC CAN Prosecute CDWOW, as CDWOW ARE in Australia.

    Don't give the ACCC your phone number, as they will misfeed you incorrect information by telephone. As has happened here, to "luckytrio" above.

    Much better to NOT put down your phone number & ask the ACCC to respond to you BY POSTAL MAIL. The ACCC will then provide a much more comprehensive and correct response.

  • adam on 31/03/2009 - 13:05

    ACCC called me back. To my surprise they said that they believe that CDWow may have breached Section 56 of the Trade Practices Act (Bait Advertising) and they are escalating my issue. It'll be interesting to see where this goes.

  • alexportnoy on 31/03/2009 - 23:09

    It won't go anywhere.

    CDWOW last week apologized to all affected people and is sending them a free copy of the Presets CD.

    So, the ACCC will be satisfied they took corrective action and will probably not proceed.

    • adam on 01/04/2009 - 10:34

      I didn't order the Presets CD so I got nothing - my issue is over the NFS debacle.

  • pais on 05/04/2009 - 00:33

    Ordered a couple of copies of the Presets, and a couple of NFS games. Both got debited, then cancelled, refunded, and I eventually got a complimentary Presets CD in the mail yesterday. Can't say it was a redeeming factor!

  • Serpeant on 05/04/2009 - 22:14

    Casino Royale:

    "Unfortunately despite our very best efforts we are unable to get further stock of this item from our supplier".

    I hope I get my money back!

  • blitz on 05/04/2009 - 23:13

    I wonder if their sudden good will over the Presets album was due in no small part to activity on this board…

  • alexportnoy on 06/04/2009 - 00:23

    Yes.

    And the threats to go to Fair Trading & ACCC.

    CDWOW needed to take Corrective action, otherwise both government departments would come down on them, hard.

  • mboy on 06/04/2009 - 02:03

    Just got the same thing on my Casino Royale order, too.
    First time using CDWOW.

    Bleh. Worth it to complain?

  • Dexter on 06/04/2009 - 08:05

    Never had a problem with them. Bought games and cd's from them. Had money refunded straight away on one order.It's not baiting if they have only a few at that price.But i have noticed funny price fluctuation this year.

  • its on 06/04/2009 - 08:25

    they cancelled mine too for casino royal.. this company should be banned here..

  • emerson on 06/04/2009 - 09:39

    I PRE-ORDERED (and stress PRE-ORDERED) Street Fighter 4 from CD WOW on the 13th of Feb, it was released in aussie stores on the 17th of Feb, after countless emails back and forth to CD WOW i'm yet to receive it.
    This company is a joke, i really hope the go under.

    A work colleague also had this happen when he PRE-ORDERED Fallout 3 on PS3, he waited 2 MONTHS!
    I wish i knew about this before i ordered from them.
    Never again!

  • blitz on 06/04/2009 - 16:29

    I'd really like to know whether the ACCC/DFT action progressed as far as contacting them. I am wondering, as per my post above, whether their offer of a free Presets CD was their least expensive way of getting the ACCC/DFT action off their back, or whether they were genuinely trying to make good.

    I just cannot see how their approach to this is meant to work in the long run. I guess I'm just trying to understand their motivation.

    • alexportnoy on 06/04/2009 - 20:48

      Their motivation is, as any business, MONEY.

      However, they are obviously having cashflow problems in this Global Financial Crisis.

      I expect them to fold soon.

  • zacros on 06/04/2009 - 18:30

    Well, my NFS order was canceled and my cash refunded like a lot of other people's orders. They quite obviously 'knowingly' reduce prices to these extremes in order to get visitors and potential further purchases. Standard bait & switch technique. They've done it in the past and they'll do it again unless the ACCC steps in.

    I'll add my vote to Khandu's that we should ban them here. Sure they might have an occasional good deal that a few people might get, but the hassle for the majority is not worth it imo.

    2c :)

  • pais on 07/04/2009 - 14:43

    Well, to add to my not-so-bad story above, I just received the other 9 presets CDs that I ordered. My order was refunded, yet the fulfilled it once the stock came in. I'm not sure if the entire order being fulfilled was in error, or out of generosity. Either way, I'm in front.

  • Serpeant on 07/04/2009 - 21:21

    I still havent got a refund from when I ordered blu-ray Casino Royale and they didnt have any in stock but still decided to deduct my credit card!

    • pais on 07/04/2009 - 23:19

      I've had two orders canceled by them. (Granted, read above for their redemption) The first was refunded immediately after the order cancellation email, and the second took a few days longer.

  • Fred Smith on 18/04/2011 - 13:32

    Hi,

    WOW - what a dodgy business. Haven't been suckered like this since 'One.Net' (with the surfer dude logo). I warned my wife not to deal with them but she didn't listen.

    Anyway, back to the present fiasco. Bought Starcraft II from them for about $15 less then anywhere else I could buy it (beware the bargain). On arrival noticed it was posted in Hong Kong which immediately had me worried. The games booklet and box looked slightly worn which made me suspect it was 2nd hand. Upon trying to add the game to my battle.net account got a message that the authentication key has already been claimed.

    I have asked Blizzard (publisher of Starcraft) for help and have emailed and given on-sight feedback to CD-WOW! Australia. So far no response from anyone. I'll wait a day then contact ACCC. I paid for item via PayPal, so can they help?

    Perhaps we should let 'A Current Affair' & 'Today Tonight' know about CD-WOW and there lack of business ethics/scruples. Hate getting stung like this. It's so annoying and frustrating.

    • Tal_Shiar on 18/04/2011 - 18:19

      good luck with that lol

    • Xanthorrhoea semipl… on 18/04/2011 - 20:19

      Man, this post is sure old. By the way, good luck with your complaint.

      • AntMan76 on 18/04/2011 - 20:28

        I forgot I even created it. Oh how I have changed since then. lol

    • issh on 18/04/2011 - 20:42

      Discussion of CD WOW habits on WP somewhere

      just stay away from this company

    • Fred Smith on 13/05/2013 - 12:10

      As soon as PayPal got involved CD WoW decided to give me a refund. Thanks PayPal:)

  • compingqueen on 19/04/2011 - 12:09

    I know I'm off topic here but I recently purchased 5 cd's when this deal was posted: http://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/41695 The cd's were all under $10 and all of them came broken (the cases, that is) due to their poor bubble wrap packaging which is so thin, it's no wonder they broke. Never using them again.

  • bargainboyau on 04/11/2011 - 17:17

    Wow, I'm completely surprised what has happened here because I started using cd-wow this year and bought a cd and three games off of them. Didn't have a single problem… everything came quickly and I was extremely happy with the service. Until now, I hadn't heard anything like this happening but I just came upon this forum to give my experiences with them.

    I may be stupid.. but I'm going to risk still using cdwow because of the ridiculous prices of Aussie goods. I wish I didn't have to buy off these sites but buying any form of entertainment in Aus seems to be much more expensive than many other countries. It's hard not to when you're seeing savings of 60-70% on books using booko.com.au to compare and $20-30+ on games from sites like cd-wow.. I can't afford the ridiculous prices normal shops sell at these days. I know they're doing it tough but how much of it is just greed?

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