MyDigitalDiscount - bad start, good ending..

[Shrek-Moscow]

I'm not going to modify the main part of this post but I feel the need to specify, here at the beginning, that the seller (MDD) has definitely solved the problem shipping the SSD. It would had been nice if they had declared since the beginning a realistic forecast for delivering but, after all, the process was completed in a 2 weeks time. It might seem a lot, but the fact is that in these days we're all running to buy this damn SSDs...

Hi all,
I'd like to share with you my experience with the shop in subject from which I'm actually trying to get a "RunCore 128GB SSD for MackBook Air rev A".

Briefly, the story:

• I wrote them on November 23rd asking about availability and shipping quote
• They promptly answer with a shipping quote and confirming they have the item on stock.
• I made the order the same day, the day after, November 24th, they wrote me an email to say that the order has been accepted and that as soon as it will be processed they'll send me an invoice and the tracking details.
• After waiting some days without any additional informations I asked them about current order status, they reply on December 1st saying they were waiting to have the item back on stock!! (on the 23rd, day when I placed my order they wrote they had)
• I complain about this answer because they confirmed the availability of the item when I was ordering the SSD, I got immediately this reply: "We actually do have one in stock for you. So it will be shipping and when it does then you will recieve an Invoice with a tracking number"
• After this I was almost quiet and I waited till today... but NOTHING, no news!

I can understand everything, small stocks, multiple ordering, human errors.. and I've always been prone to forgive errors. But here we are in front of a total lack of transparency, they do not want to say what really is the situation, they just promise, they just say "everything is fine" when it is not.

I feel like they are trying to fool me, just to keep my order..
Since now it is the WORST e-commerce experience I got, even compared to private sellers on eBay. And I'm constantly buying a LOT of things on-line.

 

[macuserx86]

Protip, do some research before dealing with semi-shady, cheap online retailers: http://www.resellerratings.com/store/MyDigitalDiscount

 

[Shrek-Moscow]

Protip, do some research before dealing with semi-shady, cheap online retailers: http://www.resellerratings.com/store/MyDigitalDiscount

Thanks, my only search was on producer's website (http://www.runcore.com/content/wheretobuy/), the second shop from beginning is MyDigitalDiscount, I thought that if the producer put it there, they should be a reliable company..

I was wrong..

 

[LinMac]

1) RunCore SSDs are selling like crazy right now. All of my friends with Macbooks are either upgrading or saving up to upgrade after seeing my Macbook Air.

2) MyDigitalDiscount.com responds very quickly. I requested an RMA and had one within 6 hours.

RunCore actually solved the problem directly so I didn't need to return it, but MyDigitalDiscount.com sent the RMA very quickly.

3) Go buy an Intel SSD from Amazon. You might get better service while spending $75+ more for 96GB less space.

It sounds like they are a small retailer handling a large amount of orders with a small staff. That isn't an excuse for poor service, but I see them responding to every negative report on reseller ratings. Call them, email them, and tell them what happened.

There is no excuse for a bad experience, but I have to say I would recommend MyDigitalDiscount.com to anyone just because of the RunCore drives.

 

[Shrek-Moscow]

1) RunCore SSDs are selling like crazy right now. All of my friends with Macbooks are either upgrading or saving up to upgrade after seeing my Macbook Air.

2) MyDigitalDiscount.com responds very quickly. I requested an RMA and had one within 6 hours.

RunCore actually solved the problem directly so I didn't need to return it, but MyDigitalDiscount.com sent the RMA very quickly.

3) Go buy an Intel SSD from Amazon. You might get better service while spending $75+ more for 96GB less space.

It sounds like they are a small retailer handling a large amount of orders with a small staff. That isn't an excuse for poor service, but I see them responding to every negative report on reseller ratings. Call them, email them, and tell them what happened.

There is no excuse for a bad experience, but I have to say I would recommend MyDigitalDiscount.com to anyone just because of the RunCore drives.

I understand the situation but I cannot understand how they can write "we have one in stock for you" and then not shipping it for more than a week.

Just say, for example, "we had too much orders than what we can handle, when you ordered we thought we had one for you but for a mistake we made some overbooking, we are sorry but you need to wait until we'll get a new stock. It will take about tree weeks, if you think you can cancel your order"

In past years I've been in similar situation and I never made problems to the seller if the seller honestly explained the situation and provided a reasonable forecast.

This is the first time that a seller is just taking time with such poor answers like "we have it ready for you".. if you have it -bloody hell- just ship it! If you don't have just say "sorry there was a problem, we'll be able to ship it in xx weeks"

It is difficult?
I don't believe, the matter is that today professionalism is getting rare.

 

[ltsching]

I am sorry to hear about your experience, Shrek-Moscow. In my own experience, MDD has been a reliable and upfront vendor. I had ordered two SSDs from them: a 32G for my Hackintoshed Dell Mini 9 and a 128G for my Rev. A MBA as well. In both cases, the SSDs were backordered and as soon as I saw them in stock on MDD's website, I placed the orders and received the items in less than a week. Your experience does seem strange and unprofessional. However, I just wanted to let you know that at least I had very good experiences doing business with them. Hopefully, they will resolve the issue sooner than later. Good luck.

 

[Runcore]

I know that the day in question is the day that MDD did in fact run out of stock as it was posted in this forum by me.

I also know that they will have more parts as early as tomorrow so you will have your order this week. If you want to blame anyone blame Runcore because we have been unable to keep up with demand as we are having small troubles with supply of flash and some other parts.

I also think that if you asked Doug at MDD to upgrade your order to overnight due to the error that they made in inventory that you will in fact get overnight shipping. Also did you say that you ordered the item after they quoted you the shipping date? It is defiantly possible that the product was shipped even 10-20min later. It is no secret that MDD is shipping these 1st come 1st serve in perfect order. There should be no exceptions.

I just informed Doug of this post I bet he will be here any minute to take care of you and explain the circumstances.

Matt Dawson
Runcore

 

[Shrek-Moscow]

I just informed Doug of this post I bet he will be here any minute to take care of you and explain the circumstances.

Matt Dawson
Runcore

Thank you Matt, I know that finally everything will be fine, my only big complain is about lack of transparency in their communications. There would had been no question from me if they described the situation since beginning, what I don't like is to be kept on hold for two weeks with the only information "we have your SSD". If you have it, please, ship it..

Now, I'm an Italian expat living in Moscow, this SSD must arrive here in Moscow before I'll leave for Christmas vacations (need to be here in the middle of next week), it is a present, I have to bring it with me when I'll fly back home in Italy by the end of next week otherwise I'll not be able to give it in time (actually the real present is a second hand MBA in which I want to integrate the SSD before going back home and giving the MBA as present).

I'm starting to be a bit shy of all this noise I'm making here, I'm really not used to be tough. However I think the situation is clear, I'm getting the risk of not having a core part of the present in time.. while they are writhing that the item it is available.. uff, is it so hard to be transparent?

 

[mydigital-DH]

Shrek-Moscow,

I will try and address all your concerns one at a time:

I apologize for the miscommunication, if you were told on the 23rd we had them in stock, I'm sure that was true, but like with all Runcore products they do not last long in the store, and if our system says we have 50 pieces in stock that morning when you speak to a representative and you place the 51st order, due to the restraints of our first come first serve policy we will be unable to ship your drive. As for your second call, with us stating we had one in stock for you, typically this would mean we had saved a few for emergency purposes which is not entirely uncommon. However I have no explanation why it still did not ship for you, and for that I apologize.

I assure you at no point in time has anyone here tried to 'fool' you in any way, I just hope we can work this out and get you your drive. I will PM you to work that out.

Reseller Ratings: since early 2007 when they changed their policies Reseller Rating is not worth your time of day. Unless you pay Reseller Ratings they do not allow you the opportunity to participate in a meaningful way. In fact all you have to do is search and see the only people that do well either have 1-10 lifetime posts or are paying members. As you can see for the Reseller Ratings data MDD is in fact has a great lifetime rating with high frequency of posts but MDD stopped using Reseller Ratings as a moral grounds when they started holding back services in lieu of payment.

LinMac, thank you for the kind words!
ltsching, Thank you too!

Thanks for the intro Matt

Douglas Hare

 

[MacModMachine]

I know that the day in question is the day that MDD did in fact run out of stock as it was posted in this forum by me.

I also know that they will have more parts as early as tomorrow so you will have your order this week. If you want to blame anyone blame Runcore because we have been unable to keep up with demand as we are having small troubles with supply of flash and some other parts.

I also think that if you asked Doug at MDD to upgrade your order to overnight due to the error that they made in inventory that you will in fact get overnight shipping. Also did you say that you ordered the item after they quoted you the shipping date? It is defiantly possible that the product was shipped even 10-20min later. It is no secret that MDD is shipping these 1st come 1st serve in perfect order. There should be no exceptions.

I just informed Doug of this post I bet he will be here any minute to take care of you and explain the circumstances.

Matt Dawson
Runcore

i have to ask matt....who do you really work for ?

i have seen several posts in different places, somtimes you post you work for mydigitaldiscount and others runcore?

who is it really?

 

[FoxyKaye]

I will chime in here just to say that for me, MDD has been a mixed bag - I've never had a negative interaction with any of their staff members, even during a multiple RMA situation, however, they really do strike me as overwhelmed and having very poor follow-through (I was doing all of the calling back and emailing). Also, they need a better Web site that updates product stock more dynamically, and that in general navigates better than the one currently in place. However, I was always able to call and get a real, live, human being on the phone, which is a far cry from a lot of other online retailers.

That said, I've come to the conclusion that I'd likely do business with MDD again, but I'll never buy another RunCore product as long as I live (DOAs, poor engineering leading to product failures at installation, bad quality control). Which is a shame for MDD, as I understand they're somewhat invested in RunCore.

 

[star-fish]

If you buy a lot of stuff online and this is the worst service you've had, you've been incredibly lucky.

I wouldn't even class this as bad service. They emailed you back in response to your questions at least.

E-commerce sites aren't always perfect. The people behind them aren't either. It's easy enough to only have your 'in stock' figures only updated once a day instead of in real time. Added to that suppliers cancel orders, run out, stock doesn't arrive when it's supposed to, companies go under. Especially at this time of year and in this economic climate.

I'd consider it bad service if you received no responses about your order, and even then I'd only just be getting to levels of concern in this time period. To receive an email saying you'll be informed when your drive is shipping just means you have to be patient. It's not even been a full week since 1st December

You need to expect the worst to happen with buying online. Don't expect all companies to deliver the next day with no problems.

 

[Tornhoj]

Thursday the 3. december I ordered a 64Gb SSD for Macbook Air Rev A. I paid straight away via Paypal. According to their webside it should be in stock.

I have gotten a mail from Paypal, so i know i have payed.

I have not received any confirmation mail from MyDigitalDiscount. I have tried to email them and i have requested a confirmation on the form at their webside. But i have not heard a word yet.

I hope I will get a answer from them soon.


regards John

 

[couto27]

what about some stock of ssd runcore for the http://www.memoryc.com website .

i whant a 64ssd runcore for macbook air rev A, but is out of sotck for a while.

I know that the day in question is the day that MDD did in fact run out of stock as it was posted in this forum by me.

I also know that they will have more parts as early as tomorrow so you will have your order this week. If you want to blame anyone blame Runcore because we have been unable to keep up with demand as we are having small troubles with supply of flash and some other parts.

I also think that if you asked Doug at MDD to upgrade your order to overnight due to the error that they made in inventory that you will in fact get overnight shipping. Also did you say that you ordered the item after they quoted you the shipping date? It is defiantly possible that the product was shipped even 10-20min later. It is no secret that MDD is shipping these 1st come 1st serve in perfect order. There should be no exceptions.

I just informed Doug of this post I bet he will be here any minute to take care of you and explain the circumstances.

Matt Dawson
Runcore

 

[Shrek-Moscow]

everything seem to be fine now, they finally shipped!

 

[alphaod]

everything seem to be fine now, they finally shipped!

I would have filed for a refund about 2 weeks in. And a charge back if necessary. Any company that doesn't do business in an efficient matter doesn't deserve patience.

 

[Shrek-Moscow]

I would have filed for a refund about 2 weeks in. And a charge back if necessary. Any company that doesn't do business in an efficient matter doesn't deserve patience.

By the way, except for the communication problem, they was quite fair. They never charged anything until they start the shipping. The problem was that I found myself obligated to respect the order placed while time was running and nothing where going to be shipped.

What to do in similar circumstance? To cancel the order and to find another seller with the risk of starting again a new process? Time was my main problem.

By the way, I'm tracking the shipment on UPS site, tomorrow or day after tomorrow they should deliver the box to my place.

 

[mcpryon2]

I got the 64GB Runcore for my Rev. B on eBay and they sent the drive right away, I think I purchased it on a Thursday and had it Tuesday via Parcel Post. But, I can't use my stock HDD in the external case, which is something I was actually counting on doing.

I sent an email via eBay days ago and I'm waiting for a response. Hopefully they send me the updated part. At this point I'm just slightly disappointed I didn't get the new part, since Runcore stated they sent them to resellers weeks ago.

In a day where a return sale hinges on the most minute details, it sounds like MDD may need to step it up a little. I guess I'll wait and see how my situation turns out. It's only been a few days and I know mistakes happen, so I'll hold back my razor tongue at this moment

By the way, the drive is sa-weet.

 

[mydigital-DH]

mcpryon2,

I'm sorry, it appears you did not get the correct PCB in your enclosure, I have some left here though... Please just email orders@mydigitaldiscount.com with your Invoice number and I'll make sure and get you out the correct piece right away!

Doug

 

[mcpryon2]

mcpryon2,

I'm sorry, it appears you did not get the correct PCB in your enclosure, I have some left here though... Please just email orders@mydigitaldiscount.com with your Invoice number and I'll make sure and get you out the correct piece right away!

Doug

I sent a message on ebay, where I bought the drive, as well as emailing that address directly. I never heard a word back, so I had to buy a separate external drive in the meantime. I just wish I could return it now, but I'll be forced to resell it at a loss.

I've emailed the ebay store asking for a refund. If I don't hear anything this time I'll have to open a dispute...something I'd really rather not do.


Well, again I heard nothing, this is the third time. I have opened a dispute to get a full refund. I can officially say this is aggravating. Bah!

 

[mcpryon2]

I figure this is worthy of a double post instead of an edit...

I filed a complaint with eBay over the transaction and STILL have heard nothing from MDD, so it's being escalated. What a fun transaction.

I'm actually pretty gobsmacked by MDD on this matter; guess who I'll never buy from again. And I can't recommend them to anybody.