Warning: Play.Com's "Free" Delivery

FrCrilly

Hi All,

Just a warning on Play.coms free delivery to Ireland. To deliver to Ireland, it's compulsory on the site that you have to buy in Euro's. I calculate Play's compulsory Euro/Sterling rate to be approx 0.71, which is well below the 0.91 that my credit card company recently charged me.

Example:

I've just bought a DVD box set from HMV at Stg £13.99 + Stg £2.50 delivery charge to Ireland. My credit card took care of the Euro/Sterling conversion and it worked out costing me €18.00 in total. I've just checked that a DVD package that's on Play.com advertised at Stg £13.99 with free delivery will end up costing you €18.49 (ie the compulsory exchange rate ads more than HMV's £2.50 delivery cost).

I'm not saying disregard Play.com when buying things, but just take this compulsory rate into account when shopping around.

Hope you find this of interest.

boopolo

This matter has been covered here 100's of times.
That is why so many users buy from blahdvd and others where they charge you £1 delivery and you can pay in sterling.

IMHO Play.com are a rip-off

parsi

So the message is -check what the price is before you buy ...

Play selling Prince of Persia today at 25.49 and will post it, Argos have it at 30 but I'd have to wade through the hordes to get it. Decisions, decisions.

ShaneU

parsi wrote: »

Play selling Prince of Persia today at 25.49 and will post it, Argos have it at 30 but I'd have to wade through the hordes to get it. Decisions, decisions.

That's not the point.

The game is £17.99, you're being charged €6 for supposedly free shipping.

It's blatant false advertising.

parsi

ShaneU wrote: »

That's not the point.

The game is £17.99, you're being charged €6 for supposedly free shipping.

It's blatant false advertising.

That is the point.
The bottom line is the point.
They are not charging extra for shipping. The price quoted to euro purchasers is €x and that's what you're charged.

Would you prefer that charge you the direct equivalent of the Sterling price and added on a per-dvd charge to ship thus bringing the price to the same level ?

If Play's delivery inclusive price is cheaper than other delivery-inclusive prices then buy from them . Its the same as ebay - look at the total price.

rednik

Sendit.com also use free delivery but the difference here is in the last few days sendit have adjusted their euro prices to reflect the exchange rate which play never do. Have a look at The Matrix trilogy on blu ray and compare both sites. Check out future releases and see the difference its unbelievable.

parsi

Sendit it seem to flutuate all over the gaff - when they are reasonable they seem to blow everyone else away but other times seem to be little more than ripoff merchants.

ShaneU

parsi wrote: »

They are not charging extra for shipping. The price quoted to euro purchasers is €x and that's what you're charged.

Ah so we're just being charged 25% extra on this game because we're paying in euro? :rolleyes:

parsi wrote: »

Would you prefer that charge you the direct equivalent of the Sterling price and added on a per-dvd charge to ship thus bringing the price to the same level ?

THEY SAY IT'S FREE SHIPPING! There shouldn't be any charge. If they weren't falsely advertising the product it would be the same value in euro as it is in sterling.

parsi wrote: »

If Play's delivery inclusive price is cheaper than other delivery-inclusive prices then buy from them . Its the same as ebay - look at the total price.

Ebay doesn't matter, this is play we're talking about. :mad: Play could be the cheapest site on earth, the problem is both the UK and Ireland supposedly receive free shipping, yet we pay 25% more than them? It doesn't make any sense, they're clearly telling porkies and getting away with it.

TestTransmission

Somebody change the tune,you have a choice,,either buy from them or dont.

Liamario

Just noticed this as well this afternoon. Unless they can justify why they have a seriously outdated exchange rate, i'm going to go elsewhere :cool:

Liamario

rednik wrote: »

Sendit.com also use free delivery but the difference here is in the last few days sendit have adjusted their euro prices to reflect the exchange rate which play never do. Have a look at The Matrix trilogy on blu ray and compare both sites. Check out future releases and see the difference its unbelievable.

Just checked a few prices on sendit.com Not all the prices have been adjusted. It almost seems we are being charged more to help the british economy or something

rednik

I suppose it depends on what you're looking for,anybody using just one site is like a driver using one garage. At the moment on blu ray I will buy mostly from sendit because the majority of their prices are lower than most. As they say it pays to shop around.

boopolo

parsi wrote: »

Would you prefer that charge you the direct equivalent of the Sterling price and added on a per-dvd charge to ship thus bringing the price to the same level ?

Yes.

And then everyone would see straight up they are charging them 20% surcharge because they are Irish suckers.

Or of course they could charge £s.

Of course they can charge 50% premium if they like.

But as long as the good users of boards.ie keep threads such as these bumped up, the companies like Blahdvd and dvd.co.uk will take more and more Irish business from them.

So for those users who complain about this with phrases like 'go buy elsewhere then' or 'i am fed up with people complaining bout play ....' just skip over the thread. All people dont read these boards every day. What was good value 6 months ago is not necessary good value today (in light of weak £).

So my advice is: Do the sums. Bear in mind your credit card company will charge about 2.5% surcharge for sterling buys.

But note: Play.com do charge for postage to Éire. It is approx 20% of the cost of the item. Its just they do not call it postage.

EDIT: In light of the continious falling £ the postage is nearer to 25% now. Do the sums


Boo

parsi

It's the bottom line that counts.

If Play include in their price a charge of 3.87 today towards getting the DVD on the plane or charge of 4.34 next week in respect of the gas bill to heat the warehouse it makes no odds to me and I'll buy from them if they are the cheapest.

So - if the price that they charge to my card is cheaper I'll buy it from them. Makes no odds whether the euro price is different to the sterling price or whether its a wet monday or sendit actually charge the actual current rate or blahdvd explicitly charge £1 for postage - if the total price from any of these guys is cheaper then they'll get my business.

This crack about Play is like O'Leary moaning that Aer Lingus had fuel surcharges and Ryanair didn't but still ignoring the wheelchair levy, the security fee etc etc.

Edit: I don't work for Play or Blah or Sendit or CD-Wow - I'll just go for whoever is cheapest at the time and bear in mind that today's consumer champion won't necessarily be tomorrow's.

MysticalSoul

A friend of mine contacted them about this, and they refunded the difference in the exchange rate.

Guy:Incognito

Liamario wrote: »

. Unless they can justify why they have a seriously outdated exchange rate, i'm going to go elsewhere :cool:

So if they give you a good excuse you'll buy off them at the higher price

boopolo

I think that the OP is just trying to draw attention to the fact that Play.com may not always be as cheap as you might think.

I used to find them cheap, but as sterling collapses they have been more expensive than the opposition in most cases except for their specials. Check out the opposition. Do the sums. Making a statement that 'last time i checked, two years ago.......' makes me laugh. Prices change daily online.

For the OPs friend who got the exchange money back from Play; fair play (pun) to him. I have never managed to contact them as they have no email and their phone system seems to be always down.

Red Sleeping Beauty

Are play.com also adding in Ireland's 21%VAT rate ? When ordering from thomann.de they charge you for the VAT to whatever country they're delivering to.

Do blah or dvd.co.uk charge the Irish VAT ?

astrofool

I much prefer they show the full price they charge inc. delivery, it makes it much easier to compare prices (much like the airlines now having to include taxes in advertised prices).

311

astrofool wrote: »

I much prefer they show the full price they charge inc. delivery, it makes it much easier to compare prices (much like the airlines now having to include taxes in advertised prices).

The difference between play and amazon is Play have FREE DELIVERY plastered all over their website.

I think thats how they get customers away from amazon and the likes. If they had to change it for us ,it wouldn't be a free delivery website anymore.
Thats my take on it anyways.

Red Sleeping Beauty

311 wrote: »

The difference between play and amazon is Play have FREE DELIVERY plastered all over their website.

I think thats how they get customers away from amazon and the likes. If they had to change it for us ,it wouldn't be a free delivery website anymore.
Thats my take on it anyways.

But you don't get free delivery, they're charging you for delivery . Just in a round about way

311

alan dunne 27 wrote: »

But you don't get free delivery, they're charging you for delivery . Just in a round about way

Theres no such thing ,unless of course you buy direct from some postal service.

Red Sleeping Beauty

This is very bloody pedantic...

Play.com say they give you free delivery, i.e. you're not paying for it. And as has been established, you are paying for it because their prices are higher in Euro.

311

alan dunne 27 wrote: »

This is very bloody pedantic...

Play.com say they give you free delivery, i.e. you're not paying for it. And as has been established, you are paying for it because their prices are higher in Euro.

LOL ,ah sure we're irish. We're suppose to be mugs:P

Red Sleeping Beauty

Ah yeah sure to be sure to be sure ...
<insert sarcastic smiley here>

boopolo

alan dunne 27 wrote: »

Are play.com also adding in Ireland's 21%VAT rate ? When ordering from thomann.de they charge you for the VAT to whatever country they're delivering to.

Do blah or dvd.co.uk charge the Irish VAT ?

No Vat. They are in the Channel Islands and send from there. If you buy say a boxed set that cannot be split into seperate BD/DVDs and its value is over €22 you can get charged VAT by customs. Its hit and miss but some posters here have got caught. Amazon charge Irish Vat. I think Bladvd charge uk Vat (not sure). They post from UK for sure.


Boo

Red Sleeping Beauty

So we still get screwed and ripped off even if we buy abroad!

Can't win with these scumbags

CyberWaste

Yeah but play.com is still alot cheaper than the high street and most online shopping sites, hidden shipping charges or not. Most of the time on ebay you get ripped off for postage too.

Red Sleeping Beauty

It's not always cheaper. You'll get some things in HMV for the same price or maybe even cheaper (they had a Hitchcock box set for about €30-40, cheaper than Play)

If you're in town and you want a DVD you're best bet seems to be HMV , Tower is a rip off but they'll more than likely have you what you're looking for - HMV's cheap stuff is usually bulk popular dvds. And Laser are hit and miss. Game Stop don't really do new DVDs.

Cabaal

FrCrilly use the search funtion this has been covered already, also if you don't like the pirce then don't buy!

Its not a ripp off in anyway you have the choice to go else where

gramlab

Its wrong they grossly advertise free delivery but if they are cheaper, use them, if not don't.

What I find annoying is that a lot of their 2 for X deals don't seem to work out at the checkout. And you cant contact them. Buying UMD's for nephews recently and their 2 for 15 (8.50 each normally) wouldn't work even though the ones I picked had the deal plastered all over them.

boopolo

Cabaal wrote: »

FrCrilly use the search funtion this has been covered already, also if you don't like the pirce then don't buy!

Its not a ripp off in anyway you have the choice to go else where

Yes and no. Yes we can go elsewhere if we don't want to get ripped off. Maybe there should be a sticky just informing people of the £/€ exchange rate of Play.com. Even with this rate, Play are still cheaper sometimes; but as sterling declines play are becoming less competetive.

Problem seems to be people compare Play.com's price in Sterling to say Bladvds price in Sterling and see that Play are cheaper. But when they click to pay in Euro they are charged over 20% in exchange rates. When they buy in Sterling from Blahdvd they dont know exactly how much it is in Euro. It is about 2.5%+ over the daily rate depending on cc used + £1 delivery.

Little big planet (ps3) at Blahdvd is £17.99 + £1 delivery = £18.99 = €20.08 + surcharge (say 3%) = €20.70 total. If Play.com can match that on their Euro site they will be cheaper.

Today Play are selling it for £24.99. For Irish customers it is €34.99:eek:

Okay lets say Play had it on offer just like Blahdvd at £17.99. It will cost €25.49 for Irish customers.

Play need to be more than 15% cheaper than Blahdvd (£ vs £) for them to be cheaper for Irish customers on a £17.99 item.


Boo