Alternatives to DCBS? 1 1

[GeeksAreMyPeeps]

3 hours ago, ExNihilo said:

Does DCBS reimburse you for books that have tears?  I received a copy of ASM #19 that has a noticeable tear that appears on the cover and the first few pages of the book.  As though it was bound by a rubber band at some point.  I order all my books bagged and boarded so I can't imagine the damage occurred in transit and must either be a printing defect or occurred elsewhere from Diamond to DCBS.

Does anyone else have a similar issue with a copy of ASM #19?  Otherwise, has anyone dealt with an issue with DCBS and what was your process?  I'll likely email them once I go home and take a close look over the other 30 books from the shipment.

I've emailed them about damaged copies in the past. In one shipment all of the incentives had damage. I imagine someone dropped them all as they were getting my order together. In one case they refunded the books and didn't ask for them back. In another case they had me ship them back for a refund. But usually on variants they won't be able to replace them.

[duderino]

I was a customer with DCBS since about 2005 or so .. back then Cameron was the person who answered emails, helped with issues, etc. Great service and times.

Over the years as they've grown, service has gone down, some damaged books, and customer service suffered by long delays responding to emails, and at times almost combative attitudes to solving issues.

This last year (early 2018) I started getting my books shipped in a bundled shrink wrap, which by the very nature of the process name/description has "shrink" in it, and they were sending me mostly damaged books (torn edges, creases, damaged or rolled spines) by using that process, I emailed them and was basically ignored then treated indifferently. I asked them to stop shipping MY books that way and I got told they wouldn't stop.

Since I pre-order I still had 2 more months to be delivered... and those last  shipments had the shrink wrapped books AND the rubber bands to add even more damage. I emailed them again and basically they said to take a hike so I did. That was Sept or so last year.

Not sure any move back to the old location will solve that process of damaged books happening.. or their poor CS, so be wary of them still.

Since it's been awhile .. do they still shrink wrap and rubber band books?

I suggest folks try mycomicshop.com. They have great service, shipping and very similar pre-order savings.

Cheers.

Edited May 27, 2019 by geoffdude

[ExNihilo]

On 5/27/2019 at 1:52 AM, geoffdude said:

I was a customer with DCBS since about 2005 or so .. back then Cameron was the person who answered emails, helped with issues, etc. Great service and times.

Over the years as they've grown, service has gone down, some damaged books, and customer service suffered by long delays responding to emails, and at times almost combative attitudes to solving issues.

This last year (early 2018) I started getting my books shipped in a bundled shrink wrap, which by the very nature of the process name/description has "shrink" in it, and they were sending me mostly damaged books (torn edges, creases, damaged or rolled spines) by using that process, I emailed them and was basically ignored then treated indifferently. I asked them to stop shipping MY books that way and I got told they wouldn't stop.

Since I pre-order I still had 2 more months to be delivered... and those last  shipments had the shrink wrapped books AND the rubber bands to add even more damage. I emailed them again and basically they said to take a hike so I did. That was Sept or so last year.

Not sure any move back to the old location will solve that process of damaged books happening.. or their poor CS, so be wary of them still.

Since it's been awhile .. do they still shrink wrap and rubber band books?

I suggest folks try mycomicshop.com. They have great service, shipping and very similar pre-order savings.

Cheers.

I got my most recent shipment two days ago.  Books were rubberband bound and shrink wrapped.  The condition of the books appear to be unaffected.  The shrink wrap itself is rather loose as there is a reasonable amount of room for me to at least cut open a hole and use a scissor without even getting close to the books.  The rubber band seems rather useless and I do wish they did without it as I can see how that could possibly affect the books.  But overall, my books have arrived in great condition thus far.  Far better than what I would otherwise pick up off the rack at my LCS at 60% of the cost.

[boomtown]

5 hours ago, ExNihilo said:

I got my most recent shipment two days ago.  Books were rubberband bound and shrink wrapped.  The condition of the books appear to be unaffected.  The shrink wrap itself is rather loose as there is a reasonable amount of room for me to at least cut open a hole and use a scissor without even getting close to the books.  The rubber band seems rather useless and I do wish they did without it as I can see how that could possibly affect the books.  But overall, my books have arrived in great condition thus far.  Far better than what I would otherwise pick up off the rack at my LCS at 60% of the cost.

I used them about a month or 2 ago and books arrived in really nice shape. My order did not have the wrap or the rubber band. I think my order was for around 35 books, so maybe they do it differently for larger/smaller orders. I was very happy with the service, pretty much flawless books.

[marvelcollector]

I've been with them for several years. They use shrink wrap and rubber bands, and the books have been in excellent condition.

Haven't seen a problem here.

[duderino]

Consider yourselves lucky.. here's a few pics of what I was getting.

 

 

 

Edited June 5, 2019 by geoffdude

[GeeksAreMyPeeps]

5 hours ago, geoffdude said:

Consider yourselves lucky.. here's a few pics of what I was getting.

 

 

 

Yep. This has been my experience. Also, variant orders being cancelled, sometimes after they were due to ship, and being told (numerous times) that they were shorted and those shortages were not replaced. So if there's a variant that you really want that might be impossible to find when it's already been out a few weeks, pre-order it somewhere else.

[hsquad71]

Just finished reading this thread. I have been buying from them since August of 2016, and spend about $3000/year on my various subscriptions. I Mylite2/Full Back my books and cannot remember the last time I received a book with an imperfection from them. I get them with the rubber band, but it has yet to cause me any issues. Books come well packaged, and always arrive around the same time each month. My only gripe, and the reason I am considering a new service, is their customer service. I usually get a response from Carrie (who is always helpful), but it can be days before I get a response, and if I have a follow-up question... several more days. Them not having a phone number, or being responsive in general to queries can be frustrating. I stay because I get a great discount, my books arrive on time and in perfect condition, and they come pre-bagged boarded in the Mylar & full backs.

 

I haven't been able to find a comparable service that offers a similar discount, the option to choose those bags/boards, & has attentive customer service. If anyone has any suggestions for alternatives, I'd appreciate the suggestions. I'm not desperate to leave, but if I could match what I currently get with the added bonus of responsive customer support, I'd definitely have to consider a move.

Thanks all!

[Imcubillo]

I just placed my first order and was very impressed with the prices so fingers crossed. I compared the costs against my old service and for the same books, including bags and boards, and shipping I saved a total of $22. 

The sucky part is that I won’t know the condition of books until end of October. So I will need to place one more order next month. If it goes bad I will go back to my previous or will check out mycomicshop - I love their auction and everything has always been delivered in great shape - the discounts are not as deep.

[Samoyed Sabaka]

On 6/4/2019 at 11:50 PM, geoffdude said:

Consider yourselves lucky.. here's a few pics of what I was getting.

 

 

 

I've been having the same condition issues over the last few years with DCBS.  Used to not be so bad, but now it's at least two books per shipment that have torn covers or color breaking folds.  They used to be quite responsive (Carrie) and would credit me fairly quickly, but I reported two damaged books in December and have had no response for close to 6 weeks.  I've tried to be very polite and understanding since it was the holidays, but now it's getting to the point where I'm losing my patience.  I'm just asking for like a $5.00 refund, so it should be pretty easy to process - but nope - they're ghosting me with no replies at all.  It's this total disregard for customer service that seriously has me considering going to try another service.  Guess I might give mycomicshop a try.  Any other recommendations - (I'd prefer to find someone that has a similar discount)?

[Samoyed Sabaka]

As a side note, for those living in the Los Angeles Area, I did discover that my LCS - Legacy Comics in Glendale does offer a nice 33% discount on Marvel and DC, 20% off other publishers - so I'm definitely thinking about switching back to buying at a brick and morter - something I haven't regularly done in almost 20 years.  I will miss the ease with which I could place an order on DCBS, but hopefully, being able to deal with my local shop in a face to face situation will be better in the long run.

[UnboxingTreasures]

Received this notification from DCBS:

 

"Going forward, we will not be offering ratio variants 25 and higher on the site until the book releases and we know the fair market value and the exact amount we will be receiving. We kept overselling on many of these issues because we did not know our qualifying amount until the end of the month and we would have to credit customers if we did not qualify to receive enough to fill all orders. We were also estimating fair market value at the time we offered the book, however, many times, once the book was released, the market value was either much lower or higher than what we estimated. We feel this is the fairest way to offer these variants. "

[GeeksAreMyPeeps]

4 hours ago, NamesJay said:

Received this notification from DCBS:

 

"Going forward, we will not be offering ratio variants 25 and higher on the site until the book releases and we know the fair market value and the exact amount we will be receiving. We kept overselling on many of these issues because we did not know our qualifying amount until the end of the month and we would have to credit customers if we did not qualify to receive enough to fill all orders. We were also estimating fair market value at the time we offered the book, however, many times, once the book was released, the market value was either much lower or higher than what we estimated. We feel this is the fairest way to offer these variants. "

Well, I guess I'm done buying incentives from them then. If I want to buy one, I want to lock that in by pre-ordering. Probably for the best since I've had orders for them canceled numerous times in the past

[GeeksAreMyPeeps]

On 1/16/2020 at 4:15 PM, GeeksAreMyPeeps said:

Well, I guess I'm done buying incentives from them then. If I want to buy one, I want to lock that in by pre-ordering. Probably for the best since I've had orders for them canceled numerous times in the past

And apparently, even when I do place an order for a variant, they cancel it and then double the price when it's resolicited:

 

[Tec-Tac-Toe]

10 hours ago, GeeksAreMyPeeps said:

And apparently, even when I do place an order for a variant, they cancel it and then double the price when it's resolicited:

 

As someone else would note, I'm too kind to do so, this is what is termed a ripoff. However, to cover another base, DCBS is entitled to attempt to ripoff customers. Perhaps DCBS' cost  on this item increased. However, again, as someone else would note concerning DCBS' cost, I don't care; not my problem.

[GeeksAreMyPeeps]

47 minutes ago, Tec-Tac-Toe said:

As someone else would note, I'm too kind to do so, this is what is termed a ripoff. However, to cover another base, DCBS is entitled to attempt to ripoff customers. Perhaps DCBS' cost  on this item increased. However, again, as someone else would note concerning DCBS' cost, I don't care; not my problem.

The term for ordering incentive variants are simple; you buy X numbers of the order-alls, and you can order one copy of the incentive. The only thing that changed is their price (which I won't be paying)

[Tec-Tac-Toe]

9 minutes ago, GeeksAreMyPeeps said:

The term for ordering incentive variants are simple; you buy X numbers of the order-alls, and you can order one copy of the incentive. The only thing that changed is their price (which I won't be paying)

Yes, the new price is what I commented on. However, based on what DCBS has listed on its website (https://www.dcbservice.com/products/valiant-entertainment/40), while it may have to order a certain number of a comic book issue to receive/purchase an incentive copy, it appears that a customer could simply order it without having to order X number of copies of the issue. Regardless, returning to the point of your initial post on this matter, the cost, for my comic book budget, is prohibitive.

I'm not certain that the following link will function.

[GeeksAreMyPeeps]

53 minutes ago, Tec-Tac-Toe said:

Yes, the new price is what I commented on. However, based on what DCBS has listed on its website (https://www.dcbservice.com/products/valiant-entertainment/40), while it may have to order a certain number of a comic book issue to receive/purchase an incentive copy, it appears that a customer could simply order it without having to order X number of copies of the issue. Regardless, returning to the point of your initial post on this matter, the cost, for my comic book budget, is prohibitive.

I'm not certain that the following link will function.

Yes, a customer could order just the incentive. That's always been the case. If the customer was required to buy 25 copies to get the 1:25 incentive, then the incentive shouldn't cost more.

[Tec-Tac-Toe]

Just now, GeeksAreMyPeeps said:

Yes, a customer could order just the incentive. That's always been the case. If the customer was required to buy 25 copies to get the 1:25 incentive, then the incentive shouldn't cost more.

I misunderstood your post as I read it as customers being required to purchase X number of copies to be able to order the incentive from DCBS. On that topic, if I recall correctly, Mail Order Comics, based in NE; which went bankrupt several years ago and DCBS acquired its business (pending orders, customers, etc.,); did require customers to order X number of copies to get an incentive which I believe was free, apart, of course, from having to purchase X number of copies of an issue.

[delt569]

Anyone else having shipping issues with DCBS?  My current shipment went out 20 days ago.  I sent an email to DCBS on Monday (why don't they have a phone number?!!?).  Talked to Fedex twice.  Typically it arrives in like 4 days.  Hopefully not lost