Raving Toy Maniac

I had a pretty similar situation. I was given two options: the one you outlined; or send Flash back, have them charge the correct card, and then ship Flash back to me. They were gracious enough to offer free shipping back to me. Gee, thanks.

So, anyhow, I have the DR corporate number, which might help a little. If you call it, you can (politely!) explain your situation to the receptionist, and ask if you could be transferred to Escalation Support. They might not be able to help much, but it's worth a shot. Their number is 952 253 1234

Calling the main number given above is the only real chance you have; dealing with anything other than the escalation department has always been a complete waste of time, and apparently still is with Matty's much vaunted "new customer service team."

They had the page up where you could manage your subs yourself, and then it disappeared almost immediately. Every time they are asked about, they're still working the bugs out. I have a feeling the combined efforts of every exterminator on the planet couldn't rid Matty of it's bugs.

Early last year I was able to get my sub reinstated after the exact same problem after calling the main DR number, but even that didn't help with the debacle I tried to straighten out in November. Whatever you do, don't send the Flash figure back, as there is NO reason for Matty to ask you to do so. The screw-up is, as usual on their end, charging a card you changed. Be polite, but be firm, and make sure to follow up. These people have no clue what they are doing, so you have to watch them every second.

Thanks - I really haven't posted since this new site and left it anonymous, but I put up the initial post.

I'm waiting to hear from a Digital River supervisor. But I sure like the advice of not sending the Flash back. I can't understand why that's necessary and, as I said, I certainly don't trust them to get it right at this point. The JSA Flash was the key factor in purchasing the sub, with completing teams like the Metal Men next.

So I figured there would be enough I'd want that I'd regret not paying to get the exclusive figures. Plus, I realized that would be costly if I really wanted any of the exclusives.

Now I'm wondering if I should just let them keep the subscription fee and call it even for the Flash figure - even at the overpriced $35 charge or whatever. Which reminds me - the DR customer service guy had the audacity to tell me that I had the Flash figure for free at this point. I reminded him that they canceled my sub, so if anything they've got extra $ for it as it stands.

Honestly, even with the cost of getting Shadow Weaver of evil-bay, I couldn't be happier that I told Matty where to stick their subs (okay, I didn't say exactly that; I am at least civil in my correspondence). I pay more pre-ordering through BBTS, but when I got a Sorceress in my Fisto box (Mattel's fault, not BBTS), I had a return label at no cost to me and a Fisto reserved for the exchange within 30 minutes of them opening the next morning. I got lucky and was able to pre-order Metron when he came up, and have been able to get everyone else except Draego-Man off the site (to late when Matty put the screws to me to pre-order him, and he never came back up until he shipped). Truthfully, the extra few bucks it costs at Big Bad (and with Matty's exhorbitant shipping and BBTS' pile of loot saving me shipping, it's not as much more as you first think) are more than worth it to deal with people who actually know what they are doing rather than the complete idiots Digital river employs.

I'm starting to feel the same way. I think I'll just skip getting the figures altogether. A hobby just isn't work the headaches.

The latest in this saga:

One more person, another loooong conversation and it just keeps coming back to Digital River saying I have to settle a disputed transaction on a credit card that no longer exists - they just don't understand that can't happen.

However, I will say that I don't know how the credit card company accepted the charge at first considering that the card had been cancelled, but Digital River had no business charging it to that card anyway. I made it very clear when I called earlier this year that the new card would need to be used for all future transactions AND whatever remaining charge was related to the initial signup and was told that wouldn't be a problem. I sure don't believe that now.

But their hangup seems to be that they have no way of dealing with an order once a charge has been put into dispute - the payment must be reinstated on the card that was initially charged and then reversed. And there's nothing I can do about that. So I'm likely out the $30 sub fee because they don't have a way to deal with this situation.

At least I'm only really out $6.30 if the Flash charge never goes through - although I certainly don't have the "free" Flash figure the Digital River guy claimed I have. But I have a feeling that they might also try to collect on the charge. I know it's in their fraud department.

So the moral of the story is - no matter what you do to avoid a problem, Digital River will screw it up and with them the customer is always wrong.

Your card company may NOT have accepted the charge; DR is so incredibly incompetent that they send out the merchandise before it is paid for. I know, they did it to me. They sent me the Star Sisters from my two subs, the subs I asked them repeatedly to cancel and were on a credit card I told them numerous times was cancelled because of the bogus charges of nearly 700 bucks Matty billed me for in November (long, long story of idiocy there). I received an e-mail about the failure of the second charge to go through (the extra 40 bucks for the larger pack; the first 20 had already been pre-approved when I ordered the subs). So they sent me the merchandise even though my bank had NOT accepted the second charge. Best part, I tried numerous times to find out how to return them and make sure Matty KNEW they were returned, and gave up after the last reply told me how to re-instate my sub rather than remotely answering the question.

So many people having their subs cancelled and not getting the figures they were promised (can you say "We're out of Fistos"?); I've been trying to cancel my subs for months, and they won't stop sending me stuff (had to refuse delivery on Fearless Photog).

I can't blame you for feeling like giving up, but I have found going other routes for the figures, letting the retailer I get the stuff from deal with Matty's stupidity, has brought back some of the fun Matty was sucking out of my toy collecting. It's amazing how much difference dealing with people who have IQ's in the double to triple digits makes. If finances allow, give somebody else a chance, be it BBTS or some other e-tailer who sells these (there are a number of them whose prices aren't outrageous, even on evil-bay) and actually has a clue how to run a business. It sounds like you have been a loyal follower of the DC line, and it seems a shame to let the ineptitude of a few dunderheads spoil that completely. Trust me, I know what you're feeling right now, but I also know how happy I am with the Jay Garrick I got, and will likely geek out completely when Metron and his Moebius chair finally arrive.

Updated my card info yesterday and have a very bad feeling about this. The last time I updated it went pretty smoothly aside from the rep having trouble reading the numbers back to me, but she had them right. Even gave me a confirmation number. This time got off to a rough start and never really improved. First she couldn't find my account using my email address, I spelled it out to her several times before she spelled it right, but must have been spelling Yahoo wrong or something. Finally she found it using my name. When I gave her my credit card number she submitted it immediately so when I asked her to read it back she couldn't, just the last four digits and she didn't have a confirmation number for me. I'll be surprised if my Voltron sub goes through next week...

Emerje