A Warning about Mighty Ape

Ltyphoonadventure on 07/01/2016 - 13:01

Hey ob crew,

had a few dealings before with mighty ape and have had no dramas, end of last year was looking around at getting rare replay after getting an xbox one.

Nearest few places that had a copy were a fair way away and my local target had it for 37 but had sold out and was awaiting more copies.

Went on ebay found mighty ape selling it for a near enough price, target then lowered their price to $33. I figured why stuff around over a few bucks and ordered a copy as mighty ape clearly showed an australian copy as I did not want an imported one.

The picture clearly showing an OFLC ratings sticker on it and they claimed they had it in stock.

About 6 weeks later it arrived…

Got all excited until I saw a foreign sticker on it and realized that the reason it must have taken so long is that they had decided to substitute it with a cheaper import copy, i've messaged them where at first they've tried to absolve themselves of anything claiming it was a legit copy, then claiming it was a nz copy bought directly from microsoft before admitting it was imported from a cheaper source, upon me accusing them of a bait and switch with their ebay picture showing an australian copy all of a sudden the picture changed and they tried to play it off like it was always like that.

They've then tried to play off the laws claiming that they are not an australian company to which i've pointed out they are trading here they play by our rules and this is a standard bait and switch, they've then claimed they are based in NZ and things are different to which i've dug up an australian address for them.

I've then requested a partial refund as they've sold me a cheaper product at the australian RRP and tried to pass it off at that, to which they've responded with automaticly putting my ebay purchase through as a refund after "sending it back by registered post" and "sealed and unopened"

To block any paypal request on my part demanding a partial refund for product not as described.

The funny part about sending it back by registered post, they wanted about $12 for me to send it to them out of my pocket as a deterrent for doing it when it was sent by $1.90 unregistered international post.

Best part was that they wanted it back sealed to determine "if" the refund would be processed.

Well it arrived unsealed so good luck with that, so i've tried to provide ebay with information to sort this out and just been blocked by the return system, I can't even submit pictures or leave negative feedback as it seems and mighty ape do not respond to any messages over it.

Today I get an email from ebay claiming mighty ape have asked for the refund to be rejected, within 5 minutes I get an email from ebay claiming due to lack of evidence submitted they are going in their favor.

To make it even more fun i'm now also blocked from leaving feedback on their profile.

Pretty dodgy, not dealing with them again, amazed at the level they know how to game ebay to prevent consumer rights and bad publicity.

Gaming

Related Stores

Mighty Ape Australia
Mighty Ape Australia

Comments

  • McBanjo on 07/01/2016 - 13:14
    +4

    Put the game in your Xbox. Does it work?

    • typhoonadventure on 07/01/2016 - 13:15
      +5

      not the point. it was sold as AU stock and an AU product, neither were true.

      • argonide on 07/01/2016 - 13:49
        +1

        The listing doesn't say it's AU stock, at most it says it is PAL (AU, NZ, UK).
        I also wouldn't assume AU stock from a CTC OFLC label.

        • typhoonadventure on 07/01/2016 - 13:50
          +2

          it did when I ordered it. As stated after the complaints it got updated. I also was not the only one making the complaint.

        • tonyjzx on 08/01/2016 - 17:39
          -5

          I dont understand what the big issue is. I bought a copy of this, pretty sure it came from NZ and it works. It looks the same, is the PAL AU NZ UK EU copy whatever. It downloads all the content etc.

          I can understand why people get upset if its a NZ stock iphone because the warranty may not be honoured here but this is a disc… its media, its not the same thing.

          I dont see why the OP is so upset. Enough to write 500+ words and waste his time sending crap back that is essentially the same THAT HAS NO NEGATIVE EFFECT ON HIM.

          Also when I bought my copy it was $25 delivered. Why the F would I want to buy a local copy for $37 from Target (out of stock) or from EB for $50 when I can get the same thing to my door for $25?

          Local business can die in the ass if they're that inefficent and expensive.

        • [Deactivated] on 11/01/2016 - 08:49
          +3

          I dont see why the OP is so upset. Enough to write 500+ words and waste his time sending crap back that is essentially the same

          If you are a collector, they are FAR from "the same".

          Thanks for your 167 words of self-righteous ignorance.

        • tonyjzx on 11/01/2016 - 12:04
          -5

          @OzDJ_:

          167 words is like a minute of my time

          you're welcome

  • rightformula1 on 07/01/2016 - 13:28

    I know you've specified about wanting an AU product etc. but essentially the result is still the same - Xbox one games are region free. Did it have the markings of a used product? Does having the Australian rating on the case mean this much to you?

    • rightformula1 on 07/01/2016 - 13:29

      And I've always thought MightyApe was really dodgy anyway - there had to be a cop out somewhere.

      • typhoonadventure on 07/01/2016 - 13:43
        +7

        I'm a games collector, I try to avoid imports if I can.

        the main point of this being AU copies generally hold better value, for a business to market something as it's in stock (which it wasnt)

        and claiming it's an australian copy (which it isnt) is fraudulent selling as well as a bait and switch.

        Doesn't matter if it works, ignore that part.

        it's the fact they've said you are getting this product and sent you a cheaper version of it.

        If they had stated on the page that it was not an AU copy, said it was going to be imported and not used an AU branded picture all this would have been fine.

        • TenaciousTom on 08/01/2016 - 09:34
          +1

          If you have proof the picture showed it then they are required by law to refund or do something about it. I had a similar problem where I was sent a regular copy of COD MW2 when the picture showed the Hardened Edition. I ended up getting it swapped for free.

      • IVI on 13/07/2020 - 17:40

        I had such a thot about them today, as they're offering Pre-Release pricing PAPERBACK
        edition of:

        • Mike Shellenberger's "Apocalypse NEVER"

        Get it in Aug [or pay more for Express] $25 + small fee (S+H, I suppose)
        ('Haven't seen an announcement of a Paperback ed., here, in AU)

        Hardback is ~$36 on [prime-shipped] Amazon (higher across Booko's vendors)

        We paid Au$ 14.99 for Kindle ed, &
        a (Prime-doubled, 2 month) Audible trial
        to pay for their 12h+18m audio-book ed.

        Not a bad book… became a Best-Seller in Under 2 weeks… ;~)

        • IVI on 13/07/2020 - 17:46

          How well does their web-app based "Price-match" work?

          • "Click P..M.. on every product page" we're told
    • [Deactivated] on 11/01/2016 - 08:43
      +2

      Does having the Australian rating on the case mean this much to you?

      It does for me. I'm a collector and having titles from the same distribution country is very important.

      DJ

      • rightformula1 on 11/01/2016 - 11:12
        +1

        Perfectly justified reason, if you're buying to collect then it's absolutely an issue. I was just wondering if OP was nitpicking (which he also wasn't). Too many people complain over nothing these days lol.

        And the fact that some people still aren't aware of XB1 games being region free. Was just making sure.

  • QuickToThePointless on 07/01/2016 - 13:28
    +6

    Hopefully they are watching this post - ill just take your word for it and never buy from them again

  • KangaBanga on 07/01/2016 - 13:35
    +1

    dun worry too much about it, just dont buy from Mighty Ape again.

    And for cheap items sent by normal mail purchased on ebay, if you are unhappy with item then just do a paypal claim for Item not Received, thats the only way to get your refund without any dramas. I learnt this the hard way with a fake item from China seller in my earlier ebay days.

    Item not described and item damaged etc etc are just too hard to prove and very likely end with you wasting your precious time and getting nowhere.

    For items on ebay shipped with paid tracking, then buyer will be out of luck as it will not be possible to do a INR.

    • typhoonadventure on 07/01/2016 - 13:44

      I normally do this, I thought i'd take the nice route and chat to them first.

      I had no idea the seller can initiate a ebay focused refund, this completely blocks you taking any action via paypal :(

      It also puts you at the mercy of their conditions and blocks you from leaving public feedback, very nasty trick.

      • KangaBanga on 07/01/2016 - 14:21

        I have bought directly from Mighty Ape before and postage and packing was pretty top notch.

        I am surprised they resorted to such trickery on Ebay though. Perhaps give higher management a call in NZ and let them know about the poor customer service and politely, perhaps they might even give you a $50 voucher.

        My policy still stands for doing INR for all ebay purchases if I am not happy with the product received. As you experienced, its just not worth the effort, time and stress over something the price of a meal.

  • typhoonadventure on 07/01/2016 - 13:49
    +2

    Turns out I can launch a broad paypal complaint now, i've sent them the evidence of the original picture, a picture of what I was sent and a copy of the page how it was when I ordered and asked they seek a $10 partial refund from them and it seems to have accepted that.

    (keeps telling me if i try to handle it via resolution center or the request refund tab in paypal it tells me it's already been sorted).

    Let's see how it goes.

  • Rukiata on 07/01/2016 - 14:00
    +1

    I feel you, but I bought a Asus Bundle PCE-AC68 AC1900 Dual Band Wifi PCI-E Adapter from wireless1_eshop on ebay and the item was faulty, I HAD TO SEND IT BACK WITH MY MONEY. they are meant to give me the postage money. anyway they stuffed me around and said they didnt get it when on AU post tracking it said they had gotten it, so i had a go at them, took them awhile for them to refund me and guess what? I didnt get full refund only most of it back, im very annoyed. they suck if you get a faulty item they dont care about customs at all. their support is dodggy and take forever to message back.

    • KangaBanga on 07/01/2016 - 14:24

      haha with the HongKong/China sellers its a game of roulette at times :D

      Any returns/refunds will be a nightmare.

      So far cheap and good things from them are common items like ink refills and covers for mobile phones.

    • Clear on 07/01/2016 - 22:10

      Consider yourself lucky. Wireless 1 insisted that it's not their responsibility to take back products under warranty.

  • WannabeHermit on 07/01/2016 - 14:06
    +1

    I bought a bunch of studio ghibli movies from them once. All the pictures imply you're buying nice clean Australian stock but that's not what I received… All my copies had a huge ugly sticker of another country's classification on them (stuck directly on the paper cover art) and none were stuck on straight either. On top of that the cases felt quite grubby and used, some were sticky and none were sealed. One of them wasn't even in the original bluray case.

    My first and last purchase with them…

    • WannabeHermit on 07/01/2016 - 17:27

      Edit: My purchase was through their AU website, not eBay

  • pifts on 07/01/2016 - 15:26
    +2

    Interesting .. I've ordered through MightyApe (their AU website, not eBay) many times and have only had the best experience. There have been two hiccups (one involving a pre-order bonus, which ran out before I received it), and besides a little delay, on both occasions the customer support guys were very helpful and I even got $20 in store credit for my troubles.

    Maybe the difference is which front you go through …

    • typhoonadventure on 07/01/2016 - 15:40

      it may be, notice how all their ebay stuff is put through as infinti games?

  • Vlaka on 09/01/2016 - 14:40
    +2

    I bought the Fallout Anthology from them late november, received it 3 weeks later, looked like it had been handled by baboons. Broken packaging, scratches and the button to activate the sound didn't work.
    Contacted their 'customer support' and it took them a further 2 weeks just to give me a return address and a freakin' refund.
    Will never deal with them again.

  • [Deactivated] on 09/01/2016 - 16:32

    My yokel EB had preowned copies for $23 each. They looked like new.

  • Store RepMightyApe @ Mighty Ape Australia on 11/01/2016 - 08:30
    +4

    Hi acex1138,

    I'm so sorry to hear this. :(

    I have sent you a private message now, I will personally do everything I can to get this resolved for you (at our expense) as soon as possible.

    My deepest apologies again for this disappointment and inconvenience.

    Kind regards,
    Isaac.

  • typhoonadventure on 11/01/2016 - 12:19
    +1

    Looks like this forum post has had results. I did not get any further replies from Mighty ape via the official channels but as of isaac's post on here I just received this PM :

    I can appreciate that completely. We have an automatic system that will order from local suppliers first, but if stock isn't available we will try to source it from another supplier to avoid any delays.

    In this instance it looks like the item was listed with our local supplier, but that stock became unavailable and was switched to an international version automatically, to avoid delays.

    Sadly that meant you got version you weren't expecting. :(

    In this instance, I want offer you a partial refund of $10.00 back to your bank account, as a small apology.

    If you're happy to accept this, I will just need a bank account number to get this processed.

    Alternatively I can offer you $10.00 Mighty Ape account credit if you would prefer.

    Please accept my sincerest apologies again for this.

    Kind regards,
    Isaac.

    So hopefully in future they keep up better contact and let people know that if they can't source the item local they import source it, I personally would have preferred they offer a choice between a refund or a cheaper substitute version, and that they list this policy when purchasing but I am glad they have come to the party to resolve this.

    I hope mighty ape can use this experience to improve their system and procedures and am glad this has been resolved.

    Thanks everyone else for their help with this and it goes to show OZB community can pool together and get some great results, thanks all!

    • yesterdaysnews on 11/01/2016 - 15:48
      +1

      Its good that a pr person, or staff protecting company's image, has rectified the issue. Pretty crap that it took a forum post to have the issue resolved opposed to the customer service channels in place.

      Must be annoying that they made attempts to stop the refund process with 'nasty tricks,' then very easily make good on the issue.

      I've looked at ordering a few board games off of mighty ape but think i might just avoid them.

      • typhoonadventure on 11/01/2016 - 16:07
        +2

        i'm happy to give them the benefit of the doubt again if they openly state the policies of what occurred in this situation, having workedi n the industry I get it was probably some junior employee who used the wrong image or left out their substitution policy.

        However I do agree that it should not have taken a forum post to rectify and hopefully whatever they've got going on they rectify this or I think they may lose a few sales no matter how good a deal.

        Communication is key with customers, when I used to work for a company i'm not going to name if we were like this with our suppliers we'd suddenly lose the next big bulk purchase that could net the company an easy profit to say someone like bigw who would happily sell the item in question for a $2 profit on each item as a loss leader just keep keep customers coming in, so communication was always a top priority.

        Hoping this improves things MightyApe.

  • Slippery Fish on 13/01/2016 - 19:12
    +1

    Long time site stalker first time poster,

    I thought id sign up to publicly thank izac for replying when I contacted mighty ape fb.

    So Thankyou izac.

    I have used their sites for years no issues and was disturbed by your story.. Im happy to see you get it resolved.

  • godofpizza on 19/01/2016 - 11:07

    ordered from mightyape in the pass, mostly good experience from them but the shipping cost seem to be the biggest downside considering other sites offer free shipping.

  • King Steuart on 20/01/2016 - 14:15

    Mighty Ape customer service was fabulous to me late last year. I also ordered Rare Replay from them at a competitive price. Haven't opened it yet.

  • Ashurei on 13/07/2020 - 18:12

    Don't know whether AU copies are getting super scarce or what; both my recent online orders from EB Games have been EU copies with an OFLC sticker slapped on. I'm not super fussed because they were on sale but on the other hand, I could've imported actually sealed copies if I wanted EU stock and if I ever were to try to trade them in, I'd have to spin three times and pray to the right god to encounter a staff member who would accept them.

    • The Value on 13/07/2020 - 18:45

      New or used?

      For new games, it's just simpler/cost effective to print the one game and cover.

      • Ashurei on 13/07/2020 - 19:25

        Both were advertised as new. One of them I know for sure has an AU cover because I've seen it in a JB, so there shouldn't be any reason for EB not to have it.

  • godofpizza on 13/07/2020 - 18:57

    i go roped in during one of their sales for ps2 rpgs back in May last year. Brought a few of them and when they arrived they were unsealed.

    I wasn't happy with my purchase and sent off an email.

    Charde (Mighty Ape)

    May 15, 3:28 PM NZST

    Hi Godofpizza,

    Thank you for getting back to me :)

    I've had a look into this for you and I can confirm that this would have been sent to us unsealed, by our supplier, as we haven't had any returned to us.

    I do apologise for the disappointment caused by this :(

    However, if you'd like to return this for a refund to your Mighty Ape account - in line with our change of mind policy, please let me know and I will set up a return for you :)

    You can read more about our returns policy via our help page:
    https://mightyape.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/115012111088…

    Again, I do apologise for the disappointment caused, however, this was sent to us unsealed :(

    Please don't hesitate to get in touch if you need a hand with anything else or if you'd like to return the game.
    Kind Regards,

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