so are the 20 gigs actually still avail.. it says 100 left but when you try to order it says OOS? Are they there or what>?

I doubt the empeg guys have any greater knowledge of the US store stock situation.

As to that store, there are two great acronyms to describe it: SNAFU & FUBAR.

IIRC, someone posted about successfully (got email notification) ordering yesterday, FWIW...

/Michael

cheers

I ordered a 30GB unit day before yesterday and got an email confirming shipment and a tracking number yesterday so hopefully my unit will be here on Monday. When I ordered, the 30GB unit also said OOS but the order went though.

I ordered a pair of 30GB units a few days ago and the order is still processing. It's just more completely RANDOM Digital River BS. For instance, I got a message asking me to verify the order within 24 hours or it would be canceled. I didn't receive any such message on my previous order. On my first-ever order I did receive a similar message but I was unable to ever get a reply through to Digital River - they provided bogus information that would just loop you around between different support email addresses. That first order shipped out while I was trying to resolve that whole issue over the phone.

So far I've ordered 6 empegs at 3 different times. Inconsistency seems to be the only consistent thing with Digital River.

Bruno

The wacky thing is Digital River prides themselves on being able to empatize with their customer base, they claim to be able to correlate all the previous orders by a customer and make assessments about the customer. Clearly, if you have ordered 6 empegs at 3 different times, you should be considered a LOYAL CUSTOMER and not to be dicked around with. They obviously don't care and want to see if you are a thief with a stolen credit card every single time.

Calvin

"They obviously don't care" would seem to be Digital River's approach to customer service. When I ordered my 12 Gig Rio Car through the U.S. Store, shipment was "pending" for so long that I called Customer Service and ended up re-ordering by telephone. At least I received a customer number with my shipment.

When the tuners became available, I again tried to order from the U.S. store, only to receive a general error remark. After finally reaching customer service, my order could not be completed by telephone and I received an e-mail requiring me to fax a photocopy of my credit card (both sides) and the most recent credit card statement! I suspect the Digital River system doesn't like Canadian credit card numbers on their e-commerce system. So much for the past ordering experience and the assignment of a customer number!

Fortunately, Canada is well served by the International store. My tuner and additional Rio Cars were ordered and received without a problem.

I reported my Digitial River experience to Tim E. at Sonic Blue last year in the hope that things would improve for future customers. I also participated in two surveys: Rob's at empeg; and one on the Sonic Blue website last May. Empeg sent a carrying case for participating in their survey. I'm still waiting for the headphones offered with the SonicBlue survey.

While Digital River may not serve Sonic Blue e-commerce customers well, Sonic Blue does not value this market segment enough to change things after one year of hearing the same complaints through the bbs and their surveys.

At least "empeg" cares. Everyone in Cambridge has been super with regard to ordering, confirmation, and shipment. Were it not for them and this bbs, I would not have spent thousands of dollars on the empeg / Rio Car for myself, friends and family. Sonic Blue has been well served by everyone in Cambridge. I suspect their contribution to the bottom line goes unrecognized as Sonic Blue shifts focus for their car mp3 line.

In the future, I will only consider a Sonic Blue product if it is available at the international store or from a local retailer.

Adrian
Mk IIa w/red label tuner