Japan Discoveries is Bullshit.

[Dyingmoments 19]

So I've bought from them in the past. Like since 2002 when they were called J-XYZ. Theyve always been overpriced as shit and it always took a week or two to ship your stuff. Presumably because they didnt actually have the stuff in stock and had to track it down. That being said, they were always a reliable (if expensive) option for anyone looking for band goods or fan club only items that didnt have good connections in japan. Ive probably spent upwards of $5k with them over the years. 

 

Fast forward to the new Dir en Grey Mode Of blu rays. I preordered all of them the day they were announced through JD. The first set came relatively soon after the official release, though none of my preorder goodies were included. I was not happy but whatever I'm never going to actually play an 8cm cd anyway. The second set took forever. They actually had to refund me for them then contact me when they found some. Again no preorder bonuses....to this day the last set of blu rays and the set box has not shown up. Ive emailed them...maybe 40 times now? Called about 20 times, left messages. messaged them 5 times on paypal. Nothing. Ive noticed on facebook that there are more and more people coming out that this has happened to lately. No refunds no communication no nothing. I paid with paypal so if I dont see a ship notice soon i can just turn it into a claim and get my money back, though im GUTTED that I wont be able to find the box and its looking like the blu rays are drying up on yahoo auctions so I may be screwed there too...

 

It looks like most people here have good connections and probably wouldnt bother with them, but I wanted to get the word out just in case. 

[heresytrash 250]

Japan Discoveries is trash honestly, my friends have dealt with them before and some of them never got the stuff they ordered. Also from what I heard, their staff is incredibly rude, that is if you can get them to respond to your messages.

[ahnchc 309]

They always reeked shady to me. Honestly, it's definitely because their website's layout looks like an unprofessional hot shit of 1990s.

 

I really hope that you find what you're looking for, OP. I also hope that more people steer clear of JD.

[Dyingmoments 19]

29 minutes ago, ahnchc said:

 their website's layout looks like an unprofessional hot shit of 1990s.

 

 

I actually dont think it has changed since the early 2000s. Thats how i could follow them when they changed name, they just put a different logo on the site. 

[Karma’s Hat 3107]

Ordered from them two times back in the day, and the second one took such a long fucking time I had to send them an inquiring email and 99% too lazy to complain about anything, so it must have been an exceptionally long time. 

[Seelentau 884]

The last two mode of releases were supposed to be released in June, but only shipped on July 31 from Galaxy Broad Shop.

No idea why, but I think JD might only be partially to blame for your problems with them, OP.

Edited September 11, 2018 by Seelentau

[Wakarimashita 317]

I bought from them once in the past (years ago) and other than the price (expensive as hell) I don't recall having any issue... But yeah, not going to buy from them again, that's for sure.

[ahnchc 309]

6 hours ago, Seelentau said:

The last two mode of releases were supposed to be released in June, but only shipped on July 31 from Galaxy Broad Shop.

No idea why, but I think JD might only be partially to blame for your problems with them, OP.

The fact that Japan Discoveries has—on a multitude of occasions—refused communication with OP and have seemingly never offered a means of refunding or explanation is not "partially". That is their fault. Regardless of whether the release was postponed for a month, it shouldn't take 2 months for them to get to OP. Even more so, as a 'business', JD should not be refusing communication.

 

It's all unprofessional and borderline puerile.

 

Also, other members or their friends have apparently experienced the same thing. I'd say a large portion of this problem is on JD.

[GreatNorthernVK 183]

Think I ordered from J-XYZ like...once. Markup and slow shipping led me to order elsewhere in the future. I suppose that they re-branded after having a lukewarm reputation for so long.

[Dyingmoments 19]

Blu rays came today....no box set of course. Also no preorder bonuses, so thats the entire set I've preordered in advance and apparently someone just kept the CDs and postcards and stuff for themselves. Checked yahoo and the only person selling all of them wants $160 for the set. Cool. Also of course no refund for only a partially complete order. What sucks the most is the only boxset I could find on yahoo is the DVD version...and im not sure if the packaging is the same dimensions for both versions. I mean im pretty sure it is, it wouldn't make sense not to be, but if my set doesn't fit together im going to be furious. 

[crucifiction 754]

Why even bother using such shady websites when there are proxy services like ZenMarket or FROM JAPAN? Affordable and reliable.

Edited September 12, 2018 by crucifiction

[Dyingmoments 19]

6 minutes ago, crucifiction said:

Why even bother using such shady websites when there are proxy services like ZenMarket or FROM JAPAN? Affordable and reliable.

I’m only just starring to thoroughly research it, but it looks like none of the available services really work well for a knot membership??

[suji 8317]

36 minutes ago, Dyingmoments said:

I’m only just starring to thoroughly research it, but it looks like none of the available services really work well for a knot membership??

I used a proxy before when I was in CORE (Merry FC) and it worked out pretty well even though I had to pay a big ass fee every year. I wasn't smart enough to use FromJapan for it though since I don't know if they do FC stuff; maybe message them about it I guess, or provide your membership credentials when you're ordering?

[Arkady 396]

Be warned tho that what FromJapan customer service answer you may be false. Till now I used it two times to ask about things (very simple, just 30 secs of checking from them kind of questions) and both times they gave me random answers that later will be proved wrong. But hey, at least they are fast responding.

Edited September 12, 2018 by Arkady

[Ikki 807]

I didn't realize that J-XYZ rebranded itself as Japan Discoveries.  I have never used them as Japan Discoveries since I thought the website looked shady as hell and I figured they sold bootlegs.  I remember having bought from them when they were J-XYZ and had two vastly different experiences with them.  The first time I bought from them, I got my item (a hide plushie) in a timely matter.  But then I bought from them like a couple months/a year later, and they never shipped out the item (a D'espairsRay CD) and I never got a refund for it. 

[Dyingmoments 19]

6 hours ago, Arkady said:

Be warned tho that what FromJapan customer service answer you may be false. Till now I used it two times to ask about things (very simple, just 30 secs of checking from them kind of questions) and both times they gave me random answers that later will be proved wrong. But hey, at least they are fast responding.

Yeaaaah that sounds like it wouldnt really work out??? Id like to use tenso but i keep hearing about people not getting documents and stuff. TBH i really dont care if its costly I just want a service I can count on 100%

[Dyingmoments 19]

5 hours ago, Ikki said:

I didn't realize that J-XYZ rebranded itself as Japan Discoveries.  I have never used them as Japan Discoveries since I thought the website looked shady as hell and I figured they sold bootlegs.  I remember having bought from them when they were J-XYZ and had two vastly different experiences with them.  The first time I bought from them, I got my item (a hide plushie) in a timely matter.  But then I bought from them like a couple months/a year later, and they never shipped out the item (a D'espairsRay CD) and I never got a refund for it. 

Ive used them countless times and never really had a problem before this year but I definitely buy that they've screwed people in the past. Its also 100% J-XYZ. The website code is nearly identical and has been for almost two decades now lol. Also the person that usually responds has been named akira since I bought merch from the 5 ugly kingdom tour in 2002. 

[TheZigzagoon 670]

I used them once and that was enough to put me off, I believe it took almost 2 months for my order to arrive, one month for them to ship it, another for it to arrive (I'm from the UK). Ever since I just use Closet Child's online store, it's much better 

[LIDL 692]

I saw once they were also selling signature guitars like those of Hide etc, I cannot imagine they actually would deliver that abroad, the insurance would be crazy expensive! Plus the waiting game probably worse than Hell. 

[Dyingmoments 19]

17 hours ago, LIDL said:

I saw once they were also selling signature guitars like those of Hide etc, I cannot imagine they actually would deliver that abroad, the insurance would be crazy expensive! Plus the waiting game probably worse than Hell. 

Ive shipped guitars from japan before. Im currently waiting on one that cost $5k. Shipping ususally averages out to around $300, so between double and triple what it would cost to ship a guitar domestically. The shitty part about their instrument prices are that they are between $500-2000 OVER what it would cost to buy and ship a guitar from ikebe or kurosawa BEFORE THEY EVEN ADD SHIPPING, so what these fucksticks are doing is just going to the store, ordering the guitar, and basically charging you a 30% premium, then bending you over on shipping. Fuuuuuck that shit. 

 

Im looking into Blackship to secure an a knot membership. Looks like its a side service from white rabbit. Have any of you guys used them before? Thoughts? Im determined to get a membership this year no matter what it takes. 

[Paraph 826]

i ordered malice mizer deep sanctuary picks from them a few months back and they took forever to ship, so i mailed them with no response and then disputed with paypal. they miraculously showed up in the mail after that with no shipping notification whatsoever...cancelled the paypal dispute but will never order from them again

[deedlitmurata 86]

I also had a bad experience with Japan discoveries, I ordered something that was expensive, and the order appeared in progress or something like that, then months went by and there was no update, no shipping, no nothing. I sent them several emails asking for status, and then after like 5 months (i was patient lol) of multiple messages without response, several posts in their facebook page, absolutely NOTHING. So I filed a complaint via eBAY and got my money back. After that I'll never order again through that site.

[vkei 2]

I've ordered items from Japan-Discoveries a few times (years ago). The first orders went okay. All my packages arrived but it took extremely long  for them to arrive. They shipped my items about 4 week after I paid them! Then I still had to wait another 4 weeks for my stuff to arrive...

 

My last order from them didn't go well. This happened in 2018. I ordered a small, black Yoshikitty but they had sent me a different version with wings.

I didn't want this version so I've sent them several messages but they never once replied back.

I've also asked them questions about some other items I was interested in but they never replied back to these messages either. It shows how rude and unprofessional they truly are 😠 I haven't purchased anything from them again after this and probably never will.

 

Also, their prices are insanely high and the tracking information usually doesn't work.

 

Does anyone know if Japan-Discoveries is run by a group or just 1 person?

Edited October 5, 2019 by vkei