tzd, dead?

[Michael Helgeson]

My correspondence with RedFrog.

Wow.  I agree with Redfrog that much of your ranting is unprofessional.  Your past dealings with TZD are beyond the control of (and of no consequence to) the new owners, nor are they at fault if Steve held back stock.  I find it ironic that someone who's previously stated that TZD was just a store and of no major importance to the community would expect the new owners to cater solely to us and to shy away from profits.  It's totally unreasonable to expect any new owner to proceed in the same manner as the old owner, so why are you surprised by what has transpired?

It's too early for me to condemn Redfrog just yet.  Their negative and neutral feedback don't concern me, considering the high volume of mostly positive feedback.  I don't want anyone to get screwed either, but if you don't like the auction price, then don't bid.  I always get combined shipping quotes in writing before placing a bid, then I can let ebay fight out the charge if the seller over charges.

They didn't honor their own combined shipping policy posted in 2 auctions I won,because they were selling items in other peoples hands not located at their store.This wasn't stated in their auctions. If you check their feedback really well you will see other accounts of this often. When I confronted them about this they refused to fix the issue and told me the extra $10 plus was for handling..... Alot of my opinion of them comes from MY OWN prior dealing with them from just a couple of weeks ago. I'm not the store,they are,so my goal was not to be professional,but to get answers from them as to what they had instore.Also,when a store takes over a different one,it usually means they have to repair any prior customer service issues.

 Its nearly impossible to start from scratch otherwise,unless you change the business over completely including the name,in this case being TZD. There is no exception to this honestly.  My hopes was that whoever purchased TZD would have been a caring member from here or someone who loved the Turbo community as a whole and the system,and wanted to keep things in order and deal with Turbo and PcEngine related items,new and used.

 I stated this already here,you must have missed that . This would have then made TZD actually become a positive force for the community.

[nat]

My hopes was that whoever purchased TZD would have been a caring member from here or someone who loved the Turbo community as a whole and the system,and wanted to keep things in order and deal with Turbo and PcEngine related items,new and used.

We (as members here) should all have chipped in and bought out TZD. They couldn't have had more than $10 grand of stock left, if that.

[Michael Helgeson]

Let me address a couple of "Redfrog"'s points....

Why would we offer members the games at non ebay prices? SO they can be sold on ebay anyway?

Because members of the community are buying games to PLAY, dumbf*ck, not to re-sell on eBay at a markup. Members of the community have looked to TZD for years as a safehaven to source domestic titles from without getting involved in the gangrape that happens on eBay.

This is precisely the attitude that really turns me off to this new company without even having dealt with them.

This is further compounded by this comment:

We're selling a small handful on eBay to test the market for some stuff, that's it, nothing more.

[...]

as well as change the pricing structure on many things for the TG fans.

I think it's pretty clear what their intentions are.

I just hope I am proven wrong.

Exactly,Redfrog is a ebay type business. Not a company out to get on a personal level with this community.
Its clear that when compared to the "old" TZD this "new" TZD  is going to be more like Telegames but in auction form with high prices. As Missa pointed out too,they got caught lying off and on in their replies. My guess is the ones who are going to disagree with what I did,and side with Redfrog are actually going to be the very few members here who dislike me on a personal level,and not because Redfrog is a great company with great intentions,because they are not.

I want to also note I made a slight oops on how much I had to pay them for shipping for the 3 PS1 games I won from them. The total mount to have the games shipped was $22.39. I won the 3 games all in the same time period and made payments for the 3 games via paypal pretty much at the same time. I had to pay for one separately due to the fact it was a item not actually in their hands they sold,and it wouldn't add in their check out system. Due to this one items shipping was $6.99. The other 2 games I had to pay $15.40 to have shipped to me by first class mail in a flat brown mailer with no layers of bubble wrap to protect them probably one can only guess,as that is how Philosoma was shipped to me and how some of their prior complaints have read.

I am sure anyone here can agree it doesn't take $15.40 to ship 2 PS1 games and that the third one I won should have been listed in actual auction details as not being in their hands and would have to be charged for and shipped separately. If I would have had this info,along with other knowledge,I would have never bid on anything of theirs. When I made this very clear to them they insisted it was justified and that the extra goes towards handling fees.

[Black Tiger]

Same with some others here. I already have the vast majority of games I want. I'm not big into collecting the US titles,and have most all of them I want. I am more interested in the Japanese titles TZD never sold. I think SignofZeta is showing a crappy attitude towards his fellow members here for unknown reasons,and his comments are ludicrous and borderline insulting. You cant seriously think all the members here were old enough to buy games for the system back in its heyday,or to know TZD was around,due to their age.

Some only had access to the games their local stores carried,and you obviously know how that went since most stores didn't carry games for the system.Some members here are in their very early 20ies,or not even 20 yet. They would have had no idea about TZD until they got older and discovered Al Gores internet more likely then not.

I was only in my teens when TZD came about, but I worked part time jobs to pay for my TG-16 habit. However, because of their evolving policies towards Canadian buyers, I was never able to purchase from them. Originally I had to deal with their "affiliate" who had severely jacked prices and limited selection and later they(TZD USA) insisted that I pay something like $50 to ship a single game.

Even Working Designs, who didn't distribute their games in Canada, was happy to sell to me directly through the mail and had very friendly and helpful customer service(the opposite of the communications I had for the most part with TZD over the years).

[turbofan1]

I never bought from TZD.I used there site one time,when i was needing a/c power adapter for my turbo duo.They didn`t have any,but gave the information i needed to get a replacement one from radio shack.That was about it.Cant really comment on these new people that took it over.That is A shitty thing that there doing,I guess selling the remaining stock on ebay.They cant be as bad as gamesquad.Selling A stand alone turbo grafx unit,with no back cover,A replacement a/c adapter,and A couple shitty games for like seventy dollars plus shipping.Or a duo-r with a Couple games for like five,six hundred dollars.I cant believe people actually buy from them.

[gekioh]

Man this really sucks now after reading this entire post im pissed that I actually bid on three of the sealed turbo games they have up there right now. I had no idea RedFrog is what used to be TZD. I did recently win that copy of Top Hunter on NEO GEO AES they had up though for a lot less than what it usually goes for on ebay. I always see it at like at least $100. I won it for $60. Shipping was a bitch though even for a aes cart. This will definetley be the last time I have any future dealings with them unless they cahange there ways.

[Michael Helgeson]

I just checked my incoming mail and packages for the past week,and 2 of the 3 games I was waiting for by Redfrog that were supposed to be shipped together still have not arrived as of yet it seems. I am sending notice about it to them. Payment was made on Jan 3rd by paypal, so its been 13 days so far. Philosoma did arrive,packed poorly in a brown  mailer with a cracked case,but it arrived. Id send it back,but I wanted the game bad enough to keep it and replace the case with another one.

[gekioh]

well thats total bull shit man especially considering how much you paid for shipping. If my neo geo games in poor condition at all im going to be super pissed.

[Joe Redifer]

gekioh I demand you hurry up and get tired of Top Hunter and give it to me!  I won't even charge you to ship it to my house.

[BigT]

I've dealt with Red Frog and they are an OK, if mediocre company.

My biggest gripe is their inflated shipping, mandatory shipping insurance, and joke of combined shipping.

They charge $7.95 to ship an Xbox game with an additional mandatory $1.50 insurance (this is for crappy USPS shipping). Combined shipping just meant that each additional title ships for an additional $5.95... gee, thanks for the discount

But, I don't know what some people expect. Sealed Turbo games are a rare commodity, so I don't blame Red Frog for trying to make money... they are a business after all.  If you do not agree with their practices, just don't shop there... there's no sense in making it personal 

[gekioh]

we shall see my friend, we shall see! Of course I never thought I would get tired of spin masters and i did and ive only owned that one for four weeks now. Was surprised i got it so cheap though especially w/ all this talk going on about red frog. Now we'll just see how long it takes them to mail it to me. If i get tired of it would be willing to trade for a pulstar, blazing star, or either of the two shock troopers (conversion obvoiusly on the shock troopers.)

[gekioh]

you know Big T i would have to agree w/ you for the most part. Sealed turbo games or even the really good ones non sealed(used) are indeed a rare commodity these days. There will always be people willing to pay whatever it takes to get what they want(like me, hate to admit but its true-i have paid $50-60-even $70 more than a perticular game is worth just because i wanted it bad enough. I am happy that red frog is even selling that good stuff at all.

[Kitsunexus]

I'm going to email redfrog and tell him "I own your momma and I'm speaking on her behalf. "OH, that was good!".

[BigT]

Yeah, it seems like people forget that many of these games were $49.99 when they were available in stores in the early 90s (that's why I never picked up Magical Chase - couldn't justify $50 for a HuCard).  Demand for Turbo games isn't very high nowadays, but supply is very low... yet despite this, you can still find newly sealed games at or below original retail price...

If you want the games, you have to pay up.

[nat]

I'm going to email redfrog and tell him "I own your momma and I'm speaking on her behalf. "OH, that was good!".

You should do that and post the reply up here.