"As others have said, this site is horrible. I ordered a product, paid the $102, only to get an email 5 days later claiming that the item was out of stock and I would be getting a refund. I went to their site immediately. It is listed as in stock and is now $150. Pretty obvious what happened. I called, and the woman who answered said that the item I ordered probably went out of stock and then they got more. I replied that the site showed it as in stock every day since I ordered it, she said she would transfer me to the owner. I was on hold for over 30 minutes and then got disconnected. I called back, and the next person I spoke with said, "We probably don't have any and just raised the price. Okay? Thanks." and then hung up before I could even respond. Worst internet buying experience I have ever had."
"Ripped Off by "Gathering Ground".
When my order arrived, it was the wrong product. I emailed - no response. I phoned, and got the answer:
"We were out of those, so we sent you something similar."
I didn't want "similar", I wanted what I ordered. You should have notified me so I could have cancelled, instead of just shipping something else. How can I get a refund?
"Just reseal the package and return to sender."
USPS charged me an additional $1.50 to return an already opened package. I called again, and Gathering Ground assured me they would add that to my refund.
One month later, I still have no refund, and Gathering Ground says they "have yet to receive the return."
I have disputed the transaction with Paypal.
They still have the item listed for sale on their website, even though they are supposedly out of stock!
DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THESE PEOPLE!!! "
"I purchased 2 items on the website about a week ago, a present for a friend of mine (which was 2 days ago) and never received notification that the item had shipped and had missed her birthday. I called yesterday to see what was going on with the order and they told me the order had been cancelled due to being out of stock which to me was believable since these items is pretty hard to find but still question why wasn't i told and why are they selling an item that isn't in-stock. I was told i was refunded (which i checked today and they didn't) and i rechecked the website, they raised the price of the items i wanted to purchase from 14.99 to 24.99, what the hell kind of crap is this? i really wish i read the reviews before decided to bother with these people, seems they do this often"
"I ordered a Time Spiral Theme Deck Box from this merchant about a month ago. A week went by, two weeks went by, no email, no phone call, no nothing. Over the course of a month I had sent 3 emails with no replies (and yes I checked my junk mail.) I called them and they said that the item wasn't in stock after about two weeks so my order had been cancelled, but at no point did they let me know this or give me the option to wait until the item was back in stock. I looked on their website while I was on the phone with them and it shows the same item still in stock now being sold for nineteen bucks more! To try and pull a bait and switch like that is utterly despicable. This is a prime example of shady business practices - I would highly recommend steering clear of them."
"I spent about 70.00$ for cards on GatheringGrounds website. The deals seemed fantastic and it was the only place I'd ever seen some of the items. Well, as the saying goes it was too good to be true. I waited a week, no shipping confirmation, so I emailed them and I got a short reply of "items were out of stock, credit refunded". Now for a business don't you think they should inform you when they find out that it is not in stock? Are they that lazy that they make the customer find out themselves? Shockingly enough as others have reviewed, the items they said were out of stock still say in stock on the website. DO NOT BUY from this crooked business. Cheap prices in this place means cheap customer service. "
"I ordered $130 from this site online. After placing the order they stated they needed to Verify my card information over the phone. After giving my card information over a secure site, i dont like the idea of calling a number in email to verify my number on the phone or via email. I told them to cancel my order, they responded it was my prerogative but did not refund my card. I am disputing now. A secure site is more secure than having someone call or email their card info, also if the intent was to verify my information before processing the order, why did they charge my card right away? Seems VERY shady, Do not do business with them!"
"Great prices and very fast shipping but their communication could be better. Didn't receive any order confirmation e-mail. The Phone Verification policy is a little strange since they only asked for the stuff I provided when ordering anyway. It isn't even clear on if the onus is on me to call or that they call, so I called them. Wait on hold wasn't too long."
"I am very happy doing business with the gathering ground. I placed an order(1 set of 4 theme decks, magic)friday at 330pm used paypal for my order with standard ground shipping, usps. I received an email the following monday saying the item had been shipped at 1142pm, the package arrived that wednesday. no prob. company is in MO I am in TX"
"At first, I was hesitant to buy from here seeing the other 1 star reviews, but I checked the date on them figuring things might've gotten better.
And they did, apparently. I got a phone call asking about my shipping address and the caller was friendly.
Cards are cheap which is good if you're a college student. My only complaint was the long shipping. Other than that, I would buy again."
"Terrible company, DO NOT do any bussiness with them. I ordered an items on April 27th of $75.00. I waited for weeks, but the tracking number still said pending always, no change. After emailing customer support many times and being ignored, I called and they finally told me my order was not shipped because items could not be found ect. So I waited more and called many weeks periodically aqfter still waiting, it was June now and I still did not recieve my order, after calling many times and they kept giving me same excuses and stories, I wanted a full refund, and finally got it in July... Terribly fustrating and the worst part of all is that they still have the items I wanted to purchase available to other customers. A complete and total scam of a website, this a shady company whose only goal is to take your money and be unprofessional. I recommend reporting them to the BBB (Better Business Bureau). Best desision I made in this whole process."
"Ordering from The Gathering Ground has caused me nothing but frustration. I would advise you to steer clear. Here is a brief rundown of the events that transpired with my order.
4/7/09 - initially placed order for a booster box. The website allowed me to place it into my cart. It gave me no warning that the item was out of stock.
4/15/09 - over a week goes by and I have not received anything nor word from the website. When I check my order status it just says that it is "pending". Okay? I e-mail the company to ask them what's up. Apparently nobody is going to let me know there's a problem. I get an e-mail back saying that it is out of stock (gosh, really? Thanks for telling me.) I then e-mail them back and ask for the order to be canceled and all charges refunded.
4/17/09 - I have received nothing back nor any indication that my order has been canceled. I e-mail the company again, and again my e-mail is ignored.
4/21/09 - still have received no word. This time I call the company up. The person I talked to says that the person who handles refunds is not in so I will have to call back another time... He claims the refund was in fact processed so I should receive the money very soon. Okay...
4/27/09 - at this point I am frustrated beyond all belief. I was never notified that it wasn't in stock, my e-mails have been ignored, and it's been about 3 weeks with them holding my money. I call back and again I am assured that the refund has gone through. How long does it take? It certainly is quickly taken out of my account when I am paying them.
5/4/09 - FINALLY I get my refund. It has been nearly a month.
And the kicker: the item I ordered is STILL AVAILABLE on the web site so somebody else could go and have the same problem (I even let the person on the phone know that it said it was still available when they could not get any in stock nor order new ones)."
"I had ordered more items on the website. When I received my order, it was less than what I had originally ordered. I was not notified or anything. They're a very shady business to deal with. They bring you in with their cheap prices, but you get what you pay for: bad service."
"Horrible shady online practice.
On Friday night I ordered a $170 trading card. Monday afternoon, I get a call from them telling me the card is out of stock, and with out asking me, they had already canceled the order. Even though they normally offer an option to keep the order and wait for the card to come in stock.
I rechecked the website, and the card is still in stock, and now is being sold at $260. I called back and received unpleasant service. The person on phone duty offered the phone to a regular at their local store ( at least I assume, as he was willing to play part) to tell me that they canceled the order because they just want to sell it to me for more money. Unprofessional and terribly rude. "