Question about Raven Hill Studios
Crabs, a contributor to the Spanking Facts & Research Forum, posted the following question today:
Just wondering if you guys know how to get in contact with Raven Hill Studios. I ordered "You'll Both be Spanked Today" over three months ago, and I have placed numerous calls, and sent many e-mails. They do NOT respond. I paid by credit card and they have never delivered my DVD.Aunty wonders if any of her readers can provide Crab with some advice. It really is sad when a spanking company violates the trust of the spanko community.
posted by Aunty Agony at 10/05/2006 10:11:00 PM
19 Comments:
I also have had problems ordering from them and this was several years ago, some of their movies are good but now what I usually do is try to find them thru a source other than them. ( same goes for their web site )
From the replies on the forum it appears that Raven-Hill are a shite company to deal with. That’s interesting as they have been around so long. It would be interesting to find out how wide spread poor service delivery is. I can say that Shadow Lane and Leda are bang on the money with international deliveries despite UK customs.
With modern PC equipment, would it not be more sensible to buy the download and then burn a DVD of your own?
The refund issue: Are you ashamed to let your bank know you have been buying "Filth"? Be proud your not vanilla get your cash back. I remember being ripped off as a late teen. I bought a bundle of spanking magazines wrapped in Cling film from a "Private" shop. When I got home the top and bottom magazines were spanking the middle 8 were, Penthouse, Mayfair and the like.
When I walked back into the shop the bloke behind the counter almost fell through the floor. He had to undo a further 8 packs to give me what I'd paid for just to avoid doubles. The bloke was clearly shit scared he was going to get a kicking. Though to be fair it was all in his head.
The porn business is subject to (mostly) the same rules as anyone else. Name and shame always works. If Raven Hill get wind of this unrest they will improve service delivery or go under in a very competitive market.
No one gets it right 100% of the time, but it is fair to say that there is an element of "what you gonna do, Tell the bank?" when a porn transaction goes bad. No one should let the producers and suppliers of "Jazz mags, mucky videos, implements of stimulation" make you feel guilty for spending your hard earned on their stuff for your solo gratification. Wank and be proud.
Ttfn Aunty
Crab
Good Luck with getting your purchase or your money back. Raven Hill Studios owners are known crooks. I had a pmblm with them 2 years ago and they would not resolve it so I had a friend with the US Attorneys Office call them and after several calls it got resolved. I wish you all the luck in getting your matter resolved. Go to www.spreview.net and there is information on who the owner of the company is. Raven Hill is nothing but trouble. If you want to talk further contact me at drewfields_60614@yahoo.com
Ravin Hills has a series called "Resolved by Corporal Punishment" where they solve real crimes (small claims stuff) by paying the persons debt in exchange for a real bare bottom spanking.
Maybe the owners of RH should be given the same option..
Darcy
I would contest the charges on your credit card. There is a way to do that directly with the credit card company I think by filling out a small form. Then order something from another company that is realiable.
This is good to know for the rest of us, to avoid ordering from Raven Hill.
Raven Hill is awful. They are engaged in fraud, plain and simple. They accomplish this by accepting orders and not shipping them, by shipping products other than what was ordered, by making false claims concerning the contents and frequency of updates on their website, and most of all, by refusing to cancel memberships after someone has joined. If they were in any other line of work they would have been shut down a long time ago, and probably prosecuted. What is mystifying is that despite it all, when you actually get to see some of their content, its pretty good. They could easily be one of the more profitable websites if they treated customers fairly, so I'll never understand why they instead choose to consistently rip off customers.
I have dealt with Raven Hill studios since their inception, and both their product and service were excellent. However, recently, they turned over their sales and distribution to an outside source. Result-higher costs, and possibly the problems you now read about. I would try to contact Tieere Ainese
through their website and see if you don't get a good result. Hey, they've been around due to the intersting niche they fill, namely girl-next-door type spankees, no gratuitous sex, and often a feeling of feeling bad about causing the girl any real pain or discomfort. It's kind of refreshing considering the blood-letting that's been coming out of Eastern Europe. Hey, just my one-and-a-half cents worth!
Jim
Jim, thanks for your posting. It is important that we get some context. I must say, I agree with anonymous' comment that it's strange RH are engaging in nefarious behavior given that their content is actually pretty good. Ah well, perhaps if customers put enough pressure on them, they'll change their sales and distribution company.
I actually decided to create a blog account here to tell you my experience with Raven Hill Studios. About 5 years ago I first bought several videos from them online. The only complication I had with that transaction is that one of the videos I ordered did not come in, but they removed that transaction from my invoice, which was fine with me. A few years later (nearly 2 1/2 to 3 years ago) I ordered more videos through their site. These videos did not come for MONTHS after they were ordered. However, after several calls to their ordering telephone line they finally came.
Although the transaction took much longer to arrive than what most would consider an acceptable period of time, the movies did in fact come. However, my problem with this company came afterwards. First, after having bad luck with mail order, I signed up for their website membership, which as other members have stated is not what they advertised! That is, it was not updated as frequently as they claimed and the picture quality of their movies (online) was poorer than what they advertised and poorer than the industry standards of the day.
Second, the icing on the cake, was the fact that a year after canceling my membership with their website they sent unsolicited advertisements to my apartment for their movies. What if I had moved? What if I lived with my parents? I mean this to me was a betrayal of my privacy, which many of you may agree is one of those most valued aspects from a seller of spanking movies. I called every line I could find and never got anything but a voice mail. I left many messages about how I wanted off the mailing list; yet a year later (about a year to six months ago) I received another unsolicited advertisement. I have recently moved form that apartment, and instead of getting an outdated magazine subscription, the new resident of that apartment may get spanking video advertisements in my name, THAT I NEVER WANTED!
Again, I agree with other people who have commented here. The content of their movies is really good and they could make a decent profit with legitimate business practices. But, given their dubious business practices I WOULD NEVER DO BUSINESS WITH THEM AGAIN and I implore anyone not do business with them either for their own sake.
One has to wonder given the comments on this so far, whether in fact their is a legitimate business trying hard to do their stuff in the back-ground?
People who are being subverted either by their own slackness, or general lack of discretion, and or if they have outsourced elements of their business, and now find themselves in a position where they can't control third parties who have their own business agenda/targets? Or the worst case scenario; have done a deal with the devil (crime) somewhere along the line and now found that their hands are tied (No pun intended)?
It would be interesting if someone from Raven Hill would post a response. As I remember (and many have come and gone) Raven hill have been around since I owned a 486 sx 25 and a 12k modem (I couldn’t upgrade for years ;-)
Perhaps, (and I like to be optimistic) they have just fallen behind in the technology stakes and need a kick in the arse to update their backbone.
Very odd.
Aunty: Licensed Spankologist, this looks like your first full on consumer affairs post. What would you like to happen next?
A: We all stop using your blog like a forum
B: You infiltrate Raven Hill posing as a newbie model and get the scoop on the inside track?
C: Post stuff as it comes in and eat chocolate while we wind ourselves into a tizzy fit?
D: None of the above?
Ttfn luv ;-)
Raven Hill Studios are thieves. Contact your credit card company and say it was a fraudulent charge, which it was. Contact the local police department, if I remember correctly it was in St. Petersburg, Florida, but I might have that wrong. They are afraid of the police. And lastly, contact the U.S. Postal service and file a mail fraud complaint with them. Trust me, the combination of all three things will get you your money back.
I have no experience with Raven Hill,
but for years I read the USENET news
group Soc.Sexuality.Spanking. Raven
Hill had a bad reputation on that group.
Tony Elka of Shadowlane claimed that
Raven Hill used photos from
Shadowlane without permission. There
were also several people who claimed
that they had order problems.
Again, I have no personal experience
with Raven Hill, but their reputation
has kept me from linking to them
or ever doing business with them.
Wintermute
Ravenhill remains on our consumer caution list. This problem dates back at least three years.
David Pierson
www.spreview.net
David, thanks for that information. I am shocked this has been going on for three years and they're still in business.
i ordered a monthly membership that guarenteed full movie updates 3 at a time once a week. after i paid my $30 dollars i quickly found out that there was only one movie readily available and when i emailed them about there lack of updates and false advertisment, i was responded to 2 weeks later than they canceled my membership prematurely. i couldnt get a refund without legal action because i paid with a bank card, and $30 isnt quite worth the trouble. i highly suggest staying away from this company, even tho there videos seem so good, its not worth the headaches.
I'm echoing those who've already written about Ravenhill being a disgrace of a cheating company for years. The complaints about Ravenhill (and no other company other than Spanking Digest) are really damning and go back at least 7 years.
They also (like Spanking Digest) stole a great deal of their pay site content both from other spanking vendors (like Shadow Lane) and spanking writers (like yours truely and my husband).
I'm sorry for whomever they've been screwing lately. The warning is too late for them, but maybe someone else will see it. There are plenty of good companies out there and only a couple of bad, but Ravenhill is definitely to be avoided.
I have had the most horrible experiensies with Raven Hill Studios. Mostly they don't deliver at all. If they deliver, it takes months and months before you get the dvd's. It is a pity because they have some nice spanking dvd's. Nowadays I order the Raven Hill DVD's not directly from their fraud company but i order them by a large dvd cmpany called "CD universe". CD universe is much cheaper and they deliver very fast.
Two months ago, I bought a membership for their site for $14. After a couple of weeks, I decided to cancel it because there wasn't a whole lot there besides really hard to find vintage spanking photos.
Anyway, I just looked at my bank statement, and they have been charging me for the last two months. I called them up but I didn't get a respond. Heelp!
If I go to their site, my computer gives a warning in Dutch. The English translation is someting like: "This site can bring damage to your computer". I have had very bad experiences with Raven Hill Studios in the past. It's a pity, because the movies they make are good. Nowadays I try to buy them from an other company that is more reliable and cheaper.
Post a Comment
<< Home