Direct2Drive Reviews 109

Entered all my credit card info/personal information, went to validate the purchase by the PIN I received in a phone call and it failed. I was immediately forwarded to some kind of tech. support web page. No word as to if my credit card was charged, if my purchase even went through, nothing. I tried to enter my account info to sign in to submit a claim and it wouldn't recognize my log in info! So I create a new account (with the EXACT same email and password) and submitted my claim. I get an automated response that someone will help me wihin the next 24 hours. It's very nerve racking, it'd be nice just to know my card hasn't been charged. Overall, a poor experience thus far. A phone number would've been nice.

In last two years I purchsed 3 games from D2D.
1st and 2nd were just serials. So I could not had bad experience with famous D2D downloader.
My 3rd purchase (preorder) went wrong. When I checked day before game should have been released I found thet D2D changed some info. Game release potponed (not D2D fault). Regions where game can be purchased.

We in EU can't purchse that particular game anymore. So I went to D2D-support to ask what's going on. After 15 minutes I got robot generated reply which had nothing to do with my question.

After 22hours I provided info about wrong UK/EU site redirection to US site when I look for my game. Now, after 51hours of waiting and 2 working days I still got NO reply from D2D-support.

So I decided to wait another day to get info if they will deliver playable game or refund me. Otherwise I will have no other choice than paypal dispute.

That is my story with D2D. My rating is based on following:
1. Number of successful purchases which could have gone wrong (0/3 as delivery of serial can't get wrong)
2. Number of unsuccessful purchases which could have and went wrong (1/1)
3. web site - not so bad, but if you redirects people from one continent to zone for other, it's wrong.
4. Ability to distinct between countries from which customer purchases games (I do not think you even had this idea)
5. support = store which have so much problems as D2D gives to customers should have massive SUPPORT.

I measure my experience by 3.5 of 10 points as D2D is able to keed serial keys in your account and resend them. Edit: Support solved my problem soon after this review. I update my ratting to 4.0 of 10 points for acting honorary.

First time buying, bought FFXI. No problems at all, had it downloaded and installed quicker than I ever had before (I lost the old game after I uninstalled).

I just had the most horrendous time trying to purchase via the website, i couldn't even get to the point of being able to pay for an order.

Firstly, i added an item to my cart. Then went to checkout and during the process create my new account. It said the email already existed and therefore i couldn't. So i click "forgot password" even though i know i never had an account before. Doing this the system forgot about me again. And so we went in circles.

I managed to get an account in the end by getting out of the cart area and creating an account separately on the signup page. Great! I was happy now...

Went through the order process... on to phone verification. It wouldn't accept my phone number and told me to contact customer services. I tried paying via a different method and same thing, saying my phone number isn't correct, etc.

I submit a request for support (which due to the very bad design on their site i had to go through yet another tedious process of creating a further account just to get support). I get an automated response asking me to get back in contact with them when my bank has fixed my account (yeh, bearing in mind i never even got that far as paying yet). Also some junk about how i have to be in the same country as my address, etc, which i am in every way possible, physically, by IP, bank, etc.

The phone number i entered into their system was a standard UK landline number and not via an IP phone service, just a standard phoneline. I can only assume that something is wrong with their system.

Anyway, i'm just about done with this company now, i feel almost relieved that the payment didn't go through. A very frustrating experience with all taken into account, yes nothing huge but all put together, --- very annoying! The only reason for me to buy online instead of going down to the shop is the convenience - take the convenience out of ordering by making it so hard and i'm suddenly not interested anymore.

I was even more shocked to read on here that the company is owned by people who should really know better. I thought it was some amateur start-up who didn't understand web development ;-). I make a living in online business and i know my company wouldn't be in existence if i expected my customers to go through the kind of inconvenience direct2drive expects of its customers...

I just bought a $50. game from these people not only was the download bogus but then their files disappeared on my account with them,yet the money on my credit card was fast to disappear.The only reason I gave them one star is because I had to.

I suppose that it's easier for some people to post a negative review, as it's an easy way to vent your frustrations.

But, I have to say, I've not had any problems with D2D. Downloads have always worked fine, customer service has been exceptional as well!! They answered my questions within a half hour. Compare that to another major competitor in the market that took almost two days to answer the same question!!

When you are reading the reviews here, you have to keep in mind that D2D doesn't write or produce these games. They are simply an online store. Should you need technical support, you should contact the authors of the title you have purchased. You wouldn't go to Best Buy for technical support on a game you purchased would you?? :)

I will continue to use D2D for my online purchases. I prefer downloading my games. Saves me a trip to the store, and I also don't have to keep up with a cd.

One thing I do have to note... D2D, can you please make your patches page a little more visible?? Rather than the small link at the bottom of the page. :) I know it's there. But I have had some friends that couldn't find it right off.

All in all, I feel there deserve better than a 4.9 score here. At least in my experiences anyway.

I recently downloaded Knights Of The Old Republic from Direct2Drive with the little bit of left over money i had after holiday shopping.. I usually go with STEAM but the game was 5cents cheaper on Direct2Driver and some friends told me about the site so i figured what the heck?

After paying for the game i tried to download it through their downloader(s) both of which didn't work on my computer.. I got them to download but they wouldn't initialize the download for KOTOR.. The program itself was able to update my other games though so i'am assuming it worked just not with that game.. I spent around 3 hours messing around with their downloaders until i gave up.

So i went the old fashion way and downloaded it through HTML which required me to download winzip and about a 6hour download for the game.. It was around midnight that night when the game finnaly finished and i was ready to start it up.. Only to find out after puting in my key code that the game won't boot up.

If you go on google you quickly find out that this game is not compatiable with Windows Vista (i don't care what lucasarts website says google will tell you different.) One of the more popular Knights Of The Old Republic searches will be something called the "Vista Fix" which requires downloading 3rd party software to get the game up and running on a vista system.

I don't feel like i should download this software after D2D promised it'd run on a windows vistas operateing system.. It took about 24hours to get my first response to my complaint which was a generic copy and paste asking about download speeds and such after i already told them i downloaded the game (after few hours of struggling) and now it just wouldnt work.

After that i got another generic response directing me towards LucasArts support.. Lucasarts dosn't offer support for this game anymore (was released in 2003) and only offers a mailing address (yeah like through a post office) for support.. I spent $9.95 and meet all the requirements for this game, why should i send a letter to lucasarts for support when i already paid D2D?

I'am waiting on my 3rd response.. I've told them i will file complaints if i'am not refunded.. Hopefully that'll work or its over to BBB and consumer reports i go.. Direct 2 Drive, if you're reading this, please refund me! This game dosn't work on vista, check out the reviews on you're site others are stateing the same! That's the last of my holiday money i'd like to use on purchaseing KOTOR1 for the xbox so then i know i can actually play it without these problems..

Just a heads up to all..

I have had some great experiences with D2D. Downloads are fast, programs always work, etc. Unfortunately, however, I just encountered my first problem. Purchased a second copy of a game from them (Titans Quest & Immortal Throne Expansion) and got the same CD keys that they gave me for the first set.

Of course this makes multi-player impossible and defeats the entire purpose of my purchasing a second copy.

I have received nothing but generic responses to what should be a simple solution, (A) give me a unique set of keys, (B) refund my purchase.

Of course this also begs the question, was this a technical glitch or fraud... Given my past experiences with the company I would say technical, but the longer I have to wait for some sort of response, the less confident I am...

Will update when/if i ever hear from them.

*I updated in my comments below but will also clarify here. I left my rating at 2 stars because my product was never delivered, money was refunded. Apparently, you can't purchase two copies of a game through D2D. Of course they gladly take your money and will provide a brand new link with a new DRM code, but the CD key will be the same as your first copy - if that isn't borderline fraud i don't know what is... Fortunately, they did refund the money in a fairly prompt manner. I am done using their service, however, as much for the irritation factor as anything.

I ordered Fallout: New Vegas Collector's Edition from them today, for the best price I've seen for a new game like this. As soon as you order, you check your account page and download the serial key to put into Steam. Voila! It doesn't get any easier than that! Great game, great price, plus the Digital collectors edition.

I was charged two times for the same purchase, the Sims 3 and Nightlife Expansion pack. One was charged without tax and one was charged with tax. So I look into my account and I was charged 2 times for 2 games, so essentially I bought 4 without meaning to. I looked at my cart before purchasing, as I always do with online purchasing and there was only one of each. So how did this mysterious double order come about? I then go to contact their NON-EXISTANT support team to find they have no number *Big surprise, not. Shady* and I recieved a generated system response about the difference between authorizations and charges. I know the difference. Thanks. In the last hour and a half I have heard nothing back from them, not even to say they are looking into it. This is complete crap and I am really irritated that I have not been contacted. I will not evvverr use a shady service like this, especially since all it looks like on this site is they come up with some flimsy excuse why they keep falling short. BBB here I come. If i didnt have to give a star I wouldnt. They seriously don't deserve it. Complete crap.

I purchased a game which failed to download the first SIX times I tried. Once the file was on my computer, it failed to open. I used all of their online customer support suggestions and after literal hours and hours of trying, it still is reading as an error message. I'm very familiar with computers and know that my computer is compatible with the software. I contacted the company, to no avail. I also researched a phone number (which was EXTREMELY hard to comeby) and left a message, also to no avail. I stated that I either wanted help or a refund (either would be acceptable, preferably a refund at this point). I am beyond disappointed and plan on contacting BBB as soon as I can. I find it highly unacceptable to have such a low level of service. I consider it fraud and plan on taking full action. I do not suggest using them to ANYONE.

Some time ago I wanted to get my friend a game for a gift. This was before direct2drive had added the option of "Send as a gift". I used my PayPal account to purchase a game through his direct2drive account.

Recently I attempted to use PayPal on my own account. Apparently, once you've used PayPal with a given account you can never use it with another. So, I can't use my PayPal account with my direct2drive account because it is permanently linked to someone else's.

Moreover, the support involving this has been, well, lousy. The error message I received was a generic "There was an error. Clear your cache, restart your browser and try again. If this fails, contact support." It took over a day to learn that the PayPal account might be the issue. Then nearly a week of "Try again" and "Get your friend to delete your PayPal from their account and try again" (Friend had already done this, but we re-added and deleted). A week after that they finally came out and said that there was nothing they could do about it - the PayPal account was unassociated with any direct2drive accounts, but somehow the restricting of my PayPal account "cannot be undone."

Meanwhile, although they did end with "sorry for the inconvenience" the first part of the email basically pointed out how this was all my fault for using my PayPal account (not that they gave any warning) and not using the (non-existent at the time) gift feature.

Quite frankly, having waited a week to hear that something that should be technically possible (assuming they use some sort of modern database for their records) can't be done, getting limited information except for "try again" as well as getting the explanation for how it's really my fault and not theirs that this happened, I'm not much inclined to use their services or to recommend them to anyone else.

I am a repeat customer with Direct2Drive but I must now sadly say that I will have to be much more cautious about choosing to purchase from them in the future.

It is thoroughly disappointing to see this company cave to steam.
The market needs more competition from retailers that work independently and stay true to their values.
The reason I bought from Direct2Drive in the past was to avoid having all of my purchases tied to an account where they could be revoked at the whim some company.
I also do not trust Valve to lead the entire market for PC games. They clearly want the dominate market share and I foresee them redesigning the PC market to look exactly like the console market should they achieve a sufficiently dominate position.

If we can expect that every independent retailer will compromise their values and bend to the will of Valve then we will see exactly that. Value will achieve sufficient bargaining power with developers to bring even more products under their system and to dictate in part what those games will look and act like. This will become oddly similar to how Microsoft is able to operate in the console market.

I understand the need to make a profit, but there has to be a way to sell games without allowing one company's system to dominate the entire market.

I urge the people at Direct2Drive to re-evaluate their most recent moves and strive to make deals with the developers such that they may still sell these most popular games but in a non-steam version.

I will continue to look to Direct2Drive as a source for products that I actually own in a more real fashion. However, I must refuse to buy any products from them which require a 3rd party system to operate. Not only does it make more sense to just buy it from steam if I will have to get it from steam anyway, I cannot support a move that will ultimately break Direct2Drive's business model.

After ordering a game I installed and tried to play. The game would not run at all with only a black screen and eventually erroring out each time I tried. I contacted support and was informed that they will not help after activation. From here I went to the game publisher and searched for solutions to the issue on the internet. After searching I came to find out that this game has a ton of known issues with both Windows Vista and Windows 7 with many people never able to run the game. I have tried to get this game to run for several days now and have had no success. Games with known issues on current operating systems should not be sold without warnings of some sort. I have contacted customer support at Direct2Drive several times asking for refunds as the game is not playable and have had no success. The best they have done is direct me to forums on the internet to look for solutions. It is completely unacceptable to sell games that cannot be played on current systems. I would have no issue if a warning was listed prior to purchase, bu there was nothing. I shouldn't have to search the internet before buying a game to see if I can run this on Windows.

Direct 2 Drive is the future; well, at least the "soon". Less litter, less gas spent on route, less lots. One of the best features is that you can download over and over, in case you lose your data -- this way a broken disk no longer causes headaches. I also love the manuals in PDF; if I wanted CDs and handbooks laying around, I'd listen to Iced Earth on compact and play DND.

So I just downloaded my 6th game. The speeds are great (Fallout 3 in 15 minutes), the ease of use great, and the fact that I didn't have to drive to the store is fantastic. Good selection, too, and if you take the time to read the minimum specs per game, and adhere to them, there should be no difficulty getting the game to run. I have to tweak the hell out of each game, but that's no different than disk-fed files.

My only complaint is that the .exe's are encrypted. Thus, fabulous after-market adds like Bethesda's OBSE are a no-go. D2D should do more to accommodate independent modification, especially when it's manufacturer-backed. Still, I've had ZERO technical difficulties and have always found the prices more than fair, especially with the *CONSTANT SALES*. I give it a very solid and enthusiastic four stars.

I was a little worried about using D2D after reading all of these reviews but the game I wanted was on sale for half its regular price...so I went for it. The first file I downloaded through Chrome did not work...but I blame my wireless internet for it. Their download program also failed...but I blame all of my firewalls. I ended up just redownloading the game using Chrome and everything worked out just fine :) For the price and convenience, I'd say go for it...I have only downloaded one game though.

No idea what all the QQing is below.

Bought one game - everything went OK.

Few days after, tried to buy another one. Failed at entering phone number for check-up. Why? It didn't recognize area code. OK, I contacted support. After 16 hours they replied that issue has been solved and account reset. OK.

Added game, click "checkout", enter CCV2 number... just to see that "telephone-checkup-thing" has not been fully reset and I cannot pay/buy.

I didn't close case in first place, so I added comment describing what has happened.
Today is third day from then... No reply.
Well, if they need 3 days to allow you to buy, how many days they need to solve problems you might have with games?


26.06.2010
EDIT:

Thanks for reminding me to update...

After I had wrote here about my experience with D2D CS (CC of it was mailed to support@d2d) I was contacted by Customer Service Senior Manager.

This was the answer: "I apologize that you were inconvenienced. I have made sure you can purchase at this time. Please note that Arma Gold has been removed from our site per the publisher's request."

At the end, I hadn't bought what I wanted. End of story.

EDIT2:
I forgot about ticket. Here it is: 2833-8390000

If network based DRM bugs ya, this may not be for you.

After the initial autoresponder to a support ticket request, my license issue was resolved.. Had a D/L link error once, it was auto resolved within a few minutes.

D/L speeds seem fine.. I have a 18Mbps connection.

Have yet to find a game that does not work (out of around 20 purchases), running windows 7 x64.

98% smooth installations and configurations.

Everything went as well as I could have hoped. I downloaded "Dragon Age" without too much trouble. It took about 14 hours to download the 9GB game. I did have to restart the download once, but it wasn't much trouble. Once the download finished, I installed and activated the game with absolutely no trouble.
All of the negative reviews that D2D received on this site and others had me worried, but it ended up being a pretty simple and painless process.