TrepStar

Stay far away from this place if you're trying to run a reputable business. We were using their fulfillment services for about 2-3 years. Things were going ok until one morning I woke up to receive an email from the owner asking about copyright information because he was worried about one of my company's titles. To give you some context, my company sells old public domain films on DVD. I spend days on end looking through copyright renewal documents and searching for trademarks on the USPTO's database to make sure that everything we publish is 100% legal. I email him back, asking him to clarify which title he was worried about so that I can send him some more information that proves that everything contained in the title is in the public domain. Instead of answering my questions, a few hours later, I get a rude email stating that they "don't have the time" to look into it and that they are going to terminate my account in a week. Now it has been a week and I can not even get to their website, so it appears that they may have blocked me from even accessing it. I can't get tracking information for my customers. Long story short, it's easier for this business to just terminate your account instead of take the time to listen to you and answer your questions.

Meanwhile, the contract you sign when you initially sign up for an account states that public domain material is ok. There's also a picture of something in a DVD case on the site with "Dungeons and Dragons" on the cover. Tell me that's not a trademark? They have also manufactured some products that actually are bootlegs. I know this because they sent one of my customers a controversial Disney film instead of what he had actually ordered. The film they sent my customer happens to be under copyright protection and there is no official DVD release of this particular film from Disney.

I've also had to replace discs for customers several, several times. Customers have complained about getting scratched discs and discs with fingerprint marks several times, like things were hastily done. Your customers deserve much better and so do you.

There are places out there that will treat you with respect and take the time to answer your questions and work with you. My business has been working with a new distributor for the last few months and they've been so amazing to work with! All of the discs they send me also have no scratches and look wonderful.

The owner might reply to my review, saying that he thinks I'm entitled or whatever, like he did with a previous reviewer here or on another review website. Honestly, the only mistake I've made is that I decided to use this company in the first place. I hope that anyone reading this will not make the same mistake, especially if you have a similar business to mine in dealing with public domain material. Because it does not matter if you spend days on end searching for trademarks on USPTO or looking through copyright renewal documents and have everything to prove it, if the owner doesn't agree, then he'll probably terminate your account too.

They market themselves by trying to tell you they're cheaper and better than Kunaki. There's a YouTube video that compares the two and is favorable to guess who? They have charts showing their pricing... but they don't let you really know what shipping costs until you have your project all set up and you place your first order. Seriously? $70 to ship 75 DVDs? These aren't heavy books, folks. And that's supposed to be Media Mail. Lemme tell you, that's at least a 200% markup. The only alternative is Priority Mail, which is so overpriced it's laughable. Apparently they've never heard of flat rate boxes, nor can they be bothered to set up an account with UPS?

I don't have time for people who hide upcharges like this on shipping. In this day and age of free Amazon shipping, you have to be competitive. I don't give a rip what their quality is; I won't pay that kind of money for shipping.

UPDATE: A few days after posting this review, I received the sample DVD I had ordered from Trepstar. The shrink wrap on it was the worst mess I've seen in a while and it actually made the plastic on the case itself get wrinkled. To add insult to injury, when I opened the case and checked out the disc itself, it had fingerprints all over it. Wow. Just wow. I'm so glad I decided to dump these chumps and go back to Kunaki. For a reasonable shipping price I had them ship my order VIA UPS (amazing how that works!) and it will be here in a day or two... guaranteed... and I already know I can trust Kunaki's quality.

They ship fast and the quality is great. Price is fair. Tracking is always up to date. Highly recommend.

Buyer beware! We invested money in Trep-Stars set-up fees for two multi-disc DVD products and things were going well until we asked about getting a refund for 2nd day guaranteed express shipping that was mishandled by the carrier. The owner responded by immediately cancelling our account (YES!) along with a long, rambling letter about how it wasnt Trep-Stars fault for the mail carriers error. He said there are absolutely no refunds given by TrepStar under any circumstance apparently even when he takes your money to set-up your projects and cancels your account without warning, leaving you unable to access your products and fulfill your customers orders.

Something else to be aware of; Trepstar adds frivolous charges to accounts ($25 account look-up fee for failing to send a copy of his invoice with account payment.) Trep-Stars owner is rude and his customer service is the worst Ive ever encountered. Run, dont walk, away from this outfit. I recommend Kunaki for single-disc titles Ive used them for years and have been pleased at every turn with their customer service, including shipping refunds.

The proofs were perfect. The product shipped to customers was terrible. The boss was rude, though the person working for him was OK. The only good thing was the cases the CDs were shipped in. There are lots of fish in the sea for this type of service. Keep fishing.

I've used trepstar.com for a few years now. The product quality has gone up a lot in the last two years. Also, the website and ordering process has been improved as well. I use 1ShoppingCart and they recently offered an integration so I no longer have to use the order form. I'm not sure why other people are complaining. I'm guessing those people were not following instructions or used to someone holding their hand for the entire process.