Time/Life Press Release: The Carol Burnett Show: The Ultimate Collection (1 Viewer)

[NY2LA]

I trust John's intentions too, but he must be awfully lonely over at Time Life. I have been enjoying the set in spite of my disappointment about the edited episodes. When it arrived, however, it was missing the commemorative book. I called customer service and was told that a book would be sent out by the next morning and arrive in seven to ten days. The operator then tried to sell me a Lucy set and The Six Million Dollar Man.
Fifteen days later, I called to say I had not received the book. I was told that the replacement order had to go through the corporate office, so they had the request on file, but had not sent it yet and had no idea when they would. The operator then tried to sell me a Lucy set and The Six Million Dollar Man.
I wrote an email to customer service describing the situation and asking if someone could tell me when they would ship the book. No answer. Four days later, I sent a second email. The next day, I received an answer and was told the book had been shipped.
The book arrived today. It's very nice. In the shipment were copies of 11 of the DVDs from the set. Assuming these were sent to make up for the experience with the replacement book, I sent a thank you note to customer service for their gracious gesture, suggesting that I could give the additional sets as gifts to other fans who might then buy the big set.
I received a reply less than an hour later telling me the discs were sent in error and I need to take them to the post office and send them back.
At least no one tried to sell me another Lucy set...

OMFG!
You do know the rule is that if someone sends you something you didn't order it's yours. Might want to look into that. You could also ask John, who won't be happy to hear how his company is working.
Think they might be overstocked on Lucy and 6 Million Man?

 

[FanCollector]

OMFG!
You do know the rule is that if someone sends you something you didn't order it's yours. Might want to look into that. You could also ask John, who won't be happy to hear how his company is working.
Think they might be overstocked on Lucy and 6 Million Man?

I don't want to get some poor box filler in trouble. I don't need the duplicate discs; it was just the irony of the one nice thing they have done being taken away. Also, I was amused/revolted at the relative speed of their reply over this error as compared to the others.
You might be right about the overstock. If it were purely cross-promotion, then I would think their Dean Martin Show sets would be a much more logical offer.

 

[NY2LA]

They sent it to you, you should have every right to retain it as it wasn't your fault to begin with. Let John know about this as the problems continue to mount for those folks at TL over this set and these salespeople shouldn't be pressuring you to buy their overstock of shows not selling well at their end either.

Were the 11 discs in plain envelopes or cases? Were they mentioned on the invoice? This sounds like the half-set they were test-marketing a while ago.

 

[FanCollector]

Shrink-wrapped cases. They included the first 6-disc set (Carol's Favorites), the first 2-disc set of bonus features, and a new box: a 3-disc set consisting of the second, third, and fourth discs from This Time Together. Interestingly, given that that latter set includes the Sammy Davis episode, it does not advertise itself as "uncut" or "unedited" anywhere on the box.
And nothing was mentioned on the invoice except the replacement book, listed at $0.00.

 

[NY2LA]

Shrink-wrapped cases. They included the first 6-disc set (Carol's Favorites), the first 2-disc set of bonus features, and a new box: a 3-disc set consisting of the second, third, and fourth discs from This Time Together. Interestingly, given that that latter set includes the Sammy Davis episode, it does not advertise itself as "uncut" or "unedited" anywhere on the box.

Is there a booklet for those episodes and does it accurately list the content of the discs? (without mentioning the cut sequences like our booklets do)

 

[FanCollector]

I didn't unwrap the cases, as I first intended to give them as gifts, so I don't know how the booklet deals with the one edited episode in that group. Depending on how things play out with the return, I will let you know, if I do open them, what the booklet says.

 

[AndyMcKinney]

I don't want to get some poor box filler in trouble. I don't need the duplicate discs; it was just the irony of the one nice thing they have done being taken away. Also, I was amused/revolted at the relative speed of their reply over this error as compared to the others.

I'm sure there are others here that appreciate your honest attitude about things, but at the very least, Time-Life should send you a pre-paid envelope (or a one-time prepaid FedEx/UPS account number) because there is absolutely no way that you should be out-of-pocket to send back discs that 1). they sent you by mistake and 2). a mistake they wouldn't have caught if you hadn't written back. I can understand them wanting those back, but since it was their mistake, they should pay the return postage, at the very least.

 

[FanCollector]

They are sending a post-paid mailing label, so I will not have to pay the return shipping. Even I would draw the line there!

 

[Ron Lee Green]

Originally Posted by FanCollector /t/321236/time-life-press-release-the-carol-burnett-show-the-ultimate-collection/210#post_3979076
They are sending a post-paid mailing label, so I will not have to pay the return shipping. Even I would draw the line there!

What about tracking and delivery confirmation? Are they going to pay for that, too?
What if you send it and the post office screws up and loses it?

 

[FanCollector]

My intention is to slap the label on the box and wish it well.
I know there have been management changes there, but did they just fire everyone who worked on the extraordinarily good Get Smart set?

 

[NY2LA]

What about tracking and delivery confirmation? Are they going to pay for that, too?
What if you send it and the post office screws up and loses it?

They expect the customer to pay for tracking and insurance. That's what they told me.

 

[David Rain]

Does anyone know how long it takes before Time-Life lowers the price on any of their online releases ? Or do they ever discount their titles at all? Might be better to wait and get this compromised set once the price has gone down, if it ever does.

 

[Brent S]

Rightfully so. I have a friend in-house who has been dressed down for this mess.

"This mess" is a corporate issue, not an individual one. I hope your friend isn't the only one held responsible. Yes, there should be a point-person with overall responsibility. But there are development/legal, production, quality, marketing and sales departments involved to get your products to market. Each department should follow-through, not hand-off. Many in the "chain of command" should have been available to step forward and say... "Hey, our product falls short of our marketing!"
Bottom line, a prominent product from your company was misrepresented to the consumer.
Regardless how large your corporate structure is, I'd guess that at least 1/3 of the Carol Burnett project-team is hands-on responsible. Another 1/3 probably falls into the "shame on you for not speaking up" category. The remaining 1/3 in customer service and distribution are dealing with complaints and returns, in good faith and probably clueless about the consumer complaints creating the backlash they're dealing with.
This was not the fault of just 1 dressed down person.
I've done a lot of business with Time-Life in the past. After these THE CAROL BURNETT SHOW editing issues, I'm inclined to say "Never again."
Never again.

 

[NY2LA]

Does anyone know how long it takes before Time-Life lowers the price on any of their online releases ? Or do they ever discount their titles at all? Might be better to wait and get this compromised set once the price has gone down, if it ever does.

I think it's more like a clearance sale after the title has run its course and they're overstocked. In this case, since we're talking about a longterm contract and only a few episodes have been released, I wouldn't hold my breath for deep discounts, just a variety of configurations.

 

[Garysb]

Costco has The Carol Burnett Show Carol's Favorites a 7 disc set with 18 complete? episodes plus 3 hours of extras for about $28. Pretty cheap compared to the big set.

 

[NY2LA]

Costco has The Carol Burnett Show Carol's Favorites a 7 disc set with 18 complete? episodes plus 3 hours of extras for about $28. Pretty cheap compared to the big set.

I'd say go for it.

 

[NY2LA]

Carol and Co on ANDERSON LIVE tomorrow. THAT should be good. Really Like AC.

 

[Bobster]

And now there will be a Limited Edition Autographed Set (by Carol, Tim and Vicki) for $399.99 (with no returns):
http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/news/Carol-Burnett-Limited-Edition-Signature-Collection/17608

 

[timelife jb]

OMFG!
You do know the rule is that if someone sends you something you didn't order it's yours. Might want to look into that. You could also ask John, who won't be happy to hear how his company is working.
Think they might be overstocked on Lucy and 6 Million Man?

Reps who do this get fired immediately. If there's any details you can PM me, and we'll handle. There's no such thing as "has to go through corporate."

 

[timelife jb]

I didn't unwrap the cases, as I first intended to give them as gifts, so I don't know how the booklet deals with the one edited episode in that group. Depending on how things play out with the return, I will let you know, if I do open them, what the booklet says.

Escalate to a manager, and if no good satisfaction PM me. We'll put you in touch with top Cust Service person.