A Few Words About A few words about...™The Apartment -- in Blu-ray (1 Viewer)

[atfree]

This was the perfect storm in many ways.

In my case, I pre-ordered via Amazon on the day it was first available. Then, my daughter wanted a Christmas idea so I hinted at this and cancelled my pre-order. She apparently ordered it in late November and was upset when her order was cancelled a week or so before Christmas (although I didn't find out til Christmas Day when I opened her replacement gift, Dunkirk).

Later on Christmas day I went to Amazon UK and ordered the UK edition since it plays on Region A and B. Luckily, it was dispatched on the 29th and is currently in transit across the big pond, with estimated delivery January 11th.

A lot of inconvenience that could have been avoided by better communication via either Amazon, Arrow or both. But all's well that ends well I guess.

 

[Dave B Ferris]

So at least a few then, but you're really ther first. At least virtually no cancellations from them


Well -- it appears that the AMAZON Stash has been found and it's up for order at 29.99.
The scalpers spigot may have been turned off.

Given that the Stash is back, I wonder why Amazon did not email those whose orders were canceled with an alert. I think it would be a good-move, PR-wise, but I have not (yet) received any message of that sort.

 

[Stu Rosen]

So at least a few then, but you're really ther first. At least virtually no cancellations from them


Well -- it appears that the AMAZON Stash has been found and it's up for order at 29.99.
The scalpers spigot may have been turned off.

Thanks for this info - just grabbed my copy!

 

[atfree]

Given that the Stash is back, I wonder why Amazon did not email those whose orders were canceled with an alert. I think it would be a good-move, PR-wise, but I have not (yet) received any message of that sort.

Mu daughter's order just disappeared from her Amazon account. She went in to check on delivery and it was just gone. No email, nothing, just gone.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Well -- it appears that the AMAZON Stash has been found and it's up for order at 29.99.

I guess Carnak has ascertained the contents of that cardboard box!

"What comes of blu-rays, holidays and delays?"

 

[Mike Frezon]

Given that the Stash is back, I wonder why Amazon did not email those whose orders were canceled with an alert. I think it would be a good-move, PR-wise, but I have not (yet) received any message of that sort.

Gee. And I'm thinking Amazon could even offer to give those who had pre-ordered at the $22 pricepoint the opportunity to get the release at that price!

Like my grandmother used to say, "You talk crazy sometimes!"

 

[Robert Crawford]

Something smells real bad here.

 

[Mark Booth]

Well -- it appears that the AMAZON Stash has been found and it's up for order at 29.99.
The scalpers spigot may have been turned off.

Hilarious!

Mark

 

[B-ROLL]

Thank you Robert. Another good point. I think we Americans can occasionally forget how things work in Europe - even in the UK. The Europeans believe that people are actually entitled to vacations. And vacation means just that - vacation.

Chris

KINO 's US operations were closed Xmas week as well per their HTF thread on Dec 22nd

Happy Holidays Everyone!

....

Note: Our offices will be closed next week and will reopen on January 2nd.

See you next year!

 

[Mike Frezon]

The thing about the offices being closed seems irrelevant to me. That was completely their choice to do so. I know where I work that the office would never be allowed to completely close. Individual vacation needs are figured out on the premise that a core staff will always be available to provide services when needed. It's not rocket science. Why shut down an entire business all at the same time (and, as others have noted--when engaged in one of their highest profile releases ever)?

Something smells real bad here.

That's for sure.

Especially given Arrow's communication with Alex as reported earlier in this thread:

Hi Alex, We didn't cancel anyone's order and we haven't drastically cut anyone's allocation of this item. We are sorry that you've missed out but as previously said, we shipped out Amazon's full allocation via our US distributor. This cancellation is an issue to question with the retailer although we do understand why you'd want to check with us as well. We understand that a lot of customers have missed out and have been left disappointed and we are therefore looking into what we can do to rectify things from our end and could well have a statement/update for you all over the next week or so. Thank you for your understanding. AV

Any explanations would need to come from Amazon. I'll wager we've found out as much as we're going to find out.

So much for a record-breaking sell-out of a 1960's black and white catalog title (albeit a Best Picture winner)...

 

[cda1143]

KINO 's US operations were closed Xmas week as well per their HTF thread on Dec 22nd

Here's to Kino and Arrow! In addition to doing good work, they're both doing good.

Chris

 

[TravisR]

Something smells real bad here.

It certainly seems convenient that they 'find' them after cancelling all the orders that got in at $22.99.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

KINO 's US operations were closed Xmas week as well per their HTF thread on Dec 22nd

And there's nothing wrong with that. Kino also did not schedule any major releases during the period when their office was closed. That's the big difference here.

The thing about the offices being closed seems irrelevant to me. That was completely their choice to do so. I know where I work that the office would never be allowed to completely close. Individual vacation needs are figured out on the premise that a core staff will always be available to provide services when needed. It's not rocket science. Why shut down an entire business all at the same time (and, as others have noted--when engaged in one of their highest profile releases ever)?

Yeah, I don't get it.

Other labels including Kino, Criterion and Warner Archive also close shop around Christmas. They don't schedule releases during the time they're not around. Years ago, I worked for WGBH Boston Video, which eventually evolved into PBS Home Video, and it was the same deal there at the time - most of the office would shut down during that time, a skeleton crew would remain, and we didn't have anything coming out during that week.

It's really not rocket science.

I am unimpressed with the way Arrow is conducting themselves. With seemingly every retailer experience issues and canceling orders, I think this is far bigger than "Greedy Amazon decided to sell more copies than they knew they were allowed to buy" (which makes no sense to begin with). Amazon has been driving me crazy lately for a number of issues, but I don't see this as an Amazon issue. Amazon has handled the sales of other limited edition products without overselling them. If it had been made clear to Amazon that they were only going to receive X number of copies, I think they are perfectly capable of working within that limitation. From the Facebook messages Arrow sent that have been posted on here, it looks like Arrow is blaming everyone but themselves. Bullmoose, for instance, has said most of their allotment was canceled after the fact. Arrow says they didn't cancel any allotments. Now, who am I going to believe? A new video label without a track record here that scheduled a major release at a time they wouldn't be available (suspect decision making to begin with), or a small retailer with an impeccable track record of quality and customer service?

All things being equal, the simplest explanation is often correct. Every retailer is having issues stocking this title and huge numbers of preorders have been canceled. The simplest explanation is that Arrow made a mistake - either they didn't deliver product as promised, or they failed to communicate that it was a limited edition and did not give the stores the information they needed to properly limit sales. Other options seem too complicated and far-fetched -- it just doesn't seem possible that Amazon, Best Buy, Walmart, Barnes & Noble, Bullmoose, and every other retailer all made the same mistake at the same time about this title. What's more likely, that Arrow screwed up, or that every retailer made an intentional decision to sell a product that they knew they weren't going to get? Because based on Arrow's statement, those are the only two possible options.

 

[TravisR]

Given that the Stash is back, I wonder why Amazon did not email those whose orders were canceled with an alert. I think it would be a good-move, PR-wise, but I have not (yet) received any message of that sort.

I got my order in. Thanks for the heads up!

 

[David Norman]

Ebay prices haven't bottomed, but when I posted earlier today there were about 10 listing the cheapest being $130 nad up to mid 200's/

Many of those same listings now at $50 and $80 and a whole lot of bids appear to have been canceled. A couple this morning had 20-30 bid and one of them only has 5 now.. Man would hate to be the poster than won/paid $150 this morning (not that I would ever have benn in that situation anyway).

 

[atfree]

Well -- it appears that the AMAZON Stash has been found and it's up for order at 29.99.
The scalpers spigot may have been turned off.

 

[dpippel]

 

[Dave B Ferris]

Gee. And I'm thinking Amazon could even offer to give those who had pre-ordered at the $22 pricepoint the opportunity to get the release at that price!

Like my grandmother used to say, "You talk crazy sometimes!"

The "offer" exists, in a way (and without any apparent promotion): if every customer were to apply their $5.00 credit received upon the cancellation, the price of this "new" stash would drop to $24.99 (in the same ballpark, at least, with the $22 pricepoint).

I got my order in. Thanks for the heads up!

David Norman broke the news; he deserves the credit.

 

[Mark VH]

Deleted

 

[Mark VH]

At the end of the day, all of this could just be solved if Arrow communicated with their customers about what exactly happened and why. Just put out a damn statement. Not that hard.

Here, I'll do it for them:

"To our valued customers,

We understand there have recently been issues with customers attempting to purchase our Limited Edition Blu-ray release of The Apartment in the US, regarding people's orders being abruptly cancelled with no explanation. Rest assured that we are looking into the issue and determining whether the product has, in fact, sold out, or if there have been delays with our distributor that have caused the cancellations. Please do not pay exorbitant aftermarket prices for this title until we have determined whether additional stock will be delivered to retailers in the USA. We will provide further updates as they become available. We appreciate your business and hope to be able to deliver this title to everyone who wishes to purchase a copy.

Best,

Arrow Films"

Post to social media channels. Send to DVD review/news sites. Boom. Done. That literally took me all of five minutes. NOT THAT DIFFICULT.