My So Called Life preorders... kiddie porn? (1 Viewer)

[JasonRosenfeld]

David,

(first, how do I quote you on this thing? Nevermind, I think I know how now. hehe. this board is too fancy for me. I run one of those stone age bulletin board)

First, I think it is mostly spam filters. When I was in b-school, stupid AOHELL email was always like 2-3 days late when it came off the listserv.

Second, most people are responding pretty quickly, so I think if you didn't respond in about a week, AU would send just those people another email.

Jason

 

[Cynthia]

EDIT: Oops, you already answered my question. :b

 

[Lance Nichols]

Ok, I was under the understanding that the deposit was non-refundable. Guess I will have to go back and re-read that.

As to the authorizations, my card was billed for the amount of US$20, so that means to me that AU has my money. At least my CC Company is billing me for intrest as if AU as my money... Now, why don't they process the rest of the pre-orders, get that line of credit, and build the product?

I really do want this title, I just don't want the hassle of trying to collect if things fall through, or anything like that. Still it would be nice to "see it in writing", especially as US courts have recently ruled that email conversations can be considered binding. I want to know how long I have as a window before the deal ends.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

Considering the apparent demand for this set, I don't think AU is going out on a limb with producing it, even if they can't hold authorisations indefinately. This "pay it all up front" scheme does raise a few flags after what has transpired, but I'll sit tight and wait for a bit more info before making a final decision. I think those of us who took the leap of faith to order from someone we've never dealt with should be enough security to proceed. Even if a few people bail, there are surely others who will want to get in at the last minute, and I would hope that there will be sufficient backup stock to deal with lost shipments, or defective discs.

There are some questions about what is being produced: First is the disc/episode count. If the first disc is only three episodes (like the original release) that leave 16 more to cram onto three discs, which would compromise quality IMO. Even a 5/5/5/4 release is tight unless the authoring house knows what they are doing.

We don't have a release date since the bonus material could hold it up. It would be one thing to sit on a $20 deposit (the web site says "non-refundable") indefinitely, but with a fully paid purchase, some time limit has to be set, even if it meant shipping the bonus disc later.

Is the lunchbox metal or plastic?

I would still like to receive email confirmation of my order, stating what I'm paying for (ie 4 DVD set plus bonus disc, metal/plastic lunchbox), and how much the total, including shipping, will be - simply saying charge what you will is not a good idea. . I'm sure others outside the US are wondering what they will be nailed with for shipping, considering AU's fairly steep shipping rates on normal product - I'm not paying $40 to ship this set. Also, I would want the option of shipping to a US address if the cost to ship directly will be exhorbitant.

 

[JasonRosenfeld]

You will be getting email proof of the sale and snail-mail proof. As for the other questions, I'll leave it to AU, but there is a large discrepancy betweem initial deposits and the per-unit cost. If this were hundreds of thousands of DVDs, the prices would be lower, but authoring and rights are a large chunk of this project. If there were a million copies, the authoring would be amortized over so many units. Obviously, rights, after an advance, would also scale upward.

I really do want this title, I just don't want the hassle of trying to collect if things fall through, or anything like that. Still it would be nice to "see it in writing", especially as US courts have recently ruled that email conversations can be considered binding. I want to know how long I have as a window before the deal ends.

 

[David Lambert]

As to the authorizations, my card was billed for the amount of US$20, so that means to me that AU has my money

Exactly, mine too. So at this point AU has $20 of my money, so I don't understand why all this nonsense about credit card authorizations being held for over 30 days.
The authorization was closed when my account was billed for $20. It's sitting on my account now, ready to send me on a statement once the next billing cycle closes. In effect, the $20 is yours/AU's, and it's up to Master Card to collect from me now.
So what exactly is supposed to be sitting open for longer than 30 days?!?!
A) AU took my "non-refundable" (okay, so maybe it's refundable if we fight for it, but AU's site says it is
non-refundable) $20 deposit. That is money in their hands. No autorizations remain open.
B) If I cancel they have to refund my $20, but they handle that by crediting my account the same way as if I return a blender to Wal-Mart. No open authorizations are dealt with; they just do a credit to my Master Card.
C) When the product is finished and they charge me the balance of the amount, that is a separate transaction paid perhaps a separate way: same CC, different CC, check, money order, PayPal, whatever. If a CC is used, then a new authorization will have to be obtained at that time. That amount will be collected from the CC company immediately to pay for the outstanding balance, so the authorization that is gotten then will be closed just as quickly as the original one. No authorizations remain open.
This is how things work, based on my 13 years in retail store management. Now, tell me again why we have to pay the balance up front?
As to the question of the deadline for the pay-all-or-cancel decision, your response basically tells me "if you don't decide within a week you'll get asked again". So, how many new chances do we get? When does AU decide I'm not gonna respond and chooses "cancel" for me?
And, if they do that, will I be told that? Will I get my $20 back? If so, how quickly?
Thanks again for cooperating with so many questions. I wish the world was better suited for trust, but you know how it is...especially after your incident with the camera.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

I'm with Dave on not understanding the 30 day authorisation either. They were authorised to take $20 and did. Anything beyond that would require an additional authorisation.

My reading of the terms of the deposit were that by signing up we agreed to buy the set if the price and features remained as advertised, but that should either change we could get our money back. If nothing changed we were bound to buy or lose our $20 deposit. Concluding the sale would still would require another authorisation for the balance, since anyone outside the US would have no way of knowing their shipping charges or an amount that could be authorised.

 

[Glenn Overholt]

Dave, I think that the problem is that they cannot 'hold' your credit card number for over a month. If you order something on line and it takes over a month for them to get it, they have to let you know and cancel, or something like that. This has only happened to me once, and it a few years back.

Glenn

 

[Kelley_B]

I want to know why some people have recieved this cancel or buy email and others haven't.

 

[Steve Tannehill]

Okay, I'll take a stab at this.

There are charges and there are pre-authorizations.

We have been charged $20, and that is money in the bank for Another Universe. And that money, when taken into account from all preorders, is not covering their production costs of the set.

It would appear that Another Universe wants to pre-authorize our credit cards for the rest of the purchase price, but can't since that pre-authorization will only last for 30 days.

The last pre-authorization (that I knew about) was on a rental car. My credit card was authorized in advance for $150, the idea being that it would cover rental costs for 4-5 days, as well as refueling expense. That $150, while not in the rental car company's hands, was reserved in their name, and taken out of the credit limit of my card. It is their insurance that they will get paid.

It would appear that Another Universe is looking for the same sort of insurance. Odds are, unless you play your credit card balance very close to the limit, you would never notice that there was an $80 or so pre-authorization, i.e. "hold", on your account.

But since they can't pre-authorize for over 30 days, they want the money up-front.

QED.

- Steve

 

[David Lambert]

I want to know why some people have recieved this cancel or buy email and others haven't.

He answered that question: your Internet Service Provider ("ISP"...whoever your @ suffix is, like @aol.com) may put their own spam filters on the e-mail server system they use in order to keep you from getting spam. This e-mail he sent to everyone may have been picked up by it as a spam item and automatically garbaged by your ISP without you ever being aware that something was sent your way.
Gee, I wish mine did that!

 

[BrianB]

That's exactly how it sounds to me too, Steve.

Another Universe are having to pay up front for mass duplication, I can completely understanding them wanting more solid cash to fund it.

It just feels to me they've handled it very badly after the porn email incidents - this email 'demanding' cash was very badly wordly & handled. Mispelt email address do NOT inspire confidence!

 

[David Lambert]

When I posted last night, it was late and I'd been finishing up my taxes, so I didn't pay attention to Steve T's post until this morning, when I saw BrianB's acknowledgement of it (thanks for drawing my attention back to it, Brian! ).
Okay, that makes a bit more sense to me. Now I at least understand where the additional CC authorization might be coming from: wanting all (or even perhaps just some) of the balance now, not just the original $20 deposit, because the $20 from each order-placer isn't enough to cover the costs of getting the thing made.
Hmmm...sounds like this thing might not have been planned out as well as it should've been. Oh, well...excrement occurs.
Now I just have to decide whether or not I'll do it. The end result of my taxes is a nice refund, so maybe...
(of course, there are still 6 TNG box sets to pay for! )

 

[JasonRosenfeld]

Good Morning!

Still not entirely functioning yet, but here are a few corrections of things I saw here:

1) Tin Lunchbox (not cheesy plastic, "let's just put a sticker on it"). It's being made in good old Hong Kong and being shipped back in plenty of time.

2) What I read about authorizations here is sometimes right and sometimes wrong. Believe me or don't believe me, but I am telling you the situation. A charge of $20 was initially taken, and an authorization for the balance. Now they are asking for express permission to charge the balance, and cancelling orders and refunding deposits without the express permission. So nobody is being charged without permission.

Now, some did say a full balance was charged initially. If you had a debit card (I never use a debit card online because it lacks some of the security benefits of CC), it does show as a charge, because it counts against the available funds in the checking account.

Thanks,

Jason

 

[BrianB]

Thanks for the additional info, Jason. I'm really keen to get this set - a bigtime fan of the show from its original showing in the UK.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

I spoke with AU again today to try to determine what my shipping costs would be, but there is still no answer on that. The story I got was that those who approved the latest email would be charged the balance of the set cost ($79.99 for the full version), and those outside the US would get a third email asking for payment to cover the shipping. Kinda hokey, but at least this approval isn't cart blanche to charge whatever they want on shipping.

According to the AU site, preorders are now closed, and the only order option is the full set with no lunchbox for $115.00, estimated June 18 ship date.

 

[Enrique B Chamorro]

The basic question still stands about the number of

episodes on each disc, how much compression will be used?

Any commentary tracks, what are the extras?

I would like this, but still on the fence.

I don't want to pay $100 for a Madacy quality product.

 

[Jeff Ulmer]

This is a link to dOc's review of BMG's first disc, which only had 3 episodes. As I asked before, if they are reusing this master then that leave 16 episodes for the remaining 4 discs, which I hope will be DVD9, but is still a tight fit. I also wouldn't want VCD quality at this price. The AU site says 4-5 eps per disc, but there was an option to only buy discs 2-4 if you had the first, so this gets confusing.
It is good news that the tin is metal, I would hope that the 5 discs are in keepcases, though this hasn't been mentioned yet. I would like some more details about what they are producing before signing off on advancing them rest of the payment 4 months before their expected ship date.

 

[Enrique B Chamorro]

Concerns about the other discs;

BMG's disc of the first 3 episodes have 3 audio tracks.

PCM, DS 2.0, and DD 5.1

There must be a cost to remix the sound for 5.1,

will they (whoever authors the discs) go to the effort

and cost for remixing?

I thought PCM audio takes up alot of room?

Can they fit 4 episodes with 3 audio tracks?

Sounds like there won't even be room for a commentary track.

Will the tin lunch box hold the DVD's like;

Anchor Bay's tins (plastic insert that holds a CD jewel case)

Akira's metal case (clear plastic that clips the DVD's)

Disney's Treasures tin (full double plastic amary case inside the metal case)

 

[JasonRosenfeld]

5 Discs,
1-3
4-7
8-11
12-15
16-19
4 episodes per disc. 5 could not be done without substantial loss of quality. Most extras should be going on disc 6, so there is no need for the overhead on the episode discs. We are trying to get commentaries on some of the episodes, so this is an obvious exception. Although, interviews on disc 6 might also occur in addition to or in replacement of synched commentary tracks.
Madacy quality? I am familiar with them and have seen them get trashed for their releases, poor fit of picture on the screen etc. I will only say that some very diehard fans have been asked, and have accepted the responsiblity of helping with the QA effort.
In sum, I am aware of the digital artificating problems on disc one, (see, BMG did have some folks who trolled the boards -a lot of good it did me [/sarcasm]). While compression is necessary, I will be especially mindful of this problem, which seemed to occur more when there were a lot of solid patches (i.e. darkness) on the screen, which was a lot of the time...
I will get more details about the inner packaging, but if you pre-ordered, you are getting the regular packaging inside the pre-order packaging. There won't be 6 discs banging around in a lunchbox.
Inceidentally, AU.com will be posting the shipping charge schedule. It is the exact price charged by USPS, unless people pre-ordered before 3/1, were in the US, yada yada yada.

It is good news that the tin is metal, I would hope that the 5 discs are in keepcases, though this hasn't been mentioned yet. I would like some more details about what they are producing before signing off on advancing them rest of the payment 4 months before their expected ship date.