To Those Calling Retailers for LORD OF THE RINGS: Please Stop! (1 Viewer)

[Ronald Epstein]

Dear members,
Do me a personal favor.
Stop calling the mail-order retailers
asking for early copies of LORD OF THE RINGS.
There are none to ship until release date.
Perhaps some mail-order retailers have managed
to ship out early copies, but you know what, there
is a benefit in PREORDERING.
I have been getting phone calls from several
on-line retailers who wish the word get out
that they have no early copies of LORD OF THE RINGS
to sell. They will be released on street date
and not before.
Furthermore, if you have received an early copy
from a retailer, DO NOT POST THEIR NAME ON
THIS OR ANY OTHER FORUM, because trust me,
New Line is just hoping to bust these guys and
they are watching this forum.
Don't ruin a good thing if you got it cause you
won't be getting it again!
Just please stop calling mail-order retailers
about getting a copy early. It's not going to happen!
Thank You

 

[Brian_L_Kleis]

Thank you for saying something about this. I'm a former retail person, who has always been very strict about street dates. I had opportunities to get early copies and such, but realize the importance of all sale/rental outfits having the same opportunity to get the product out there. I've seen a few Wal*** locations with items out in stock weeks in advance, and hard as it was to resist, I raised a stink and made a manager come out and take them all to the back again. Unfortunately, checking the next day, they were back out in stock, and I did the same thing again.

Unfortunately it was only one store in a huge chain and I'm only one guy, but hopefully they'll at least think that somebody out there is paying attention to what product they're trying to throw out. Just try to respect the street dates. If an online order comes a day or two in advance, blame fast shipping or something. But try to be patient - We'll all get it in good time...

My little moment of daily digital zen...

And thanx again Ron...

 

[Ricardo C]

This makes me happy, since I'm a spiteful little snot who hasn't got his copy yet If I can't get it early, no one can, consarnit!

 

[PhilipW]

Ron,

A serious question about your post. Not trying to be a smart ass or confrontational but why wouldn't we want the studio to come down on retailers that break street dates. I realize as a consumer we're happy to get the movie early but this also helps the pirators. We gripe about OAR yet we don't want to help out the studios on street date breakers?

A serious question. If you don't want to answer on the forum you can PM me.

Thanks

 

[Steve Tannehill]

Just please stop calling mail-order retailers
about getting a copy early. It's not going to happen!

As always, that depends on the retailer.

However, as tempting as it is to snag a copy from my regular street-date breaker, there is something keeping me from doing that: the $5 and $10 rebates on the purchase of the November collector's editions.

The future rebates are only valid for LOTR purchases made on or after 8/6, and the original receipt is required. So everyone who has gotten their copy early has been eliminated from rebate consideration.

- Steve

 

[John P Grosskopf]

Not trying to be a smart ass or confrontational but why wouldn't we want the studio to come down on retailers that break street dates. I realize as a consumer we're happy to get the movie early but this also helps the pirators.

This is just my opinion on the matter, and is not meant to offend anyone, so please do not take it as such.

It seems to me it's being characterized as a "Shulze" issue; i.e. "I see nothing!" If it is not acknowledged, it is not a problem, and those who benefit should keep quite lest they lose "a good thing." This is inherintly unfair, but a reality of the retail market. Putting one's head in the sand will do nothing to stop it however, and tacitly condones it.

Yes it is unfair to some and yes it is a problem, but in the case of really large retailers is rarely enforced due to the sheer amount of product that they sell.

If "Whatever-Mart" were chastized, the studio potentially loses out on thousands of sales across the chain, so enforcement tends to be lax. Esentially the 300 lb gorilla can do what it wants.

Mom & pop operations are something different. Being unable to compete price-wise with the big boys, street date is often broken to give a premium to the consumer of having the title early in exchange for paying full retail price. Since M&Ps sell far fewer copies, chastizing them by delaying shipments or suspending product delivery does happen a little more than with big chains; though honestly it does not happen as much as you'd think due to the amount of resources needed to investigate and determine if street dates were broken as well as enforce studio/retailer agreements.

 

[Lou Sytsma]

So everyone who has gotten their copy early has been eliminated from rebate consideration.

No problem here as the Alliance Atlantis version is not shipping with the coupons.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Here's the situation....

I'm a DVD fan just like everone here on
this forum.

I like nothing more than walking into a retailer
and seeing titles out days to weeks early. There
have been times that I have received mail-order
DVDs early as well.

Why ruin a good thing? I'm on the side of most
everyone on this forum that doesn't want our
favorite retailer busted for putting copies out
early on the shelves.

I'm certainly not praising what retailers are
doing, but I don't want this forum to become a
haven for tattle-tales who will only ruin the
benefits many of us DVD collectors have enjoyed.

What's really sad is that most people on this
forum understand this concept and the fact that
this RULE of ours is for the benefit of our
membership. Yet, I read other sites where members
blatantly give out store and on-line retailer names.
One guy on another forum even gave the address of
one of my favorite New York City stores that always
breaks street dates by mentioning a famous landmark
across the street from it. Why do people feel the
need to do say these things?

Are we wrong for not helping the studios by letting
people blurt out retail names and store locations?
No. I think we are doing everyone a favor here by
keeping this benefit alive for all of us. Let the
studios use their own means other than the on-line
community to bust these retailers.

 

[Brian_L_Kleis]

I'm certainly not praising what retailers are
doing, but I don't want this forum to become a
haven for tattle-tales who will only ruin the
benefits many of us DVD collectors have enjoyed.

Ron,

As a retailer in my previous job, I honestly don't think of myself as a "tattle-tale" trying to "ruin" anything. I eagerly await every Tuesday morning just like everyone else. Is there a problem with wanting everybody to be on the same as-level-as-it-can-get playing field? Do I really want Whatever-mart to get an unfair advantage over the Mom and Pop shops, or should I say EVEN MORE SO than they already have? And as a manager of a retail store that sells DVDs, do I want to see anyone selling stuff a week or two ahead of me, when I'm being the good boy and not slipping out early disks...? Hell, I was offered $125 and some California-eye-medication (read: pot) for the Phantom Menace disk a week before its release... No, I didn't take it. I just think that there is a street date for a reason and for anyone to take unfair advantage of that by knowingly selling items early is wrong. Again, I'm not a "tattle tale" or trying to "ruin" anything. I'm just trying to be honest and fair here.

 

[Richard Harvey]

"Do I really want Whatever-mart to get an unfair advantage over the Mom and Pop shops"

In most cases, it's the Mom & Pops that are getting us product early, not StuffMart. I'm a happy early owner of LOTR (totally unexpected), but I appreciate that since I've been in the queue with my pre-order for 4 months, that I'm getting some benefit. Remember, New Line got my money either way, and I'm not blabbing with reviews, sneak peeks, reselling for profit, etc.

I agree with Ron strongly on this -- if you want at least the chance to hit the lottery once in awhile, do your vendor a favor and don't spread their name so they can get nailed by a studio. Again, the studio got their asking price from me either way, there is little to "gain" for HTF users by stopping this practice unless you simply spite those that were lucky enough to receive their copies. That's a pretty poor reason to turn in a vendor, IMHO.

Rich

 

[Brian_L_Kleis]

I don't spite anyone at all for anything - I've had my opportunities to get early stuff, and have chosen not to. Please don't frown on me for just wanting people and retailers (all types) to simply 'play by the rules'...

:frowning:

 

[Brian Harnish]

Just my luck -- I never get stuff early. :frowning:
But, still, I agree with everything Ron has said. At least everyone else can get their enjoyment out of it. I'll just eagerly wait 'till August 6th. Damn, that's going to be a hell of a day for my wallet!!

 

[Randy B A]

I agree with ron. I was a moderator at another forum and was always enforcing this rule over there. Needless to say I got flack for it all the time.

 

[Carl Walker]

Two things:
1) About the receipt/rebate issue mentioned above, just remember that those same Xmart stores have very liberal return policies. There are many ways to enjoy your favorite DVD early and still get a receipt with the correct date...
2) I completely agree with Ron. We should keep our findings to ourselves. I love finding that long-awaited DVD days and sometimes weeks early. I had Phantom Menace in my collection a full 9 days before street date thanks to an unattended pallet of freight on the sales floor of an Xmart. I'm sorry for the mom and pop retailers that play by the rules and continue to get crushed by the Xmarts of the world, but those are the breaks. People vote with their dollars and those dollars can buy more at Xmart than they can at Mom and Pop's. Even if Mom and Pop's broke every street date by a week, I still wouldn't give them $29.99 for something that I could find at Xmart or Circuit Buy Club a week later for $17.99. Therefore, tattling does no good. Mom and Pop still wouldn't get my business...
Of course, that's just my opinion. I could be wrong.

 

[Rob T]

Just my luck -- I never get stuff early.

Me either. :frowning:

 

[Mike_G]

The thing is, 2 or 3 times a year, there comes a time when Tuesday-Sunday is shot to hell, and you KNOW that you something's coming out and Monday is the only day you can really sit and enjoy something. It's happened to me several times. In fact, I went to my local store's midnight opening for Bruce's new album just so I can get Speed which I won't be able to watch until Sunday night. I just finished watching it. Sweet .
What I find bass-ackwards about street dates is that for some people, there's really only one place to buy the stuff in the first place, so competition is a moot point.
Still, I can see why it's a problem stating where you can get stuff early.
Why are retailers calling YOU, Ron?
Mike

 

[Dharmesh C]

I had Collateral Damage 2-3 weeks before street date, pretty incredible.
I see the LOTR discussion threads have too many "Where can I get it?" It does clutter the threads, folks.

 

[John Berggren]

I think it's a good rule, but I was under the impression that this rule has existed for some time. Don't post street breakers.

 

[Philip Hamm]

Ron,
It may be a good idea to close This thread.
Good job as always with the forum!

 

[Jeremy Conrad]

It may be a good idea to close This thread.

Why? There are admins in there watching the thread very closely and they immediately delete any name of a retailer or link to a site that lists a retailer's name.