SMART-ASS

I signed up for a new TV account a week ago.
It gives you immediate access to the website, but under account info it has said "provisional" for the past week.
I know others have signed up since the change-over and gotten account approval in just a few days.
In fact, they say it takes about 72 hours, yet my account still seems to be in limbo after a whole week.

On another note, a couple days after the new site went live, I sent an email asking about a Blu-ray club.
I got the auto response saying they would get back to me in about 48 hours. Still nothing on that either.

COLUMBIA HOUSE, are you actually trying to make money? I sure doesn't seem like it.

wkkunkle

For those wanting to use the Wish List feature (I know I do so I don't forget what DVDs I want to buy down the road ... ), I notified Customer Service about the feature not working and they actually were pro-active and offered a workaround that works (in the meantime, they said the notified the Technical Support department):

Hope that helps someone.

zoelightly

er ... not anymore? Wonder if it is a change or a mistake?


-Z

wkkunkle

It is still 5. Click on the offer at the top of the page .. it states:

The original part I quoted that said 02 (and as fixed by CH to say 20) was from the FAQ and was in reference to how many DVDs you can order in one order.

I was hoping they upped it to 25, because the phone system says you can now order 25 DVDs in one order over the phone. But, apparently they are leaving it the same online as it was (20).

zoelightly

Guess it is just a mistake then, and that will probably soon be fixed as well.

the big train

Does anyone know what the threshold is for a selection counting as 2 fulfillments, 3 fulfillments, etc.?

lizard

My guess is that it remains the same as before, which I listed in the first post of the main "Questions" thread. But I haven't tested the new site yet. (And you can't always go by what the help on the CH website says.)

the big train

The Help doesn't help in that regard anymore. I assumed it was probably the same. I should find out for sure pretty soon.

RayJ

I tried joining the DVD club in early January and then again at the beginning of February without success, or so I thought. It turns out both of my 7:2 applications went through, as I received DVDs from both orders but never received emails for either telling me I'd been accepted. My problem is that all but one DVD from the first order is listed as backordered, and three from the second are as well.
These DVDs no longer appear on Columbia House's new website. So what are the chances I'll ever receive them? All of them are out of print, and were mostly MGM titles, with a few Paramounts and Warners.

Thanks

BobO'Link

^If the titles no longer show up on the website then you're out of luck. On every order I've ever done if a title disappeared from the site before it shipped I never got it and would get the "sorry can't get any more" letter. The good part is that you should receive a voucher for any missing title.

RayJ

That's what I'm afraid of. Almost all the titles I joined for are now gone, as it seems a large part of the MGM titles have disappeared from Columbia House's website. I guess I'll be stuck with eight vouchers.

Emma311

I don't know what's going on w/ the site but when I put something in my car the screen comes up and says cart empty. strange

BobO'Link

^Try clearing your cookies - or put it in your cart. It's a asking a lot for CH to know what's in your car...

ElleSol

If I purchase a pre-order at the sale price of $19.95 will it count towards my commitment? Or does it have to be a regularly priced title at $19.95 or more?

I know this is covered in the FAQ thread but I wasn't sure if any rules had changed. Thanks in advance for anyone who can help.

lizard

^Any DVD/BD/set purchased for $19.95 or more will count as a commitment. No exceptions.

When you put it in your cart it should say that it counts, although I haven't tested that lately.

BobO'Link

Unlike DMC, selections at CH count towards fulfillment if the "regular" price is $19.95 or higher. You can use a % off code and get a title for less than $19.95 and still have it count just as long as it's *normally* $19.95 or higher. Of course with the new site and rules it's possible that will change...

ElleSol

^
Thanks for responding. It didn't say anything on checkout whether it counted towards my commitment, and my account overview shows my commitment status hasn't changed, but I know these things take time to update. I just wish CH made things more clear for its customers.

BobO'Link

^They are notoriously slow updating your account information online. It *should* show up on your account between charging your CC and shipment.

Al_Tahoe

Did anyone else notice that you can no longer cancel a recently-placed order?

RayJ

My question sort of relates to the above discussion. I'm looking at a $22.95 DVD box set that's currently on sale for $13.77. If I purchase it, will it count as a fulfillment? A search of previous threads mentions percentage-off codes, but this one is automatic when you log into Columbia House's site. Thanks.

BobO'Link

^$13.77 is 40% off $22.95, the normal/standard/ongoing discount on box sets. CH computes the % off based on the "MSRP" which, on box sets, is listed as the "Club Price". In this case I'd say that the title will *not* count as a fulfillment based on prior evidence and the fact that $13.77 is the "normal" Club Price in spite of what the screens say. A fairly good test as to whether or not a set truly qualifies as a fulfillment is to use a B1G1 code and see if you can get a free, non box set title that has the same "Club Price" as the set. In your example, if you can get a $19.95-$22.95 regular DVD with the set using a B1G1 then the set *probably* will count as a fulfillment. If not... no it will not count.

However, with the site redesign the wording of the agreement/fulfillment section appears to have undergone slight alterations. We've yet to get word from someone that a $19.95 (or higher) title that's been discounted below $19.95 will still count towards fulfillment like before. Even so, for a box set I'd compute 40% off the "Club Price" and if it falls below $19.95 I'd not order expecting it to count as a fulfillment.

lizard

Short answer: Probably not. There are certain exceptions, usually involving pre-orders, where one can pay a sale price and get credit for the usual price, but they are rare.

This sale price thing has long been a tactical issue when fulfilling accounts. The typical default offer on an account is buy one at regular price and get others at 60% off the regular price. It is not an accident that only the first one will count for fulfillment and the others, being sale-priced at less than $19.95, will not. Columbia House uses that to encourage members to buy more DVDs than they are required to (at prices that are highly profitable to them).

In the past, we have been able to get around this by using Buy One, Get One Free, plus free shipping offers. They were so common that we could always count on one coming around. That way we could buy fulfillment DVDs at $19.95 (or close to it) and get a free DVD with each one. We even used to see an occasional such offer that worked with Blu-ray Discs as freebies, although offers with box sets as freebies disappeared some years ago.

In the case of box sets, CH generally prices them at a certain percentage off the regular price, typically 30-40%. It is the price you pay that counts for fulfillment credit. In your specific example: a box set with a regular price of $22.95 "special" priced at $13.77 (40% off), the special price would not count for fulfillment.

The type of sale that BobO'Link mentioned above, a percent off the entire order code, is an exception to the general rule. The percent off the entire order is applied after the regular sale prices determine whether or not the DVDs count for fulfillment. Whether this is still the case on the revamped Columbia House site, I couldn't say. Probably yes.

For example: suppose you wanted to buy a box set with a regular price of $34.95, "special" priced at $20.97. Because $20.97 is more than $19.95, it would count for fulfillment. Then, suppose you used a sale offer that gave 20% off all items in an order, including box sets. That would lower the price to $16.78 and it would probably still count for fulfillment, at least under the old rules.

If this stuff sounds a bit convoluted and complicated, that's because it is. We have spent years analyzing and coming up with optimized strategies for Columbia House accounts. And all that may have been thrown out the window with the recent changes instituted by CH (which may have been their goal, if one wants to indulge in paranoia). We'll know more as things shake out over time.

RayJ

Thanks for the helpful responses. I just tried adding a $24.95 DVD to the cart with the $13.77 box set and the $24.95 comes up as a free selection (with 60% off any other titles I might want, plus shipping).

BobO'Link

^Interesting... Even if the box set does *not* count towards fulfillment this could *still* be a fairly good deal depending on the shipping amount for the box set.

Out of curiosity, which set is this?

RayJ

The box set was The Bad News Bears Triple Play Collection and the DVD was Vertigo. Unfortunately I missed the buy one get one free offer which expired yesterday, so I never placed the order.