Hey Trevor,

Which version of The Last Emperor would you recommend (if you would recommend it at all)? B&N has 2 dvd versions and the blu-ray. I thought you'd be a good person to ask after reading your post earlier, since you don't seem to be biased towards a certain format.

Thanks

I prefer the DVD on this one. It has the extended version of the film and a few extras not ported over to the BD. The BD has nothing new, except for HD transfer of course.

I see your reasoning for asking me, but must admit that I'm not one to care about AV quality much. To me, upconverted DVD is close enough to BD quality. The story is 90% of the equation for me, extras 7%, and how it sounds and looks only 3%. I can get immersed into a film just as much on a 13" B&W as in an IMAX theater, only slight hyperbole there.

But in this case, I don't see why everyone wouldn't prefer the DVD over the BD. You're losing an entire version of the movie.

Edit to add: Oh, and I love the film, so would recommend it highly.

I did this several times last year.

Thanks Trevor. I'm perfectly happy with dvd quality, so that isn't an issue for me either. Add one more to my list.

Thanks for the information. Looks like the expiration date was changed to July 10. I removed it from the list.

The $5 coupons are not working automatically on titles discounted to below $20. They still should work per the fine print, and cashiers can easily key them in to work, but it's not automatic anymore. So even more YMMV now.

I'm seeking advice on what my best options are for coupon use on this Criterion sale. I am a non-member and I ordinarily order CDs and DVDs from B&N online, linking through AAA to get the 10% off for AAA members. My orders typically exceed $25 so that I get free shipping.

Last November there happened to be an in-store-only 25% off coupon available to non-members and members alike, so I traipsed all over the DC area stores and used this coupon frequently - one at a time - instead of using my AAA discount. Unfortunately, at this writing, there's no non-member in-store coupon available except for 10% off, which I can get through AAA online in any event.

But I can also use my Discover card online to get a 10% cashback, or Bing to get 8% cashback. And from what I read most if not all of those coupon codes for an extra 10% off your highest-priced item do NOT work with AAA, but they do work with Discover and Bing.

At least I think they do because the coupon code instructions say the codes do not work with any other offer.

So - Question #1 - if I use one of those 10% off - highest price item codes do I risk losing out on my Discover or Bing cashback? It takes several weeks to get that cashback from either Discover or Bing and I'm worried that my use of a coupon code on one item will wipe out my 10% cashback on an entire order.

So - Question #2 - other than setting up a bunch of new accounts - which I am loathe to do - or buying a B&N membership, which makes no sense to me as I already can get 10% through AAA - are there any other good options? I don't mind going the in-store route but I don't think there is any advantage to it this time around.

Comments from the B&N coupon gurus?

Thanks.

Much of what you're asking has been asked and answered multiple times over the last few pages in this or in the Criterion thread.

Pretty much all of it is YMMV and unknown. Technically, Bing and Discover could nullify their cashback based on their terms, but in reality they don't seem to do that often, if at all.

If you do not want to buy a membership I see no reason to purchase at a store unless you want to have it now. I think the deals are better online for non-members. There are three 10% coupons that should work with the AAA link. Probably a good idea to use those first. If you need more coupons use the others on the list through either Bing or Discover. There are two 15% coupons that you can use without a membership. I've had great luck with Bing and never lost any cashback. If for some reason the cashback did not show up in my account I have always been able to get it whenever I contacted customer service. I do not think you will have any problem with Bing. Unfortunately they are closing after July 30, so you don't have much longer to use them.

Thanks guys. I will try the coupon codes with AAA first and I should know right away whether they will work. After that I will switch to shop Discover and take my chances. I'll let you know what I buy.

A question for those who order from Bn.com regularly:

I placed an order yesterday and received 2 emails: the order confirmation and the "scheduled to ship" email. I logged into my account today and the order is not listed in my orders history. Does this mean my order has been cancelled? If it had been cancelled for some reason you would think it would be listed but say "cancelled". I suppose I should contact CS but that's never fun.

My advice would be to wait another day to see if it shows up on your list of orders. Sometimes they don't show up right away.

They have never canceled an order - or an item off an order - without emailing me. (Though it does piss me off when they cancel a pre-ordered item because - duh - they were "unable to obtain it.")

But Customer Service should be able to verify whether your order is open, if the uncertainty is driving you crazy.

Does anyone have a direct link to the new Ozu double feature? I haven't been able to find it on their site yet. --Peter

http://video.barnesandnoble.com/sear...n=715515060813

Hmm...I've ordered a lot from B&N and have never seen it missing from my order history. You may want to contact customer service and go through your e-mail to make sure you have the order number as reference.

For those who are using a third party B&N store, make sure you be careful once you click because each time you click on the regular store or a third party store, it changes the prices (due to the cookies saved in your system). Just make sure after you click and add, you go back to the original third-party B&N store link ala AAA, library, etc.

I never had that happen. Was the order ever listed in your account before it was missing? I have one suggestion to try to see if you can find it online. First log out of your account. Then go to the page to check order status. Try checking your order using the order number and email address you placed the order with at B&N. Maybe that will pull up the information for the order.

It was there right after I placed it last night but was gone when I checked this afternoon. And it's still missing.

I did try checking the order status when not logged in and I got a "Order number does not match our records..." message.

I then called the CS number and used the automated system to check the status. I got the same basic message..."order number does not match". After multiple failed attempts I was transferred to a CS rep.
I gave him the order #, my email address, zip code, and one item in the order, and he located it and told me it should ship today.

Very odd.

At least customer service was able to find a record of it. Hopefully you get the order.

Maybe all the traffic for the Criterion sale is causing problems with the web site. Last year during the first sale strange things were happening. A lot of the coupons could get used multiple times with the same account.

I think the 20% off is dead at least for any criterion dvd. I logged into the library website and here is what I got under any criterion dvd:

Note: This item does not qualify for coupons or promotional discounts unless expressly stated.

Got to checkout page and the 20% off highest item doesn't work at all for the Criterions. Worked on another non-Criterion dvd though.

Laser,

I remember some talk about returning in store and only getting store credit, not a charge back to your cc. If this is the case, can that store credit be used on the website?

This is regarding my question earlier about exchanging a dvd bought online for the blu-ray in store. I'm just thinking that if they don't let me do an even exchange and I only get store credit, I can always just order it again online with that credit. It will be an even exchange, but will just take an extra few days to get to me.

Seems to be true. What worked last night is no longer working now. At least I got the Yojimbo/Sanjuro set, but I wanted lots more as well. Will have to try my luck in store unless another online coupon is released before the sale ends. You snooze you lose...

Same experience here, cashier was able to key it in easily, but getting the cashier to do so was the hard part -- the fine print verbiage on the coupon defining the "selling price" is lengthy and confuses most cashiers.

WTF is going on with the online coupons. I even used a different name, different address and created a new account and it still wouldn't accept them. We may be acting sly, but all they're doing is screwing themselves out of orders, because now I'll definitely order less if anything else at all. I do have to figure out a way to get a comparable price on The Red Shoes and Black Narcissus, but anything else I was considering is probably out the window.

Today I was able to use the Library Link AND a 10% off coupon. The order went through but then 10 minutes later they changed it, removed the coupon and shipped the order out without it. I'm stuck with the order since it's already shipped, but that's fine since it's still only $15.75 per disc (yojimbo and sanjuro combo blu-rays).

Well I just went to look up some more to buy, however I saw this on the titles I looked to buy:

Note: This item does not qualify for coupons or promotional discounts unless expressly stated.