dsa_shea

I posted in the wrong forum. Sorry!

HistoryProf

fwiw, I picked up Unfaithfully Yours for $9 and change today w/ a $5 coupon with zero problems. Just handed the coupon to the cashier w/ the DVD and she rang it in without pausing. So there is no "corporate ban" on coupons...at least not in Kansas City.

HistoryProf

they aren't charging 33% more for blu rays, they decided to charge 33% LESS for SDVD because costs have gone down to produce them.

Tyler_Durden

This happened to me too. I ordered Seven Samurai and Antichrist on BD, and a few days ago the Seven Samurai disc was cancelled for the same reason you gave. Antichrist was shipped soon after.

These are apparently not isolated incidents, and there has been some speculation elsewhere that BN may be having trouble keeping up with demand and is prioritizing U.S. orders, although I haven't seen any proof of this. Something else that has been suggested is using PayPal to pay for the order in the hope that BN would not cancel an order that has already been paid for...

I didn't use a coupon with this order, but I did use a 6 % off link.

Anybody else have their orders cancelled?

Dan

Well, to give you an update on my cancellations...

I had a lot of back and forth with B&N Customer Service, which was going absolutely nowhere. Then, suddenly yesterday, I got a slew of emails (one for each item) saying that all of my items had been delayed and they were estimating they would ship between 5 to 11 business days. All of these items, except one, still say "usually ships within 24 hours." I checked my order status, and I was finally able to cancel the items myself. Previously, they all said "Cannot be removed." So, I cancelled the remaining 15 items on my order. It sucks that I had to do that, but it looks like I'll have to risk buying the titles I want locally in Dallas/Ft.Worth since I'll be there tomorrow evening. The downside is I'll be paying more tax (8.5% in Texas... 5% in Canada), and may get hit by customs on my way home, but this way I'll also be able to try to use my B&N free membership in addition to the 25% off coupons to get an overall better deal.

I've already put the three most expensive items on hold at three different locations (one per location... not all three at all three locations...).

I will only place another order with B&N.com if I can't get all the titles I want before next Friday, when I leave. Otherwise, I'm done with B&N.com. Their service and system are absolutely pathetic, IMO.

Oh, and FYI, I did use Paypal for that original order, for the same reasons you suggested, Tyler_Durden. Unfortunately, it doesn't work the way you would think. Essentially, a $700 hold was put on my Paypal account, but I was only charged for each shipment as they were confirmed by B&N. So, the first charge was $20. The second charge was $270. Then, since all the other items never shipped and were cancelled, I was never charged the remaining $410.

ctyankee

If you have facts to support any recent reduction in manufacturing costs, bring it forward - otherwise it's just a fairy tale of your own creation. Did album or cassette or CD prices drop when manufacturing/production matured? Nope. Prices only dropped when some record labels finally blinked at reduced sales killed the pricing that was in effect.

It's about supply and demand ... period. It's not about what it costs them, it's all about the maximum value they can get out of you as a consumer. Why isn't that clear?

illennium

Here is the link:

http://www.criterion.com/current/pos...atter-of-price

Why are you being a dick for no reason?

Proglodite

All the stores around here have the standard 2-disc DVD of The Red Shoes for $39.99...has anyone seen it marked at $29.99? --Peter

kndy

Have you guys received your online orders?? Interesting...I have a membership with B&N and I'm supposed to get express shipping, but I have not yet received my order made on Nov. 1st and all items were available and not delayed.

Then for my Nov. 2nd order, it arrived in Philadelphia on 11/3, arrived in California on the 3rd that evening (and figured I'm California, should receive it soon). Checked today and now it went from California back to Harrisburg, PA???? What the hell?

This is a first for me in receiving things late from B&N.

NoirFan

These 25% coupons are great for box sets - I just bought the Early Kurosawa box for $21.52. I'm hoping they get the Sternberg set back in before the sale ends.

greylocke5

I'm just speculating - but I wonder whether B&N are canceling orders placed by customers from outside the USA because they fear that you are a re-seller. This would especially be true if your order is a really large one. Somewhere in "fine print" there is often a statement to the effect, "we reserve the right to limit quantities on this sale." I don't know if B&N has ever given this as a reason for canceling items that are otherwise in stock - but they seem to be a bit queasy about these Criterion sales. It makes me wonder whether they have some agreement with Criterion to limit quantities in some instances.

I repeat - this is pure guessing on my part - but it is a possible explanation. Last year Microsoft Bing had this cash back program that I used to purchase a lot of CDs. I got an email from Bing telling me that I must be a re-seller and that they weren't going to honor the cash back on some orders. I bitched and they did not question me after that - but it shows that some ordering activity does get monitored for that sort of thing and I wonder if B&N could be doing this on these Criterion orders. If you check at half.com and Amazon marketplace you see Criterions selling for well above half price and people are always looking for ways to make a buck.

zombeaner

That's what I'm going for tomorrow, I have it on hold! I picked up Postwar Kurosawa yesterday, I think I'm only missing The Lower Depths now.

macnorton

Finally got Antichrist on Blu. The guy working the counter (Mike from the Morris Plains store) dug through three boxes to find it for me. Plus coupon it came to $13.91. Big ups to Mike for putting the extra effort to track that down for me.

Hopefully I don't have to have anyone dig through boxes for The Night of the Hunter and Modern Times next week.

macnorton

My online order sat for three days at the UPS facility about three blocks from my house. For whatever reason the online orders seem to take an extra few days.

sleepyhead55

I can never figure out bn.com shipping anymore as I get the dhl smart mail option and that one takes forever. Anyway is Nikkatsu Noir box set a good blind buy?

Dan

I wrote to B&N about my specific ordeal and I got a very detailed response from a real person (gasp!). I'm not going to include the whole thing, but here's the reason provided for the strange activity:

kndy

I called B&N about how I have only received 1 of 4 orders made on Nov. 1 and 2nd and unfortunately, there are no answers. Just an apology and if they don't come in by Friday, they will reship them and send me a label, so if the others come late, I need send those back.

She tried to say maybe it's because the holidays are coming up and possibly the delivery people are working with holiday staff. But she said that with memberships, we are supposed to get express shipping and doesn't have an answer to why they are taking long. According to her, these should have arrived on the 5th.

But this has never happened in the previous B&N sales but I guess there is nothing else I can do.

John Hodson

I've never had an item cancelled, but I have had the 'delay' email in the past - I'm particularly nervous this time around because I have nine items, ordered at the crack of dawn Nov. 1 that are not scheduled to ship the day after the sale ends...

I have everything crossed; for those of us outside the US this really is the only way to get hold of Criterion BDs at very reasonable prices.

Laser Movies

Picked up Nikkatsu Noir today for $23.62 with a 25% coupon. Was tempted to get House but decided to pass until I get a chance to get it from Netflix first. I've just about run out of Criterions to buy. Maybe Chungking Express if I could get it in a keep case.

BuckNaked2k

Yea, that DHL thing is a joke. I posted my observations on that in the main B&N coupon thread not too long ago.

Yes! I love the NN box. I also recommend Oshima's Outlaw Sixties. If you are a member, be sure to use the 25% off coupon on these instead of the $5 off coupon, as the 25% should yield you a savings of $7.88 is my math is correct.

Edit: Looks like LASER just confirmed it!

vichyfrance

I used my 25% coupon and picked up Rossellini's War Trilogy for 25 bucks

Herzog4Life

This 25% coupon is a Godsend, if only the von Sternberg set was available...anywhere? I have access to my account and two friends, so I can use the 25% member coupons 9 times. On my lunch break I picked up Antichrist (blu), By Brakhage (blu), Presenting Sacha Guitry Eclipse, and The Actuality Dramas of Allan King Eclipse. Gonna go grab 1 or 2 more tonight and then I'm done...until Night of the Hunter and Modern Times I have a problem.

ctyankee

Ah, recently that's what Doc tells Snow White when asked the last time he washed his hands ... recently.

If you want to believe that Criterion could market its SDVDs at 39.99 when selling their blu-rays for 39.99, enjoy the fantasy. They couldn't and didn't and had to take a price cut.

ctyankee

I haven't seen Chungking Express it in a keep case but I love the film.

HistoryProf

hey jackass...that's what CRITERION THEMSELVES SAID when they made the decision to lower the prices on SDVDs:
Know what the hell you are talking about before you go off being a sanctimonious asshole. Why isn't that clear?