CalebAndCo

Yeah, I liked The Lodger quite a bit as well--I loved the glass ceiling/floor shot and the Pietà-like scene taking Ivor Novello down from the fence.

And yes, IB sure is nice to look at--but Claude Rains gives a perfect performance in Notorious.

laidbacklarkin

Those are EXACTLY the scenes I was referring to. Glad I have company of DVDTALKers that look for such stuff in film.

RequiemX

++

The Lodger was the surprise of the set for me. Some excellent shots.

BuddhaWake

got mines as well. hard case broken in 3 large chunks and loose chips. haven't tested the discs yet but they all looked ok. My also had a orange sticker as well as a different UPC sticker covering the one inside.

kndy

Received mine just awhile ago and at first, I thought I was spared from any cracks but upon removing that slip, there is a crack right on the back side of the case...



Tried the DVD's and they work but haven't watched them completely. I also did spot fingerprints. I didn't see circle stickers or anything else like that.

adrenaline78

I know a lot of people don't care about the Packaging.. but I think the packaging of this set is awesome, and am a little peeved that I received a less than mint set.. But I guess I'm thankful that mine is in better shape than some others have received. I feel for you guys.

laidbacklarkin

Completely agree with the opinion on the packaging part. This is a handsomely crafted / designed set. Too bad MGM dropped the ball on the QC and had to unload these. Had the QC been controlled, these would have definitely fetched the near $100 price it was demanding. At $20 - $30, this set is a STEAL given that MGM/Fox is ready to provide you with replacement discs if you can put up with the prelim headaches. 'No pain, no gain' is amply illustrated with the purchase of this disc :-)...Enjoy the set, folks, its got some awesome flicks.

jsz1002

And don't you have to send the entire set back at your own expense regardless of which disc is defective? Also, it's the case itself that's defective causing the discs to warp. Is the replacement a re-design of the case? If not, there will still be defective discs, replaced or not.

junglalien

Incase anyone missed it, Ben's Outlet is selling it for the same price.
http://www.bensoutlet.com/products/hitchcock-dvd

SethDLH

Just watched Notorious which seems to be the biggest problem disc of the set, and the data side of the disc was wavy and looked funny on mine but it played flawlessly. Great movie too.

I'll make my way through the rest of set soon hopefully to see if it needs a replacement or not.

Mosskeeto

I don't know about problems with the special packaging causing warping, but back when people were buying this set from Costco, no one complained about warping. All the complaints that I recall were about the appearance of discoloring or disc "rot". The only disc that looked different from the others in my set was Notorious and yes, even after paying for the media shipping to Fox, there is no question that it was a real bargain. It seems that Fox has (or did as of Sept. when I called) supplies that are pristine and without any signs of dye problems. When I sent my set out I added some sort of delivery confirmation (?) for under a dollar.

yellahoosh

My mom got her's - the case is intact and nothing is broken. Unfortunately Notorious has the disc discoloration and she said that Rebecca kept seizing up. We're hoping that at least the movies that she doesn't already have will play flawlessly.

kthnxbai

I received my set today (from Ben's Outlet) and I've watched three of the eight movies. Rebecca, Notorious, and Sabotage all played great and there were no problems. I'm going to be getting around to the remaining discs by the end of this week. I'm hopeful that there will be nothing wrong.

As far as packaging, there was only a small crack on the from of the packaging. Nothing too big to be upset about.

GenPion

6 of my 8 discs ended up having playback problems. I contacted Fox about this TWICE and neither customer service representative was willing to help me. The first representative said that I could mail the discs and if they found them defective they might send exchange discs or they might mail me my original discs back if they played fine when checked by FOX. I had to call him back so I could check all my discs first (I hadn't thoroughly gone through each disc at this point -- I simply had to find one to know I had the issue initially). So, I call and speak to another girl today. She told me 'Jeff' was already on the phone with someone else. I asked if I could be put on hold to speak to him. She told me she could resolve my issue and would not put me on the line with Jeff. The girl I spoke to about it today, Scarlet, told me that there was no widespread issues known with this set and that had there been any issues Fox would have issued a replacement program. I referred her to this thread, and she told me that "People on the internet can say anything. It doesn't make any of it true." I was refused an exchange for either the entire set or the individual discs which were defective for me. I told her that Fox clearly doesn't care about it's customers, and that they likely sold the defective sets to discount stores knowing that they would be giving customers defective films. Her response: "Fox doesn't work that way, we always treat our customers with respect. This is not a widespread issue. We would know if it was. Your only option is to return it to where you purchased it from. We don't do any exchanges for defective discs."

I have contacted 1SaleaDay again about this issue, and am hoping that I can receive a full refund and be done with it all. I may simply have to avoid owning these films until they arrive on Blu-ray now.

It's unfortunate... but I feel like I'm being left with no other choice in the matter. What makes me especially upset is that I purchased this set upon its release for around $70 for my sister. Her discs had minor issues compared to what I have had to deal with, but it bothered me nonetheless. I had hoped Fox would offer an exchange program back then. I gave her the set even after hearing about the issues because Alfred Hitchcock is her favorite film-maker. He's one of my "Top Favorites", but not my #1, so I waited to see if fixed copies would become available with a decent sale. When I heard about this sale and the exchange program that I believed existed by Fox I was finally happy about it all -- believing, incorrectly, that Fox had finally learned to respond to their customers complaints and cared enough about these classic films to do the right thing and resolve the issues.

Apparently not. I now feel as though Fox couldn't care less about whether or not I purchased anything released from them again in the future. It's too bad... I still love so many films they have the rights to, otherwise this entire experience would absolutely make me stop giving them any money.

If Alfred Hitchcock were alive today he would have never allowed the studio to treat his films, or his audience, with such disrespect.

kstublen

That is outrageous. Everyone knows this set has problems. In fact, I think Amazon even had a disclaimer about this product a while back. You should refer them to Jamie's Review, which might hold a little more weight than a "random" thread on the internet.

Still, that sounds like an awful experience and I'm sorry you've had problems with your set. I haven't gotten around to it yet, but I'm going to check mine out in the coming week. Hopefully I won't have any problems, but I'm less than optimistic at this point.

GenPion

Thanks for the kind response. As for the comments I received... I couldn't believe I was hearing them either.

statcat

there are other releases of most of these films I'm pretty sure

ProfessorEcho

I would suggest you call Fox again and ask to speak to a supervisor. Politely explain the situation and tell the supervisor everything "Scarlet" said to you and the tone in which she said it. Don't editorialize while you are telling it, e.g. "She didn't have to say that," "She was so rude," etc. Then politely tell them about the known issues with the set and that even Amazon had pulled the set from its listings at one point due to customer complaints. Then finish by saying you are disappointed in the set being defective and in the response you received from "Scarlet" and that both are discouraging you from ever buying another Fox product. Finally, and this is VERY important, tell the supervisor in a calm, controlled tone, that you have been spreading the word online about the entire situation.

After years of ranting and raving with customer service, I finally discovered that the old adage of catching more flies with honey than vinegar really is true.

Mosskeeto

This was not an outright denial of warranty, but they are adding conditions that were not mentioned when I sent my set in for replacement. Since your discs are defective you should seriously consider this option.

Clearly Scarlet shouldn't be allowed to speak for Customer Care because she is either uninformed (Stupid!) or has limited social interaction skills (Bitchy!).

My guess: perhaps they're running or ran out of pristine non-defective sets; remember that these are appearing in closeout sources now (1saleaday, etc.). They wanted me to send in the full set when I only wanted a replacement for my Notorious title. When I first looked into the replacement issue it took at least 3 calls to track down the correct direct number as the studio changed hands and the old phone numbers were going nowhere.

Sorry to hear of their change in response, which is clearly unprofessional. I would follow ProfessorEcho's advice to go over the head of the Care reps but you might as well actually look into sending a polite email to a Studio head or similar executive. If you google some info, you'll learn that execs do respond to emails about business complaints. So you might want to skip the Care center entirely...and don't mention this forum because companies usually dismiss anything posted on boards (with some justification unfortunately). Do reference the issue that Amazon had and state that a "friend" told you he had the same problem with his purchase from Costco and any other specifics necessary.

Here's an bit hyperbolic excerpt from The Haggler (NY Times) column:
"WRITE THE C.E.O. Lots of readers recounted success sending letters to the C.E.O., or chief auditor, or any combination of higher-ups — the more the merrier, it seems. Some readers stress a restrained tone, others plump for repeated use of the word “fraud.” Send it registered mail for added gravity and while you’re at it, note that you’ve sent a copy of the letter to a government agency, like the Federal Trade Commission."

You should definitely be able to get this settled to your benefit but it seems to have increased the aggravation level.

BuddhaWake

sorry for the bump, but is $15 today @ 1daysale so that should be around $20 shipped.

SterlingBen

I saw that too but after reading this thread there is no way I am buying that box of hurt.

GenPion

I appreciate all the comments left for me, and the recommendations. However, I decided to send it back to 1SaleaDay for a refund. It just isn't worth the hassle to me. I would love to own these films someday but for now I think I will continue to be patient and wait for a better release.

coyoteblue

Got mine in from Ben's outlet. The case is a little cracked at the bottom, but otherwise fine. I tested 6 out the eight discs and they'll all play on at least one dvd player I own. Not ideal, but...good 'nuff.

mitch079

1saleaday still has them for 24.99 on ebay if you want to roll the dice:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Alfred-Hitchcock...item3363f2e263