Wall Street Journal reporting that Bertelsmann has hired bankers to explore the sale of their U.S. book, music, and DVD clubs which includes Columbiahouse.

Could anyone else operate CH as inefficiently (which happens to translate into benefits to us)?

On the other hand. . .

The reason they are looking to sell it is b/c they are having trouble competing w/ falling DVD prices at retail. So maybe there are even more and better deals ready to come our way!

Guess we'll just have to wait and see.

wait and see. I would expect columbia house will market blu-ray aggressively now as the change to dvd=blu-ray was faster than vhs=dvd.

Is it really that they are inefficient or is that our reality based on perception. What % of their customers go to the lengths we do to maximize the deals. I bet it is a very small number. Probably far more that forget to send in cards and get charged full price.

Any time new managment comes into any company hard changes are a possiblility, just look at the changes we have endured under the current ownership.

Looks like it is time to start hard cycling accounts to me.

its impossible to open an account. Im 0 for my last 5 attempts.

Thankfully, I'm getting very close to the end of my comprehensive DVD wish list, with only a handful of titles that are available at CH. But I have 7+ years of being a member on CH to thank for having built my 2600+ title collection at a relatively reasonable cost.

Still, it does seem to me that the DVD Club catalog has been getting a little more lackluster over the last few years since BMG took over. They carry fewer new classic releases, and have been eliminating many older ones. Also, smaller label releases like Anchor Bay, Image, and Blue Underground seem to be getting phased out.

Hopefully, if there is new management they will go more in the direction of the older CH catalog, and less in the direction that BMG seems to be heading with the DVD Club (and the BMG Music Club, as well).

Glad to see I'm not alone. I'm 0 for 6. Any advice besides giving up?

are you guys applying via phone or online? if you're applying online then you really have no room to complain.

I tried phone a week and 1/2 ago and looks like I didn't make it.

Try using a code that does not require a PSN. I'd been out for about 5 years and recently opened two accounts with no problems. I used a PSN on a third account after closing one and it disappeared. Used an enrollment code without a PSN and got accepted. Maybe it was a fluke, but may be worth a chance.

All it took was buying a new house, so new address, new phone number and a new rewards credit card, viola'...

Now, which of the above was the deciding factor is anybodies guess???

Also, I clicked on a link from a CH email that gave me 6,1,2 option with no PSN asked for.

Luck everybody,
George

Oh yea, approval email was 2 days and enrollment dvd's only a week and a half...

I got an email that is a 6,1,3 (the '1' would be $14.95). No shipping charges.
QJ4 is the code.
Doesn't ask for PSN.

I'd rather have the 6,1,2 email that 'bub' has!

I called in last Thursday with 98W and a PSN and it's the first application I've done in a while, but I was charged today so it looks like it was approved.

FWIW, your charge needs to be a "real" charge, as opposed to the temporary charge that Columbia House uses to test the credit card. Even real charges can be reversed, although this is rare (but I have had it happen on a phone enrollment).

Yeah, it's a real charge, I never see the temp ones on this card. I haven't gotten the welcome email, but it seems like half the time I never get one, or don't until I've already recieved my enrollment package.

^Welcome e-mails are very rare with phone or mail orders.

I've use 10W30 in the winter and 10W40 in the summer and that seems to work best... oh, wait... wrong thread.

Seriously though, I have been out of the club for a while now... probably 3 years. Was thinking about joining again, but I didn't know if the deals are still good. If they start offering Blu-ray titles, it would be a good way to get my collection up and running.

i havent seen any good deals on CH dvd club. its still much cheaper to buy used dvds on ebay for $2-$3.

the tv on dvd club worked out pretty good for me but the weekly ads are almost as good without the hassle.

that said, IF there is a major switch to blue ray, that would make things very very fun(again),

Am I missing something here or isn't this completely untrue?

With CH, you should average less than $5 a title, and that includes shipping and tax, and gets you at least two BluRays.

Where on ebay do you find titles for $2-3 shipped? And does that $2-3 average include new release 2 disc SDs and a couple BluRays?

If you look at Half and Amazon Marketplace, you can get some great deals. Of course, sometimes the stock fluxuates and they disappear or change price.

Superman Returns 2D -- 3.86 shipped.

Spiderman 2 Collectors set .. 6.86 shipped.

Hulk movies 2D -- 3.88 shipped.

Punk'd season 2 -- 4.42 shipped

Northern Exposure season 1 -- 6.87 shipped.

Also, there are alot of A&E titles floating around for next to nothing on eBay.

Ellen season 1
Best of Monty Python
Saint mega set

I got Rumple and Baily for less than 10.00/set. (not mega-set, but volumes)

A big YMMV, but always worth a shot.

not sure about the rest of you guys but i rather pay $5 shipped for NEW dvds than $4-$7 shipped for USED dvds.

Yeah, and you don't get FUNCASH (!!!) with used dvds on eBay. It's all about the Funcash.

True, some really good deals are outside of CH. But few and far between compared to getting every new release brand new for less than $5.

I still think iconoclasm's post is complete bunk, no offense iconoclasm.

Seconded

Looks like one of the best perks of "The Party" has been exposed and now no longer is part of the Club...:
Viva Pedro: The Almodovar Collection is no longer going to be able to be a great fulfillment title (or just bargain purchase any way you could get it) because the price has went from the low $20's to a $70.77 list price. Surprised they caught on after all this time. At least I got a copy after first joining the club last August.