avoiceoreason

Thanks Lizard.

One follow-up though. The defective disc was the free one on a bogo (okay, okay, b1g4) deal. Is this going to cause a problem with their billing system?

And I'm guessing from your response that an exchange for a separate title is out of the question?

EDIT: I answered my own second question thanks to some surprisingly quick response time from CH. I e-mailed them about the return/exchange w/i 12 hours they responded stating that a return label had been sent and that they were processing the exchange.

So e-mail works fine for returns and you apparently can exchange a damaged disc for an entirely separate title (in my case Madagascar for Over the Hedge).

Of course the billing getting screwed up remains entirely possible, but so far so good.

SMART-ASS

Ok, I'm sure this has been talked about to death, but I don't know where to find the answers. Sorry, I've been out of the loop for a while.
What is this CH.com thing... AND, why in the heck would anyone sign up for such a horrible deal?

Trevor

You're right, full details have been talked to death. Try the ch.com thread for starters.

But briefly, first off, it isn't that bad of a deal. Done right its around 5-6 per title.

Also, and this is the biggie, a few months ago they had a B1G1F code for CH.com only. With lots of sets marked down to $10, and free shipping always of course, it was perhaps the best deal we've ever had here.

I plan to always have a CH.com account open, just in case they do that code again. Even if they never do, and you have to fulfill every year, it isn't that much worse than a maximized columbiahouse.com account. Worth the extra couple bucks for the possible benefit imho.

riotinmyskull

because it's actually not that bad of a deal if you utilize it properly.

lizard

Like the others said, it can be a decent deal if used properly. Bear in mind that the fulfillments can be any price and are not restricted to $19.95 or more, as in the regular club.

However, CH.com used to be a much better deal before Columbia House raised prices. Every DVD was 40% or more off regular price and shipping was (is) free.

The main problem with the new CH.com is that one has to buy additional DVDs each year or so (it isn't clear quite what the time period is). If one doesn't, they will likely just bill the account. So, it is probably best to close the account as soon as it is fulfilled.

For those of us with old accounts, it is unclear whether the new terms will apply to us and force us to close our accounts.

y0girlg0tskillz

Where does Columbia House ship from? Is it somewhere in California? I was just wondering because this can affect how long a shipping can take, etc.

SMART-ASS

different warehouses across the country
not sure where they all are

Cheato

At least we know they don't currently ship from any place in California because they don't charge sales tax there. If you can find out which states' residents are charged sales tax, you will at least know which states CH has a physical presence in, which might give at least an indication of where they have processing locations.

Here's a piece of (unsolicited) advice:
I think you *might* be approaching CH with the wrong frame of mind, if you are concerned about how long shipping takes. CH is a monster of a company, and if you do things right, you'll be getting your DVDs for around $5 or less. Based on that, don't expect good customer service (expect the worst, and be pleasantly surprised by the exceptions), and don't expect any kind of consistency with shipments, charges, or anything else. I have had a pre-order ship before the release date, and I have had one ship two weeks after the release date. I have had orders sitting on my account seemingly for no reason for weeks before they shipped, and others processed within less than a day. I have received shipping notification emails after things have been received. I have had orders disappear from my account, only to reappear a month later with different prices. And then there are all the "lost" applications that disappear into the internet ether after the confirmation email.

Basically, patience, diligence, and flexibility are the keys to dealing with CH. If you *need* something within a certain timeframe, like for a birthday present, then go to your local store and buy it. $5-10 here or there is not worth much aggravation in life. If you can sit back and relax and cycle accounts and check your credit card and CH account balances and keep track of your orders, charges, shipments, then you'll get a lot out of CH. If you're impatient and high-strung, you will find it a very frustrating experience.

SMART-ASS

hee-heee... ya, that about sums it up

McButton

Don't forget the random pre-orders of awful movies that you receive and get charged double what you'd normally pay even after you have declined, sometimes multiple times. They count on those of us that happen to be bored enough to open one up and watch it. So far, I've had good luck sending them back. I usually either reglue the package to look like I didn't open it, and return to sender, or ask CH for a label and send it back. I usually get a refund in about 10 days. =\

...How many times can I tell you that I dont WANT Happy Feet!?

What about ordering 2 disc versions and getting single disc ones?

What about ordering a dvd as a FREE and getting a FULL PRICE refund due to the product not existing or some random shipping error. That usually helps ease my frustration on the stuff they mess up and I DON'T get credit for.

lizard

Columbia House used to ship from Indiana and Illinois, but the last year or two shipments come from Greenville, South Carolina, so far as I have seen.

acubfaninmd

I Pre-Ordered V is for Vendetta on blu ray from Columbia House. I went to their website yesterday and on front page it says your order shipped on 5/19/08. When I click on that link it sends me to the orders shipped page. No where on there is an order that shipped on that day. When I click on the order for the dvd it says awaiting stock. Is CH website just behind and it did ship on the 19th, if not they why would it say something has shipped and not show up on orders shipped page

SMART-ASS

CH is is a real mixed bag of nuts sometimes. I placed 3 orders a week or so ago. They all said pending, or awaiting credit approval, or whatever. They still said that in my order history AFTER I had already received them. A few days later, they finally said shipped.
You'll know that it shipped when it is in your hand .

BobO'Link

^The order information page is notorious for being behind. I've received items and had the order information show it was "awaiting stock" for weeks after the selection was in hand. As others will tell you, it's also common to get an email alerting you that the order has been shipped the day you receive the order, after you've received the order, or not at all.

Cheato

The list of charges is also pretty unreliable and won't necessarily match what you will see on your credit card statement.

I had to call to get a price adjustment to a couple orders, and I thought the list of charges would show a credit being applied, but it never did. I later realized that the earlier charges had been modified to reflect the credits. So, the list showed I was charged $X on a certain day, but really I had been charged a higher amount that day and then a credit was issued about 2 weeks later.

And if you have submitted a bunch of orders within a couple days of each other, don't expect the charges listed to accurately compare to what you're charged for in shipping notification emails, or what you will actually see on your credit card statements. Just try to keep track of overall totals to make sure you aren't being overcharged.

mazzystar

Does anyone know where CH receives there dvd's from? They sent me a replacement copy of Near Dark because the 2nd disc was not disc 2 it was Profit Disc 2, and I received the replacement copy today and lo and behold same thing. Profit disc 2. ARghghg.

BobO'Link

^And you'll probably continue to get that combination for a while. If they received a defective/mispacked stock of that title they'll continue to send out the "defective" copies until they're gone or someone finally "gets it". They did this with the 1939 version of "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" several years ago. They finally got corrected copies of that one. Your best bet will be to return it for refund or exchange it for a different title.

mazzystar

It was a freebie, so I guess I can ask if they can just give me a different movie.

gvamp

Another question if everytime you place an order using the bill me later feature and in your order status online is says "Awaiting Credit Approval" does that automatically mean you're going to have to pay all or most of the bill before they ship?

I just placed a small order yesterday which was less than $50 and today when I checked my status it said "Awaiting Credit Approval".

Also how many orders will I have to do before they'll start shipping me my Bill Me Later products with out having to pay the bill before it ships? On my last account I've never had this problem and I've place a lot larger orders than what I've been placing recently.

Also how long does it take for them to apply the "Prefered member" status to your account? I've called about it last month and I'm still having to respond to director selections. Is this something I should call about?

Thanks for the help.

DarkEyes

"Awaiting Credit Approval" i have gotten many times then after a few days it woudl go to pending then shipped.....

CH is slow on updating the web site to reflect true status. i do know that there is a certian amount of dvds they can send at one time they may send you half the order and make you pay for before they send the rest..

just depends on what they do.....

just wait and see what they do.. if you email them or call them about it they make you pay before they ship anything.... you just placed the order yesterday so give it some time and see what happens....

gvamp

Thanks the only things I got where one Blu-Ray (AVP-R) and a DVD for the half off thing.

What about the prefered member thing? I really hate having to respond to directors selections.

Cardsfan111

I'll chime in here - you can't get rid of the director's selections. Every Columbia House account has those (except for ch.com which is a whole different animal). I recommend you sign up for e-mail notifications. I get an e-mail with the new director's selection, follow the link provided in the e-mail to decline it and it probably takes 30 seconds or less each time.

Watson2

I haven't had to respond to a director selection in years, that was one of the perks for being a "Prefered member". The discounted shipping was nice while it lasted.

gvamp

Yeah that's true but as long as you make a purchase every five months you don't have to respond to them when you have prefered member status on your account.

One more question can you use fun cash on Blu-Rays? I was going to get the Cloverfield Blu-Ray in a month or two and use my fun cash on it. I tried looking on the site but they didn't really say.

lizard

Unless Columbia House changes its policy, funcash can't be used for BDs.

It also can't be used for sets or for partial payments for regular DVDs (you have to have enough funcash to pay the full price). In short, funcash is even more worthless now than it was before changes were implemented on May 2nd.