Warning about Columbia House DVD club

[bluestateguy]

I received in the mail an offer from Columbia House DVD club, of which I am a member. They have this promotional offer right now for DVD's and videos of television series. The mailing says that you will recieve 1 free DVD or video of your choice from a selected stampsheet (all you need to do is cut out the stamp of the DVD/video you want). Shipping and handling is paid by the customer.

The problem here is that introductory letter is misleading and contradictory. They say "No additional purchase is necessary...you don't have to buy anything else", and "Your free DVD or video comes to you without any obligation to buy another thing". OK fine, I have the order sheet all filled out and the Dukes of Hazzard stamp affixed, then I read the very small print on the order form which states that they will "enroll you as a series subscriber under the terms outlined in the enclosed catalog."

Great. So now I pick up another enclosure from the mailing which outlines the terms. After I get my free video, I will continue to be sent series videos at my expense every 4 to 6 weeks. If I don't send them back after 10 days then I get billed.

This is a very misleading offer. It clearly violates the spirit of the "no additional purchase required" clause. It's more like a "gotcha" offer to trick people into enrolling into the series subscripition and hope that they won't get around to sending the videos/DVD's back. Didn't "Girls Gone Wild" have a similar problem that caused them to get sued?

I advise people to be very careful when dealing with "special offers" from your music and video clubs.

[matcom]

1. this has been their policy for a hundred years

it has never changed.

sounds too good to be true?

it is (unless you want to do a TON of work)

nothing new

[BigMcLargehuge]

2. They gave me ten for a penny...

THEN THEY JACKED UP THE PRICE!!!!

Channeling Homer Simpson

[blessedleader]

3. I did that!

I got a Twilight Zone DVD (with my favorite episode on it) and A Nightmare on Elm Street from that deal. . . you just have to cancel your subscription to the service before the next one comes in. All I did was write them two letters with my membership number on them and asked to be cancelled. . . never got anything else in the mail. . . wasn't too hard.

[Spirochete]

4. It's not as tough as it used to be.

I just joined again. Got 5 DVD's for 49 cents each (they nick you pretty good on the shipping charges - $3 for the first one and $2 for each additional one). But you only have to buy 3 in 3 years. You get plenty of warning they are sending them, and you can prevent them being sent right on their website, so you don't have to mail back the card. After you buy the required 3 DVD's, you can cancel membership. But then they'll be sending you more offers, trying to persuade you to join again.
I do stay away from all the extra offers. I don't trust them either.
Usually, if I order DVD's online, it's from Deep Discount DVD.

[Cleve Steamer]

7. You can avoid the intro shipping charges!

For the last few months, the offer code "23e" has allowed new members to get 5 at $.49 with no shipping charges! Otherwise, it's the same as the standard deal.

For my most recent membership, I used "23e" to get 5 for $2.45 plus the sixth "bonus" selection at $14.95. I was on the hook for only two more selections at full price, but they were running a free shipping promotion at the time if you ordered 3 DVDs. I also used the $5 off coupon for first time web orders. Long story short: 9 DVDs for $61.28 ($6.80 ea.), including shipping. And I did this all over the web!

DeepDiscountDVD has great prices, but (for mainstream titles) nothing beats Columbia House!

[thermodynamic]

5. Legal spin

You get additional volumes, but have the right to view them and return them within 10 days and then they won't charge. You can easily write "REFUSED" on an unopened package and the post office has to return it back to Columbia House (CH) at no cost. Just be aware when it arrives and when you write REFUSED on it, as CH will probably try to bill you regardless.

CH isn't really violating anything, but they're scum for chumming up the process just a bit too much.

Besides, the way more and more TV shows are being released - by season - on DVD, CH will go out of business.

TV on DVD is popular so I'm amazed more series haven't been remastered and released, it's a big industry.

[Cleve Steamer]

6. That's the "TV Greats" club, not the standard DVD Club

The TV Greats club has some awesome deals, including theatrical movies. A year ago, I got DVDs of The Shining (the Kubrick version), Animal House, and 2001 for $3.99 each. I called to cancel, and I had no further obligation. It was easy.

The Columbia House DVD club also has some killer deals. If you know what you're doing, you can average about $7 per DVD (averaging your cheap enrollment selections and your expensive fulfillment selections). They have some strange customer-service issues, but for $7 DVDs, I'll bite. I cycle through a membership once every month or two, for 8 or 9 DVDs per membership. Columbia House has provided me with many of the mainstream selections in my insane DVD collection:

http://www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html?id=tummler

For much, much more info on how to maximize a Columbia House membership, check the DVD Clubs forum at DVDtalk:

http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=13